Garowe, Somalia -- SomaliaÂ’s separatist region of Somaliland has rejected to attend the upcoming New Deal conference for reconstruction and development of Somalia which is due to take place in Brussels on 16 of September on Tuesday, Garowe Online reports.
Speaking on BBC Somali Service, Somaliland’s Foreign Minister Mohamed Bihi Yonis said Somaliland previously informed EU officials that Somaliland is willing to attend ‘Brussels Conference’ with its own name since Somalia and Somaliland are two separate administrations.
“The priorities of Mogadishu government and Somaliland are quite different, for instance our needs aren’t similar but we [Somaliland] will welcome any support to develop our initiatives,” added Mr. Yonis.
He noted that Somaliland is in talks with the Somali Federal Government in Mogadishu and that Somaliland is in a better position to gain the regionÂ’s long awaited recognition.
Puntland previously declared that it will attend Brussels Conference with its own name and status and if the stateÂ’s priorities are incorporated into the New Deal Conference agendas. Puntland and in part of a bitter feud between both sides; they fought sporadic territorial conflicts over the control of Sool and Sanaag regions for over a decade.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
The whole gubmint is probably on the no-fly list.
[Shabelle] federal government's security committee has warned individuals and politicians that are fuelling clan festivities in the lower Juba region of Somalia.
Dahir Amin Jesow who is the chairman of the committee said that some politicians who held positions in the former transitional government and other individuals were planning the festivities between clans who reside from the region.
The politician warned that if the trouble makers continue,the situation will deteriorate and more lives lost if festivities occur again.
"In the Juba regions, there is no administration called Juba land and the people who are claiming the name consist of men who are based in foreign countries, fuelling hatred between the clans" said Mr. Jesow.
The chairman's warning comes days after the former prime minister of Somalia and other politicians made public accusations against the current government.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] The secretary general of Tunisia's ruling Islamist party said on Wednesday he supported the formation of a non-partisan cabinet in the country, a day after secular opposition supporters rallied to oust the government.
Tens of thousands had demonstrated on Tuesday in Bardo Square in Tunis in an escalation of ongoing protests since the liquidation of opposition figure Mohammad Brahmi on July 25.
"We need to form a non-political government to lead the country to elections within six months.", Hamadi Jebali, secretary General of Ennahda and a former prime minister, said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] A presidential source has denied to Al-Ahram Arabic news website Wednesday evening news of possible resignations by Deputy Prime Minister Ziad Bahaa El-Dini and the presidential political advisor for strategic affairs.
The source further added that no final decision has been made regarding the resignation of Vice President for International Affairs Mohamed ElBaradei Egyptian law scholar and sometime Iranian catspaw. He was head of the IAEA from December 1997 to November 2009. At some point during his tenure he was purchased by the Iranians. ElBaradei and the IAEA were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for something in 2005. ElBaradei served on the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group, a lefty NGO that is bankrolled by the Carnegie Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as George Soros' Open Society Institute. After the fall of Mubarak he ran for president. He lost. Earlier Wednesday, ElBaradei had submitted his resignation letter to Interim President Adly Mansour.
The move came after scores were killed in a security forces crackdown on loyalists of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
ElBaradei earlier demanded high-level assurances that the operation would not veer from the within the boundaries of the law, and according to two sources "threatened to resign if the corpse count among the protestors proved to be high."
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08/15/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... on Wednesday urged Egypt's military to allow elections and for all sides to avoid further violence. Kerry denounced as "deplorable" a crackdown on supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and urged a "peaceful, democratic way forward."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
The man is a maroon... this is what gut the place in the problem in the first place.... Hire a dictator and get it over with.... We will pay you to take Kerry as your next President Egypt.
Posted by: Captain Dark Lord of the Faeries8536 ||
08/15/2013 0:55 Comments ||
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[Al Ahram] Egypt's Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim has denied reports saying that some influential Moslem Brüderbund leaders were tossed in the slammer Please don't kill me! in the wake of Wednesday's violence after police cleared two pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo and Giza.
