[Tolo News] A representative of the Pakistain Peace Committee for Taliban Talks has said that the Pak military is not interested in seeing the Taliban come back to power in Afghanistan.
"In my opinion, as far as I had discussions and talks with military individuals, they think that if the Taliban come to power in Afghanistan it wouldn't be good, and the problems between the Taliban and Pakistain would increase," Committee member Rahimullah Yusufzai said. "On one hand, foreign aid will end in Afghanistan and on the other, many people won't accept Taliban government and war will start, that will encourage the Pak Taliban."
His comments come as many in Afghanistan and the West struggle to predict what lays in store for the country as the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... coalition withdraws after 13 years of war.
Rustam Shah Mohmand, another member of the Committee and former Pak Ambassador to Kabul, has said that as long as foreign troops are present in Afghanistan, the Taliban will not participate in peace talks.
"The Taliban will not accept this government and Parliament," Mohmand said. "Whenever these troops leave, any government that is formed after their exit, the Taliban will be ready to talk to."
If true, Mohmand's assessment would likely mean a peace deal is impossible if the Kabul-Washington Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) gets signed and foreign troops stay in Afghanistan post-2014.
Many Afghan leaders have said that Pakistain is the key to peace with the Taliban. However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... Islamabad has shown piecemeal commitment to facilitating the grinding of the peace processor for Kabul. Instead, Pak officials have seemed more focused on brokering peace with the snuffies in their own country.
The Pakistain Peace Committee for Talks With Taliban has four members. The nature of the Committee's contact with the Taliban, and whether or not any progress has been made, are unknown.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/08/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
the Pak military is not interested in seeing the Taliban come back to power in Afghanistan.
Well, that's damned decent of them.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/08/2014 4:51 Comments ||
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Pak military and Pak intel service are two different things.
#4
The ISI, on the other hand, likely is doing all they can to make this happen. CIA should have covertly gone to war on the ISI a decade ago. Bush blew it by not clearing out the leadership that brought us 911 and later politically leaked and sabotaged him. CIA would now require a flamethrower to clear it enough to where it would be fixable as the HUMINT agency. NSA has gone in a similar path under Obama, minus the deliberate politically motivated leaks. -- they have been fully on board with Obama so they can increase their power.
The US is dramatically increasing the tempo of its military operations in the Horn of Africa in an effort to counter violent extremism, in the wake of last year's Westgate attack in Nairobi.
Missile strikes by US drones against al-Shabab and al-Qaeda leaders are "vital" and will continue, according to the government of Djibouti, from where the controversial drone strikes are launched.
Washington has been building up a large military base in Djibouti and training regional armies to fight al-Shabab in Somalia.
Continued on Page 49
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02/08/2014 00:00 ||
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NAIROBI A senior security official in Kenya on Thursday disclosed for the first time what authorities believe are the names of two previously unidentified gunmen who carried out the attack on a Nairobi mall, killing at least 67 people.
The official [said] that the two are Ahmed Hassan Abubakar and Yahye Ahmed Osman.
Authorities previously revealed the names of two other attackers as Abu Barat Al-Sudani also known as Mohamed Hassan Dhuhulow and Mohamed Abdinur Said. Dhuhulow had lived in Norway.
All four attackers were believed to be ethnic Somalis.
Dennis Brady, the FBI legal attache in Nairobi, said last month that the FBI, like Kenyan authorities, believes all four attackers died inside the mall.
Our ERT (Evidence Response Team) made significant finds, and there is no evidence that any of the attackers escaped from the area where they made their last stand, Brady said, adding that a secure crime scene perimeter made an escape unlikely.
The four gunmen arrived in Kenya in June and were previously in Somalia, officials have said. Four ethnic Somali men have been charged in Kenyan court with assisting the attackers. Their trials are ongoing.
