[AnNahar] One of the five senior Taliban figures released from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for a U.S. soldier wants to rejoin the Afghan Death Eater group but to work for peace, his relative told Agence La Belle France Presse Tuesday.
Norullah Noori is accused of taking part in the 1998 massacre of thousands of Shiites when he was governor of the northern province of Balkh.
He and the four others were released on Saturday and flown to the Gulf state of Qatar in exchange for U.S. Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl.
"After he was released we talked to him and he is very willing to return to Afghanistan," Noori's cousin Abdullah told AFP in a telephone interview.
"He says he wants to join the Taliban again and bring changes to Taliban. He says Afghanistan needs peace now and he will work for peace with the Taliban," Abdullah said, denying Noori's involvement in the 1998 massacre.
Khairullah Khairkhwa, also freed Saturday, has expressed a similar desire to push for talks to end Afghanistan's long conflict "but not under the (government's) so-called peace council programs", a close relative told AFP via a video call from Pakistain.
The relative did not wish to be identified.
The Taliban have publicly refused to talk peace with the Afghan government, accusing 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... of being an American puppet.
But some moderate elements are believed to have broken ranks and engaged in dialogue, raising hopes for peace as Washington prepares to pull out the bulk of its troops from the country by the end of the year.
The allegations around Noori center on an August 1998 massacre of up to 8,000 Shiites at the hands of the Taliban, who were avenging the killing of 2,000 of their own men the year before.
Noori's Guantanamo Bay detention file notes he is "wanted by the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... for possible war crimes including the murder of thousands of Shiites."
However, there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly... the Afghanistan Analysts Network, a think-tank, said no clear evidence has been presented to back up the allegation.
Bergdahl -- the only U.S. soldier held by the Taliban after being captured in Afghanistan -- was freed under the dramatic deal brokered by Qatar.
Mohammad Fazl, Mohammad Nabi and Abdul Haq Wasiq were the other Taliban members to be freed.
All five were influential officials in the Taliban regime driven from power by the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks.
Their release has evoked sharp criticism from some U.S. politicians, who fear they could return to the battlefield and pose a threat to Americans abroad.
It has also provoked revulsion among Afghans in those parts of the country traditionally opposed to the Islamists.
[AnNahar] The United States on Tuesday shut its airforce base in Kyrgyzstan that had been the main transit point for military personnel and cargo headed to Afghanistan for 12 years.
Washington was forced to shut the Manas Transit Center north of Bishkek after Kyrgyzstan, an ex-Soviet country seeking closer ties with Moscow, refused last year to extend its lease.
In a symbolic ceremony U.S. officials handed over keys to the Manas Transit Center to the Kyrgyz authorities.
Commander of the base, Colonel John Millard, said at the ceremony that some 5.5 million troops of the anti-terror coalition passed through the base in the Central Asian nation since it was established in late 2001, in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the U.S..
U.S. ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Pamela Spratlen said that all military personnel would leave the base in a week.
Russia maintains its own base in Kyrgyzstan and is expected to be pleased by the move as it vies for influence in Central Asia.
The United States has moved its main transit base for Afghanistan to Romania, which in April approved an increase in American troops at a base on the Black Sea.
[Shabelle] The US Embassy in Addis Ababa urged American citizens residing or traveling to Æthiopia to exercise caution over a possible attack by a Somali terrorist group.
The safety advisory the embassy said was issued due to threat from Al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... against Æthiopia and western interests in Æthiopia.
Citing to multiple and ongoing credible threats, the US embassy urged its citizens to take the highest precautions to maintain their personal safety and security.
"The Embassy continues to receive credible threat reports of Al-Shabaab's intent and capability to attack Æthiopia and western interests in Æthiopia" it said in a statement Sudan Tribune received on Sunday.
The embassy said that there have been a number of incursions along the Æthiopian-Somali border in recent weeks urging its citizens to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to enhance personal security.
"While there is no known specific information regarding the timing or location of an attack, we would like to remind U.S. citizens to be especially vigilant in areas where large numbers of US and western citizens congregate, including restaurants, hotels, bars, places of worship, supermarkets, and shopping malls" the statement said.
The embassy highly recommended for Americans living in Æthiopia and those travelling to Æthiopia to enrol in the Department of State's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).
"The STEP enrollment gives you the latest security updates, and makes it easier for the U.S. embassy or nearest U.S. consulate to contact you in an emergency. If you don't have Internet access, enrol directly with the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate" it added.
Æthiopia, which is a regional security partner of the United States government, has a deployed forces in war torn Somalia to help the weak government battle the Al-Qaeda-allied Al-Shabaab group.
In the past Al-Shabaab has repeatedly warned to carryout massive attacks in Æthiopia in retaliation for its military intervention and Addis Ababa takes such threats seriously.
However government officials often disclose that the country's defence force and intelligence are capable enough to thwart Shabaab's terror plots and to defend the country from any external enemy.
Addis Ababa says it will remain determined to keep its troops in Somalia till order, peace and security is fully restored in Somalia.
However Æthiopian opposition politicians on the contrary call on government for immediate pull-out arguing keeping the troops longer will increase the risk of retaliation attacks against the horn of Africa's nation.
[AnNahar] Turning a new page in their troubled ties, President Barack Obama If you like your coverage you can keep it... is set to name the first American ambassador to Somalia since the civil war erupted over 20 years ago, a U.S. diplomat said Tuesday.
"As a reflection both of our deepening relationship with the country and of our faith that better times are ahead, the president will propose the first U.S. ambassador to Somalia in more than two decades," Undersecretary Wendy Sherman told a U.S. think tank.
She would only say the announcement from Obama, currently on a trip to Europe, was expected "soon" and confirmed that, initially, the new ambassador would be based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Although the U.S. never formally severed ties, the embassy in Mogadishu was closed in 1991 as Somalia descended into chaos amid a bloody power struggle among brutal warlords.
"Almost overnight the very word 'Somalia' became a synonym for chaos," Sherman told the U.S. Institute for Peace.
The darkest chapter in ties came in 1993 when Americans were anguished by scenes of the bodies of U.S. soldiers being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu by a mob after Somali snuffies shot down two Black Hawk helicopters. Eighteen Americans died, and 80 were maimed.
The Somali government that finally took power in August 2012 was the first to be given global recognition since the hardline regime fell in 1991, and billions of dollars in foreign aid have since poured in to help rebuild the Horn of Africa country.
The U.S. recognized the new government in January 2013.
But while the new Somali government controls the capital Mogadishu, large swathes of rural areas are controlled by al-Qaeda linked al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... Islamic hard boys, who have emerged as a new threat to regional peace.
Recent Shabaab attacks have targeted key areas of the Somali government, including an attack on the parliament last month, in an apparent bid to discredit claims that they are winning the war against the Islamist fighters.
In September, Shabaab carried out its most high-profile attack to date -- a suicide commando assault on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall that left at least 67 dead.
"Tomorrow disaster could arrive again, but today there are tangible reasons for hope," Sherman said.
She pointed to efforts to eradicate the scourge of pirates plaguing the coastline, rising real estate prices in Mogadishu and the reopening of stores and businesses.
She said "a secure and united Somalia would weaken the forces of extremism and terror that feed off one another and threaten citizens in almost every country, including the United States."
"Now is the best time, the best chance, in a quarter century for them to realize the promise that accompanied their nation's independence."
But she acknowledged the difficulties facing the impoverished nation, with one third of the country's total income derived from remittances of Somalis abroad, including 130,000 Somali Americans.
