Four Egyptian rights groups denounced the military trials of civilians accused of attacking soldiers on Monday, saying the army had convicted more than 60 people since president Mohammed Mursi's ouster. The NGOs urged interim president Adly Mansour, who was appointed by the army following Mursi's removal, to "immediately amend the law in order to prohibit trials of civilians by military tribunals".
It's safe for NGOs to pop up in Cairo now. It wasn't so safe for them when Mursi was in charge. They don't seem to get that...
The respected Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, the "No to military trials of civilians" campaign launched in 2011 after the fall of Hosni Mubarak, and two other groups also demanded a new trial for 52 Islamists sentenced by the military last week to prison terms.
On Tuesday, a military court handed down a life sentence to a Muslim Brotherhood member and sentenced 51 more to jail for attacking soldiers in the city of Suez. It delivered the verdict after just three hearings.
How many hearings did they need?
The verdict came exactly two months after the July 3 ouster of Mursi, who has been held at an unknown location ever since.
On Tuesday, Mansour in a television interview said that "no civilian was recently tried by a military tribunal".
But local NGOs say there have been at least two military trials, with a total of 10 civilians sentenced to two years in prison in separate hearings for carrying out attacks on troops on July 24.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/10/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#2
...of course, they're Christians. The oligarchs of the West have no use for them even in their own domains other than, like the Muslims, to fleece them of their labor and resources.
[MAGHAREBIA] Algerian security services gave their Tunisian counterparts a list of terror suspects without criminal records who may attempt to enter the country as Eid al-Adha tourists, Tunisie Numerique reported on Monday (September 9th).
Security services are reportedly concerned about possible attacks in Tunisia on September 11th.
The alert followed the recent discovery of a letter from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) chief Abdelmalik Droukdel ... aka Abdel Wadoud, was a regional leader of the GSPC for several years before becoming the group's supremo in 2004 following the death of then-leader Nabil Sahraoui. Under Abdel Wadoud's leadership the GSPC has sought to develop itself from a largely domestic entity into a larger player on the international terror stage. In September 2006 it was announced that the GSPC had joined forces with al-Qaeda and in January 2007 the group officially changed its name to the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb.... , who called for attacks on Tunisian cities to reduce pressure on the jihadists holed up in Jebel Chaambi.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
[MAGHAREBIA] Benghazi's Joint Security Room seeks to secure the city and put an end to liquidations but it complains about a lack of capabilities.
Magharebia sat down with former spokesperson Mohamed al-Hijazi and asked him about who was behind the series of liquidations as well as the obstacles impeding the work of security forces.
Magharebia: How do you assess the security situation in Benghazi?
Mohamed Al-Hijazi: The situation is dangerous and this is known to everyone. I call it a security swamp. Had it been security deterioration, there would have been some sort of a fix for it.
Magharebia: What is the reason for that?
Al-Hijazi: The total failure of government and General National Congress (GNC), who are the decision makers, to support security, police and military units, especially the Security Room.
We've been put in front and the necessary support has been blocked. Even the money budgeted for the room is not enough for it to work at this serious security situation. If you want to destroy a security official, just put him in the forefront and deny him the required support. This is exactly what happened to us.
Magharebia: Benghazi has seen more than 50 liquidations. Who's responsible?
Al-Hijazi: There have been 68 liquidations, especially of army commanders and those who took part in the revolution. I accuse the obscurantist, misguided 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... ist groups, who are the Kharijites of this era and who accuse the state's legitimate institutions, such as the police and army, of kufr. This is clear to Libyans.
Magharebia: Where are those groups based?
Al-Hijazi: They have several locations; they change their strategy and whereabouts, but the places where they carry out their liquidations and kidnappings are known, such as suburbs and areas remote from Benghazi.
Magharebia: The Security Room has enjugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! some suspects. What are the results of the investigations?
Al-Hijazi: Some defendants were referred to the attorney-general in Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... or other competent authorities, while some are still at prison. There is sensitive security information that is not published. There are some defendants and criminals in prisons, but we're waiting for the completion of investigations to show what can be shown to the media and news agencies.
Magharebia: Why did you resign as Security Room spokesperson?
Al-Hijazi: I didn't resign, but I was dismissed and I was the last to know it because I called a spade a spade and I used the word killers for killers. However, those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... the lobbies that control Tripoli and the country don't want anyone who says the word of truth. I'm satisfied with what I have done and I still work as an unknown soldier.
