[Shabelle] The Spokesperson for 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... Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) Force has claimed that the military offensives against Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group Al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... have been temporarily delayed due to the rain season.
Colonel Ali Humud, the spokesperson reported to Shabelle in an exclusive interview that they are expecting to resume military operations In the near future against the Death Eaters after temporarily halting the offensives as the AMISOM troops are preparing themselves for the second phase of the military battle partnered with the Somali National Army.
The Colonel also brought up the scandal that accused Ugandan peacekeepers under AMISOM of training a few members of Al-Shabaab terrorists.
"It was brought up in the international media and almost all of the responsibility belongs to the Ugandan troops and their government are conducting investigations." He said
Colonel Ali, the spokesperson reiterated that AMISOM are preparing to pick up where they left off in the second phase of the military offensives against Al-Shabaab in collaboration with the Somali National Army.
A federal judge sentenced a convicted Somali pirate to 41 1/2 years in prison after rejecting a prosecutor's call for a mandatory life prison term.
Mohamed Ali Said, 30, was convicted along with five other Somali men of piracy and related charges in the April 2010 attack on the dock landing ship Ashland.
Attorneys for Said and the five others argued that the mandatory life prison term violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson agreed and sentenced all five last Wednesday and Thursday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ben Hatch argued that life in prison was appropriate, calling the attack extremely harsh and heinous and adding that Said has shown no remorse or acceptance of responsibility.
"Obviously the court has a different view of matters," U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson responded.
Said's attorney said his client had nothing to say. Said had previously argued that he was not a pirate and was working as a smuggler when the skiff he was on approached the Ashland off the Somali coast.
Prosecutors said the Somalis mistook the Ashland for a commercial vessel when they opened fire on it in the pre-dawn darkness in an attempt to take its crew hostage in exchange for ransom. One of the Somalis admitted that was their plan.
No sailors were injured, but a seventh Somali was killed when the Ashland returned fire with its 25mm cannon, blowing up the skiff.
#4
ZF a reasonably current of Janes is $150.00 and not Prime eligible, so shipping could be pretty pricey (especially given piracy concerns in the area). That said you'd think of all those ships they've taken their might be a copy or 2 in the ships library.
[AnNahar] Rogue Libyan general Khalifa Haftar, who was readying an offensive against Islamist groups in the country's restive east Sunday, is a former rebel commander accused by 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... of staging a coup.
Haftar unleashed his so-called National Army on Friday against groups he called "terrorists" in Benghazi, Libya's second city and the hotbed of an Islamist militancy, killing at least 79 people and wounding 141 others.
The attack, backed by warplanes and helicopters, sparked outrage. Tripoli denounced the 71-year-old as an "outlaw" seeking to take advantage of the unrest in the country to mount a coup.
But Haftar said he was just responding "to the call of the people" to defend them against "terrorists."
The controversial general started his career under Libya's monarchy, graduating from Benghazi's military academy and traveling to the Soviet Union for training.
But in 1969, Haftar took part in the 1969 coup that overthrew Libya's royal family and brought strongman Muammar Qadaffy ...Proof that a madman with money will be politely received for at least 42 years until his people get tired of him and kill him... to power.
He commanded a unit during Libya's fruitless 1978-1987 war with Chad, but fell from grace with Qadaffy when he was captured by Chadian troops and Tripoli denied he was part of the Libyan army.
The U.S. managed to secure his release, in an operation that is still shrouded in mystery, and offered him political asylum. Haftar accepted and traveled to the U.S., where he joined Libya's opposition in exile.
His time in the U.S. gave rise to accusations he was linked to the CIA first from the Qadaffy regime, and then from rebel groups during the 2011 uprising.
Haftar returned to his homeland after more than 20 years in exile shortly after the uprising against Qadaffy's regime erupted in 2011, arriving in Benghazi in March that year.
He was named head of the ground forces loyal to the National Transitional Council (NTC), the rebellion's political wing, and himself commanded a number of officers from Qadaffy's armed forces who had also defected.