"Those claims are totally untrue. I hope that I will be able to capture them," Ibrahim told a news conference on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, a security source told Ahram Online that eight Brotherhood leaders jugged Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! '>were tossed into the calaboose during the dispersal operation before escaping "with the help of other people."
Earlier on Wednesday, Influential Brotherhood figures Mohamed El-Beltagy and Essam El-Erian and Islamic preacher Safwat Hegazy were reportedly among the detained -- all wanted by Egypt prosecutors to answer to allegations of inciting violence.
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08/15/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Egypt's armed forces has vowed to act with "utmost firmness" against whoever violates the curfew imposed by the interim government on Wednesday in 14 Egyptian governorates, including Cairo.
The month-long curfew came into force on Wednesday at 9pm, but will run from 7pm until 6am for the remainder of the period, as a response to the escalating violence sweeping the country after Egypt's police and military stormed two sit-in of deposed president Mohamed Morsi earlier in the day.In a statement released on Wednesday, Egyptian army front man Ahmed Ali urged a halt to individual and vehicle movement during curfew hours.
Ali called upon people to abide by instructions when stopped by police or army forces. These include showing identifications when needed, vowing to strictly enforce the curfew.
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08/15/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] He is a savvy operator, people who have worked with him say, a career military officer who methodically campaigned a year ago to become Egypt's defence minister under its first democratically elected president.
Now Gen. Abdel Fattah al Sissi is faced with a society even more bitterly divided than it was a year ago, when Mohamed Morsi took office as president.
Islamist supporters of Morsi, who was ousted by the military last month, warned on Wednesday that authorities risk provoking "civil war" if they go ahead with plans to break up protest camps, as officials have threatened to do after the collapse of international mediation efforts.
To those Islamists, al Sissi is intent on wiping their faction off the nation's political map in a quest for absolute power. But a substantially larger share of Egyptians appears to ardently support the general, and many tout his name above all others in the search for a new leader.
Al Sissi, viewed as a pious Moslem, was supposed to be the Moslem Brüderbund's man running the military. Now his sunglass-clad face is venerated in Cairo's streets and his pictures pasted on the windows of minibuses and storefronts and clutched by men and women who wave Egyptian flags in Tahrir Square. For the most popular man in Egypt, the question is: Does he want to be the country's next president?
Al Sissi, 58, has been coy about his plans, saying in an interview with The Washington Post last week that he did not aspire to a higher office but declining to rule out a presidential bid. "When the people love you," he said, "this is the most important thing for me."
Egyptian officials say that al Sissi's commitment to returning the country to civilian-led democracy is genuine and that they do not think that he will run in elections, expected to be held next year.
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08/15/2013 00:00 ||
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[BBC.CO.UK] Nigeria's interior minister has said the army is making progress in the war against Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... Death Eaters, despite the killing of 44 people in a mosque.
Abba Moro dismissed the attack as "desperate" and "isolated".
"The security agencies of Nigeria have been able to push the Boko Haram sect from their major strongholds," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
Nigeria has declared an emergency in three states after thousands of deaths in Death Eater attacks in recent years.
Boko Haram is fighting to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria's mainly Mohammedan north.
The mosque attack happened during dawn prayers on Sunday, although news only emerged on Monday, as communications have been disrupted by the state of emergency.
It took place in the town of Konduga, 35km (22 miles) from the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, where Boko Haram was established in 2002, launching its first attack seven years later.
Twelve further non-combatants were killed at Ngom village, closer to Maiduguri, reports say.
Boko Haram has not commented on the mosque attack but news of it came as a video emerged of the group's leader, Abubakar Shekau, saying his followers had carried out recent attacks including some that targeted the police and the military.
He said this showed that the army's claims to have inflicted heavy losses on the group were "lies".
It is not clear why the mosque was targeted - one explanation is that members of a local vigilante group may have been praying there.
Several such groups have been set up since the emergency was declared in Borno and two neighbouring states in May.
Boko Haram frequently attacks churches but it has also occasionally targeted mosques and preachers disagree with their views.
