[Tolo News] A number of Afghan politicians on Monday spoke out against the recent announcement of a "Friendship & Cooperation Pact" to be signed between Kabul. The representatives were fearful that closer ties with Afghanistan's western neighbor could come at the expense of relations with the U.S.
President Karzai left Kabul for Tehran earlier this week and held discussions with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani. The two leaders agreed on signing an agreement that would expand relations between the two nations for regional peace and stability and to further economic ties.
The announcement comes at a time tensions between the Presidential Palace in Kabul and the White House in Washington are at an all time high, with the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) hanging in the balance.
Lawmakers on Monday emphasized that given the ongoing threats to Afghanistan, especially with the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... combat mission ending in December of 2014, the country needs a powerful ally that could help meet the needs of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Police (ANP).
The Kabul-Washington security pact was approved by a Loya Jirga a couple weeks ago, and entails the assurance of some 10,000 U.S. troops as part of a residual force to stay behind to train, advise and assist the Afghan forces post-2014 as well as some 4.1 billion USD in military aid.
Despite recent negotiation overtures, Iran and the U.S. remain largely at odds, which is why Afghan officials fear getting closer to Tehran just as relations with Washington hit a rough patch is a dangerous game to play.
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[Tolo News] The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... on a visit to Tehran this week that the foreign forces in Afghanistan posed a "threat for Iran and the region."
The Iranian President's comments come just as negotiations over a security pact between Kabul and Washington have hit a rough patch, making the potential of a complete severing of military ties between the U.S. and Afghanistan after the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... combat mission ends in 2014 a real possibility.
"Iran is opposed to the presence of any foreign force in the region, the Middle East, the Persian Gulf and particularly the Islamic country of Afghanistan," Rouhani told Karzai on Sunday.
"They should all leave and leave the security of Afghanistan to its own people."
President Karzai met with Iranian leaders to discuss economic, political and security relations between their countries. The two Presidents agreed to sign a "Friendship and Cooperation Pact" soon.
For months Washington and its allies have urged Karzai to sign the BSA, which would establish the legal conditions for the U.S. and other NATO troops to remain in Afghanistan past 2014 to train, advise and assist local security forces and fight Al-Qaeda.
The accord would be expected to pave the way for some 10,000 America soldiers to stay, and would secure some 4.1 billion USD in military aid for Afghanistan.
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[Shabelle] Aid agencies paid Somalia's al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... bully boyz for access to areas under their control in the 2011 famine, according to a joint report by two think tanks.
In many cases al-Shabaab insisted on distributing the aid and kept much of it for itself, the report says.
Some of the groups are still paying al-Shabaab to operate in the large parts of Somalia it still holds, it adds.
More than 250,000 people died during the famine, caused by a drought.
The disaster affected more than 13 million people across the Horn of Africa and triggered a major refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of Somalis fleeing the rural areas controlled by al-Shabaab.
The myrmidon group had banned several international aid agencies.
Many people walked over the border to camps in Kenya and Æthiopia or to Somalia's government-controlled capital, Mogadishu.
'Sign a pledge'
The report -- by the Overseas Development Institute and the Mogadishu-based Heritage Institute for Policy Studies -- details how al-Shabaab demanded from the agencies what it described as "registration fees" of up to $10,000 (£6,100).
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[Shabelle] The U.S state department has blamed again that Eritrea ...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age... is still supporting Somalia's hard boy group Al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... . A report by the state department has blamed that Eritrean officials were in Somalia's Lower Shabelle region to give training and other mechanical support to Al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia, battling against the Federal Government forces and the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... troops (AMISOM).
The report did not name the individuals from Eritrea in Somalia. Also Somali Government sources could not confirm the existence of such Eritrean presence in its territory.
Eritrea has been always blamed for supporting the hard boy group of Al-Shabaab, a claim Asmara regime constantly denied.
UN report in July last year said that Eritrea has reduced its support for the al Qaeda-allied al-Shabaab hard boy group in Somalia.
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[Al Ahram] Giza's criminal court on Monday postponed the trial of top Moslem Brüderbund leaders to 11 February so that it can study the case and declare witnesses.
