[Tolo News] The U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... says any action to take power by extra-legal means will cost Afghanistan the financial and security support of the U.S.
"We call on all Afghan leaders to maintain calm in order to preserve the gains of the last decade," he said. "There is no justifiable recourse to violence...or for resort to extra-constitutional measures or threats of the same."
In a statement, the U.S. State Department Spokeswoman, Jen Psaki said a full investigation of fraud allegations was needed to ensure confidence in the final outcome.
"A full and thorough review of all reasonable allegations of irregularities is essential to ensure that the Afghan people have confidence in the integrity of the electoral process and that the new Afghan president is broadly accepted inside and outside Afghanistan," it said.
On Monday, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced preliminary results of the runoff presidential election Monday evening with Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai leading with 56.44 percent.
Presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah ... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... fell behind with 43.56 percent. Monday's results were made up of 100 percent of votes cast across the country.
Head of IEC Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani said the total number of voters announced this evening was eight million; exactly 8,109,403.
Mr. Ahmadzai led the preliminary results with exactly 4,485,888 votes, with Mr. Abdullah trailing behind with 3,461,639 votes; a difference of exactly 1,024,249 votes between the two candidates.
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07/09/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
any action to take power by extra-legal means will cost Afghanistan the financial and security support of the U.S.
I think that decision has already been made, Jawn.
[Tolo News] Afghanistan's biggest observer groups on Tuesday called for full investigation of electoral fraud cases by the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), and urged the presidential candidates to remain patient until the final results are ready.
The comments from the observers came a day after the Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced preliminary results of the June 14 runoff election, which gave Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai a sizable lead over Abdullah Abdullah ... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... . However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... Abdullah's team has said they will reject the results provided by the commission unless fraud is completely weeded out.
"Yesterday a great weight was put on the shoulders of the Electoral Complaints Commission," said Mohammad Yousaf Rashid, the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA) Executive Director. "The commission has a responsibility to investigate all cases of fraud."
The ECC has assured the public that it will investigate fraud and quash any concerns about the issue. "From today, we are prepared to investigate all concerns and complaints that exist regarding the fake votes," ECC front man Nadir Mohseni said on Tuesday.
In addition, the IEC has announced that if the two candidates reach a consensus, the IEC would be prepared to reassess a larger portion of the polling sites.
Despite being heavily favored by the results so far, Ashraf Ghani's campaign team has expressed openness to a broader vote audit. "We agree with any decision taken by the IEC, the election commission is a legal and central body, if this body decides to invalidate half of the votes in Afghanistan, we do not have the right to disagree with the decision," Ghani team memberAssadullah Saadati said.
However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... Abdullah's team, which remains estranged from the election commission since it accused top election officials of working in cahoots with the Presidential Palace to rig the election, has asked for the international community to have a role in the vote auditing.
"We want, in the first step, for 11,000 polling sites to be isolated, and later on, to be investigated in the presence of the UN, European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... and Reform and Solidarity team," said Hajji Mohammad Mohaqeq, Abdullah's Second Vice President.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pond, Gloria slowly backed away from the eight-foot bull frog. If the creature croaked she would surely be deafened... in Kabul, residents remain wary of the simmering tensions between the opposing camps, and hope to see the election dispute resolved soon.
"Fraud has been committed on a large scale, it should be investigated seriously, otherwise, we do not accept the election results," one Kabul resident named Homayoun said.
"Tensions do not settle the issues, Afghanistan could be pushed into crisis, so candidates must resolve the issue with patience," Kabul resident Wali Rahman said.
So far, it the rival candidates have failed to agree on the terms of an expanded vote audit by the IEC. While Abdullah's camp has demanded the reassessment of 11,000 sites, Ghani's camp has agreed to only 7,000.
For now, the ECC will push on with its investigations, and if the candidates want anymore inquiry into potential fraud, they'll have to find something to agree on.
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07/09/2014 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah ... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... claimed victory on Tuesday in Afghanistan's disputed election, blaming fraud for putting him behind in preliminary results as fears rise of instability and ethnic unrest.
Abdullah told a rally of thousands of rowdy supporters in Kabul he would fight on to win the presidency, but he called for patience from loyalists who demanded he declare a 'parallel government' to rule the country.
"We are proud, we respect the votes of the people, we were the winner," Abdullah said. "Without any doubt or hesitation, we will not accept a fraudulent result, not today, not tomorrow, never."