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02/08/2014 00:00 ||
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[Libya Herald] The Libyan Grand Mufti, Sheikh Sadik Al-Ghariani, has said that all arguments about whether Congress's term in office ends today have been resolved by its vote on the roadmap extending its existence until September 2015 at the very latest, and that the matter was closed. It was now forbidden to protest or take action against Congress, he ruled. "People are not permitted to go against the Congress and lead the country to chaos and conflicts," he declared.
Speaking on Wataniya TV on Wednesday during the Islam and Life programme, he said that there had been confusion as to whether Congress should be dissolved. "Even legal experts in constitutional law are not in agreement on this issue", he noted. However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... the roadmap vote "by a overwhelming majority of 146 votes" had removed all confusion. It was a clear decision "which we must all adhere to".
To remove Congress now would not resolve anything, he declared. On the contrary, it would push the country into deeper chaos and conflict. Libya would not be made safer. None of the groups involved in the various festivities around the country would suddenly stop fighting, he warned.
Given that situation, people had to rally round Congress and support it.
"Our duty now is show obedience to the legitimate head of the state, the ruler, who is currently represented by the GNC which was elected by the public". That had to be done "despite its inefficiency and all the suffering we have seen from it" because it was the only option -- "because this would prevent bloodshed and unite the country until we pass this difficult stage".
"I am, therefore, saying that it is haram to go out against the Congress. He who does would be considered a transgressor," the Grand Mufti ruled. Moreover, that it was permissible for action to be taken against such "transgressors", he ruled but without stating was sort of action was possible.
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02/08/2014 00:00 ||
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[Libya Herald] A meeting at a 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... hotel of elders and tribal leaders from across the country descended into chaos yesterday when remarks by one of them provoked a backlash forcing the delegates to quit for an early lunch.
While the members had gathered in Tripoli to discuss the possibility of a more prominent national role, the meeting was disrupted by raucous heckling when a delegate from the Al-Awageer tribe, the largest tribe in Benghazi, accused his colleagues of various inadequacies.
The attack elicited a strong sense of dissatisfaction among most members and tempers flared to the point that lunch had to be called early. By the time talks resumed at 4:00 it was too late to make any formal decisions.
Beforehand, the head of Tripoli Local Council, Sadat Elbadri, had made opening statements greeting delegates, followed by an announcement of the the meeting's support for the army and police.
The delegate for the south, Abdisslam Ali Khalifa also expressed, at length and without reserve, his gratitude to Zintani and Misratan revolutionaries for restoring peace to Sebha after recent tribal violence.
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02/08/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] U.S. diplomats on Friday walked out of the ceremony to celebrate Tunisia's new constitution after Iran's representative made "false accusations" about Washington undermining the Arab Spring uprisings, the embassy said.
In his address to the National Constituent Assembly (NCA), Iran's parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani accused arch foes the United States and Israel of seeking to thwart the pro-democracy uprisings that swept the region in 2011.
"What was intended to be a ceremony honoring Tunisia's achievements was used by the Iranian representative as a platform to denounce the United States," the embassy said in a statement.
"The U.S. representatives present at the NCA departed the ceremony due to the false accusations and inappropriate comments made by the Iranian representative present regarding the United States."
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Maghreb Affairs and Egypt, William Roebuck, was Washington's top representative at the ceremony, which was also attended by African and Arab leaders, as well as French President Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist... .
The walkout came after Larijani charged, according to an Arab translation of his speech, that Israel and the United States had "tried to render these (Arab) revolutions sterile, and to make them deviate from their course so that Israel can benefit."
Selim Ben Abdesslem, a Tunisian politician, said it was impossible to censure the speeches made at the ceremony.
"The Americans didn't like what the Iranian said. He could be put in his place... but everyone is free to hold their views."
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02/08/2014 00:00 ||
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[Egypt Independent] The Moslem Brüderbund-led alliance campaigning for the reinstatement of deposed president Mohammed Morsy plans to declare a reconciliation initiative on Tuesday, a member of the group told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
Hossam Akl, chairman of the Civilized Alternative Party, a member of the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy, said the alliance will hold a presser next Tuesday to announce a initiative for reconciliation between Morsy supporters and the incumbent authorities which ousted him last year.