The group of defendants include some of the most high-ranking members of the Islamist group, such as Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie, Essam El-Erian and Mohammed El-Beltagy, all of whom stood for the trial's first session on Monday on charges of murder and inciting violence, in connection with armed festivities on 15 July which left five dead in Giza.
Among the 14 co-defendants in the case facing similar allegations are preacher Safwat Hegazy and Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya leader Assem Abdel-Maged, who is still on the lam.
Continued on Page 49
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[Al Ahram] Egypt's second-largest Islamist group, the Nour Party, has claimed the Moslem Brüderbund urged it to attack opponents of Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... outside the presidential palace in December 2012.
The remarks are likely to further strain ties between the once close allies.
Continued on Page 49
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[An Nahar] The ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency will inspect the condition of 6,400 barrels of yellowcake stockpiled in Libya later this month, the U.N. special representative for Libya said Monday.
Tarek Mitri said the uranium concentrate was stored at a former military installation near Sabha under the control of a Libyan army battalion.
With the backing of the U.N. Support Mission in Libya, which Mitri heads, "an inspection team from the IAEA will visit this month to verify existing stockpiles and conditions of storage," he said.
Former Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy ...a reminder that a single man with an idea can change an entire nation, usually for the worse... in 2003 renounced his efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. But a large stockpile of yellowcake was found intact after the uprising that toppled his regime in 2011.
After visiting the Sabha site, in a desert oasis, in December 2011, the IAEA recommended the rapid sale and transfer of the yellowcake, warning that the storage conditions were deteriorating and security at the site was inadequate.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog however said there was little risk of theft because of the size and weight of the barrels.
Yellowcake, a powder consisting of around 80 percent uranium oxide, is used in the preparation of nuclear fuel for reactors. It also can be enriched for use in nuclear weapons.
Mitri also said a mission from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons will go to Libya this month to observe and verify the destruction of Libyan chemical weapons.
Nine tons of mustard gas were destroyed in Libya in April and May under OPCW supervision.
Concerning the Qadaffy regime's enormous arsenal of rocket launchers, Mitri said he had received preliminary reports but had asked the Libyan authorities to provide greater documentation.
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[An Nahar] Amnesia Amnesty International alleged Monday a Libyan soldier was tortured to death by members of his own unit, calling on authorities to investigate the case and break with such Qadaffy-era practices.
"Hussein Radwan Raheel, 37, who served with the Saiqa Forces, an elite army unit under the ministry of defense, was severely beaten and subjected to electric shocks," Amnesty said quoting family members.
It said the soldier "was tortured to death last week following 10 hours of interrogation by his own army unit" following the disappearance of a military vehicle from the unit's 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... compound.
"A forensic report and photos of his body seen by the organization also indicate he was tortured," added the watchdog.
It called for an independent probe, saying it "fears that a military investigation will lack transparency and independence and will only lead to whitewashing abuse."
Amnesty's Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said torture was widespread under the toppled regime of strongman Muammar Qadaffy ...The late megalomaniac dictator of Libya, admired everywhere for his garish costumes, funny hats, harem of cutie bodyguards, and incoherent ravings. As far as is known, he is the only person who's ever declared jihad on Switzerland... , who was killed in the 2011 uprising.
She charged that ill-treatment and rights violations still flourished under the rule of Libya's new authorities who also have "turned a blind eye to abuses by militias."
"Torture and ill-treatment were routinely used by the state to terrorize the Libyan people under Qadaffy's brutal rule. The Libyan authorities must show that the country has made a clean break with the past by sending a strong message that human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... violations by state officials will not be tolerated," said Hadj Sahraoui.
Libya's top political authority, the National General Congress, in April passed a law criminalizing torture, forced disappearances and discrimination.
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#1
Wasn't where an ambush that killed several of these Saiqa Forces last week?
[Libya Herald] Four elders and sheikhs from Bani Walid were released yesterday from a Zawia prison where they had been held since last year.