Before he spoke, a huge photograph of 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... was ripped down from the stage - underlining the boiling anger among Abdullah's supporters after Monday's preliminary result in favour of poll rival Ashraf Ghani.
The election standoff has sparked concern that protests could spiral into ethnic violence and even lead to a return to the fighting between warlords that ravaged Afghanistan during the 1992-1996 civil war.
Both Abdullah and Ghani called for the country to remain united as it faces a difficult transfer of power at the same time that 50,000 US-led NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... troops wind down their battle against Taliban and aid money declines.
"Afghanistan's unity is never in question," Ghani, a former World Bank economist, told news hounds.
"We accept the preliminary result of the election, and I ask all my countrymen to patiently wait for the final results.
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[AnNahar] Six al-Qaida militants who attacked a Saudi border point with Yemen last week killing five security officers on both sides were all Saudi nationals, the Saudi interior ministry said Tuesday.
Five of the gunmen were killed in the confrontation with security forces, including two who blew themselves up, while a sixth was wounded and arrested.
The ministry named the culprits, saying they were "all wanted Saudis" who were identified through DNA tests and that four of the gunmen had done time in jail, according to a statement carried by SPA state news agency.
The ministry had said that the militants attacked the Wadia border post in the south of the kingdom on Friday, an operation claimed by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.
The crossing is in Yemen's southeastern province of Hadramawt, whose rugged terrain provides hideouts for AQAP militants.
AQAP, born in 2009 of a fusion of the Saudi and Yemeni branches of al-Qaida, is considered by Washington to be the jihadist network's most dangerous affiliate.
To counter illegal crossings and arms smuggling, Saudi Arabia is building a three-meter (10-foot) high fence along its southern frontier.
Taking advantage of a collapse of central authority during a 2011 uprising that forced Yemen's veteran strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh from power, al-Qaida seized swathes of the country's south and east.
Saudi Arabia launched a massive crackdown on al-Qaida following a spate of deadly attacks in the kingdom from 2003-2006.
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07/09/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
See also BHARAT RAKSHAK > [Al-Arabiya] THOUGH THE SPOTLIGHT REMAINS ON ISIS, BUT IN THE MEANTIME HOUTHIS ARE KNOCKING ON THE DOOR OF SANAA | YEMENI SHIITES SEIZE CITY [Amran] NEAR CAPITAL.
* RELATED SAME > [Twitter] HOUTHIS SEIZE 40 TANKS, ARTILLERY, ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIERS + 800 KATYUSHA ROCKETS AFTER ATTACK ON 110 BRIGADE HQ IN AMRAN.
[DAWN] KARACHI: The administrative judge of the anti-terrorism courts (ATCs) in 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... has ordered transfer of 400 cases from three overburdened courts to six other ATCs, including the four newly established ones, for their early disposal, it emerged on Tuesday.
Currently, five of the 10 ATCs are functional.
Judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso of the ATC-I, who is also the administrative judge of the ATCs in Karachi, ordered the shifting of 100 cases from the ATC-I, 200 cases from the ATC-II and 100 cases from ATC-III to the six other ATCs in the city.
A court official said that the transfer order came on a directive of the high court, as the three ATCs were overloaded with around 300 cases pending before the ATC-I, over 550 before the ATC-II and around 400 before the ATC-III.
The administrative judge has assigned 100 cases each to the ATC-IV and V for trial and 50 cases each to the newly established ATC-VI, -VII, -VIII and -IX, which have yet to start functioning. The presiding officer of the ATC-X has not been appointed so far.
Previously, three anti-terrorism courts were working in the city to decide all the cases under the anti-terror law. It was on the apex court directive that the government in March 2013 authorised judges of 15 sessions courts to try the cases under the Anti-Terrorism Act to decide a number of cases pending before the ATCs.
While the backlog of cases was not cleared over the next couple months, two more anti-terrorism courts (ATC-IV and -V) were set up in June 2013.
However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... even after the addition of the two courts, a large number of old cases remained undecided and finally in September 2013 the Sindh government announced that five new ATCs would be established and requested the Sindh High Court to appoint judges for the five new ATCs to clear the backlog of terrorism, kidnapping for ransom and extort-ion cases.
While presiding officers of four of the five ATCs were later appointed, the courts did not function for want of staff.
The ATCs have been established for speedy trial of cases under terror law. According to Section 19(7) of the Anti-terrorism Act, the court shall, on taking cognisance of a case, proceed with the trial on a day to day basis and shall decide the case within seven days, failing which an application may be submitted to the administrative judge of the high court concerned for appropriate directions for expeditious disposal of the case.