Magharebia: Has the Joint Security Room failed in securing Benghazi?
Al-Hijazi: No, it hasn't failed, but it's been put in a serious situation. This is what happens when a security or military agency is put in a serious, extraordinary situation like Benghazi and is denied support, equipment and supplies, in which case it becomes like a rifle without ammunition.
We didn't fail; rather, there had been success at the start when the room was first created with personal efforts. Military personnel donated their own salaries to provide meals because salaries used to come two or three months late. How can a soldier be asked to work while he's been challenged in his own livelihood?
Nonetheless, we've made major security achievements, and if there had been support from the incapable government and GNC, the achievements would have been bigger. Those who failed are those decision-makers who were unable to support security agencies.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Salafists
North Korea on Friday denied any involvement in an alleged sedition plot by United Progressive Party lawmaker Lee Seok-ki. Lee was arrested by the National Intelligence Service a day earlier on charges of plotting a pro-North Korean rebellion.
The North's Committee for the Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland said, "The NIS and conservative forces are concocting a scheme to falsely accuse UPP members of treason and to link it" with Pyongyang.
"It is a fabrication deliberately planned by those who do not want inter-Korean relations to improve and tensions to ease," the committee added.
"Lies! All lies!"
Pyongyang accused Seoul of instigating a "witch hunt" to overcome what it claimed a "crisis" in leadership.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/10/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Commies
#3
Is he an asshole? He was brought up in regime which has existed for many years. It is all he knows. He probably believes the propaganda too.
Like his father, he was schooled in Switzerland, BernardZ. He had a chance to see other, more effective ways of life. His father's elder brother, after all, chose to ensure he was taken out of the line of succession -- now living a fairly quiet life in Macau on a pension rather than take the reins of that horror that is North Korea.
[An Nahar] Kurdish rebels have halted their pullout of Turkey, accusing Ankara of breaking its part of a ceasefire deal, but vowed to respect a truce, a pro-Kurdish news agency reported on Monday.
Under a roadmap to end the three-decade-old insurgency, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) began in May withdrawing its fighters from Turkey to safe havens in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region.
No deadline was set for the withdrawal, but a ceasefire agreement reached in March said that the grinding of the peace processor cannot proceed further until it is completed.
In a statement cited by Firat News, the PKK armed movement said "the Turkish government's attitude of not progressing on the Kurdish question was behind this situation," but vowed to respect the ceasefire with Turkish forces.
"The withdrawal of fighters has been stopped," said the statement from the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by both Ankara and its Western allies.
"The truce will be maintained... to allow the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government to begin initiatives supporting the (peace) plan" of Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned PKK leader, it said.
In the statement, the PKK accused the government of failing to adopt in parliament a package of democratic reforms designed to reinforce the rights of Turkey's Kurdish minority, believed to number up to 15 million people.
In return for withdrawing its estimated 2,500 fighters in Turkey, the PKK is demanding amendments to the penal code and electoral laws as well as the right to education in the Kurdish language and a form of regional autonomy.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under:
"We welcome the 'Bikers Benghazi Brigade'
with Open Arms to join our Justice for
Benghazi Rally as we already have a permit."
-- Mitchell Mason, Rally Organizer ....popcorn please....
#1
I doubt there will actually be 2 million bikers. I know there won't be one million Muslims, though.
Unfortunately, I have to drive up past DC tomorrow. The real nightmare will be coming home on I-95. I think I'll tell my wife not to expect me home until very late.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
09/10/2013 16:06 Comments ||
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[DailyBeast] The NYPD is fighting off harsh criticism of its intelligence division in the new book 'Enemies Within.' The division's head talks to Michael Daly--and an officer tells his extraordinary story of living among jihadis.
Key graph:
He was then ready to join part of a larger intelligence and counterterrorism effort that Commissioner Raymond Kelly had initiated in the aftermath of 9/11. The NYPD had learned that it could not count on the federal government to protect the city of New York.
That long and unnerving lesson had begun after the liquidation of Rabbi Meir Kahane of the Jewish Defense League in the ballroom of a Manhattan hotel in 1990. City detectives afterward seized two file cabinets from the Brooklyn apartment of a prime suspect. The detectives transported the evidence to their squad room and stepped out for dinner. They returned to discover that the FBI had taken the cabinets before they could study what was inside. The contents included drawings of the World Trade Center and a paper bearing the words "al Qaeda."