"This reminds us how bleak the economic picture in Somalia remains," Sherman, adding that one baby out of 10 dies at birth and of those who survive one in seven is severely malnourished.
The United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... food agency, the FAO, this week issued a stark warning over food security in Somalia, launching an urgent appeal for $18 million to stop hunger spreading.
The agency estimated there were 860,000 people in need of humanitarian assistance in Somalia, including 200,000 malnourished children under the age of five.
[AnNahar] Ex-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sissi won 96.9 percent of votes in Egypt's presidential election, the electoral commission announced Tuesday, almost a year after he overthrew elected Islamist leader 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....
Funds will roll in from the money men, now that things are back to normal.
Turnout in last week's election, hastily extended to three days amid fears of low turnout, was 47.45 percent, said commission chief Anwar Rashad al-Asi.
Sisi's rival Hamdeen Sabbahi won just three percent of the vote, excluding spoiled ballots.
Sisi's lopsided victory had been certain, with many lauding the retired field marshal as a hero for ending Morsi's 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... rule in July.
Yet the lower-than-expected turnout -- Sisi himself had called for much more voters to come out -- signaled that a wide segment of the population was apathetic or boycotted the election.
With an economy hammered by years of unrest, Sisi urged Egyptians to "work to return security to this nation," in a television address after the final results were declared.
"The future is a blank page, and it is in our hands to fill with what we want ... bread, freedom, human dignity, social justice," he said.
Sisi's appeal mirrored the slogan of the 2011 uprising that overthrew veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... , as his critics warned the retired field marshal could impose an even more repressive government.
Morsi's Moslem BrĂźderbund, crushed by a massive crackdown following his overthrow and detention, had boycotted the vote.
Some journalists and government employees erupted in applause and began dancing as the final results were announced at a presser Tuesday.
Shortly after the results were announced, King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands Abdullah ... Fifth out of 37 sons of King Abdulaziz to ascend to the throne. He is, after his half-brothers Bandar and Musa'id, the third eldest of the living sons of Abdul Aziz ibn Saud. Abdullah's mother is from the Rashid clan, longtime rivals of the Saud. He has 6 sons and 15 daughters and about $20 billion. His youngest son is just seven years old... hailed al-Sisi's election as a "historic day," calling for donors a donors conference to help Egypt through its economic troubles.
The king, whose wealthy country is a strong ally of Egypt, said Sisi's sweeping win represents a "historic day and a new stage for Egypt," in a telegram published by SPA state news agency.
"To the brothers and friends of Egypt... I invite all to a donors conference... to help it overcome its economic crisis," he said.
#1
It helps when you are a big man with a gun and run the army. Marvelous how that makes the voting outcome so easy.
Just drive down a main blvd in Cairo and see all the military private clubs with the cabanas and the pools and the stores for military only and bingo a little light goes on in your head and you know why Egyptians are all so happy when they salute. Now go get a haircut. And I want to see my boots shined with the oil on your nose, Fellahine.
And what kind of a name is Abderool Fatboy the Sissy anyway?
The guy who COUNTED the vote was named Anywar Ratshit the Assy. Good Moslem name.
Posted by: Big Thromoth3646 ||
06/04/2014 4:43 Comments ||
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#2
Well when the KSA, who has the best intell in the ME, is in favor of killing off the Brotherhood, you have to know the Moslem Brotherhood was bad to the bone and not at all what they espoused to be.
I am glad someone in the ME with some clout is coming out condemning the MB. Perhaps this will drive a nail or two into their coffin.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
06/04/2014 12:53 Comments ||
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BORNO State governor, Kashim Shettima of Borno state has said there is a plan by the state government to shoulder the responsibility of sponsoring all the Chibok abducted schoolgirls to schools in other parts of the country.
Shettima diclosed this on Monday, while receiving some of the abducted schoolgirls and their parents at the Maiduguri Government House.
He said the government was thinking of Abuja, Kano, Lagos, Kaduna or other states of the country to relocate the girls, so that they could prepare for their final year examinations.
According to the governor, "it is mandatory for the state government to ensure the speedy return or release of the girls and it is the sole responsibility of government to see that these girls are back in their homes without politicizing the matter.
"This is not politics. There is no need to play politics with the abduction of these children. We have children and we know what it is for these girls to be missing. We are human beings and should have feelings."
The governor also directed the chairman of Chibok Local Government Area of the state, Mr Baana Lawan, to compile a list and modalities of how the government would assist both the parents and students, while plans for their education outside the state was being pursued.
Earlier, Lawan had said they were at the Government House on the invitation of the governor, adding that only 27 students and 32 parents were available, because some of the students had been relocated outside the state. Option 1 Securing the state must have been a non-starter.
Posted by: Squinty ||
06/04/2014 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] "Everyone out! Hold onto your belongings, we're going to conduct a search," yells a Cameroonian soldier as he inspects bus passengers already wearied by dusty hours on a bumpy northern road.
"We're everywhere in the area," said the soldier in Dabanga, in Cameroon's far north, the border region where a French family was kidnapped last year by Islamic snuffies of the deadly Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... movement.
The incursion of Boko Haram fighters into Cameroon, from their stronghold over the border in Nigeria, has led to regular vehicle searches and identity checks by the army.
With his helmet tightly strapped on and wearing a bullet-proof vest, the soldier systematically stops traffic on the road between Maroua, the regional capital, and Kousseri, to the north, a machine-gun mounted on a pick-up truck nearby.
"We are looking for weapons, ammunition, drugs," the soldier told Agence La Belle France Presse, asking not to be named.
In the past few days, Cameroonian authorities say they have deployed an impressive military force to the Far North region in the wake of bloody raids and a series of kidnappings of foreigners.
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden", has killed thousands of people since 2009 in its fight to establish an Islamic state in the north of Nigeria.
As well as causing an international outcry by kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls, it has burnt down whole villages and carried out deadly kabooms, while taking its fight over the mostly non-existent border into Cameroon.
- 'War plan' -
Cameroonian authorities plan to deploy almost 3,000 troops and paramilitary police in the coming weeks.
Already, small units of soldiers riding armored cars patrol the main roads and smaller secondary routes, while fighter planes and combat helicopters keep watch from the skies.
The mobilization comes two weeks after a summit in Gay Paree that brought together the heads of state of several countries bordering Nigeria, including Cameroon's Paul Biya, who described Boko Haram as a "serious threat" to the whole region.
Leaders at the meeting agreed to cooperate on a joint "war plan", at a time when Cameroon was still considered a weak link.
The country's northern border region is thought to be a center for smuggling weapons to the armed murderous Moslems, with Yaounde accused by others of failing to act against the Islamists even on its own soil.
"Until now, Cameroon has avoided a head-on confrontation with Boko Haram," said a local police officer, who also asked not to be named.
"Now the soldiers have the right to open fire on suspects who ignore warnings. We can expect that there will be victims in this war," he added.
The crackdown comes after the armed fundamentalists appeared to have stepped up their cross-border attacks.
On May 17, a Cameroonian soldier was killed and 10 Chinese construction workers kidnapped from a building site during a violent assault blamed on Boko Haram. The attack, in the middle of the night, caused panic in the once-popular tourist town of Waza.
Earlier in May, dozens of fighters from the Islamist movement rode armored vehicles into the Nigerian border town of Gamboru Ngala, opening fire on residents.
Some civilians fled across the border into Cameroon but 300 people died, according to local sources. The town was razed.
