An oldie but a goodie none the less.
U.S. officials couldn't believe their luck last week when a suspected Taliban commander who heard there was a $100 reward for his whereabouts turned himself in to authorities.
Perhaps misunderstanding the meaning of 'wanted', Mohammad Ashan sauntered up to police in Sar Howza, Paktika province, with a poster bearing his own face - and demanded the finder's fee. Sometimes it pays to learn how to read.
Officers arrested Ashan on the spot, the Washington Post reported. Nevertheless, when U.S. forces went to confirm Ashan had come forward they were understandably incredulous.
'We asked him, "Is this you?"' SPC Matthew Baker told the Post. 'Mohammad Ashan answered with an incredible amount of enthusiasm, "Yes, yes, that's me! Can I get my award now?"'
Biometric checks confirmed that the man Afghan police were holding was the alleged insurgent U.S. troops had been looking for.
He is suspected of plotting at least two attacks on Afghan security forces and his face was on hundreds of posters plastered all over the district.
Nato forces often distribute wanted posters, but they are rarely so effective.
Civilians are usually afraid to pass on information for fear of reprisals, and Taliban fighters themselves usually avoid urban areas when they are being hunted.
But not it seems, Ashan. 'Clearly,' one U.S. official told the Post, 'the man is an imbecile.' And therefore probably qualified to run the Republican party.
Ashan's effort to claim the reward money on his head may have been a misguided attempt to replicate the recent taunts of the White House made by Pakistani militant Hafiz Mohammad Saeed
The 61-year-old founder of militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba mocked U.S. officials who put a ÂŁ10million bounty on his head, saying they should give the reward money to him, as he had made no secret of his whereabouts. Personally, I think these enormous rewards just scare off anyone who would rat him out. What would they do with such a huge sum of money? You can't even stay in the country after that! On the other hand, $10,000 would be something they could hide relatively easily or put it in their local bank and not raise such a fuss.
Speaking to a news conference near to Pakistan's military headquarters earlier this month, he boasted: 'I am here, I am visible. America should give that reward money to me.
'I will be in Lahore tomorrow. America can contact me whenever it wants to.' Well, we can't exactly get hold of you whenever we want, but on occasion we will kill you.
Saeed has been accused of orchestrating the 2008 attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 166 people, including six American citizens.
But he operates openly in Pakistan, giving public speeches and appearing on TV talk shows. And the Paki government probably has no idea you're there, either.
The Afghan security institutions have been instructed to consolidate and create further coordination to fight the growing instability in the country.
The instruction was issued during the National Security Council (NSC) meeting chaired by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani.
According to the Presidential Palace media office, the NSC meeting reviewed the reports about the security situation of Helmand, Urugan, Kunduz, Badakhshan, Faryab, Sar-e-Pul and Baghlan provinces.
The Afghan national security forces were also hailed for their achievements and bravery to defend from the national interests of the country.
The instructions by NSC are issued amid deteriorating security situation across the country as the Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant.
There are concerns that the Taliban militants will pursue violence during the summer despite efforts by the Afghan government to end the violence through reconciliation process.
The acting Afghan intelligence Chief Massoud Andarabi earlier warned that the Taliban will not renounce violence and will continue to their insurgency with the full support of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence.
[IsraelTimes] As Egypt struggles to provide security for peacekeeping force, American officials reportedly say Israeli-Egyptian border can be monitored by unmanned technology instead
US military is reportedly considering pulling its peacekeeping force from a base in the northeastern part of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, partly because of the increasing threat from Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group jihadists.
The B.O. regime may order the movement of some US and international troops into the southern Sinai, and is discussing such a move with Egypt and Israel, according to a CNN report Tuesday.
The two Middle East countries signed a peace deal in 1979, agreeing that a Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) mission would monitor compliance.
There are 707 US troops in that mission, the largest contingent in the 12-nation force of some 1,600 soldiers.
Most of the peacekeepers are stationed at El-Gorah camp, near the Gazoo Strip. Under the reported move, they would be transferred to a base near Sharm al-Sheikh, in the less-restive southern peninsula.
US officials, according to the CNN report, say that MFO soldiers can be replaced by unmanned sensing technology that can fulfill the duty of monitoring the Egyptian-Israeli border.
The Egyptian army has been battling to quell a four-year insurgency in the Sinai, which has grown fiercer since the group formerly known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis ...Supporters of Jerusalem, the current pen name of al-Qaeda in the Sinai Peninsula... , founded in 2011, switched its allegiance to the Islamic State terror group late in 2014.
The IS branch has shown resilience, fending off daily Arclight airstrikes and land operations by Egyptian security forces.