Akl told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the initiative had been submitted to government officials, as well as Brotherhood and alliance leaders abroad, adding that all parties reciprocated with the call.
The proposal involves "blood money to the victims of police and army assaults which has taken place since 30 June 2013, fair trials for detainees and a referendum on the transition roadmap adopted by the current authorities," Akl revealed, adding that the three terms are negotiable for the sake of stemming the bloodshed and restoring stability.
He said that intensive efforts are being made to convince families of Morsy backers who died in violence to accept the compensations.
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02/08/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
A dynamite example that the Brotherhood is on the run, and one that will either be misunderstood or throught to be a favorable development by the numnuts in Washington.
[Dhaka Tribune] An apparent split has surfaced between the BNP and its key ally 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... over the choosing of a single candidate to participate in the upcoming upazila poll in the district.
The Sylhet BNP is also clearly divided into two camps reagrding the formation of its Sadar upazila convener committee.
The leaders said such confrontation and division within the party might affect the upazila election.
The first phase of the upazila elections will be held on February 19 in 12 upazilas in Sylhet division.
In Jaintapur upazila under Sylhet district, Jamaat leader Jainal Abedin has got the support of the 19-party alliance led by the BNP.
The former main opposition BNP has picked nine candidates of its own in nine of a total of 19 upazilas.
It has also chosen its own candidates in two other upazilas -- Chhatok and Doara.
At Biswanat upazilla in Sylhet, Jamaat chose one of its leaders Nizam Uddin Chowdhury as the candidate, while BNP mulled over picking its own candidate, thus ultimately leading to chaos between the BNP-Jamaat alliance.
The central BNP administration selected former Pourasava mayor Iqbal Ahmed as its sole candidate in Jokiganj upazila, while the party's local unit opposed the decision.
The local BNP activists are working for another leader Saifuddin Ahmed.
The same scenario occurred in Companyganj upazila, where the BNP nominated Ali Ahmad as its candidate while its activists chose upazila BNP Organising Secretary Sahab Uddin.
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02/08/2014 00:00 ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] The BNP alleged that Prime Minister the loathesome Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums.. 's statement had instigated extrajudicial killing across the country.
A few days back in parliament Sheikh Hasina said "everyone had the right to self-defence."
She made the comment after a number of activists of the ruling party's student wing launched an armed attack on other students at Rajshahi University on Sunday.
"Opposition leaders and activists are being killed without any trial everyday. Such a statement by the premier will instigate violence and provoke extrajudicial killings," Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, acting secretary general of the party, said.
He said one day the premier and her government would be held responsible for such killings. BNP Chairperson the loathesome Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... , in her address to the nation, also demanded the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... take effective steps to stop such killings.
Addressing a discussion at Nayapaltan, Fakhrul, on Thursday, alleged that a BNP activist's body was found in Sirajganj, after he was picked up by law enforcers from the High Court area of the capital.
"A few days earlier, RAB picked up a BNP leader of Lakshmipur. He was killed without any trial. Those who were placed in durance vile Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! on charges of attacking Asaduzzaman Noor's motorcade in Nilphamari were also killed without any trial," Fakhrul added.
The spokesperson of the party said they never believed in terrorism and vengeance. Rather it was the Awami League that was involved in criminal activities across the country, he added.
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02/08/2014 00:00 ||
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[Jihad Watch] National Council of Canadian Muslims directors praised Muslim Brotherhood founder, vowed to implement his doctrine in Canada.
Now the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) is suing the Canadian Prime Minister for daring to suggest they have ties to Hamas, which styles itself the Muslim Brotherhood for Palestine.
Current NCCM / CAIR-CAN Director Khadija Haffajee was on the Editorial advisory board of a magazine hailing the Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna as a True Guide, from Point de Bascule, February 7: Obviously no discernable linkage can be found between these worrisome trends and Canadian immigration policies. No take-aways here, probably time to quietly move along.