The prisoners, Sheikh Mohammed Barghouti, Sheikh Faraj Gmad, Sheikh Musa Shafter and Sheikh Abu Bakar Bashir Rezgui, were all members of the Bani Walid Council. They had been held in Zawia by members of the Libya Shield.
Zawia held a big celebration on the occasion entitled "Tolerance for the Home," in the presence of second deputy General National Congress (GNC) president Saleh Makhzoum and the Minister of Justice, Salah Marghani. Representatives from the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... and the International Red Thingy also attended.
Eight people from Tawergha were also released from a Misrata jail last week. The city has promised to release some 500 prisoners, including 200 Tawerghans.
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[Al Ahram] Al-Azhar's Supreme Clerical Committee announced on Monday that it has accepted the resignation of committee member Sheikh Youssef El-Qaradawi. ...crackpot Egyptian Islamist theologian. He is best known for his program Shariah and Life on Al Jazeera, with an estimated audience of 60 million kindred souls worldwide. He is also well-known for IslamOnline, which occasionally advocates things like slavery and thumping the old lady with a rod no thicker than an inch, and has published more than 120 books, including Islam: The Future Civilization. Joe has long had a prominent role within the intellectual leadership of the Moslem Brüderbund. Some of his views have been controversial in the West, though less so among the rubes of the Mysterious East, and he was refused entry to the United Kingdom in 2008. In 2004, 2,500 Muslim academics from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and from the Palestinian territories condemned Qaradawi, and accused him of giving Islam a bad name.... The holy manal committee, an advisory body within the influential Islamic institution, released a statement saying that its members had voted to accept El-Qaradawi's resignation. Al-Azhar's Grand Imam, Ahmed El-Tayyeb, did not participate in the voting, however.
El-Qaradawi, a prominent Islamic scholar close to the Moslem Brüderbund, presented his resignation last Monday in defiance of what he considered a bias in the committee regarding the political events of this summer, in which Islamist president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... was ousted by the military, after days of mass protests against his rule.
El-Qaradawi described El-Tayyeb, and other key leaders within the institution, as supporters of "a military coup that raped the office of the Egyptian president."
Several Al-Azhar scholars had already called for his membership to be revoked after he made divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... comments attacking the institution and praising the Brotherhood.
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[HOSTED.AP.ORG] Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the U.S. military to transport troops from Burundi into the Central African Republic to help quell the latest upsurge in violence there.
Hagel approved the order after speaking with French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian Monday night from Afghanistan where he was visiting troops. Le Drian asked the U.S. to help get African troops quickly into the country to prevent the violence there from spreading, said Pentagon front man Carl Woog.
There are more than 1,000 French troops in the Central African Republic, where Christian armed fighters launched an attack on the capital last week that killed about 400 people. The fighters oppose the Musselmen ex-rebels now in charge of the former French colony.
Woog said Hagel directed the U.S. Africa Command to begin transporting forces in coordination with La Belle France because the U.S. believes immediate action is needed to avert a humanitarian catastrophe. And he said the Pentagon will be evaluating what other U.S. resources might be available if additional requests for assistance come in.
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12/10/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Not another old French movie about Africa. Have we not seen this one before? EURO Union right? Congo, copper, gold, minerals, etc.? The EURO's manufacture big airplanes? How about telling them to use their own planes, crews, AVGAS, flight hours, cargo chutes, and the like? I hear we're BROKE !
#2
...they're talking about closing commissaries and changing retirement computations again, yes we are broke. Won't stop the State Department from spending the DoD budget at a whim.
#3
Many commissary malls have pharmacies where active duty personnel and old geezer retirees can get prescriptions filled. Big Pharma and Kroger... no likeee. Not that another reason for closing commissaries is actually needed.
[Yemen Post] As officials are slowly coming to terms with last Wednesday's terror attack, assessing losses and damages as well as mulling over the country' security response system, more details of the true extent of al-Qaeda's operations have come forth, painting a rather grim picture.
On Sunday evening Yemeni officials confirmed last week sabotage against the country's gas terminal in Balhaf, in the eastern province of Shabwa, was attributed to al-Qaeda bully boys.