Attacks on security personal and civilians have become frequent occurrences in the northern Sinai, including IEDs, kidnappings and raids on security checkpoints.
Israeli officials have expressed fears that the Islamic State fighters could also target southern Israel along the border, which has been mostly quiet since a spate of attacks in 2012.
The frequency of IS attacks and ease with which the group seems to move around northern Sinai have already led the MFO to leave some of its smaller positions near Gazoo.
Last September, four US troops were maimed by an IED attack. The US then added an additional 75 servicemen to their ranks in the Sinai help boost security.
The US troops in the Sinai are not intended to participate in the fight against the Islamic State.
#3
So the US will pull a military force out of Egypt because ISIS may be some kind of threat far far away, but they won't pull unarmed ambassadorial staff out of Libya in the face of an armed assault.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Cyprus said on Wednesday that it had approved a request from Cairo to extradite the man accused of hijacking an EgyptAir plane and diverting it to the Mediterranean island.
Egyptian Seif al-Din Mohammed Mostafa, 58, is accused of using a fake suicide belt to seize the Alexandria-to-Cairo flight on March 29 and force it to land in Cyprus.
Cypriot government officials said that a legal process would now begin to send home the 58-year-old, who is in police custody on the island.
"Instructions were given for the relevant procedures to begin," a government official told AFP.
Nicosia is expected to try to fast-track the extradition process which could take several weeks.
The suspect is expected to remain in jug until his extradition papers are ready.
The Egyptian state prosecutor’s office had asked for him to be handed over under a 1996 bilateral extradition treaty.
Mostafa -- described by authorities as psychologically unstable -- has said he acted out of desperation to see his Cypriot ex-wife and children.
Cypriot prosecutors said last week he faced possible charges of hijacking, kidnapping, reckless and threatening behavior, and breaches of the anti-terror law.
According to police, Mostafa has given a voluntary statement admitting to the hijacking.
His ex-wife has been quoted by Cypriot media as describing their five years of marriage as a "black period" of her life.
The hijacking ended peacefully with Mostafa’s arrest.
Most of the 55 passengers were quickly released after the plane landed, but some escaped only minutes before the six-hour standoff finished.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2016 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] The head of Libya's self-declared administration in the capital, 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... , has refused to cede power to a UN-backed unity government, contradicting an earlier pledge by his administration. Say one thing on Monday, another on Tuesday. Contradict them both on Wednesday.
Khalifa Ghweil, chief of Tripoli's so-called National Salvation Government, in a statement on Wednesday, called on his ministers not to stand down, adding, "Given the requirements of public interest... you are requested to continue your mission in accordance with the law."
The statement threatened to prosecute anyone who cooperates with the new government.
This is while an earlier statement bearing the logo of Tripoli authority had said its prime minister, deputy premiers and cabinet ministers were all stepping aside in an attempt to "preserve the higher interests of the country and prevent bloodshed and divisions."
The latest announcement is a setback to UN-backed prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj who arrived in Tripoli in late March to assert the unity government's authority.
Upon his arrival in the capital on March 30, Sarraj said "uniting Libyans and healing divisions" were among the challenges the country is facing.
"We will work for a ceasefire across Libya, for national reconciliation and the return of displaced people, and we will seek to confront" the ISISTakfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... terrorist group, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2016 00:00 ||
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The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari directed threats at Saudi Arabia yesterday in response to Riyadh’s declaration that the Lebanese Hezbollah which is backed by Iran is a terrorist organisation.
At the first Revolutionary Guards’ leaders meeting held during the current Iranian year that started recently, Jafari said that his forces “have prepared plans and projects to respond” to Saudi Arabia and are “waiting for commands” to implement them. He stressed that Tehran would defend Hezbollah with all its power in order to “strengthen its position in Lebanon and the region”.
At a time when the region anticipates an end to the war in Yemen, Jafari said that his country “will not leave the Yemeni people alone” and “that the sword of the Ansar Allah group (the Houthis) will be sharper”.
The commander of the Revolutionary Guards also defended the idea of “exporting” the Iranian revolution abroad and stressed the importance of “engineering” the revolution and expanding its domain in the international field.
Jafari tried to justify his country’s position and its military intervention in Syria, and pointed out that the participation of Iranian forces in the war in Syria came in response to “the British, American and Zionist strategy to divide Syria”.
At a domestic level, Jafari continued to attack the policies of the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his government, a day after Rouhani defended the nuclear deal and its achievements for Iran. In response to Rouhani’s comments, Jafari said that considering the nuclear agreement to be a “model” is a form of “humiliation” and that those who defend the continuation of these deals are “involuntarily taking the road to counter-revolution and want to humiliate our great people”. Rouhani has been widely attacked by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for talking about internal agreements along the lines of the nuclear deal and the discussions that preceded it.