In response, scores of soldiers from Cameroon's elite Rapid Intervention Battalion, which has counter-terrorist training, have deployed in border towns held to be particularly at risk, such as Fotokol, Dabanga and Amchide.
- 'Close the road to terrorists' -
"The idea is to set up fixed bases with strong numbers ready to respond in the event of an attack," said a paramilitary police official involved in operations on the ground near Lake Chad.
The aim is to "close the road to the Death Eaters and secure the border so that Boko Haram fighters cornered (by the army) in Nigeria can't seek shelter here," the official said.
In a sign that Cameroon is determined to take action, last Thursday, about 30 Nigerians suspected of belonging to Boko Haram were picked up and handed over to Nigerian authorities.
And just last weekend, Cameroonian troops freed two Italian priests and a Canadian nun, kidnapped on April 4 in the small parish of Tchere, near Maroua. Nobody grabbed credit for abducting the three -- priests Giampaolo Marta and Gianantonio Allegri and nun Gilberte Bussier -- but Cameroonian security forces swiftly blamed Boko Haram.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/04/2014 00:00 ||
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[ONLINE.WSJ] London police incarcerated Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! powerful Pak politician Altaf Hussain on Tuesday for suspected money laundering, a move that sparked panic in his hometown 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... and pushed the sprawling metropolis into violent unrest.
Mr. Hussain, a Pak-born naturalized U.K. citizen and former reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown ... home of Al Capone, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel,... cabdriver, has long lived in self-imposed exile in London and had been the subject of a lengthy British police investigation.
A figure with near-cult following in many parts of Karachi, he heads 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... , a political party that dominates Pakistain's biggest city and represents Mohammedans who migrated there from what is now India at partition in 1947. The party rejected the money-laundering allegation.
Mr. Hussain couldn't be reached in jug, and his lawyer in London, Robert Brown, said he was unable to immediately answer questions about the arrest and said he wasn't planning to issue a statement.
MQM, whose followers have been involved in frequent acts of violence, is part of the government in the southern Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, and was an important partner in the previous federal government. An opponent of Islamists, the party traditionally has advocated liberal values and called for friendly ties with the West and India.
Though the MQM appealed for calm as news of the arrest broke Tuesday, Karachi quickly went into lockdown amid sporadic incidents of violence.
Bus companies suspended their operations. Roads quickly became choked with traffic as workers tried to get home early. There was a rush at grocery stores as residents stocked up on essential items. Petrol pumps shut down.
"We can't get anything in Karachi right now. We might as well be living in a jungle," said Rashid Aslam, a frustrated motorist in central Karachi, complaining that he couldn't fuel his car.
The Karachi Stock Exchange lost 786 points, or nearly 3%, within minutes of the first reports of the arrest but later pared its losses.
An Nahar points out that Mr. Hussain's home was raided for the same reason in 2012 and 2013.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2014 00:00 ||
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[France24] A Gay Paree court on Tuesday agreed to extend by 24 hours the detention of Mehdi Nemmouche, the prime suspect in the deadly Jewish Museum shooting in Brussels just over a week ago.
The demand, made by a French prosecutor earlier Tuesday, was a rare measure in La Belle France, to be applied only in cases where there is an "imminent" risk of attack or when the demand is regarded as necessary for international cooperation.
Nemmouche, a 29-year-old French national who spent more than a year in Syria where he is believed to have received training from Islamist bully boys, is suspected of walking into the Jewish Museum on May 24, gunning down staff and visitors with a Kalashnikov automatic rifle.
An Israeli couple, a French woman and a Belgian man died in the shooting.
The suspect was detained by customs officials at a bus station in the southern French city of Marseille on Friday when he arrived aboard a coach coming from Amsterdam via Brussels.
[AnNahar] La Belle France on Tuesday increased its estimate of the number of its nationals embroiled in Syria's civil war to more than 800 and warned that they pose an unprecedented security threat.
The warning, from Prime Minister Manuel Valls, followed the weekend arrest of Medhi Nemmouche, a French jihadist suspected of carrying out last week's Brussels Jewish Museum killings after spending a year fighting in Syria.
Valls told BFMTV that the numbers of French citizens or residents who have taken part in the fighting in Syria or were planning to do so now exceeds 800, including some 30 who have died in the conflict.
"We have never before faced a challenge of this kind," Valls said. "It is without any doubt the most serious threat we face.
"We have to ensure the surveillance of hundreds and hundreds of French or European individuals who are today fighting in Syria."
Nemmouche was tossed in the slammer Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! in Marseille on Friday carrying weapons similar to those used in the Brussels attack and a camera containing a short film in which he appears to claim responsibility for the assassin-style shooting.
A visiting Israeli couple and a French volunteer at the museum were killed outright and another man, a museum employee, was left in a critical condition from which he has no prospect of recovery.
Nemmouche is thought to be the first veteran of the Syrian conflict to have carried out an attack of this kind in Europe.
Many terrorism experts have warned it is inevitable that there will be others as battle-hardened, traumatised and weapons-trained faceless myrmidons make their way back to La Belle France and countries such as Belgium, Denmark and Britannia, which have also tracked hundreds of their citizens on the jihad trail to Syria.
Nemmouche has been compared to fellow Frenchie Mohammed Merah, the Islamist gunman who shot seven people -- a rabbi, three Jewish children and three French paratroopers -- in the southern city of Toulouse ...lies on the banks of the River Garonne, half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The Toulouse metropolitan area is the fourth-largest in La Belle France... in March 2012.
- 'Dozens of Merahs' -
After those killings, which have been followed by a sustained rise in Jewish emigration from La Belle France to Israel, Valls warned that the country could be harbouring "dozens of Merahs."
Goody.
Asked Tuesday if he stood by that view, he replied: "Of course," but he also defended the record of the security services in preventing further atrocities.
"We have arrested individuals, we have dismantled (terrorist) cells," he said. "There have been many threats against La Belle France."
Nemmouche has been under interrogation by French anti-terrorism police since his arrest, which happened purely by chance as a result of the coach he was travelling on being subjected to a random customs check on its arrival in Marseille.
Police sources have told Agence La Belle France Presse that he has refused to answer questions.
He is due to appear in court in Versailles on Wednesday to be notified of a request for him to be handed over to Belgium under a European arrest warrant.
A hearing on the request scheduled for Tuesday could not take place because Nemmouche refused to leave his cell.
"It is a personal decision," his lawyer, Apolin Peziepep, told AFP. The lawyer said he did not expect Nemmouche to oppose the warrant.
State prosecutors on Tuesday filed a request for the suspect's detention to be extended beyond four days without charge. Such a move is extremely rare in La Belle France and requires a judge's authorization but was not expected to raise any problem in this case.
Tuesday on NewsMax TV, former U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Oliver North said U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was not a prisoner of war because he was actually being held "hostage" by the Haqqanis, a terrorist group separate from the Taliban and associated heavily with al Qaeda.
North said he knew there was at least a $1 million dollar ransom being demanded for Bergdahl some time ago so he estimated the price paid to release the hostage must be close to $5-6 million now.
"Someone paid a ransom," North said. "Whether the Qataries paid it, or some big oil sheik, or somebody used our petrodollars, but there was a ransom paid in cash for each one of them, my guess somewhere in the round numbers of $5 or 6 million to get Bergdahl freed. I know that the offer that was on the table before was close to a million."
#1
That's a million for each Taliban big-shot released. Maybe it was for room and board for their year in Qatar?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/04/2014 7:44 Comments ||
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#2
Hookers and blow, Bobby, hookers and blow...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/04/2014 8:16 Comments ||
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#3
Then they should have released them in Thailand or the Philippines if it wasn't for the usual local muslim (religion of peace) terrorism being carried out over there as well.