The attackers wore military uniforms, officials say, which they may have taken during recent attacks on a barracks.
Map showing location of Maiduguri in Borno state, Nigeria
Following a lull immediately after the emergency was declared, there has been a recent spate of attacks, blamed on Boko Haram, which have left some 160 people dead.
But Mr Moro said these were the "desperate antics" of a group trying to show it was still relevant.
Thousands of extra soldiers have been sent to the region since the state of emergency was announced.
The military cut mobile phone networks when they imposed the state of emergency, saying they wanted to make it more difficult for the forces of Evil to organise attacks.
However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... some local officials have said this prevents civilians from getting help.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Abba Moro needs to make some advance-notice public appearances in the north without security protection. After all, Boko is no threat, right?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/15/2013 9:26 Comments ||
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Three more weapons from Fast and Furious have turned up at scene of the crimes in Mexico, CBS News has learned, as the toll from the controversial federal operation grows.
According to Justice Department tracing documents obtained by CBS News, all three guns are WASR-10 762-caliber Romanian rifles. Two were purchased by Fast and Furious suspect Uriel Patino in May and July of 2010. Sean Steward, who was convicted on gun charges in July 2012, purchased a third. The rifles were traced yesterday to the Lone Wolf gun shop in Glendale, Ariz.
#1
This commenter nailed it, and I suspect a similar program was undertaken in Benghazi. Different end game, same gun-running template:
UGottabeonsomething says: It's obvious this whole episode is being covered up for political reasons. The truth of it will come eventually but I believe that the people responsible are being protected. Holder was the front man, there was pressure on him to make this happen and it blew up in their face. We were never suppose to find out that the BATF allowed these guns to go through. It was done to make the common gun owner look like the bad guy and justify weapons bans.
#3
Two were purchased with DOJ knowledge and permission by Fast and Furious suspect Uriel Patino in May and July of 2010. Sean Steward, who was convicted on gun charges in July 2012, purchased a third.
should be added in every F&F article
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/15/2013 9:27 Comments ||
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[Ynet] US soldier Bradley Manning apologized on Wednesday for handing state secrets over to the WikiLeaks in the biggest breach of classified data in US history.
"I'm sorry I hurt people. I'm sorry that I hurt the United States," the 25-year-old Army private said. "I'm apologizing for the unexpected results of my actions. The last three years have been a learning experience for me."
"Consequences are real! And they hurt!!"
Manning faces up to 90 years in prison for providing more than 700,000 documents, to WikiLeaks, hurling the website and its founder, Julian Assange, into the world spotlight.
#8
StevE, my thoughts exactly. If all he wanted to do was to expose things he disapproved of, he could have just released those documents. That might have been bad enough. Instead, he released everything he could get his grubby little paws on, including diplomatic cables, names of people who helped the US, and on and on
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
08/15/2013 13:50 Comments ||
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#9
If he'd leaked while Bush was president he'd have all the democrats frothing in his defense. Bad timing Manning, exposing things while the One was in power.
#13
CF, and he'd had a fight with his boyfriend right before he did the deed. I mean, who wouldn't want to betray his country after an ordeal like that?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
08/15/2013 21:43 Comments ||
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#14
4:1 Obama imprisons him for life, but approves a sex change.
[Dawn] Despite threats by the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), the government has decided to carry out the execution of condemned prisoners and the death penalty for the first batch of faceless myrmidons belonging to outlawed groups will be implemented next week.
While the TTP has issued a 'warning' to the government to refrain from implementing the death penalties of its members, the interior minister says the new government is determined to establish the writ of law.
"There is a huge backlog of 450 cases and we are processing them as fast as we can," Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told Dawn.
"We will continue the process to implement the execution orders so that the law may take its course," he said.
The TTP had said in a letter addressed to the PML-N that both it and the 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.... should learn from the condition of the Awami National Party (ANP) after getting involved in a conflict with them.
An official of the interior ministry said the government had decided to deal with all cases of execution on a case-to-case basis and those related to terrorism were being selected.