But the FBI did not get around to translating the stuff in the files until after the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, during Kelly's first tenure as police commissioner. The bombers included at least one of the conspirators in the Kahane killing and several other forces of Evil long known to the FBI. An informant had alerted the FBI that these individuals were in the midst of a major bomb plot. There is some speculation that the bombing was carried out with a timing device supplied by the informant. There is no disputing that an FBI supervisor ordered the agents to break off contact with the informant shortly before the bomb was readied.
"And then oops! It went off," the informant afterward told an agent.
When the towers were attacked again eight years later, city cops were struck not by how much the FBI had known but how little, despite receiving a number of significant leads. Kelly began his second tenure as police commissioner three months after 9/11, and he was understandably reluctant to place his city's fate in the hands of the FBI, even though city detectives had long been embedded with federal agents in a Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Kelly decided the NYPD needed its own intelligence and counterterrorism capability. And to that end he telephoned David Cohen, who had retired after 35 years with the CIA, at one point serving as the agency's bigwig in New York and at another as its deputy director for operations. Kelly now invited Cohen to become the NYPD's deputy commissioner for intelligence.
#1
We hate Syria/Iran but arent Saudi/Qatar/UAE just as bad if not worse re funding jihadi terrorists?
Posted by: Paul D ||
09/10/2013 9:50 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Wait a few years until shale oil pumping really gets going, Paul D. We cannot crash the world into an unprecedented depression by cutting off the number one energy supplier. This has been the case all along.
Just grown sick of the intolerant bastards that the gulf states continue to fund.
Posted by: Paul D ||
09/10/2013 16:22 Comments ||
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#4
We all agree with you -- except FreedomFighter, anyway -- but we mustn't kill the patient to rid his body of the disease. Why don't you go argue with him for a bit, bringing your experience in far-flung corners of the world to bear?
[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 Monday urged all political forces in Pakistain to shun politicking on issues of national importance such as terrorism and the energy crisis, and to join hands to address them unanimously.
Sharif was chairing the All Parties Conference (APC) aimed at evolving consensus on a counter-terrorism strategy as well as a plan to cope with the law and order situation of 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... "We have to rise above politics on some issues and develop a national consensus for the sake of this country," the prime minister told the politicians.
Nawaz Sharif said a solution to address the problem of terrorism and extremism would be sorted out with consensus after thorough deliberations with the participants.
The fight against militancy has resulted in the loss of lives of thousands of innocent civilians and military troops, said Sharif. It also caused major financial setbacks as the businessmen were reluctant to invest in the economy, he added.
Sharif said he considered dialogue as the priority option to curb terrorism.
The prime minister said it was a test for democracy to deliver results in shape of peace and a strong economy. "If we will continue to take decisions with consensus, the people will have greater trust in democracy."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Dawn] The outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) has welcomed the All Parties Conference's (APC) decision of holding peace talks with the terrorists.
TTP front man Shahidaullah Shahid said that a suitable reply to this offer will be given after a meeting of the Majlis-e-Shura.
He said that the TTP welcomes the APC initiative, however, "it will not overshadow our goals".
In August, Information Minister Pervez Rashid had told Dawn that the government was in secret talks with the Taliban.
"We have to rid the country of the menace of terrorism for which all options would be utilised," Rashid was quoted as saying.
Shahidaullah Shahid had responded to that statement by Rashid with a denial of any such talks being held.
"I categorically deny the holding of peace talks on any level between the Taliban and Pak government," Shahid said.
The reports of peace talks emerged almost two weeks after 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... made an offer to the forces of Evil in his first televised address to the nation since taking office after winning elections in May.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: TTP
[Dawn] Pakistain's top politicians, who had huddled together in Islamabad on Monday for an All Parties Conference (APC) on how to tackle growing terrorism, agreed on initiating peace talks with "all stakeholders".
The APC, chaired by 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... and attended by the Army and intelligence chiefs as well as leaders of all major political parties, concluded after adopting a consensus resolution to overcome the 'national security crisis' besetting Pakistain.
Click here to read full text of the resolution.
After being briefed by the prime minister, the chief of Army Staff and the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) on the internal and regional security situation in the country, members called upon the federal government to "initiate dialogue with all stakeholders," and authorised it "to take all necessary steps, including development of an appropriate mechanism and identification of interlocutors."