#4
I would have released the five of them in the Algerian Sahara near the border with Mauritania. It hasn't rained there in 3,000 years and there isn't a road or a cell phone tower for a 1000 clicks in any direction.
Let their nutjob buddies find them.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
06/04/2014 12:44 Comments ||
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#1
Perhaps we now know why the Pentagon has never classified Bergdahl a POW. That pretty much narrows it down to one other category of missing soldier.
#1
CNNÂ’s Jake Tapper also reported that many of Bergdahl's fellow troops signed nondisclosure agreements agreeing to never share any information about Bergdahl's disappearance and the efforts to recapture him
Anyone keep copies of their NDS? Anyone jot down dates, names, and ranks of personnel making threats? Anyone forward a Memo For Record [MFR] to 'higher' or the unit SJA in reference to the threats? Anyone provide a sworn statement to an AR 15-6 investigating officer? Anyone interviewed in reference to the incident by US Army Intelligence, Criminal Investigation Command, or Other Government Agency ?
#2
Ok, so the Bergdahl repatriation turns out to be a colossal regime cock-up. So what's coming next week to move the MSM and Fox News off of this kak pile and on to something else ?
#3
I'm sure the completed investigation is in a secure place, along with the champ's birth certificate and college records. "We have top men working on it right now."
#5
Top Men. Who actually might be biologically men but are now Women. And they get full range of all bathrooms. And have hordes of lawyers on hand to sue you.
#6
The Pentagon knew the deal, Bergdahl was never declared a POW. They knew what he was from the start and they're covering it up. Champ is cleaning the shi* sandwiches out of his desk. The Hildebeast doesn't want any of this stuff surfacing in her run up or potential first term.
Ollie North thinks there was money involved. Who better to know? Additional Taliban releases or concessions on the tactical ground war are more likely.
#7
"Additional Taliban releases or concessions on the tactical ground war are more likely." Judging from past performance "Fast and Furious", Obama is probably giving them weapons.
#11
Yes, and the release was obviously filmed by the bad guys for their propaganda machine. Nothing similar from our side. Looks like uniformed military personnel stayed with the bird. My guess is this was a Klingon op, [military hands off] start to finish.
#13
I personally believe the CIA doesn't have enough rational thought to rub two brain cells together, BUT this entire affair is so FUBAR that I doubt if the CIA wanted to touch this thing with a ten foot pole. If it had been a CIA op, they would have shot his ass and all of the talibunnies on site and gone home and said "OOPS, did we shoot the WRONG guy?"
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
06/04/2014 12:58 Comments ||
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#15
Correlation is not causation, but I do wonder if there is more than coincidence in play with regard to the Bergdahl trade and the 'outing' of the Afghanistan CIA station chief.
[AnNahar] Turkey's embattled prime minister lashed out at international media on Tuesday, accusing news outlets of stirring unrest during the one-year anniversary of mass anti-government protests.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi only they haven't dumped him yet... singled out CNN International, whose news hound was locked away Book 'im, Mahmoud! live on air last Saturday while covering street festivities, accusing the network of spying.
"International media organizations who came to Istanbul for provocative and exaggerated broadcasts were left empty-handed," Erdogan told members of his ruling AKP party in an apparent reference to the incident.
On Saturday, police violently dispersed demonstrators in Istanbul and Ankara as they marked a year since the start of nationwide protests denouncing Erdogan's authoritarian rule.
Riot police fired tear gas and water cannon at protesters on Istanbul's side streets to prevent them reaching the city's iconic Taksim Square, the epicenter of last year's uprising.
News outlets were also targeted, with Turkish police briefly detaining a CNN team in the middle of a live broadcast from the square.
"Turkish police released CNN team after half an hour. Officer apologized for another officer who kneed me while I was being detained," CNN's Ivan Watson said on Twitter.
On Tuesday, Erdogan called Watson a "lackey" who had been "caught red-handed" trying to bring chaos to Turkey.
"[CNN] doesn't care about a free, impartial and independent press. They are assigned to work like spies," Erdogan said.
Last year's wave of protests was sparked by government plans to uproot trees at Istanbul's central Gezi Park and erect a shopping mall on the site.
At least eight people were killed and thousands were left injured during three weeks of unrest that followed.
Erdogan has branded demonstrators "extremists" and "looters" and accuses them of seeking to derail his government's economic achievements over the last decade.
[AnNahar] Turkey added al-Qaeda's franchise in neighboring Syria to a list of terrorist organizations on Tuesday, in a sign of the country's growing concern over the rise of forces of Evil across the border.
Although other jihadist groups fighting in Syria's civil war claim to be inspired by al-Qaeda, the Al-Nusra Front is the only one to be officially sanctioned by the group's leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri ... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is... .
Rights groups have accused the Al-Nusra Front of committing war crimes against civilians in Syria, including executions and hostage taking.
Turkey, which backs the uprising against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... , has repeatedly denied claims that it is providing shelter or backing al-Qaeda linked groups in Syria.
The decision to add Al-Nusra Front on the "list of al-Qaeda linked organizations" was published in Turkey's Official Gazette.
Ankara has long championed robust support for Syria's fragmented opposition but the growing influence of al-Qaeda affiliated groups in the war-torn country left it open to accusations that it is backing radical Islamists.
Last year, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu dismissed concerns over Al-Nusra, insisting that Ankara was supporting only the opposition Syrian National Coalition and the Supreme Military Council -- neither of which include Al-Nusra members.
The Al-Nusra Front is thought to be made up of predominantly Syrian citizens, and enjoys some level of support among more moderate rebel groups.
Despite sharing an ideology, the Al-Nusra Front is considered to be a less radical force than Syria's other main al-Qaeda-inspired group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL).
Al-Qaeda is a hardline Sunni organization that considers Shiite Mohammedans, including the many volunteers from neighboring Iraq and Leb fighting alongside al-Assad's forces, to be heretics.
The group has carried out attacks on Turkish soil before. In 2003, four suicide car-kabooms on two Istanbul synagogues, the British consulate and British bank HSBC killed 63 people, including Britannia's consul general. They were claimed by an al-Qaeda cell.
[Ynet] Senior politicians question aid to new Paleostinian unity government's inclusion of a group designated as a terrorist organization.
Senior US politicians said on Monday that they would be reluctant to send aid to the new unity government between Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... ' Paleostinian Liberation Organization and the Islamist group Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,.
Abbas swore in the government in a reconciliation deal with Hamas that led Israel to freeze US-brokered peace talks.
"Hamas is no partner for peace; nor a legitimate recipient of aid," Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, Republican US Representative Ed Royce, chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement. "While the 'unity government' hides behind the facade of nonpartisan bureaucrats, it was only born out of support from Hamas -- a terrorist organization that continues to call for Israel's annihilation."
The US Congress authorizes $500 million in annual aid Washington sends to the cash-strapped Paleostinian Authority.
Paleostinian leader Abbas, whose Paleostinian Authority is dependent on foreign aid, appeared to be banking on Western acceptance -- over Israeli objections -- of a 16-member cabinet of what he described as politically unaffiliated technocrats.
Setting a policy in line with US and European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... demands, the Western-backed leader said his administration would continue to honor agreements and principles at the foundation of a grinding of the peace processor with Israel.
Virginia US Representative Eric Cantor, the number two Republican in the House of Representatives, said the B.O. regime and Congress should suspend aid while they assess the new government.