Militants targeted last Thursday a main pipeline in the Usaylan area of the Shabwa province, forcing engineers to stop all operations and evacuate workers back to the capital, over fear for their safety.
"A kaboom halted the flow of crude oil through the oil pipeline in Shabwa, a government official told the press on Sunday, adding the attack bore the hallmarks of al-Qaeda.
Because of the sheer extent of the damaged caused by the attack, local officials confirmed that repairs could last as long as three weeks, seriously compromising the country's gas production and thus its ability to keep up with its contractual obligations.
With al-Qaeda having increased the violence and frequency of its attacks against Yemen's political and economic interests, experts have warned that before it gets any better, the impoverished might yet face some rather uncertain times.
Because of the guerrilla nature of the terror attacks, Yemen would have to remain ever more vigilant going forward if it hopes to foil the terror group's plans for Yemen.
Several newspapers have alleged that al-Qaeda could be in league with bigwigs to promote some factions' agenda, a thought which is troubling many.
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[Al Ahram] With its decades-old US alliance strained over the Syria war and a nuclear deal with Iran, Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... is calling on the Gulf monarchies to unite for their own self-defence.
US Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel, visiting Saudi Arabia on Monday, has assured Gulf states that the agreement struck between major powers and Iran on November 24 will not affect the presence of some 35,000 US troops in the region.
But in a speech at the Manama Dialogue security forum in Bahrain, Saudi Assistant Foreign Minister Nizar Madani said "Gulf countries should no longer depend on others to ensure their safety."
The oil-rich monarchies "must unite under one political entity in order to face internal and external challenges," said the minister.
Riyadh has called for an enhanced union with fellow Gulf Cooperation Council states Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which together account for 40 percent of the world's oil reserves and a quarter of its natural gas.
"All countries have realised that blind dependence on a foreign power is no longer acceptable. GCC countries must decide their own futures," said Madani.
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#1
unite under one political entity
And that entity is a family named "Saud", no doubt.
[Bangla Daily Star] 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... has called a countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... for tomorrow protesting what it said "conspiracy to execute Abdul Quader Mollah by defying jail code".
"The government is hatching a conspiracy to kill Quader Mollah by defying constitution, Supreme Court rules and jail code," Jamaat said in a blurb this evening. Jamaat observed a nationwide daylong hartal today on the same issue.
The hartal is an addition to a 144-hour countrywide blockade that started Saturday morning. The BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance in which Jamaat is a key component is enforcing the blockade.
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[Bangla Daily Star] Two UN human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... experts and the Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... have urged Bangladesh to halt the execution of Jamaat leader and convicted war criminal Quader Mollah.
UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Gabriela Knaul and Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Christof Heyns expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... that Mollah could be executed as early as today without getting a chance to appeal.
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh condemned Mollah to death after the prosecution appealed against the verdict of the international crimes tribunal that gave him life imprisonment.
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[Al Ahram] A man accused of the gruesome murder of a British soldier told his trial on Monday that he loves Al-Qaeda and considers the Islamic forces of Evil to be his "brothers".
Michael Adebolajo, 28, sat surrounded by security guards as he began giving evidence in his trial at London's Old Bailey court.
He and Michael Adebowale, 22, are accused of murdering 25-year-old soldier Lee Rigby in broad daylight as he walked back to his London barracks in May.
The court has heard that the pair ran Rigby over with a car before attacking him with knives and Adebolajo attempted to behead him with a meat cleaver.
The defendants, both Britons of Nigerian descent, deny murder.
The soldier's family sat just metres (feet) from Adebolajo in the courtroom as he said: "Al-Qaeda, I consider to be mujahideen. I love them, they're my brothers."
He added that he has never met members of the bad boy group.
Adebolajo said he had been raised as a Christian but converted to Islam in his first year at Greenwich University in south London, close to where Rigby was killed.
"My religion is everything," he told the court.
The jury heard that Adebolajo, who has asked to be called Mujaahid Abu Hamza in court, is married and has six children.