Sources in the federal government said that three condemned prisoners were to be executed next week in the Sukkur Central Prison.
The three Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... faceless myrmidons are Attaullah, to be executed on Aug 20, Mohammad Azam on Aug 21 and Jalal on Aug 22.
Attaullah was awarded death sentence in six cases by an anti-terrorism court in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... on July 6, 2004, and Azam was sentenced to death in four cases by the same court.
Implementation of death penalties has been on hold in the country since 2008 when the former PPP government decided against it and a presidential order imposed a moratorium.
Soon after taking charge, the PML-N government decided that the condemned faceless myrmidons needed to be hanged so that their network could be abolished.
The moratorium on executions ended on June 30.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Prime Minister 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... on Wednesday vowed to defeat terrorist forces and turn Pakistain into a cradle of peace with the support and unity of the people and cooperation from the army and other vital security institutions.
"The whole nation is united. We are in high spirits and would give an absolute defeat to the bully boyz with the full cooperation of army and other national security institutions," the prime minister said while addressing the flag hoisting ceremony here at the Convention Center to mark the country's 67th Independence Day.
UN Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... also attended the ceremony on the special invitation of the prime minister.
Chairman Senate, Speaker National Assembly, Federal Ministers, members of the Parliament, diplomats and senior civil and military officers were among those who attended the special ceremony.
The prime minister said the government was fully cognizant of the people's concerns on the menace of terrorism and extremism, adding that the people also know that such challenges come in the history of nations and they fight these with unity and courage.
Prime Minister Sharif said Pakistain was a nuclear-weapon state and an important regional power, and any decision about the region cannot be taken without the country's involvement.
Later, during a joint news conference with Ban Ki-moon, Prime Minister Sharif pledged to respond to rising tensions in disputed Kashmire with "restraint and responsibility".
The prime minister said it was vital to defuse the recent escalation of tension in the Himalayan territory.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
What I want to know is can India bite off a big piece of Pakistan and hold it for a very long time to insure Pakistan which has the cheesiest soldiers in the entire world, remembers just what Limburger tastes like?
India can fight. Pakistain is Baghdad Bob down to its smelly socks.
[Dawn] As Al Qaeda marks its 25th anniversary this month, analysts say the recent security threat in Yemen shows the organization's centre of gravity is shifting away from its base in Pakistain.
US President Barack Obama We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us... has cautioned that affiliates such as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a unit of the bad boy group that effectively controls parts of Yemen, still pose a threat despite successful efforts to disrupt the organization's core leadership.
His warning came after the United States closed 19 diplomatic missions in the Middle East and Africa last week after reported intelligence intercepts from Al Qaeda suggested an attack was imminent.
Reports indicated the intercepts involved some kind of group communication between Al Qaeda supremo Ayman al-Zawahiri ... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is... , and AQAP leader Nasser al-Wuhayshi.
Zawahiri assumed Al-Qaeda leadership when the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now sometimes referred to as Mister Bones... was killed in a US special forces raid in Pakistain in 2011 and the 62-year-old Egyptian is believed to be hiding in the border region with Afghanistan.
Rahimullah Yusufzai, an expert on Islamist groups in Pakistain, said that while the traditional core leadership of Al-Qaeda -- which was was founded in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. , northwest Pakistain, in 1988, still retains symbolic importance, its operational centre of gravity has moved.
"In terms of strength, of power, of effectiveness, we can say it has shifted," he told AFP. "It is no longer Pakistain or Afganistan, so most of the fighters, most of the affiliates, are not in Pakistain and Afghanistan. By and large, the plans are not coming from Zawahiri."
Zawahiri, who has a $25 million US government bounty on him, lacks the charisma of bin Laden but has long been seen as the brains of Al Qaeda.
Pak author and security analyst Imtiaz Gul said that while Al Qaeda's operational leadership had spread into regional franchises, Zawahiri remained an "inspirational force."
"They don't need someone as charismatic as Osama bin Laden was and they have I think ideological ammunition, ideological fuel which is helping them stay afloat," he told AFP.