[DAWN] Federal Information Minister Pervez Rashid on Friday said the government committee was taking into consideration the demand by the Taliban committee to meet the prime minister, army chief and director general Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), DawnNews reported.
Speaking to media representatives, Rashid said the government was awaiting recommendations from its negotiators on the demand put forth by the Taliban committee, adding that whatever recommendations are brought forward would be facilitated and implemented by the government.
The federal minister said every possible help would be extended to government negotiators and helicopter services would also be provided in case there was a need to send the team for peace talks to Wazoo.
On the matter of legality of these talks, the minister said the option of a peaceful discourse remained viable in the areas where Taliban held greater influence.
Furthermore, Rashid said talks were not unconstitutional as it was a form of putting a stop to unlawful activities.
He gave the examples of US and UK and said these countries also used the option of negotiations and talks.
In the first meeting held between the two teams of negotiators on Feb 6, the government committee demanded that talks be held within the framework of the constitution, and that the scope of the dialogue be limited to only the insurgency-affected areas of Pakistain.
The Taliban team had demanded that their meetings be held with 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... , the army chief and DG ISI.
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02/08/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] 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.... chief Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree... rejected the idea that he represented the Taliban, saying that he disagreed with the krazed killer movement's interpretation of Sharia Law.
"Clearly, I don't represent Taliban," Khan said in an interview with news organization Bloomberg.
The PTI chief said that he completely rejects the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) use of violence in their aim to implement Islamic law in the country.
He said that the krazed killer group will have to accept that change will only come in Pakistain through election's and the constitutional process.
"You can't impose it (Islamic law) through the barrel of a gun," Imran Khan said.
During the interview Khan expressed his pessimism that peace talks between the government and the TTP will succeed.
He said that the talks would probably fail and subsequent military operation will result in an increase in terrorism in the country.
"The most likely result is that the negotiations will start, there will be about three or four big kabooms and terrorist attacks and the negotiations will be called off," Khan said in the interview.
"There will be people baying for blood and the operation will start."
The PTI chief also said that US drone attacks have to stop in order to prevent the derailment of the grinding of the peace processor.
"If the US stops drone attacks, announces stopping the drone attacks during the talks, it would be a big plus point," Khan told Bloomberg.
He said that talks that had earlier been attempted were sabotaged by the US after a drone strike had killed TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud.
"The US doesn't want there to be peace talks here or peace in Pakistain while they are leaving Afghanistan," Khan told Bloomberg.
"The thinking is that if they are engaged here, they would not be going across to fight."
Imran Khan also criticised 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... , saying that the premier took far too long to initiate peace talks after the May 2013 elections.
He said that Sharif's negotiating team reflected a lack of seriousness on the part of the prime minister.
"If I was him, I would lead it myself.... It's too important an issue for Pakistain," Imran Khan said.
The PTI chief was adamant that Pakistain would have to disengage from the US war in Afghanistan, saying that defeating the hard boyz would only be possible if there was space between the two countries.
"We will win this war if we disengage from the US war," he said.
"As long as we are thought of fighting the US war, they would declare jihad on us, there would be the deadly jacket wallah. This would be a never-ending war," Imran Khan told Bloomberg.
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02/08/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... (MQM) Friday announced it will observe a day of mourning on Saturday against the alleged extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of party workers, DawnNews reported.
Speaking to a presser at MQM headquarters 'Nine-Zero,' senior party leader Haider Abbas Rizvi said that his party was pro-democracy which supports presenting suspects in courts of law.
He recounted that Muhammad Salman, an MQM worker of Korangi Sector 75 along with his nephew Noman, was taken into police custody from Korangi Crossing area 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... on February 3.
"Noman was later dropped off near Tower area the next day; however, the mutilated dead body of Salman was recovered from Shah Latif Town," said the MQM leader.
He alleged that the MQM activist was subjected to horrific torture and presented some photos of Salman during the presser as evidence.