Growing up in Romford, east of London, he said that the "vast majority" of his school friends were white Britons. One of them had joined the army and was killed in Iraq.
Adebolajo said he held former prime minister Tony Blair, who sent British forces to join the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, "responsible" for his friend's death.
Adebolajo tried to travel to Somalia in 2010 but was captured in Kenya and brought back to Britannia, the court heard.
He said that before the brutal attack on Rigby, he had attended demonstrations organised by an Islamist group banned under British anti-terror laws, but then realised the protests were "impotent rage".
"In reality, no demonstration will make a difference," he added.
He told the court several times that he was a "soldier" and that he did not regret what happened to Rigby.
"I will never regret obeying the command of Allah. That is all I can say," he said.
The trial heard last week that Adebolajo told police he and Adebowale had targeted a soldier because they believed this was "the most fair target" in an attack aimed at avenging the deaths of Moslems abroad.
He said he tried to behead Rigby because it was the most "humane" way to kill him, comparing it to halal butchery methods.
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#1
I say send him back to them. Air dropped, 5000 ft, no parachute. Strapped to a pig.
#2
an attack aimed at avenging the deaths of Moslems abroad.
One of the persistent jihadi memes. But if you look at the body count in places like Iraq, Syria and such, the leading cause of death is other Muslims.
#4
#2 the leading cause of death is other Muslims.
Midst the fighting, a moment's hiatus...
Breaking silence, a mullah's afflatus:
His yelp over the sands
Rang through all pious lands:
"Muslims! [pause] Why do we hate us?"
[Pak Daily Times] 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) Sindh chief Dr Mairajul Huda Siddiqui has announced a protest march towards Bangladeshi Consulate against the "unjustified" execution of JI leaders in Bangladesh. He was addressing a protest demonstration of JI workers outside 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... Press Club (KPC) against the death penalty awarded to JI Bangladesh leader, Mullah Qadir, on Monday. Protestors raised placards, banners and posters inscribed with "To save Pakistain in 1971 is no war crime", "We condemn execution orders of Mullah Qadir", "We condemn the 90-year imprisonment of Professor Ghulam Azam", etc. Dr Siddiqui regretted that Pakistain Foreign Office and other Federal government institutions remained silent on the matter. JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman also spoke and demanded United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... to declare the tribunals and execution of JI leaders in Bangladesh invalid. "We reject all such 'so-called tribunals', which gave verdicts against JI leaders, and do not accept violation of human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... in Bangladesh", he added. He said Hasina Wajid should recall that the JI had contested general elections in alliance with the Awami League in the past.
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[Pak Daily Times] Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... has put humanitarian work by non-governmental organizations under the supervision of MPAs of the ruling 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.... .
The national and international NGOs have been directed to coordinate with the ruling party's elected members. The notification, issued on October 31 and obtained by Daily Times last week, states that the PTI MPAs would assume "supervisory role" in their respective districts. A senior supervisor working with an international NGO confirmed to Daily Times that they had received the notification with "requests for favour" from the respective MPA.
"I am directed to refer to the subject ... and convey that the chief minister nominated you for the district noted against (his/her name) to perform supervisory role," the notification read. These NGOs, working in Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... , Bannu, Battagram, Buner, Charsadda, Chitral, Dera Ismail Khan ... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ... , Hangu, Haripur, Karak, Kohat, Kohistan ...a backwoods district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa distinguished by being even more rustic than is the norm among the local Pashtuns.... , Lakki Marwat, Dir Lower, Malakand, Mansehra ...a city and an eponymous district in eastern Khyber-Pakthunwa, nestled snug up against Pak Kashmir, with Kohistan and Diamir to the north and Abbottabad to the south... , Mardan, Nowshera, 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. , Shangla, Swabi, Swat, Tank, Tor Ghar and Upper Dir, will come under the supervision of the nominated MPAs, according to the notification. All the deputy commissioners were notified of the government's decision. They have been asked to implement the directive of Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak.