"The laws of the United States prohibit assistance to terrorist organizations," Cantor said in a statement.
New York Representative Nita Lowey, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee and State and Foreign Operations subcommittee, said she still believed the United States should continue to promote negotiations toward creating a two-state solution.
Lowey did not call for an aid cut-off, but said in a statement she was "deeply disappointed" with the announcement of a Paleostinian government including "the terrorist organization Hamas."
[AnNahar] Arabs believe the B.O. regime has little commitment to a Paleostinian state, should not intervene militarily in Syria and mostly failed to support Egypt's interim leaders, a new poll released Tuesday showed.
Five years after President Barack Obama We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us... 's landmark speech in Cairo aimed at re-setting ties with the Arab world, the poll revealed that while support for Obama, which had fallen in recent years, is on the rise again among most Arabs it still remains below an average of 50 percent.
Continued on Page 49
[AnNahar] NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... head Anders Fogh Rasmussen dismissed presidential elections in Syria as a "farce" Tuesday, saying they did not meet international standards.
"The Syrian presidential election is a farce," Rasmussen said as he went into a NATO defence ministers meeting.
The vote "does not fullfil international standards for free, fair and transparent elections
They are in the middle of a civil war, being presented with the choice between the old tyrant or the new religious totalitarians. Naturally, nothing less than a perfectly executed Scandinavian election will do.
and I am sure no (NATO) ally will recognise the outcome of these so-called elections," he said.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... is expected to win a crushing victory over two little known challengers in the elections which the Syrian opposition have also condemned as a "farce."
There was no voting in the roughly 60 percent of the country outside the control of Assad's government, which includes large areas of second city Aleppo.
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[IsraelTimes] Isolated in the region and facing a major economic crisis in Gazoo, Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, ceded power to gain breathing space and recuperate, and will remain in the background politically, analysts told AFP Tuesday.
The Islamist movement will instead work at the grass roots level to build up military, financial and social strength while, under the guise of a Paleostinian unity deal, it takes refuge under the wing of the internationally recognized Paleostine Liberation Organization.
Gazoo's Hamas government stepped down on Monday after a new unity government took oath in Ramallah, the first fruits of a surprise April deal between the Islamist movement and the Western-backed PLO, which is dominated by the rival Fatah faction.
The resignation ends Hamas's seven-year tenure of political authority in the besieged Strip, an experience that ultimately weakened the movement.
"Hamas gave in, either from a genuine desire for reconciliation or from a lack of options, and it still needs time to repair the damage sustained from being in power," said Adnan Abu Amer, politics professor at Gazoo's Ummah University.
"The move will restore Hamas's popularity, which has been eroded in Gazoo. That's partly why it withdrew from the political scene -- to try and save face," he told AFP.
After Hamas won the Paleostinian parliamentary elections in 2006, it was immediately boycotted by the West. Relations with Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... 's Fatah movement quickly deteriorated, leading to a major split 18 months later when Hamas seized control of Gazoo and drove out Abbas' faction.
But successive wars with Israel, a crushing blockade and unprecedented pressure from neighboring Egypt -- whose security forces have crushed Hamas ally the Moslem Brüderbund in the past year -- have isolated the movement and brought energy woes and economic stagnation to Gazoo.
Hamas was unable to pay more than half its 50,000 government employees after Egypt destroyed tunnels that were Gazoo's lifeline, bringing in fuel and money.
Handing over power to a unity government of independents will allow Hamas to work in the background, away from the political limelight, while the PLO shoulders the responsibility of executive authority, experts say.
"This government, in my view, is an umbrella Hamas is hiding under in order to free itself of its financial problems, and from the retreat of political Islam in the region," said Abdel Majid Sweilam, of Al-Quds University in the West Bank.
Abu Amer agreed, saying Hamas was "keeping its eyes on the PLO, seeing the latter as the largest player in the Paleostinian arena, and one that is internationally recognized."
Hassan Abdo, a Gazoo-based political analyst, said the Islamist movement -- blacklisted by the EU and US as a terrorist organization -- would "have difficulty joining the regional and international system, but it will remain active and influential on the ground."
In practice, this means building up its military capabilities, improving its finances free from the burden of paying civil servants, and reviving its grassroots charity and social work.
But it is unclear if a revived Hamas would then cooperate with the PLO, or if differences between them in domestic and foreign policy would dominate Paleostinian politics.
"The disagreements we saw in the moments before the government was announced suggest there could be obstacles to implementing executive power," said political analyst Jihad Harb, in reference to a brief dispute on Monday over the prisoners ministry.
And Hamas is "on its way to being the opposition within the Paleostinian political system, as it renews its adherence to resistance" against Israel, said Walid al-Mudallal of Gazoo's Islamic University.
Abbas has insisted the new government will follow his policy of recognizing Israel, rejecting violence and abiding by past peace agreements.
But Hamas has said it remains committed to Israel's destruction, and it is still unclear how it would reconcile that stance with support for such a government.
[IsraelTimes] Israel said Tuesday it allowed the mother-in-law of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, leader Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank... into the country for medical treatment.
Maj. Guy Inbar, an Israeli front man, said the 68-year-old woman was allowed to enter from the Gazoo Strip on Monday to receive cancer treatment at a Jerusalem hospital.
A relative in Gazoo confirmed she was in Israel, with Israel Radio reporting she was being treated at the Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem, by the Mount of Olives.
The announcement followed Haniyeh's resignation as prime minister Monday, and the formation of a new Paleostinian unity government. Hamas has ruled Gazoo the past seven years.
While Israel considers Hamas a terrorist group, Gazoo residents -- even those with ties to Hamas -- are authorized to cross the border on a humanitarian basis.
Last November, Haniyeh's granddaughter received treatment in Israel for an infection in her digestive tract. She later died in Gazoo.
[IsraelTimes] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, may have scored a tactical victory with the inclusion of the ministry of prisoner affairs in the Paleostinian unity government sworn in Monday, but a senior Fatah official told The Times of Israel that Western and Israeli pressure have succeeded in changing the way the Paleostinian government funds security prisoners in Israeli prisons and their families.
As the Hamdallah government was being presented in Ramallah, Fatah official Kadoura Fares, head of the Paleostinian Prisoners Club, still believed that the Prisoner Affairs Ministry would be abolished and replaced by a body subordinate to the PLO.
"Abbas didn't just feel like canceling the ministry," Fares told The Times of Israel. "There was massive pressure from Israel. [Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor] Liberman can celebrate today."
Continued on Page 49
[IsraelTimes] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,'s interior ministry in Gazoo may have been abolished with the swearing in of a new Paleostinian unity government, but on Tuesday the ministry's Twitter and Facebook accounts continued churning out statistics on its accomplishments over the past seven years.!
Twenty-two thousand security personnel underwent training, "prevailing despite the halting of salaries, wars, and insecurity under the airplanes of the Zionist occupation." Military headquarters, destroyed during Operation Cast Lead of 2008 (referred to by Hamas as al-Furqan, or the war of redemption), were rebuilt. One hundred and forty-two thousand Gazooks were trained in civil defense. Twelve million phone calls were received by the police hotline. And the list goes on.
In a final message posted on its website before going offline Monday, the ministry presented a 12-minute video clip produced by its media department honoring minister Fathi Hamad. Through scenes of destruction and chaos, a proud Hamad is seen marching through Gazoo wreckage, reassuring citizens. According to one slide, Hamad oversaw 76 construction projects costing $13 million since taking office, following the death of his predecessor Said Seyam in an Israeli Arclight airstrike during the last days of the Gazoo war in January 2009.