The recent revelation of an ambitious plot in Yemen to seize control of two cities, as well as an oil export terminal, showed AQAP to be highly motivated, and Wuhayshi is believed to have been promoted to second in command of the global organization behind Zawahiri.
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, in Washington, said Wuhayshi's promotion indicated Al Qaeda was broadening the 'core' leadership as AQAP grew in expertise.
"When we talk about Al-Qaeda core there's no reason it can only exist in Afghanistan-Pakistain, Wuhayshi being made the general manager, that very clearly makes him part of the core," Gartenstein-Ross told AFP.
"We see a geographic shift towards Yemen but that's not necessarily a shift to AQAP and away from the core, the way I see it, the core is expanding."
Al Qaeda was established when the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan, to unite disparate groups of fighters who had come to battle the occupation, with the aim of taking the jihad to a bigger, more global scale, attacking targets around the world.
But Al Qaeda franchises across the Middle East and north Africa have been increasingly active in recent years and Yemen's geographical location makes it a more convenient base than Pakistain or Afghanistan for communicating with these groups, Gartenstein-Ross noted.
Washington has been keen to trumpet its successes against Al Qaeda's central leadership, pointing to the bin Laden raid and commanders killed in the long-running US drone campaign in northwest Pakistain and more recently Yemen.
But a recent report by Canadian intelligence gave a more cautious assessment, pointing out Al Qaeda leadership's resilience and adaptability in surviving for a quarter of a century in the face of a concerted onslaught.
The report also warned the withdrawal of US-led forces from Afghanistan next year, coupled with the Pak authorities' apparent inability or unwillingness to crack down on the organization, could give it the cross-border physical sanctuaries it needs to survive.
Saifullah Khan Mehsud of Islamabad's FATA Research Center, an expert on Pakistain's tribal belt along the Afghan border that has been an important haven for Islamist forces of Evil since the 1980s, agreed.
"If Afghanistan is able to come to a common platform, if they agree with each other to have a common political vision for the country in some kind of alliance between different groups, then it will be very difficult for Al-Qaeda to find sanctuaries there," he said.
"But if there is civil war Al Qaeda will be in a better position to find sanctuary there."The Taliban, which sheltered bin Laden until the US-led invasion in the wake of 9/11, has said it will not let Afghan territory be used to attack other countries.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
As per DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS = IDRW.org, pre-2014 Pakistan may become increasingly destabilized, NOT less, widin the next six months iff the SINO-PAK "ECONOMIC CORRIDOR" [e.g. PIPELINES] to the sea becomes a reality, espec since many parts of same is to go through BALOCHISTAN.
Essen the Muslim penchant for desiring or taking overwhelming control of important regional or international economic centres or activities at all cost, includ vee terror + insurgency.
* FYI also from DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > NO, PAKISTAN WILL NOT SELL SAUDI ARABIA NUKES.
* SAME > BREAKING: IRAN SEIZES INDIAN SHIP/VESSEL CARRYING OIL FROM IRAQ - THE TIMES OF INDIA.
[Dawn] Deadly violence over the last week along the disputed Kashmire border between Pakistain and India threatens to sabotage recent efforts by the nuclear-armed rivals to improve ties, illustrating how vulnerable the normalization process is to spoilers from both sides.
The most dangerous of these potential spoilers are Islamic Death Eaters who have historically been nurtured by the Pak military to fight a covert war over Kashmire and may feel threatened by any indication the government is cozying up to India.
The Mighty Pak Army and its bully boy proxies have a history of using violence to sabotage outreach to India by civilian leaders, and suspicion about the generals' intentions still runs high in New Delhi.
But many Pak analysts believe the army's leaders have little interest in rocking the boat now, raising the worrying possibility that the recent violence was sparked by Death Eaters who have gone rogue or are operating in cooperation with lower level military officials sympathetic to their cause.