"We have no issue if these public representatives monitor the humanitarian works we are doing. However, if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... if these public representatives pressure us to work in their respective constituencies than where the need is greater to work it will be difficult to cope with," the senior supervisor, who wished not to be named, spoke of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government's move. "What appears is the ruling party's MPAs are using the notification to get humanitarian work done in their constituencies than simply monitoring the works of these nongovernmental organizations," he said. "An MPA in a southern district wants his supporters employed. We have no issue with employing the MPA's nominee, provided he or she meets the requirements of the position," a field manager working with another international NGO confided to Daily Times on condition of anonymity.
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[Pak Daily Times] 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... told Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel on Monday that US drone strikes were "counter-productive" as Washington pushed for supply routes to Afghanistan to be kept open.
In the first visit by a US defence secretary for nearly four years, Hagel flew from Kabul to Pakistain to meet the premier and the new army chief, General Raheel Sharif. Ties have been seriously strained over US drone strikes in Pakistain's tribal belt as well as over sanctuaries for Afghan Taliban forces of Evil inside Pakistain's borders. Nawaz "reaffirmed Pakistain's support for the Afghan peace and reconciliation process", a government statement said after the talks.
"The prime minister also conveyed Pakistain's deep concern over continuing US drone strikes, stressing that drone strikes were counter-productive to our efforts to combat terrorism." President Barack Obama I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money... has defended the drone strikes as an effective, lawful tool used with restraint to target suspected al Qaeda bad boys. But human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... groups and Pak politicians say the missile attacks have killed innocent civilians and are a beach of illusory sovereignty.
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[Al Ahram] Israel is to allow construction materials for UN projects back into the Gazoo Strip after reaching an agreement with the world body, officials said on Monday.
The ban on building materials was put in place on October 13 after troops discovered a sophisticated tunnel running under the Israel-Gazoo border, built with the alleged aim of perpetrating anti-Israeli attacks.
"An agreement over the means of controlling and checking the import of these materials -- which will be used solely for UN projects in the Gazoo Strip -- was reached on Monday and will go into force on Tuesday," said a front man for COGAT, the defence ministry unit responsible for civilian affairs in the Paleostinian territories.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
[An Nahar] The Paleostinian Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, movement has "resumed" relations with Iran after a temporary falling out over the Syrian conflict, a senior member of the Islamist movement said Monday.
"Relations between Hamas and Iran have resumed," Mahmoud al-Zahar told news hounds at a news conference in Gazoo, the Paleostinian enclave ruled by Hamas since 2007.
Ties had been "affected by the Syria situation, and Hamas has withdrawn from Syria so that it can't be identified with this or that side," he said.
"We've confirmed we are not interfering in the Syrian case, or in any other Arab country."
Shiite Iran had long supported the Sunni Hamas against their shared enemy Israel.
But exiled Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal left his base in Damascus after the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, criticizing Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... , a key ally of Iran, and moving to the Sunni Gulf state of Qatar.
Subsequent reports that Hamas was supporting the Sunni-led rebels in Syria against Iran-backed Shiite supporters of Assad, such as Leb's Hizbullah, led to a decrease in crucial Iranian funding of Hamas, according to media reports.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... leader MP Michel Aoun ...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... on Monday denied accusations by Syrian rebels that the FPM has sent fighters to protect Christian places of worship in Syria, saying the claims might be a prelude to a "hostile act" against him.
"I was surprised by the claims and I would've done that publicly if I had the intention," Aoun said during an interview with MTV, stressing that he does not have a "militia."
"Are they plotting a hostile act against me? Maybe that is their intention and I have read their remarks carefully," Aoun added.
Earlier on Monday, Fahd al-Masri, a front man for the rebel Free Syrian Army, accused Aoun of "sending groups of his supporters to fight in Syria under the pretext of defending some churches and monasteries in several Syrian regions."
Masri also claimed that Hizbullah was providing the alleged fighters with "logistic, technical and military support."
Aoun lashed out at the Syrian rebels, accusing them of operating in Lebanese territory, especially in the Bekaa border town of Arsal.
"What are the Syrian rebels doing in Arsal?" Aoun asked rhetorically.
He noted that Christians in Syria are facing an "additional threat."