Continued on Page 49
[Ynet] Prime minister reaffirms refusal to negotiate with Paleostinian government that includes Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,; Bennett slams Hamas-Fatah unity government as 'forces of Evil in suits' while majority of government urges caution; Abbas: We recognize Israel, denounce violence.
Netanyahu's security cabinet, meeting in special session after a new Paleostinian unity cabinet was sworn in earlier in Ramallah, vowed to hold the new Paleostinian Authority government responsible "for all operations that inflict harm against Israeli security" launched from either the West Bank or Gazoo.
"The agreement with Hamas makes Abbas directly responsible for any terrorist activity from Gazoo," Netanyahu said in a statement summing up the ministers' meeting.
Israel also reaffirmed its decision of a month ago to eschew diplomatic negotiations with any Paleostinian government that includes Hamas, which Israel rejects as a terrorist group. Israel also vowed to seek international help to bar Hamas from participating in a coming Paleostinian election.
The Israeli statement made no mention of possible economic measures though it empowered Netanyahu to impose further sanctions on the Paleostinian Authority.
Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid commented Monday the new development, saying that "In the upcoming weeks we will have to learn more about this government and see where things are going. This is not the time for incitement, but rather restrain."
His comments were echoed by many in the government, and came after Hamas and Fatah swore in the first Paleostinian unity government since 2007.
Israel and the West classify Hamas as a terrorist organization and have no official dealings with the movement, which advocates the destruction of the Jewish state. But Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... , whose Fatah party signed a reconciliation deal with Hamas in April, said a unity government could ease the way for Western engagement.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cited the unity deal as the reason US-brokered peace talks fell apart at the end of April, and has urged nations around the world not to accept to government.
Abbas has repeatedly attempted to quell the fears of the government, saying Monday that the Paleostinians "are committed to what we said. Cooperation with Israel regarding security matters will continue."
Terrorists in suits
Lapid, a centrist, further said that "I suggest my friends in government not give Hamas the ammunition they need to turn the tides against us just for the sake of some local headline."
However Bayit Yehudi Chairman and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett called it "a government of forces of Evil in suits."
Bennett stressed that the "Paleostinian agenda has smashed into the wall of reality today. The time has come to shift from defense to offence and do what is good for Israel."
However, we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... he seemed in a minority as even hardliner Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman saying Israel needs to follow the developments in field, but claiming there was no need to make premature statements.
"There is no need to make redundant declarations. If something needs to be done then it will be done. I'm not getting excited by what's happening there now," the foreign minister told Ynet.
Environmental Protection Minister Amir Peretz (Hatnua) commented on the Paleostinian unity government, and said that "the grinding of the peace processor has a strategic importance for Israel and therefore we should examine the current Paleostinian government according to the orientation it takes.
"If it will announce it recognizes Israel and accepts past international agreements we must reexamine the possibility of holding talks with them, and not shunning them, which would only aid Hamas," Peretz said.
Meretz Chairwoman Zehava Gal-On also commented on the issue and said: "I call on the prime minister to see this reconciliation agreement as an opportunity to reach a diplomatic solution."
Gal-On further said that "Netanyahu's government's objection to the unity government is an excuse intended to derail peace talks. The demand that Abbas choose between Israel and Hamas once again portrays Israel as the side which refuses to give peace a chance."
#1
This points up the fundamental problem with Paleo-statehood: those cross-border attacks y'all love so much? Once you become a state, those are acts of war, if not actual war crimes.
International law says if you commit acts of war, your neighbor gets a Kick Yer Ass For Free card. Good times while it lasted, boys. Maybe it's time to grow up and act civilized, eh?
#2
International law says even if you're a neutral, you must expel a belligerent from your territory or the other belligerent may take actions necessary to do so.
However, remember the Left's meme is - one set of rules for me, another set of rules for thee.
[Ynet] EU's top diplomat in America says Europe prepared to work with Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,-backed government; State Department says B.O. regime will "evaluate the composition and policies of the new government and calibrate our approach accordingly."
The West is prepared to work with a new Paleostinian government, US and European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... officials said Monday, despite Israeli concerns it gives power and influence to the radical Hamas movement.
Israel maintains Hamas is a terrorist group, and has angrily refused to work with a Paleostinian unity government that would include Hamas members.
The US State Department announced Monday night that it planned to continue disbursing aid to Paleostinians, after President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... swore in a new unity government earlier in the day which incorporated Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. Hours later, Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to relay US willingness to work with the new leaders.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that "based on what we know" President Barak Obama's administration intended to continue working with the Fatah-Hamas unity government.
Separately, in an News Agency that Dare Not be Named interview, the EU's top envoy to the US said Europe was prepared to work with a government backed by Hamas.
"We never said we would not," Ambassador Joao Vale de Almeida said. "It's a question of substance rather than the question of composition of the government."
Still, Vale de Almeida said Europe was insisting that the new Paleostinian government recognize the right for Israel to exist and the need for a negotiated peace agreement with the Jewish state. Israel broke off nearly nine months of peace negotiations in April after Abbas endorsed the tentative unity government to end seven years of separate leadership in the west Bank and Gazoo Strip.
"We are in favor of Paleostinian recognition," Vale de Almeida said. "We think it's an important element in the process to bringing a long-term solution -- but not at any price. It has to be based on respect for a certain number of values."
He said the EU would watch to see how the new unity government moved forward -- a position echoed by State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
Psaki said that Abbas promised to commit to the terms of the Quartet ... The Quartet are the UN (xylophone), the United States (alto), the European Union (soprano), and Russia (shortstop). The group was established in Madrid in 2002 by former Spanish Prime Minister Aznar, as a result of the escalating conflict in the Middle East. Tony Blair is the Quartet's current Special Envoy.... , and that the US will "evaluate the composition and policies of the new government and calibrate our approach accordingly."
The Quartet, a joint initiative of the European Union, United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... , Russia, and the United States, demands an end to violence and that the Paleostinians recognize Israel and all agreements signed with the Jewish state.
By law, US aid to the Paleostinians may not benefit Hamas, which Washington regards as a terrorist group, "or any entity effectively controlled by Hamas, any power-sharing government of which Hamas is a member, or that results from an agreement with Hamas and over which Hamas exercises undue influence."
Annual US aid to the Paleostinians has run at about $500 million in recent years, although it fell to roughly $440 million in the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, 2013, according to a Congressional Research Service report.
[Ynet] Jerusalem source: US is allowing PA to believe that agreement with terror organization is acceptable; US: 'This is not about punishing Israel'.
Sources in Jerusalem were surprised by Washington's quick and firm Monday night announcement recognizing the new Paleostinian unity government.
Within hours of the security cabinet's decision to reject contact with the Fatah-Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, administration and to hold Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... responsible for terror emanating from the Gazoo Strip, the US shocked its close ally by confirming it will support the new cabinet formed in Ramallah.
A senior diplomatic source admitted that the cabinet minister did not discuss the possibility that the US would act this quickly. The source said they expected a separate dialogue to continue between Washington and Abbas, while there would be a separation in the grinding of the peace processor between Fatah and Hamas.
"The fact that the US recognized the new government so quickly is a surprise. It's a blow to Israel and it is bad for Israel's image," he stressed.
Another Israeli source expressed disappointment by the State Department's comments. "The Paleostinian government is supported by Hamas, which is a terror organization committed to the destruction of the state of Israel."
"If the American administration wants to promote peace, it must call on Abu Mazen to put an end to the agreement with Hamas and return to the negotiations with Israel. Instead, the administration is letting Abu Mazen believe that forming a government with a terror organization is acceptable," he said.