Calling the ongoing targeted operation of police and Rangers in Karachi being carried out against the party, he claimed that more than 40 MQM workers have disappeared since inception of the operation in November.
"We don't know their whereabouts and whether they are dead or alive," he said.
Rizvi further added that despite 10 MQM workers being killed unlawfully in a year, his party was still waiting to get relief from the courts.
Announcing Saturday's protests, he appealed to the traders, transporters and the masses to keep their businesses shut tomorrow.
Haider Abbas Rizvi demanded the authorities form a judicial commission to look into the alleged extrajudicial killings of his party activists.
'Threatening people not philosophy of love, Uncle'
Meanwhile, ...back at the bunker, his Excellency called the chief of staff and complained that the artillery was keeping him awake... Patron-in-Chief of Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Baby Bhutto Zardari ...Pak dynastic politician, son of Benazir Bhutto and grandon of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. As far as is known, Bilawal has no particular talents other than being pretty and being able to memorize political slogans, but he had the good luck to be born into the right family and he hasn't been assassinated yet... criticized the MQM's decision in a tweet saying the party will further lose its goodwill for taking Karachi hostage with strike politics.
Appealing to MQM chief Altaf Hussain to call off the strike, he said threatening people on live TV was not "Philosophy of Love," referring to Hussain's recently launched book.
The PPP chief went on further by calling Saturday's strike a conspiracy against the MQM chief and hoped that his uncle (Altaf Hussian) will not fall for it.
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02/08/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] A member of the team of negotiators representing the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain in peace talks with the Pak government has expressed his reservations over the dialogue, saying he won't be part of further negotiations.
Talks to end the bully boys' bloody seven-year insurgency formally kicked off Thursday between a four-member government committee and a three-man Taliban team, amid much scepticism over whether dialogue can yield a lasting peace deal.
The first round of talks ended with both sides charting a roadmap for future negotiations, with the government team proposing that the peace talk be pursued within the framework of the constitution of Pakistain.
However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... Maulana Abdul Aziz urged the government on Friday to remove the condition of holding talks under the constitution.
"There would be no problems if our constitution were the Koran and Sunnah. But the Taliban say they do not recognise the prevailing constitution," Aziz told a presser in Islamabad. "The people should not be misled into believing that our constitution is Islamic."
Aziz, who rose to prominence during the 2007 military operation in Islamabad's Lal Masjid where he is the chief holy man, said Pakistain's constitution should be replaced by the teachings of the Koran and the Holy Prophet (PTUI!).
"That should be the law in Pakistain and until the committee brings this point on the agenda I won't be part of negotiations," he told news hounds.
He said he would remain part of the TTP's three-man delegation led by fellow holy man Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, unless told otherwise, but would not come to the negotiating table.
"I won't participate in talks until they include a clause about the imposition of Islamic law," he said.
Aziz's move threatens to further undermine the talks -- the government side has already voiced doubts about the composition and authority of the TTP's representatives.
The government delegation skipped an initial meeting on Tuesday citing confusion over the bully boys' team after two members pulled out.
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[DAWN] Central front man of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) Shahidullah Shahid on Friday said that Taliban wouldn't be waging a war against the government if they followed a law or a constitution other than Islamic Sharia.
According to a report on BBC Urdu website, he said the real purpose behind holding dialogue with Pak government was to enforce the Islamic Sharia in the country.
"The war we are fighting is for enforcement of Sharia....and talks with the government we will be holding will be for the same objective," said Shahidullah.
Commenting on the conditions put forward by government negotiators, he said those were being consulted upon, however, he added that any decision in this regard would be made after his meeting with TTP negotiators.
Talks to end the krazed killers' bloody seven-year insurgency formally kicked off Thursday between a four-member government committee and a three-man Taliban team, amid much scepticism over whether dialogue can yield a lasting peace deal.
The first round of talks ended with both sides charting a roadmap for future negotiations, with the government team proposing that peace talks be pursued within the framework of the Constitution of Pakistain.