Haftar was never able to fully win the trust of the interim authorities: the body saw him as an ambitious and power-hungry, and worried he could go on to establish another military dictatorship, a former NTC member said on condition of anonymity.
His position was further complicated by his fierce rivalry with general Abdel Fattah Yunes, the military head of the rebellion killed in murky circumstances in July 2011.
But he is widely supported by former soldiers from the Qadaffy regime: shortly after the dictator's fall and death in October 2011, around 150 army officers and NCOs tried named him the new chief of staff, although the NTC never officially recognized the move.
Haftar has made relatively few public appearances since but has spoken out on occasion to criticize the government, which he accuses of boosting the influence of ex-rebel militias and marginalizing officers who served under Qadaffy, even those who defected early on in the rebellion.
In February, he caused a fresh stir when he released a video online in which he announced an "initiative" aimed at suspending the interim government and parliament, perceived by some officials as an attempted coup against the authorities.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/19/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
The U.S. managed to secure his release, in an operation that is still shrouded in mystery, and offered him political asylum. Haftar accepted and traveled to the U.S., where he joined Libya's opposition in exile. His time in the U.S. gave rise to accusations he was linked to the CIA first from the Qadaffy regime, and then from rebel groups during the 2011 uprising.
I think yesterday's question, about where the National Army's funding is coming from, might have an answer.
#4
I think the world is breathing a sigh of relief that there may be a Libyan equivalent of Francisco Franco finally emerging in Benghazi. Hopefully he can do to the jihadists what Franco did to the communists.
Posted by: Herb Bumble4862 ||
05/19/2014 20:31 Comments ||
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[AnNahar] An Egyptian court on Sunday sentenced 126 supporters of ousted 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... to 10 years in prison each in a mass trial over protest violence, judicial sources said.
Another court, in Cairo, sentenced a further 37 alleged Morsi supporters to 15 years in prison for trying to set off bombs during a protest at a metro station last year.
The 126 found guilty in the northern province of Kafr El-Sheikh were accused of rioting and attacking security forces on August 16, two days after police potted hundreds of Morsi supporters in the capital.
A relentless crackdown on Morsi's supporters has killed more than 1,400 people, and hundreds have been sentenced to death after speedy trials.
They were also charged with belonging to a banned group, a reference to Morsi's Moslem Brüderbund.
The army-installed government has rounded up thousands of Morsi supporters and held mass trials since his ouster in July last year.
The court in Kafr El-Sheikh also sentenced six other people to a year in prison each, although the charges against them were not immediately available.
Judicial sources said that all those convicted in Kafr El-Sheikh on Sunday were also fined 1,000 Egyptian pounds (about $143, 111 euros) each.
A relentless crackdown on Morsi's supporters has killed more than 1,400 people, and hundreds have been sentenced to death after speedy trials.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/19/2014 00:00 ||
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Alleged Connection between Boko Haram and Nigeria's Fulani Herdsmen Could Spark a Nigerian Civil War The text link for this story on Jamestown.org is messed up but the PDF link is fine. Story is the last one on the Adobe PDF for the issue of "Terrorism Monitor" from the Jamestown Foundation.
An uncivil war that is long overdue. A legitimate government simply cannot allow taqfiris to run around, doing as they please, no matter how acceptable that might be to the local gentry-politicians.
[Ha'aretz] The exercise, termed Juniper Cobra, will include simulations of various threats to Israel's home front.
The Israeli and American armies will hold a biennial joint military exercise beginning Sunday, with a focus on training defense troops on dealing with missiles.
The exercise, termed Juniper Cobra, will include simulations of various threats to Israel's home front. The American troops, who belong to the United States European Command, are required to come to Israel reinforce Israel's anti-ballistic defense systems.
Some 700 American troops have arrived in Israel for Juniper Cobra, in which more than 6,000 European Command troops will be participating. Two American ships equipped with the Aegis Combat System, which includes technology used to intercept missiles, will also be participating in the exercise from the Mediterranean Sea.