Section 13(2) of the ATA says cases shall be assigned to a court one at a time, or in order to ensure that the time of the court is not wasted if for some reason a given case cannot proceed more than one case can be assigned to it at any time or from time to time.
However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... hundreds of cases are still pending before the ATCs in Karachi leaving them with no other option but to fix around 10 cases for hearing daily.
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07/09/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] After burying the hatchet, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan ...Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz Uncle Fester Sharif. He is noted for his vocal anti-American railing in the National Assembly. However (comma) Khan told the U.S. ambassador that he was in fact pro-American but he and the PML-N would have to be critical of US actions in order to remain publicly credible. Khan cited his wife and children's US citizenship as proof, which means he's lying to one side or the other and probably both. He wears a wig, but you probably guessed that. since hair doesn't grow naturally in that shape or texture... held a three-hour one-to-one meeting on Tuesday, ostensibly to catch up on all pending business that has been delayed ever since the last time the two saw each other over a month ago.
According to a tailor-made statement issued after the meeting by the Prime Minister's Office, the two discussed a host of issues, including the ongoing military action in North Wazoo, measures for the upkeep of internally displaced persons (IDPs), the 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... operation and the overall security situation of the country and the recently-passed Protection of Pakistain Bill.
Moreover, the statement said, the two also discussed the prevailing political situation in the country following the Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... 's call for a long march on the capital on August 14 if its concerns regarding electoral rigging in the 2013 elections were not addressed.
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07/09/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Pakistain Awami Tehrik (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri ...Pak politician, and would-be dictator, founder and head of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran and Pakistain Awami Tehrik. He usually resides in Canada, but returns to Pakistain periodically to foam at the mouth and lead demonstrations. Depending on which way the wind's blowing, Qadri claims to be the author of Pak's blasphemy law. Other times he says it wasn't him... says his movement for change of the governance system will not drift away from its agenda even if the rulers call in the army to check it.
"The movement for change will continue even if the armed forces martyr a couple of thousands of Paks, including me," Dr Qadri said on Tuesday when asked to comment on reports that the government was considering to call the army under Article 245 in support of the civil administration for tackling any law and order situation in major towns in the wake of the Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... 's long march and PAT's call for revolution.
Reluctant to give a final date for the revolution call, he told a group of news hounds here on Tuesday that consultations within the PAT and with other parties were continuing and a final decision in this respect would be made shortly.
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[Pak Daily Times] Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) leader and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Wormtongue Qureshi on Tuesday held a meeting here with Pakistain Mohammedan League-Quaid (PML-Q) leaders — former premier and deputy premier Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervez Elahi — and delivered them a special message of party head Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree... about the scheduled long march on August 14 against alleged election rigging.
According to reports, on the direction of Imran Khan PTI Vice Chairman Qureshi held talks with Chaudhry brothers at their residence on Tuesday and conveyed his leader's message to them. Afterwards they also held a joint presser. Talking to media, Qureshi said that both the parties have common thinking on "great rigging" in general elections last year. "Today's exchange of views was very successful, positive and encouraging. There was commonality in thinking with PML leadership and uniformity on many points, we would move forward within constitutional limits," he said.
Qureshi said both the PML and PTI had similar ideological thinking, and vowed that nothing unconstitutional would be done. "Democracy is to be prevented from being derailed, and both the PTI and PML were on one page," the PTI leader said. Qureshi said that he had presented his party's point of view to the Chaudhrys and had come to their residence under direction of PTI Chairman Imran Khan with his message. "There was commonality and mental uniformity on many points between the two parties, that presently national political situation was changing rapidly."
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[Washington Post] Iraq's parliament has announced that it will convene on Sunday, amid mounting pressure to form a new government that can deal with a litany of challenges that threaten to tear this country apart.
The United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... had expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... s on Monday after parliament cancelled Tuesday's session to give the country's deeply divided political factions time to reach an agreement.
Lawmakers had planned to meet on Aug. 12. But the delay would have further imperiled Baghdad's ability to keep this oil-rich country intact a month after al-Qaeda-inspired snuffies seized much of Iraq's north and west, spurring the partial collapse of the nation's armed forces, politicians and government critics said.
The turbans, who call themselves the Islamic State, have declared a caliphate in that territory and have vowed to press on toward Baghdad.
Amid the chaos, Iraq's Kurdish minority has threatened to hold a referendum on independence for its own largely autonomous region in the north.
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[Ynet] A BBC report has found that many of the photographs used to illustrate the situation in Gazoo are from years ago, and even from the conflicts in Iraq and Syria.