Leaders also observed that previous resolutions passed by Parliament emphasised on "the imperative need to review our national security strategy, in the context of an independent foreign policy, with focus on peace and reconciliation, and to attach the highest priority to dialogue."
The APC also agreed that the "illegal and immoral drone attacks" carried out by the United States and "the blow-back form actions of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... /ISAF forces in Afghanistan" are detrimental to peace in Pakistain.
"We declare that we shall ourselves determine the means and mode of fighting this war in our national interest and shall not be guided by the United States of America or any other country in this regard," it said.
The resolution asked the government to "consider the possibility of taking the drone issue to the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... as drone attacks are a violation of international law."
"The illusory sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistain are paramount and must be safe-guarded at all costs," said the joint resolution. "We reaffirm our complete trust and confidence in our valiant Armed Forces and assure them of our full solidarity and support in overcoming any challenge to our national security or threat to our national interests."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Jpost] Interior minister says school would be part of police academy and will "benefit the society in civilian...affairs."
Such suffering they experience in that tiny walled enclave on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
Hamas is planning to open a naval academy soon in the Gaza Strip, Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hammad announced on Sunday.
He said that the new institution, which would be part of the police academy, would be an "extension of all marine sciences which benefit the society in civilian and other affairs."
This is the first time that Hamas has talked about opening a naval academy in the Gaza Strip. Before the Islamist party seized control over the coastal enclave in 2007, the Palestinian Authority had a small police force in the area.
The Palestinians do not have their own naval force or warships. Israel maintains a naval blockade that extends six nautical miles (11.1 km.) into the Mediterranean for security concerns. Recently, Egyptian forces shot at and wounded two Palestinian fisherman and detained five others, an example of a breakdown of ties between Hamas and the military government of Cairo following the ousting of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
Hammad said that Hamas is also planning to build a large prison on a 14 hectare-area in the Gaza Strip. He said the new prison would include rehabilitation and correction centers, as well as various agricultural projects. The Hamas official said that his ministry would pave the way for inmates to work inside and outside the new prison.
"Our goal is to rehabilitate and correct all inmates so that they would become constructive, rather than destructive, tools for our society," he explained.
#4
I am the sultan of the sea,
I rule the al-Qassam Navee,
Who will prey on Joos from leaky boats.
And we are his brothers and his cousins and his goats!
And we are his brothers and his cousins and his goats!
And they are his brothers and his cousins and his goats!
I spend my time in Gaza port,
The Islamist seaside resort,
Where I sun-bathe wearing frilly petticoats.
And so do his brothers and his cousins and his goats!
And so do his brothers and his cousins and his goats!
But when the fleet sets sail,
I am to smart to brave the gale,
But I'll entertain the press with salty anecdotes.
And so will his brothers and his cousins and his goats!
And so will his brothers and his cousins and his goats!
Diplomatic repercussions,
And the ongoing discussions,
With his goats!
[An Nahar] U.N. leader the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... on Monday called for the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons in internationally supervised safe zones.
Ban told news hounds he may propose the zones to the U.N. Security Council if U.N. inspectors confirm the use of the banned weapons. He said it would also be a bid to overcome the 15-nation council's "embarrassing paralysis" over the Syria conflict.
"I am considering urging the Security Council to demand the immediate transfer of Syria's chemical weapons and chemical precursor stocks to places inside Syria where they can be safely stored and destroyed," Ban said.
His announcement came after Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged Syria to place its chemical weapons under international supervision to head off the threat of a western military strike.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[An Nahar] U.S. 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... was under fire Monday for saying that a proposed U.S. military strike on Syria would be "unbelievably small."
The comment came as Kerry ended a whirlwind diplomatic offensive in Europe aimed at whipping up support abroad for U.S. military action against the Damascus regime, accused of using chemical weapons against its people.
"We're not going to war. We will not have people at risk in that way," Kerry told a news conference in London after talks with British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
Washington has been trying to convince its allies that Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... must be held accountable for his alleged use of chemical arms in an August 21 attack near Damascus.
Kerry offered assurances that any U.S. action would be "a very limited, very targeted, very short-term effort that degrades his capacity to deliver chemical weapons without assuming responsibility for Syria's civil war."
"That is exactly what we're talking about doing -- unbelievably small, limited kind of effort," he said in London.
But U.S. politicians, who are due to begin voting this week on whether to give President Barack Obama I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody... a green light to launch such strikes, lambasted his comments.