Last week, American Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel visited Israel along with Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and toured the Hatzor Airbase, where he met with the American and Israeli soldiers who were to take part in Juniper Cobra.
During the visit, Ya'alon told the troops: "We are here to witness what we are talking about when we claim about the unshakable bond between the U.S. as the greatest democracy all over the world, and the state of Israel, the only democracy in our tough neighborhood, the Middle East." He added that one of Israel's challenges was "how to intercept rockets and missiles coming from Iran, Syria, Leb, the Gazoo Strip. We've got a challenge," he said, "but we can cope with it."
According to an official statement from the European Command, planning for Juniper Cobra began 18 months ago, and has nothing to do with any specific tensions in the region. The statement added that the purpose of Juniper Cobra, which has been held every two years since 2001, is to test both armies' joint ability to respond to missile attacks. Israeli Air Force and defense establishment officials said they saw Juniper
Cobra as an opportunity to improve preparedness and coordination with the United States.
American and Israeli officials postponed the 2012 exercise in what was seen as an attempt to reduce tensions with Iran. Toward the end of that year a similar joint exercise, entitled Austere Challenge, took place, during which troops of the Israeli and American armies drilled in intercepting airborne missiles, and a battery of American Patriot anti-ballistic missiles was deployed in north Tel Aviv and in Jerusalem. The main scenario of the 2009 Juniper Cobra exercise was a missile attack on Israel by Iran.
[AnNahar] Aid convoys from Algeria and Jordan crossed Sunday from Egypt into Israeli-blockaded Gazoo with $2.5 million (1.8 million euros) worth of supplies, the Paleostinian territory's Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, government said.
Alaa el-Batta, a government official, told a news conference at the Rafah border crossing that a 14-member Algerian delegation brought medicines and medical equipment worth $2 million for the opening of an Algerian-sponsored hospital in the southern Gazoo town of Khan Younis.
"We brought 253 kinds of medicine and 144 medical devices," said Sheikh Yahya Sarri, leader of the Algerian team.
Kifah al-Amaryah, heading a Jordanian "Miles of Smiles" convoy, said his 20-strong team, delivering aid worth $0.5, would follow up on more than 100 aid projects and launch a new vocational training scheme, also in Khan Younis.
The Rafah crossing, Gazoo's only border not controlled by Israel, has been mainly closed by Egyptian authorities since July, when Hamas's ally, 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... of the Moslem Brüderbund, was toppled in Cairo.
Egypt only opens the crossing for humanitarian and other special cases.
Israel strictly controls movement of goods and individuals across its land border with Gazoo and maintains a tight air and maritime blockade of the coastal strip.
#1
We brought 253 kinds of medicine and 144 medical devices
Theres a letter full of sadness and its black around the border.
A pair of boots for someone who had them made to order.
A Bible in the pack for the Reverend Mr Black.
Get along mule, get along.
[AnNahar] More than 13,000 soldiers from 24 countries are to take part in the annual "Eager Lion" military exercise in Jordan, state news agency Petra said Sunday.
It said "ground, air and naval forces comprising a total of more than 13,000 soldiers" are to be deployed during the May 25-June 10 war games, with "around 24 countries" taking part.
The maneuvers are "aimed at tackling terrorism and insurrection" and to prepare armies to "develop their capacity to plan and carry out joint operations," the agency added.
Some 8,000 troops from 19 countries including the United States, Britannia, Egypt, La Belle France, Iraq, Turkey and 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... took part in last year's "Eager Lion" exercises in the kingdom.
Jordan borders Syria, where a three-year-old civil war has killed 150,000 people and displaced millions, with nearly 500,000 taking refuge in the kingdom.
Washington has voiced concern over the effects of the war on Syria's neighbors, particularly its strategic ally Jordan, and it has sent more than 1,000 U.S. troops to the kingdom.