''This has really pulled the rug from under the feet of 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 Manmohan Singh,'' the prime ministers of Pakistain and India, said Moeed Yusuf, a Pakistain expert at the United States Institute of Peace. Both leaders have expressed a desire to improve ties, especially to increase cross-border trade.
The US is likely watching the current tension closely, both because of the nuclear arms on both sides and the spillover effect that conflict between the two countries has in neighboring Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed Wednesday that security forces will keep up a campaign of mass arrests and targeting of bad boy camps to counter Iraq's worst outbreak of violence since 2008.
He said more than 800 alleged forces of Evil tossed in the clink Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! '>were tossed into the calaboose and dozens of others killed in multiple operations, the latest announcement by authorities of efforts to tackle spiraling violence that has left more than 3,400 dead since the start of 2013.
"The operation that we started in chasing terrorists, and those who stand behind them, will continue until we protect our people," the premier said in remarks broadcast on state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
He said security forces had destroyed bad boy infrastructure used to make boom-mobiles and seized a large amount of weaponry and explosive materiel.
The premier did not, however, specify when the arrests were made, where the operations took place, or who had carried them out.
Security forces have for weeks been carrying out wide-ranging operations in the Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... area and north and west of the capital after brazen July jailbreaks claimed by an al-Qaeda front group.
Hundreds of inmates were freed, among them some said to be senior bad boys.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Hizbullah "lamented" on Wednesday the kidnapping of the Turkish pilot and copilot, noting that efforts are exerted to release the kidnapped Turks and the Lebanese pilgrims.
"Hizbullah condemns the kidnapping of the two Turkish pilots and all abductions of civilians," the party's MP Mohammed Raad said after meeting with Turkey's ambassador to Leb Inan Ozyildiz.
He added: "The party is keen on reaching a good ending that solves the problem of the pilots and of the Lebanese pilgrims and we are working with the state's institutions towards achieving for this purpose."
Meanwhile, ...back at the shouting match, the spittle had reached unprecedented levels... Ozyildiz confirmed that Turkish authorities are also working towards freeing the Lebanese pilgrims.
A Turkish pilot and co-pilot were kidnapped by gunnies in Beirut on Friday.
The relatives of Lebanese pilgrims held in Syria's Aazaz region were quick to deny having any links to the abduction, but one of the relatives, Mohammed Saleh, was placed in durance vile Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! on Sunday over links to the incident.
The families of the pilgrims have repeatedly accused Turkey of being responsible for the release of their loved ones, warning that they will target Turkish interests in Leb in order to pressure Ankara to resolve the case.
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08/15/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah Wednesday claimed last week's Labbouneh blasts that maimed four Israeli soldiers, saying his party "will face" any further border violations by the Jewish state.
"We had prior information that the Israelis were going to pass through this zone. Bombs were placed there and when they came that night, they were detonated," Nasrallah told Beirut-based satellite television station al-Mayadeen.
He explained: "What happened in (the southern town of) Labbouneh took place under the sight to the resistance's fighters and we already knew Israelis would cross into Lebanese territories and thus, we have planted bombs there."
"It is a newly planted bomb and not an Israeli remnant of the July 2006 war. The incidence was an intended operation and did not happen by coincidence. We took the decision to target Israelis in Labbouneh because the border is under the control of the Lebanese army and the state."
The Lebanese army said last week that a group of Israeli soldiers crossed the border into the southern area of Labbouneh near Naqoura and were maimed in an kaboom which reports have said was caused by a landmine.
The communique said the Israeli troops reached as far as 400 meters inside Leb.
Nasrallah said the Israeli troops' advancement into Leb is "a clear violation."
The Hizbullah chief also vowed to "confront any further violations of Leb's illusory sovereignty."
"We will not accept Israeli violations of our territory," Nasrallah warned. "As soon as we know that the Israelis have entered Lebanese territory, the party will face (them) in timely fashion."
"No official texts say we do not have the right to confront anyone that violates our land. We have the right not to stay silent after violations and these are violations with goals."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Al Ahram] US Secretary of State 
[Dawn] Prime Minister 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
Zawahiri
Nawaz Sharif