Influential Republican Senator John Maverick McCain ... the Senator-for-Life from Arizona, former presidential candidate and even more former foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution... , a long-time friend of Kerry's who has backed the B.O. regime's plan, called the comment "unbelievably unhelpful" in a message on his Twitter account.
McCain has been trying to rally Republican support around the plan, with the White House facing an uphill battle to get it through Congress, particularly the House of Representatives.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, who also strongly favors a strike on Syria, said of Kerry's comments: "I don't understand what he means by that."
"That's a very confusing message -- certainly a confusing message to me that he would offer that as somebody who believes this is in our national security interest," he told MSNBC.
Deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said, however, that Kerry was just trying to allay fears that the United States was preparing for major action.
"Secretary Kerry was merely responding to any fears of a massive military operation with boots on the ground like in Iraq or Afghanistan," Harf said in an email to Agence La Belle France Presse.
"He has affirmed again and again that when the United States military takes action, the Assad regime will feel it. The U.S. military doesn't do pin-pricks, but the Secretary was making clear that a military action can be both tailored and limited."
Kerry was likely to be quizzed about his comments late Monday when he was due to appear at a classified House briefing right after arriving back in Washington from London.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2013 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
What he said was so unbelievable, I don't believe it.
#9
I believe Stan ("Stanley" for purists) was selected for (2) reasons: 1. A general "why the long face" resemblance; and 2. The comical (in a tragic way) Mr. Kerry comports himself in the stumbling, bumbling manner.
All that is missing is a Presidential statement of "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!"....
[An Nahar] Military Investigative Judge Fadi Sawwan on Monday interrogated the members of the so-called Ballouneh cell, who had been tossed in the slammer Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! on charges of firing rockets on Baabda.
The state-run National News Agency identified the Syrian suspects as Mohammed Abdul Jabbar Abdul Karim al-Debs, aka Abi Osama, Mohammed Ismail, Ammar Ismail, Mohammed al-Mdawwar and "Hisham." It identified the Lebanese detainees as Mohammed al-Takwir and Bassam al-Kaaki.
The agency said Debs confessed to "firing the rockets from Ballouneh and four rockets from Aramoun and disclosed all the details of the operations."
"Debs confronted his co-defendants with the details of their deeds during an interrogation conducted by Sawwan," NNA added.
The judge issued arrest warrants for the seven suspects on terror- and weapon-related charges.
He also received a new lawsuit in the case, containing the name of Jamal Ismail, the father of the incarcerated Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! suspects Mohammed and Ammar. Sawwan set Thursday as a date for interrogating him.
On August 30, State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr ordered the detention of suspects allegedly involved in the cases of firing rockets from Ballouneh on Baabda and from the South towards Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2013 00:00 ||
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[CNN] A new possibility for a diplomatic solution in Syria surfaced unexpectedly Monday as the war-torn country said it supported a proposal to hand over control of its chemical weapons.
But a key question loomed: Is that a viable option or simply a stall tactic as Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's Terror of Aleppo ... government tries to stave off U.S. military action?
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem told news hounds in Moscow that his nation "welcomes" a proposal by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during talks on Monday: put Syria's chemical weapons under international control to avert a U.S. military response over an alleged poison gas attack last month.
"I declare that the Syrian Arab Republic welcomes Russia's initiative, on the basis that the Syrian leadership cares about the lives of our citizens and the security in our country," Moallem said. "We are also confident in the wisdom of the Russian government, which is trying to prevent an American aggression against our people."
The comments came after 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... discussed a similar scenario, though the State Department stressed later Monday that Syrian President Bashir al-Assad could not be trusted to relinquish his country's chemical stockpiles.
White House front man Jay Carney said the "credible threat" of a U.S. military attack on Syria led to the Russian proposal, but he said any such plan would require close evaluation and that Washington remained "highly skeptical" of the Syrian regime.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Assad seems able to survive in power without chemical weapons, so as long as the resistance can be supplied well enough to survive too, this could allow a LONG civil war. Who knows, maybe one that could even spread to Iran.
#2
By most accounts, Baby Assad is seemingly wilLing only to publicly reveal the extent, numbers, + major locations of its ChemWeapons arsenal, NOT TO GIVE THEM UP.
Which, again, IMO Assad likely isn't going to unilaterally surrender 'em unless he gets offsets in new arms + $$$ from Russia + Iran [China?] = international community.
See BELOW ...
* FREEREPUBLIC > "PUTIN SHIPPING MORE ARMS TO ASSAD TO CRUSH REBELS".