I am truly gobsmacked. Well done, BBC! is not something I ever thought to write, but there it is. Well done, indeed!
A significant part of any battle nowadays is waged in the media, as each sides tries to garner public support through the exploit of images and footage used to influence popular opinion.
A report by the BBC shows that Paleostinian supporters are using fake images to illustrate the suffering in Gazoo.
"Graphic images are being shared on social media to show how people have been affected by the renewed tensions between Israel and the Paleostinians," the BBC reported.
"Over the past week the hashtag #GazooUnderAttack has been used hundreds of thousands of times, often to distribute pictures claiming to show the effects of Israeli Arclight airstrikes on Gazoo."
The hashtag has received 375,000 retweets in eight days.
The network found that several graphic photos, that spread through social media proporting to show killed Gazooks and destruction caused by IAF strikes in recent days, were actually photos taken several years ago, some of which in other war areas like Syria and Iraq.
"BBC Trending," a show that examines trends in social media, checked the veracity of widely spread photos on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #GazooUnderAttack.
Over 300,000 posts were made under that hashtag. In one case, a picture of a neighborhood being bombarded was posted with the caption "This happened today in gaza while ramadhan.Our prayers always be w you. Israel is the real terrorist! (sic)"
But a BBC investigation found that the photo was taken during an IAF strike in 2009 in Beit Lahia during Operation Cast Lead.
In another instance, a photo of blooding children was posted with the caption "This is not a matter of religion. This is a matter of humanity."
According to the BBC, the photo was taken in Aleppo in Syria and not in Gazoo. Another photo in the same post was taken in Iraq in 2007.
The British broadcaster also spoke to one of the posters who shared a photo under the #GazooUnderAttack, even though the photo was taken in Syria. "I deleted one of my posts that has the image in there," she said. "It's disappointing that images get shared quite quickly. I guess that's the different between the internet and credible newspaper publisher where pictures are from a source."
A Ynet examination found that photos that are not from the IDF's current Gazoo operation are still being shared on Twitter.
A search of the hashtag found a photo of two men rescuring a boy severely maimed in IAF bombings with the caption "The world is silent as Israel wipes out Gazoo with Arclight airstrikes. Another kid, one of many, says goodbye." with the #GazooUnderAttack hashtag.
But a search of Google Images found the photo was taken in 2012 during Operation Pillar of Defense. The boy in the photo was killed along with his family in an Air Force attack.
Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, has used this tactic in the past too. Tazpit's Anav Silverman reported in 2012 that during Operation Pillar of Defense, the turban organization used fake images of Gazoo with false headlines, inciting a flurry of comments on Facebook against Israel.
The photos were of massacres that occurred in Syria the previous month, but were depicted as massacres of Gazook families by the IDF. Other such incidents reoccur persistently.
[Ynet] Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades demand Israel stopped aggression in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza and the release of Shalit deal prisoners recaptured during Operation Brother's Keeper.
Hamas' military wing issued a statement detailing its conditions for a ceasefire on Tuesday night.
In a video filmed at a secret location, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades set four conditions:
o The end of Israeli aggression in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
o The halt of fire on Gaza and the return to the understanding reached after the 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense.
o The release of all Shalit deal prisoners who were arrested again during Operation Brother's Keeper.
o Israel must stop sabotaging the intra-Palestinian reconciliation.
It's so cute that they think they have the upper hand.
[TELEGRAPH.CO.UK] Israel is laying preparations for an invasion of Gazoo as its latest conflict with Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, intensifies, it was reported on Tuesday.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, isued the orders to the Israeli army for a possible ground offensive in a three-hour meeting with defence chiefs, according to Israel's Haaretz newspaper.
"The prime minister's instruction by the end of the meeting was to prepare for a thorough, long, continuous and strong campaign in Gazoo," a senior Israeli official told Haaretz. "The prime minister instructed the army to be ready to go all in. A ground offensive is on the table."
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#1
What dotteth CAIRO + EGYPT say, as the latter still claims formal sovereignty over Gaza despite the Paleos???
The details are unimportant, though available at the link for the interested reader. It suffices that The Smartest Man In The Room has been recorded uttering his latest inanity for the history books, and been ignored by all parties involved.
[ZEENEWS.INDIA] Iran will hold talks with world powers in Vienna this week aimed at resolving the Islamic republic's disputed nuclear programme, an Iranian diplomat was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
"The foreign ministers of the P5+1 (Britannia, China, La Belle France, Russia and the United States plus Germany) will travel to Vienna this week, probably Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but that does not mean we have reached an agreement," the official IRNA news agency quoted the diplomat as saying.