Another source, who was involved in the sensitive discussions of the last few days, noted that it is not unthinkable that the American decision was intended to punish Israel for its positions in the negotiations with the Paleostinians -- positions which the American administration believed led to a severe crisis in the talks.
In Washington, on the other hand, sources rejected such an explanation: "This is not about punishing Israel, that's a stupid assumption. We weighed our options, and we were not sure how to act until the unveiling of the government."
American sources were not sure why Israel was caught off guard by their statement of support, and reiterated that the US never rejected the possibility of recognizing the new Paleostinian government.
"We said we would consider the possibilities after a government was formed," clarified an American source to Ynet on Monday night. But he also emphasized the administration's intent to closely follow events in the Paleostinian Authority. "We will act cautiously," he said.
(Rooters) - Iran has said it should be able to produce fuel for its Bushehr nuclear power plant, a demand that world powers are unlikely to agree to and which may put a July deadline for a deal to end its nuclear standoff with the West in jeopardy.
Diplomats from the major powers negotiating with Tehran said Iranian negotiators expressed the demand at the latest talks in May -- identifying one reason little progress was made towards a nuclear deal that could end Tehran's economic isolation.
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[AnNahar] It was in Baba Amr, in Syria's Homs, that the armed uprising against Bashir al-Assad erupted, but with people turning out to vote Tuesday as the president sought re-election, the spirit of revolution seemed to have vanished.
A loudspeaker outside the Hassan al-Sabet school, the district's sole polling station, blared out the words of a patriotic song: "We salute this land of Syria, its heroes and its army."
Inside are two queues, one for women, the other for men. For the most part, the women use the private voting booths, but the men tick their ballots in plain sight.
"I came to vote for the good candidate," said 18-year-old Muamina Shurawi, dressed in a long black cloak and referring to Assad.
"Homs may have once been the 'capital of the revolution,' but today it is clearly the city of the election," she added.
At the beginning of the uprising three years ago, Homs got its nickname because of the massive anti-Assad demonstrations that were brutally crushed by the regime.
It has seen some of the worst violence since the outbreak of the uprising and, for almost two years, anti-regime fighters and residents were trapped by a suffocating army siege of the Old City.
They were evacuated last month under an unprecedented deal involving a major rebel coalition and Iran, a strong regime backer.
The end of the siege brought the Old City back under regime control, and many residents who had fled returned home.
The ballot box at Hassan al-Sabet school is getting full, and an electoral official has to shake it so that more voters can slip their ballots in.
"By midday (0900 GMT), we already counted 1,465 voters, and more are arriving," the official said.
Governor Talal al-Barazi told Agence La Belle France Presse that, by 3:30 pm, 597,000 of the 1.18 million registered voters in Homs province had cast ballots.
In the city itself, only the Waer district remains in rebel hands, and polling places were set up at the edges of it.
Elsewhere in the province, Barazi said it was only in the opposition-held towns of Talbisseh and Rastan that voting could not take place.
"Homs has regained its calmness and is now the city of peace," he said.
At Homs University, the former bastion of the uprising, it's exam day.
In the cafeteria, there is no talk of the past for Saly, a 21-year-old who wants to become a dietician.
"I vote for the one I know, and that's Bashir al-Assad. I've never even heard the others speak," she said, referring to the two other candidates, Hassan al-Nouri and Maher al-Hajjar.
At a neighboring table, Alaa al-Omar, 28, a fourth-year student of education, expresses satisfaction with the election.
"This time, there is a choice among Assad, Nouri and Hajjar, or one can even not vote," he said before heading to the examination hall.
Those not in favor of the election hold their tongues, or turn their heads, when asked about it.
On Hama Street, in the devastated Old City, an immense photo of Assad looks down from a half-destroyed building, its motto declaring: "Together, we will rebuild."
This district has been totally empty since last month's evacuations, except for the Christian neighborhood of Hamidiyeh, where the pastor of the Syrian Orthodox church has set up a polling station.
"This is a message to all the people who were in the Old City and bore arms: 'You see, there are three candidates. Choose the one you want, turn over your weapons, regain your senses and we will rebuild Syria'," said Father Zahri Khazaal.
Many of those who fled the fighting have taken refuge in neighboring Leb.
Speaking in the Lebanese town of Arsal, a krazed killer who escaped Homs has a different view of the election.
"The people here feel happy that although we were forced to leave our homes, we will not be forced to take part in this blood election and vote for Assad," said the man, identifying himself as Ahmad.
"In that sense, we are free now, even though we watched Homs, the capital of the revolution, falling from our hands."
[AnNahar] The military prosecutor charged on Tuesday Islamist holy man Omar Bakri, who was locked away Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! last month, with belonging to terrorist organizations and for plotting to establish an Islamic state in Leb.
The state-run National News Agency said the charges issued by Judge Saqr Saqr against Bakri include belonging to armed terrorist groups, including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL) and al-Qaeda, and working to establish an Islamic state.
Bakri was also charged with weapons and explosives training and preaching against the state and the Lebanese army. His preaching targets patriotism and ignite civil war, the charges said.
Saqr referred Bakri to the first Military Examining Magistrate Judge Riyad Abu Ghida.
The Lebanese authorities had issued an arrest warrant for Bakri for involvement in the festivities in 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... but he fled to an unknown destination in April.
He was apprehended by the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau at his residence in the Mount Leb town of Aley on May 25.
Bakri lived in Britannia for almost 20 years before settling in Leb in 2005 after he was banned from London under government curbs following the underground and bus bombings that year.
The Syrian-born holy man, who also holds Lebanese nationality, has denied he has any links to al-Qaeda although he said he believed in "the same ideology."
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[AnNahar] Prime Minister Tammam Salam appealed on Tuesday for the assistance of the international community to prevent the collapse of the economic structure as a result of the Syrian refugee crisis.
Speaking during a meeting with visiting World Bank chief Yong Kim, Salam said: "Leb is in dire need for an effective support to prevent the collapse of the economic structure that also affects stability and security."
The meeting at the Grand Serail was attended by Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, the representatives of countries from around the world and U.N. Special Coordinator for Leb Derek Plumbly.
"This meeting comes at a difficult stage for Leb," Salam said.
"Leb suffered from a drop in economic activity in all sectors after the start of the Syrian crisis in 2011," he added.
The World Bank and U.N. specialized agencies made a study on the impact of refugees on services, which showed that the damages would double if the refugees continued to stream to Leb, Salam told the conferees.
"We are not able to carry the burden of the refugees alone," he stressed. "Leb will not be the country we know today if we don't confront the crisis."
Salam thanked the countries that provided assistance to Leb, hoping they would continue to do so. But he appealed for more international support to "avoid a crisis that could spread to the region."
"It is impossible to bring back the economic situation to where it was before the Syrian conflict," Salam said.
"One of the biggest challenges is to have stability to hold the presidential elections in accordance with the Constitution. This requires the unity of the parties that formed the cabinet," he said.
Kim, who arrived in Beirut on Monday, said during the meeting that the international community "should work to assist the Lebanese government and people."
Kim urged the ambassadors of countries who assisted the meeting to contribute to the fund established to help Leb confront the refugee crisis.
He hoped that the World Bank and the International Support Group for Leb would reach some solutions in the near future.
The Group, which was first established in New York in September 2013, undertook to work together to mobilize support for the illusory sovereignty and state institutions of Leb and to highlight and promote efforts to assist the country where it was most affected by the Syrian crisis, including in respect of strengthening the capacity of the Lebanese Armed Forces, assistance to refugees, and structural and financial support to the government.