[Jpost] "Nobody asks permission to kill. We do not ask permission to save lives," says NGO's founder.
The mission of the nonprofit organization, which has been operating since the early 2000s, is to provide lifesaving aid to communities affected by natural disasters or human conflicts, exclusively in countries that lack diplomatic relations with Israel and places where the regime prevents the entry of conventional international humanitarian organizations.
Due to the sensitive nature of the group's activity, which takes place under the radar in order to protect the lives of team members and local contacts, the organization will remain unnamed in this article.
"Nobody asks permission to kill. We do not ask permission to save lives," the founder of the organization, who will be referred to as Yael, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
"We don't care about political agendas," she added. "We don't work for anybody, just for our conscience."
The NGO, Yael explained, is made up of some 1,200 Israelis who "love their homeland and have all completed military service."
The volunteers, who come from a variety of professional backgrounds, contribute to the operations in four fields: medical, post-trauma care, mass feeding and rescue.
"We don't come to replace the State of Israel," she said.
"The State of Israel is helping significantly in places where it can.
We want to focus on countries that do not receive the official Israeli help. What we do is assistance from citizen to citizen."
In light of the situation in Syria, the volunteers have been working in full cooperation with democratic secular Syrian groups that have significant presence on the ground and deliver the organization's aid to specific places according to an agreed-on distribution map.
"We started operating about three weeks following the start of the crisis, even though back then we didn't know the extent of the catastrophe yet," Yael told the Post.
Through its activity, which is titled the "IL 4 Syrians" project, the organization has delivered hundreds of tons of basic food; sanitation items including soap, toothbrushes, women sanitation kits, toilet paper and tissues; vital refugee items such as insulating material, mattresses, blankets, iron sheets to build housing units and water canteens; and 300,000 dry meals, each meant to feed five people for a week.
The NGO also delivers emergency medical aid such as medication, surgical supplies and field surgery tents, designed to provide as sterile as possible an environment to perform operations.
In addition, the Israeli team has provided post-trauma care for children and women, and trained teenage boys to use digital cameras and satellite transmitters to "take shots that the media will want to see," while teaching them to remain untraceable and out of danger.
"We believe that if the US strike takes place, Assad will use more chemical weapons," Yael said. "We are currently fund-raising to purchase some 3,000 special protection kits for Syrian medical teams who work in field hospitals and clinics in 14 different towns in Syria."
While it operates undercover, the organization has encountered many challenges due to the difficult situation on the ground.
"The Moslem Brüderbund there has been distributing aid at mosques, but there are some people who for certain reasons are not permitted to enter a mosque," Yael explained. "The problem is that the Moslem Brüderbund is fighting anybody who tries to distribute aid in other ways. Some of the members of those Syrian democratic groups that we are in touch with got kidnapped and beat up for that."
Yael added that according to her sources on the ground, the Assad regime has been cutting supplies of water in regions affected by the use of chemical weapons. Water is essential for people in those areas in order to rinse their bodies from the chemicals, she said.
Since it was founded, the organization has carried out undercover humanitarian activities in dozens of countries including Sudan, Pakistain, Myanmar (Burma), Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Iraq.
"It's really hard to get funds," Yael said. "You can't fundraise without people knowing exactly what you're doing. It's a challenge to get funders, Jewish funders, who are interested in Syria, agree to give up credit and remain anonymous, and who are not scared to give us money knowing that something may happen to us."
Fear is an undeniable part of the experience for all of the volunteers, Yael said.
"We are all parents, we all have families and we all understand the consequences if we ever get in trouble," she told the Post. "There is no smart way to deal with fear. But the choice to do this, to feel that you are in the right place at the right time and that you are helping make a significant change, is so rewarding.
"I think that for most of my volunteers, what they fear more than death is indifference," she said.
"The belief that indifference kills is stronger than any fear."
#4
Israel has done things like this for decades. Treating terrorists who would like nothing better than the blow up the hospital they are being treated in (with the doctor who's treating him inside).
Yael explained. "The problem is that the Moslem Brüderbund is fighting anybody who tries to distribute aid in other ways.
That is because they (MB) are not doing out out of sense of charity or compassion.
It's the difference between Israel and their enemies. Judge a tree by it's fruit.
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.
[Dawn] Prime Minister 
Nawaz Sharif
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
[An Nahar] U.S. Secretary of State 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
John 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