"War crimes are happening there, especially when rebels are entering monasteries. All international courts would put them on trial for that, because these are not military places, but rather religious places of worship," added Aoun.
"Do they have the right to enter (the Christian Syrian town of) Maalula and its churches? These are crimes against humanity. The 42 churches are not weapons depots. Why did they destroy the monument of the Virgin Mary?" the FPM leader said.
He suggested that the proposed Geneva 2 peace conference will be turned into "a conference for combating terrorism."
"The Qalamoun battle will continue and they started the battle in Maalula because of its symbolic nature, as it is not a strategic or military location and it is not a military target," Aoun went on to say.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Arab Democratic Party politburo chief Rifaat Eid ...secretary general of the Leb Arab Democratic Party, a Pencilneck regime front organization... has said he would comply with a subpoena over recent warnings he made against members of the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch.
In remarks to As Safir daily published on Monday, Eid said he "will comply" with the search and investigation warrant issued against him and face the court when the circumstances allow him to do so.
"I know that his warrant has been issued under a very huge political pressure. But when the security circumstances are ripe, I will head to Beirut to give the judiciary all the information I have."
First Military Examining Magistrate Riyad Abu Ghida was handed on Monday the file of charges made against Eid by State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr.
He will study them to take the appropriate measures.
Eid's party takes the Jabal Mohsen district of the northern city of 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... as its stronghold.
During a news conference last month, Eid said the Information Branch has made the shedding of the blood of the Alawites permissible, therefore it is also allowed to shed their blood.
Lebanese authorities have incarcerated Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! several members of the pro-Assad Arab Democratic Party on suspicion they were involved in the August bombings of Sunni mosques.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Must be nice, to obey the law when YOU want to.
Ummm, that's anarchy.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/10/2013 11:17 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] Syria's government has called on the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... to make efforts to stop what it says is Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... 's support for myrmidon Islamist groups fighting to topple the regime.
"We call on the U.N. Security Council to take the necessary measures to put an end to the unprecedented actions of the Saudi regime, which is supporting 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 (Sunni myrmidon) terrorism tied to al-Qaeda," Syria's foreign ministry said in a message.
The message was sent to U.N. chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... , state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
reported, marking the first time the Syrian government has appealed to the international body to take action against Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia is a key backer of the rebels fighting to oust Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... , although the regime in Riyadh has also been targeted by jihadist fighters.
The Syrian message to the U.N. accuses Saudi of assisting "terrorist groups in Syria," and describes the kingdom as playing the "role of saboteur."
"Saudi Arabia is not content to merely send weapons and to finance but also mobilizes myrmidonhard boyz and sends them to kill the Syrian people," the Syrian message says.
The government in Damascus has regularly urged the U.N. to take action against "terrorists," the term it uses to describe all those who oppose the Assad regime.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
The Obama administration on Monday flatly denied a report from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh, who reported that the Obama administration "cherry-picked intelligence" when building its case for a military strike on Syria. In the story, published in the London Review of Books,
reportedly because the Washington Post refused to publish the article...
I personally have no respect for Hersh. His "reporting" on an incident in my area of expertise and responsibility (KAL007) was simply false, and willfully so. I can only go on the assumption that everything he's written before or since is also simply false. I couldn't say from experience, since I make it a point never to read anything he writes.
Hersh accused the administration of assuming that Syrian leader Bashar Assad was responsible for a sarin gas attack outside of Damascus that killed more than 1,400 people. Shawn Turner, a spokesman for the Director of National Intelligence, called Hersh's reporting "simply false."
Hersh reported that al-Nusra had also "mastered the mechanics of creating sarin and was capable of manufacturing it in quantity." That would contradict repeated claims by the president and other top administration officials that only the Assad regime was capable of manufacturing and deploying the chemical weapon.
To bolster his argument, Hersh pointed to an incident late last year in which a U.S. sensor system showed sarin production at a Syrian chemical weapons depot in December 2012. At that time, Obama issued a warning to Syria not to deploy the weapon -- something that did not occur before the August attack. Hersh also quoted a munitions expert who raises doubts about whether, as alleged, Syrian rockets were used in the attack. The expert says the weapons used appear to be improvised and not of the Syrian arsenal, casting doubt on another central underpinning of the Obama administration's intelligence assessment.