A group of constitutional law experts has said there were âflawsâ in the Mindanao peace agreement signed in March by the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and warned these could cause chaos and instability. The Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa) also pointed out some provisions in the agreement require amending the 1986 Constitution to make it valid contrary to government claims.
Philconsa questioned as an example a provision for the gradual transfer of law enforcement functions from the Armed Forces of the Philippines to the Bangsamoro police force. The group warned, "We cannot have two armed forces. This is a no-no. This is risking the security, territory and people outside Bangsamoro and planting the seeds of rebellion, sedition."
The group had similar issues with the revenue-sharing agreement between the government and the MILF. Philconsa argued that under the constitution, all lands of public domain, waters, minerals, fisheries, forests, timber, wildlife and other natural resources are owned by the state.
Philconsa pointed out, "For Bangsamoro to share, it must be provided in the Constitution or the Constitution authorises the sharing as provided by law but certainly not through an agreement between the executive department and the MILF."
However, the government peace panel has assured that the historic accord would be within the ambit of the Constitution and as such would not need Charter change or Cha-cha.
Posted by: ryuge ||
05/19/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
In any case, AFAIK the MILF is refusing to give up any of its weapons until such time it is convinced the autonomy mandated in the new Mindanao peace agreement is fully + permanently established.
THE MILF MUST BE CONVINCED, NOT MANILA = MACALANANG PALACE.
[AnNahar] Two residents of the Arsal border town of Arsal were released on Sunday after a three-day kidnap ordeal, state-run National News Agency reported.
"Mohammed Ghadada and Abdul Rahim al-Atrash have been freed after they were kidnapped Friday along with their town's son Ali Ezzeddine at the hands of an gang operating in Arsal's outskirts," NNA said.
The agency did not elaborate any further.
On Friday, NNA said "gunnies attacked Abdul Rahim Abdul Radi al-Atrash as he was herding his flock on the Eastern Mountain Belt in the Arsal plains, and kidnapped him along with his flock."
And as the town's residents attempted to save and free al-Atrash, the kidnappers held Ezzeddine and Ghadada, added the NNA.
In April, eight troops were maimed as armed festivities broke out between the Lebanese Army and gunnies in Arsal's plains.
Ever since the Syrian revolt erupted in March 2011, Arsal has served as a key conduit for refugees, rebels and maimed people fleeing strife-torn Syria.
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05/19/2014 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Iran's judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani has called on his Iraqi counterpart to extradite exiled Iranian opposition members so that they could stand a "fair trial" in Tehran, media reported Sunday.
Iraq hosts an estimated 3,000 members of the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI) who are living in exile in Iraq and based in a former military camp near Storied Baghdad airport.
"Considering that PMOI members are criminals who have assassinated more than 17,000 Iranians, one of our requests to Iraq's justice chief is to extradite them to Iran, so that they could be held accountable for their crimes," Larijani said, according to Fars news agency.
"Most of these people have confessed to their crimes and we expect our friend and brother country to extradite them within the legal framework, so that they would be tried fairly," Larijani added.
He was speaking at the end of a meeting with the visiting Iraqi chief justice, Medhat al-Mahmud, media said.
In March, Iran's ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Danaeifar, was quoted as told the Mehr news agency that Tehran was ready to pardon 423 PMOI members, after investigation showed they are not guilty of any crimes.
The leftwing PMOI was founded in the 1960s to oppose the shah of Iran.
After the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the shah it took up arms against Iran's holy manal rulers and Tehran holds it responsible for murdering thousands of Iranian civilians and officials.
The group set up camp in Iraq during Saddam Hussein's war with Iran in the 1980s, but was disarmed after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 toppled Saddam.
Today's Shiite-majority and Iran-friendly government in Storied Baghdad is eager to see it move elsewhere.
In April Iranian Justice Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi traveled to Iraq to sign several memoranda of understanding, including the extradition of criminals.
In 2012, the United State removed the PMOI group from its terror blacklist, in a move strongly condemned by Iran.