"They come to help find an agreement and then return to their countries and negotiations will continue," said the diplomat, who was not identified.
A final round of negotiations aimed at guaranteeing the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme was launched in Vienna on Thursday, and the talks could stretch up to their July 20 deadline.
In exchange for an agreement, Iran wants punishing Western sanctions to be lifted.
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07/09/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
See RELATED HURRIYET NEWS > IRAN NEEDS 19 TIMES MORE CENTRIFUGES [190,000 SWU's] THAN US WANTS: KHAMENEI.
Methinks its safe to say the US-West will have to make significant concessions lest it sees Iran's efforts agz the Qaeda Boyz e.g. ISIS, + containing Pakistan, suddenly cease until further notice???
[ZEENEWS.INDIA] Syrian Kurdish forces have demobilised scores of child soldiers from their ranks over the past month, a Swiss group that works to save under-age fighters said on Tuesday.
The main Kurdish militia in Syria made a public promise in June to stop using child soldiers and halt their recruitment.
A total of 149 militia members under the age of 18 have since been demobilised, according to Elisabeth Decrey Warner, head of Geneva Call.
But there are still believed to be up to 100 under-age fighters in the ranks of the YPG (People's Protection Units) and its women's arm, the YPJ (Women's Protection Unit).
Those children are cut off in a part of northern Syria where the Kurds are trying to stem an assault by jihadists from the Islamic State (which was formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant), which already controls swathes of Syria and Iraq.
Decrey Warner said that YPG and YPJ signed a formal pledge on Saturday, along with the self-declared government of Syrian Kurdistan, not to accept under-age recruits in the future.
"We undertake to no longer use any under-18 children in hostilities, including for combat, spying, guarding tasks or supplying combattants, and we won't admit any under-18s as combatants in our ranks," Kurdish defence official Abdulkerim Sarukhan said in a Geneva Call statement.
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[AnNahar] Paleostinian security forces deployed on Tuesday at the southern refugee camp of Ein el-Hellhole to implement a security plan.
Their deployment came in conformity with an agreement reached on Saturday between Paleostinian factions in Leb.
The 150-member force spread in four fixed positions - the vegetable market area, al-Barksat (in the northern part of the camp), al-Safsaf-al-Shohadaa mosque region and the Bustan al-Yahoud area.
Its main responsibility is to maintain security inside the camp, which has on several occasions witnessed festivities between rival groups.
Ein el-Hellhole, the largest Paleostinian camp in the country and home to about 50,000 refugees, lies near the southern city of Sidon.
It is known to harbor holy warriors and runaways because by long-standing convention the Lebanese army does not enter Leb's refugee camps.
A federal judge says attorneys for an Islamic group were out of line when they subpoenaed personal e-mail and other documents from residents who opposed the building of an Islamic school in Pittsfield Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan.
Magistrate Judge David Grand of Ann Arbor, in a ruling last week, said the subpoenas threatened the constitutional rights to free speech of the residents and ordered their attorney fees and costs to be compensated.
The Muslim Community Association and Michigan Islamic Academy in Ann Arbor want to build a school and community center in neighboring Pittsfield Township, but township officials have rejected their plans, citing traffic and congestion concerns.
In 2012, attorneys with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Muslim Community Association and Michigan Islamic Academy, alleging that anti-Islam bias motivated the townships rejection. Township officials have said their rejection had nothing to do with religion.
Earlier this year, attorneys with CAIR sent subpoenas to several residents in Pittsfield Township who opposed building the school, demanding personal e-mails, documents and correspondence concerning their communication with township officials.
They also asked one resident, Zaba Davis to appear at deposition in Bingham Farms.
On April 15, attorneys with the American Freedom Law Center, representing the seven residents, filed a motion asking the judge to quash the subpoenas.
In his July 2 decision, Grand granted the request, writing that he was concerned by the chilling effect that allowing the subpoenas would have on speech, not only for Davis, but for all others who wish to be involved in public discourse on matters of public concern.
#1
It will be argued that it was all hate speech anyway and everyone that opposed them are guilty. Obama will give them a special waver and another nail in the coffin of liberty will be hammered in.
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.
Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz 
[DAWN] Pakistain Awami Tehrik (PAT) chief Dr 
Mehmood 
[AnNahar] Paleostinian security forces deployed on Tuesday at the southern refugee camp of 