When he was asked how enforcement of Islamic Sharia was possible with an already imposed Constitution in the country? He replied: "This is simple because the other party we are holding peace talks with claim that they are Mohammedan.....and Pakistain was created in Islam's name...so this task shouldn't be difficult for any Mohammedan."
"If we demand Americans to enforce Sharia in their country then it would be understandably difficult for them to do so but not for people who call themselves Mohammedans," said the TTP front man.
Expressing optimism about outcome of peace talks, he said a meeting with Taliban negotiators was due in next four to five days in which further course of action would be directed to them.
Answering a query regarding dissociation of Maulana Abdul Aziz from peace talks, Shahidullah said Aziz was still his representative and that his reservations will be addressed soon.
"Maulana (Abdul) Aziz is not wrong in his stance," he added.
Expressing his reservations over the dialogue process, saying he won't be part of further negotiations, Aziz urged the government earlier today to remove the condition of holding talks under the constitution.
"There would be no problems if our constitution were the Koran and Sunnah. But the Taliban say they do not recognise the prevailing constitution," Aziz told a presser in Islamabad. "The people should not be misled into believing that our constitution is Islamic," he had said.
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[Ynet] Serving soldiers who can't afford food, troops turning to crime, parents buying thermal underwear - the monthly living allowance from the IDF simply isn't enough. Evidently these soldier receive a modest per diem payment vs. a salary.
#1
From what I gather from the article it's no more than $175 a month for a combat soldier (PFC?). The pay scales evidently have not been changed since the '80s.
[Jerusalem Post] Former prime minister Ehud Olmert said Friday evening that a major obstacle to making peace with the Palestinians was the absence of trust between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Olmert, in an interview with Channel 2 news, said that the process of building personal trust was critical for the possibility of reaching a peace agreement but that the trust between Netanyahu and Abbas was "below water level and nonexistent." Something to do with past performance, ie, intransigent hate rhetoric, references to canine and swine, threats of annihilation, kidnappings, murders, rockets, suicide bombers, etc.
[Jerusalem Post] TUNIS - Iran's parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani referred to Israel as a "cancer" in the region on Friday and accused it and the United States of trying to "sterilize" the Arab Spring revolutions.
Even after the revolutions that happened in the region, the US and Israel tried to divert and devastate some of the revolutions so that Israel can benefit, Iran's official Press TV news quoted Larijani as saying at a ceremony in Tunisia celebrating the country's new constitution.
In light of the Iranian official's address, a US delegation walked out in protest from the assembly in Tunis.
The ceremony, which included French President Francois Hollande and other foreign dignitaries, was meant to mark Tunisia's newly adopted constitution, widely praised as a model for the region. Three years after its uprising inspired the "Arab Spring" revolts across the region, Tunisia is progressing to full democracy with a new charter and caretaker government in charge until elections later this year.
"What was intended to be a ceremony honoring Tunisia's achievements was used by the Iranian representative as a platform to denounce the United States," the US embassy in Tunis said in statement.
The US delegation left after the "false accusations and inappropriate comments", it said. While Tunisia has advanced towards democracy, other countries such as Libya and Egypt have struggled with unrest and violence since overthrowing their long-ruling autocratic rulers. We had hoped the recent easing of Iranian sanctions and other happy-talk, would have softened the rhetoric of that Persian bastion of democracy and freedom. Obviously speaker Ali Larijani has not yet received the 'make nice' memo. We were obliged to walk out just as the obligatory....we hate the evil, cancer of Israel segment began.
[Haaretz] Crafting of this bill is a prudent strategy. If passed [which is doubtful], it will identify and cut gov't funding to the boycotting sector. If not moved forward and passed in the Senate, it will call out the administration and validate the Kerry threats.
Bonus points because it makes the BDS folks and their ASA partners whine like Nancy boys...