Scores of PMOI members have been killed in attacks since U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq at the end of 2011.
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05/19/2014 00:00 ||
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Silken words which are not actually lies: it could happen, were God himself to reach down from the heavens above to take charge of the situation.
[AnNahar] Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Sunday that clinching a final nuclear deal with world powers was still possible, despite a tough latest round of talks in Vienna.
"Agreement is possible. But illusions need to go. Opportunity shouldn't be missed again like in 2005," Zarif wrote on Twitter, referring to Iran's long-stalled dispute with world powers over its nuclear program.
Iran and six world powers ended a fourth round of nuclear talks in the Austrian capital on Friday with "no tangible progress".
Britannia, China, La Belle France, Russia, the United States and Germany -- known as the P5+1 group -- want Iran to radically scale back its nuclear activities, making any dash for an atomic bomb virtually impossible and easily detectable.
The parties want to clinch an accord by July 20, the expiration date of a November interim deal under which Iran froze certain activities in return for limited relief from crippling Western sanctions.
In return for further concessions, the Islamic republic, which denies seeking an atomic weapon, wants the lifting of all U.N. and Western sanctions, which have badly damaged its economy.
The latest round of talks with the P5+1 ended with both sides complaining major gaps remained ahead of the July deadline.
"Huge gaps remain, there is really more realism needed on the other side," a Western diplomat said. "We had expected a little more flexibility on their side."
A senior inspector from the U.N. atomic energy is due in Iran on Monday to discuss the issue.
The ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency's chief inspector Tero Verjonata and several other officials are to begin talks in Tehran on Tuesday.
The visit is aimed at "tackling the remaining concerns and clarifying some ambiguities," Iran's atomic agency front man told the ISNA news agency.
On Sunday, Iran's English-language Press TV cited the country's deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, as saying that the next round of talks are to be held in Vienna on June 16-20.
Araqchi emphasized to MPs that talks had not failed, state news agency IRNA quoted politician Hojatollah Soori as saying.
"As we further go ahead with the negotiations, it gets tougher, but we hope to reach an agreement by July 20," Araqchi said.
According to Soori, Araqchi also said it would be possible to hold informal meetings before the June talks.
Ali Akbar Velayati, foreign policy adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was also upbeat.
"There is hope for a positive outcome in the talks, as long as other parties show their goodwill like Iran," he said, quoted by reformist daily Sharq.
Saeed Laylaz, a leading Iranian political analyst, also expressed optimism.
It is normal for a dispute that surfaced a decade ago "not to be completely resolved in just a few months," he told Etemad newspaper.
"An agreement that is difficult to reach would be more sustainable than an easy one."
The failure of the latest round of talks was welcomed by hardliners in Iran, however.
Kayhan newspaper ran a headline reading the talks "fortunately ended fruitless."
Its editorial criticized the West over the interim agreement it said deceived President Hassan Rouhani into accepting "too many concessions for too little gain."
Failure to reach an accord by July 20 could potentially spark a conflict -- neither Israel nor Washington rules out military action -- and create a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
Negotiators, however, can in theory extend the deadline, although both U.S. President Barack Obama My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it... and Rouhani could struggle to keep hardliners on their domestic fronts at bay.
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05/19/2014 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji will travel to 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... before the end of the month to follow up on the kingdom's grant to the Lebanese army, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.
It said that he should head to Saudi Arabia before the end of May in order to sign the protocol linked to Riyadh's grant to the army.
Widely-informed sources told the daily that he will head to the kingdom at the head of a military delegation.
President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... unveiled the three billion dollar grant in late December.
It is aimed at purchasing French weapons for the Lebanese army as soon as possible.
Qahwaji had traveled to Saudi Arabia and La Belle France in January in order to discuss the grant.
Officials concerned with Lebanese affairs in the French administration told Naharnet on January 20 that the Saudi donation will include weaponry used for military and security sources to enable troops to face terrorist and security challenges in the country, and arms and equipment to monitor the border.
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.