In August, the administration released an unclassified report that said the U.S. intelligence community assessed with "high confidence" that the Assad regime carried out the attack.
#4
In 2001, during the last days of the attack in Afghanistan, US forces overran an Al Qaeda experimental chemical weapons compound. Even then the AQ was attempting to manufacture a weapon that could use Sarin. Obviously, a lot has happened since then.
#5
He's not saying a damn thing about Obama that Obama and his proxies haven't said about Bush... it's just that suddenly we're not supposed to believe it.
As the United States moves forward with a summit it hopes will end the civil war in Syria, the Obama administration finds itself alienated from the opposition forces it tried and failed to cultivate for the last two years.
In turn, the Obama administration has begun reaching out to Syrian rebels who espouse an Islamist agenda and draw support from American allies in the region like Saudi Arabia as opposed to the United States directly.
#3
Its what happens when promised $$$ + arms, etc. to the Rebs = FSA don't arrive, + more importan never e-v-a-r! arrives.
* E.G. RENSE > MIDDLE EAST MONITOR = US REJECTS ASSAD OFFER TO FIGHT AL-QAEDA IN RETURN FOR STAYING POWER.
Apparently, the outcome may yet end up the same ala Bammerika's new anti-Qaeda BFF in Syria-ME IRAN + NUCPROGS???
I still hold that, unless someone does something really stupid, BOTH ASSADIAN SYRIA + OWG CALIPHATE, NUKE-WANNABE SHIA IRAN ARE EFFEC SAFE FROM US ATTACK [Israeli?] UNTIL SUMMER 2014.
IT WOULD BE FOOLISH OF THE BAMMER TO KNOWING VIOLATE HIS OWN "RED LINES" AGZ SYRIA + IRAN IN THE MIDDLE EAST IN DEFERENCE TO A TEMPORARY/INTERIM NUKE DEAL(S) WID BOTH, ONLY TO REJECT THEIR MILITARY AID AGZ AL-QAEDA + OTHER HARDLINE FOREIGN JIHADI = MILTERR GROUPS NOW SETTING UP IN THE REGION.
BUT THEN TO DO THE ABOVE AGZ SYRIA + IRAN WHILE SIMUL LIMITING US SPECOPS + NOT SENDING IN HEAVY US FORCES IN LIEU OF SAME.
P.o.'ing both our Allies as well as Enemies + Protangonists + Non-Aligned - OTOH, COMMUNISM-SOCIALISM IS PROCEEDING NICELY BACK HOME IN CONUS = DOMESTIC AMERIKA.
* TOPIX > [Freerepublic = Town Hall] OBAMA ABANDONS FRIENDLY ALLIES ABROAD IN HOPE OF APPEASING FOES.
* SAME > OBAMA'S "MUNICH" POLICES.
* SAME > [Final Call] FARRAKHAN: SEPARATION, INDEPENDENCE THE ONLY WAY.
"Sole" Sovereign Black America = Black State in North America FKA USA???
Can't blame the AZTLANS = POST-2015 CIVIL WAR HISPANIC SEPARATISTS on this one.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Press TV] ANALYST: US IN [early = beginning stages] ECONOMIC COLLAPSE AS CHINA, RUSSIA "MOVING AWAY FROM USING THE [US]DOLLAR".
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] Al-Azhar's Supreme Clerical Committee announced on Monday that it has accepted the resignation of committee member Sheikh Youssef E
[Bangla Daily Star] Two UN 
[Pak Daily Times] 
a city and an eponymous district in eastern Khyber-Pakthunwa, nestled snug up against Pak Kashmir, with Kohistan and Diamir to the north and Abbottabad to the south...
Nawaz Sharif
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Michel Aoun
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
The Obama administration on Monday flatly denied a report from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh, who reported that the Obama administration "cherry-picked intelligence" when building its case for a military strike on Syria. In the story, published in the 