Plumbly told the conference that "the burden on the Lebanese government is increasing with time."
But he stressed that "cooperation is ongoing with the World Bank to resolve the Syrian refugee crisis."
[AnNahar] The Syrian Embassy in Leb rejected in a letter of protest the measures taken by the government against the Syrian refugees, As Safir newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Diplomatic sources told the newspaper that the "retaliatory measures" taken by the Lebanese state increased "sympathy" with the Syrian regime.
"If the Syrian government was to choose between guaranteeing 50,000 votes to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... and any other candidate or guaranteeing the safety of the refugees, who were forced to head to Leb... We would prefer the second choice," the sources said.
They pointed out that the Syrian authorities facilitated the movement of Lebanese, Arab and international media outlets that will cover the Syrian elections, especially, along the Lebanese-Syrian border.
"The (Syrian) government gave clear orders to facilitate the movement from and to Syria through the four main legal border crossings... Those who are heading to vote will be exempted from the transportation fees," the diplomatic sources added.
The Syrian sources revealed that a group of refugees in northern Leb were threatened, slamming such endeavors.
"The dignities of people shouldn't be defamed for thirty dollars per month," the sources said.
Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq announced on Saturday that Syrian refugees in Leb will lose their status as such if they return home for a visit.
More than a million Syrians have fled their war-torn country for Leb in the past three years, according to the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... .
"Syrian displaced people who are registered with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees are requested to refrain from entering into Syria starting June 1, 2014, or be penalized by losing their status as refugees in Leb," said the interior ministry.
The statement, published by the National News Agency, said the measure is grounded "in a concern for security in Leb and the relationship between Syrian displaced and Lebanese nationals... and in a bid to prevent any friction between them."
The decision, which took effect Sunday, was issued two days after tens of thousands of Syrians flocked to their Beirut embassy to vote in the election.
A Lebanese security source told As Safir daily that security agencies boosted their measures along the border with Syria.
"More than 500 general security members, assisted by 25 officers, were distributed on the four legal crossings."
The source said that the numbers of Syrian refugees "crossing the border decreased after the Interior Ministry's decision."
The refugee influx into Leb has burdened the country's weak economy, with politicians on all sides calling for measures to limit the flow.
Leb has not signed the Convention on Refugees, and refers to Syrians forced out of their country by war as "displaced."
The authorities say the actual number of Syrians in Leb is far higher than the nearly 1.1 million accounted for by UNHCR.
Leb has frequently complained it lacks the necessary resources to cope with them, and that the labor market is struggling to accommodate them.
Is it time to call Lebanon "the Belgium of the Levant"? Only with, y'know, more excitement...
[AnNahar] The cabinet on Tuesday failed for the second time to reach an agreement over a mechanism regulating the government's work during the ongoing period of presidential vacuum, despite a "positive" atmosphere.
"The situations outside the cabinet will not lead to a political settlement anytime soon but this has not reached the extent of forcing the government's collapse," MTV quoted an unnamed minister as saying, in comments related to the current negotiations between the Change and Reform bloc and the al-Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... movement.
"On the face of things, they appear as constitutional viewpoints, but in reality the reason is political," another minister said.
According to MTV, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil of the Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... suggested that the ministers must also have a say along with the premier in the issue of calling the cabinet to convene and in preparing the agendas of sessions, "which brings things back to square one."
As for the decrees, "the March 8 forces ... the opposition to the Mar. 14th movement, consisting of Hizbullah and its allies, so-called in commemoration of their Mar. 8th, 2006 demonstration of strength in Beirut ... said they must be signed by the 24 ministers while the March 14 forces made several proposals, including the signatures of two thirds" of the ministers, MTV said.
Briefing news hounds after the cabinet session, Information Minister Ramzi Jreij said "the cabinet will address issues unanimously and in a spirit of collective responsibility that was consolidated during the ministers' interventions."
"The cabinet will perform its duties according to the Constitution's stipulations and in a consensual way, out of its appreciation of the current political circumstances and to speed up the election of a new president," Jreij added.
On Monday, Prime Minister Tammam Salam stressed that the Constitution is "clear" and "indisputable" regarding the powers of the government during a presidential vacuum, noting that "the PM is the one who asks cabinet to convene and prepares the session agenda."
The cabinet had convened Friday for the first time after the end of ex-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... 's term. The parliament has failed to elect a successor to Suleiman -- whose six-year term ended on May 25 -- despite having held five electoral sessions for that purpose.
[AnNahar] Syrians voted as fighting raged Tuesday in a presidential election in which Bashir al-Assad is looking to tighten his grip as his forces battle rebels in a devastating three-year war.
In the afternoon, the higher electoral commission extended voting by five hours "due to heavy turnout."
Assad is facing two little-known challengers and is expected to win, despite a massive rebellion and a war which the U.N. has warned is likely to drag on even longer as a result of the vote.
Continued on Page 49
[Ynet] Comments come during state visit by Kuwaiti Emir to Tehran; Both sides hope to increase trade profits.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for better ties with Gulf Arab nations during a rare visit Monday by the Kuwaiti emir, intensifying a push by Tehran to mend relations with the US-allied countries on the other side of the Persian Gulf.
Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah's two-day trip, which began Sunday, follows visits by Iran's foreign minister to his oil-rich nation and other Gulf Arab states in recent months. Moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed to improve relations with Arab countries after he came to power in August.
Regional heavyweight 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... and its smaller Gulf neighbors long have been wary of Tehran's influence in the region, and like their Western allies are concerned that the Islamic Theocratic Republic's nuclear ambitions could lead to the development of atomic weapons. Iran says its nuclear program has only peaceful aims.
Relations between Shiite powerhouse Iran and the Gulf states have been further strained by the civil war in Syria. 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... and other Sunni-ruled Gulf states have thrown their support behind the rebels fighting to topple Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... 's government, which is supported by Tehran.
Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters, sounded a conciliatory note on the second day of the Kuwaiti leader's visit.
Iranian state TV quoted him as saying that regional security "depends on good relations among all countries of the region," and that differences between them will only benefit their common enemies. He expressed hope for "a new chapter" of economic relations between Iran and Kuwait.
Trade between the two stands at about $220 million, according to state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
It was Sheik Sabah's first trip to Iran since he became emir of Kuwait, which has a sizable Shiite minority, in 2006.
Kuwait's first deputy premier and foreign minister, Sheik Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah, described earlier talks between the emir and Rouhani as "constructive" and said it was important for countries in the region to have normal relations with Iran, according to the official Kuwait News Agency.
The emir is the second Gulf leader to visit Iran since Rouhani's election last summer.
Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the ruler of Oman - which has long sought to balance relations with both Iran and the West - visited in August. Rouhani reciprocated the gesture earlier this year.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/04/2014 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.
King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands Abdullah
BORNO State governor, Kashim Shettima of Borno state has said there is a plan by the state government to shoulder the responsibility of sponsoring all the Chibok abducted schoolgirls to schools in other parts of the country.
Tuesday on NewsMax TV, former U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Oliver North said U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was not a prisoner of war because he was actually being held "hostage" by the Haqqanis, a terrorist group separate from the Taliban and associated heavily with al Qaeda. 
[AnNahar] Turkey's embattled prime minister lashed out at international media on Tuesday, accusing news outlets of stirring unrest during the one-year anniversary of mass anti-government protests. 
Zawahiri
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[IsraelTimes] 
Quartet
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