[Jerusalem Post] Surprise, surprise, says Kerry, if things don't proceed his way, Israel could be squeezed by spiraling boycott and isolation. But Kerry is just echoing what he is hearing from Livni, Lapid and other leftist friends.
Unfortunately, this has been the modus operandi of the Israeli political Left for some years now: Create a bogeyman with which to scare the public into retreat and withdrawal. Meaning, acquiesce to Paleo demands, end the construction of settlements, withdraw from occupied territories and buffer zones.
[Jewish Press] Thousands of Haredim took to the streets Thursday afternoon, blocked the roads in several cites and threw Molotov cocktails at police, who arrested more than three dozen protesters. Threats of suicide squads are also being tossed about. The Haredim are the most theological conservative stream of stream of Orthodox Judaism.
[An Nahar] Terrorists are now resorting to women to carry explosives used in suicide and boom-mobileings but the Lebanese army leadership has given orders to search them, security sources said Friday.
The sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper that the army discovered a new tactic used by gunnies by relying on women to transport explosives material.
Such a scenario led to a decision to search suspicious females, particularly at checkpoints in sensitive security areas such as Paleostinian refugee camps, which many of them harbor Death Eaters.
Military sources also said that the army has formed an operations room to follow-up the sensitive security situation by taking precautionary measures to thwart suicide kabooms.
Al-Joumhouria said Thursday that the army and security forces are implementing a security plan in the South after a rise in the rate of terrorist bombings targeting Shiite areas and amid reports that the supporters of Salafist holy man Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir ...Leb Salafist holy man with the usual grouch against Shiites. Currently on the run, he seems intent on reigniting the Leb civil war... and other gunnies would carry out attacks in southern cities and towns.
Al-Asir is believed to be hiding in the Paleostinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hellhole in Sidon.
A series of deadly bombings have targeted Shiite districts of Beirut's southern suburbs and the eastern Bekaa valley in recent months. Hizbullah has a strong presence in the districts, and the attacks are believed to be in retaliation for the Shiite group's armed intervention in Syria in support of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... against the majority Sunni rebels seeking to topple him.
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02/08/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in the Levant
[An Nahar] Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji on Friday announced that the army will "tighten the noose" on suspicious groups that might pose a threat to the country's security, noting that the military will not leave any Lebanese area "under the mercy of security chaos."
"The army does not fight anyone over their ideologies, but rather because of the attacks they launch against citizens and soldiers," Qahwaji said during a meeting with the army's senior and junior officers.
"The terrorist and suicide operations that Leb is witnessing are rejected by all the Lebanese and these acts are alien to our Lebanese society, and as much as the mission is difficult, we are determined not to be lenient," Qahwaji added, noting that "the army has stepped up its readiness and intensified its measures to pursue these cells and tighten the noose on every suspect group."
The army chief underlined that the military "will not renounce its right to impose stability and prevent autonomous security."
"We stress that our firm decision is to prevent strife in Leb and we will not leave any region under the mercy of security chaos. We won't leave 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... and we won't leave any other area," Qahwaji added.
And as he described the army's status as "excellent," he highlighted the desire of Arab and foreign countries to boost its capabilities due to their "faith in the role of the military institution."
"Leb is going through a critical phase of its history as we still have no cabinet and concerns are growing regarding the presidential vote, and amid the security challenges, the army remains the country's security valve," Qahwaji added.
Separately, the army chief called on officers to distance themselves from politics and not to be affiliated with any politician.
"It is prohibited for anyone to insult the army and seek ties with officers in favor of any political group or party, as your only leadership must be the army command and your loyalty must only be for the army," Qahwaji told officers.
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02/08/2014 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.
[Tolo News] A representative of the Pakistain Peace Committee for Taliban Talks has said that the Pak military is not interested in seeing the Taliban come back to power in Afghanistan.
[Libya Herald] A meeting at a 
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as 
Wazoo
Nawaz Sharif
[Jerusalem Post] Former prime minister Ehud Olmert said Friday evening that a major obstacle to making peace with the Palestinians was the absence of trust between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