Aden- Yemeni State Minister for the Implementation the Outcomes of the National Dialogue, Yaser Alroaini, said that Houthi armed militia must begin withdrawing from Yemeni governmental institutions, which are overrun by Houthi militants. Minister Alroaini requested that Houthis relinquish all weaponry prior to implementing ceasefire next Sunday.
In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Alroaini confirmed that negotiations are conducted in direct reference to the U.N. Security Council resolution, which should be met with comprehensive implementation.
Stressing on the dangers posed on the Yemeni community and neighboring countries, Alroani brought up the distressing necessity to unarm all militias, so that Yemen’s sovereignty remains intact.
Alroani stated that military field pressure is what forced militias to consider border ceasefire and participate in upcoming national talks. Arm’s cargoes are still being confiscated on their route to Houthis, which proves the militias’ corrupt intentions.
Alroani stressed that Houthis remain a constituent to the Yemeni community; however, only when they abandon arms.
When asked about the Yemeni legitimacy government delegation arriving to Kuwait for ceasefire preparations and about the entailed measures taken by the legitimacy government, Alroani confirmed that the legitimate administration had responded with notable positivity to the U.N. special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed proposal on ceasefire.
He told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the pro-legitimacy delegation has accepted Ahmed’s suggestion on establishing an atmosphere which encourages conducting deliberations in Kuwait.
The Yemeni legitimate government has officially embarked on ceasefire set for April 10, based on the U.N. envoy’s request, which represents a preliminary cessation of hostilities.
However, on the other hand, endorsing declarations on future peace talks were not made by the insurgency, nor were trust-building actions provided, Alroani added.
Trust-building actions were a set of pointers agreed on at the second Geneva peace talks, which will guarantee the insurgency’s good intentions for establishing peace in the war-torn country.
Regardless, the pro-legitimacy administration is bent on guarding both peace and Yemeni citizens, in addition to its discretion that the course towards a solution is political, which is the adopted approach for resolving the Yemeni crisis according to the U.N. resolution 2216, Alroani said.
Concerning attending a political solution in Kuwait, it is regrettable that the insurgent militias have not issued any statements; it seems that they are still fixed on their insurgency. Despite all the aforesaid, ceasefire will be implemented on the date decided by the Yemeni President, and the governmental delegation will openly and unconditionally attend the talks, Alroani added.
The Yemeni government mission will attend negotiations despite that trust-building actions should have been provided by Houthi and pro-Saleh militants (supporters of ousted Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh ) prior to engaging in any negotiations.
[Dhaka Tribune] The Appellate Division has upheld a High Court order to confirm the death sentence of banned krazed killer group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh The JMB is said to be the youth front of Al Mujahideen, the parent organization that began working toward establishing Bangladesh as an Islamic state in the mid 1990s which remains obscure even today. Other organizations, such as Jama'atul Jihad, JMB, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), Hizbut Tawhid, Tawhidi Janata, Islami Jubo Shangha, Islami Shangha, Al Falah A'am Unnayan Shanstha and Shahadat-e al Hiqma are believed to be part of the Al Mujahideen network. The JMB at its peak was reported to contain at least 100,000 members, and an alleged 2,000-man suicide brigade, few of whom actually exploded. JMB allegedly received financial assistance from individual donors in Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Libya. Reports have claimed that funding of JMB by international NGOs like Kuwait based Society of the Revival of Islamic Heritage (RIHS) and Doulatul Kuwait, Saudi Arabia based Al Haramaine Islamic Institute and Rabita Al Alam Al Islami, Qatar Charitable Society and UAE-based Al Fuzaira and Khairul Ansar Al Khairia. The top leadership of JMB was captured in 2005 and hung in 2007, which pretty much shot their bolt. (JMB) operative Masumur Rahman Masum in a case filed over the 2005 bombings in a Lakshmipur court.
A four-member bench led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha yesterday scrapped a High Court verdict that acquitted another JMB activist Amzad Ali in the same case and ordered retrial.
The apex court gave the retrial order since the High Court in its verdict in 2013 observed that the charges against Amzad had not been taken into cognisance properly, Deputy Attorney General Shashanka Shekhar Sarker told news hounds.
The court also ordered the jail authorities concerned to shift Amzad from the condemn cell to general ward.
According to the case, members of the banned Islamist outfit on October 3, 2005 launched a kaboom on Lakshmipur district court during a trial session leaving many people including a judge and a bench officer seriously injured. One of the injured later died at a hospital.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2016 00:00 ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] Upon analysis of the arms and explosives recovered from the dens of banned outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team in a recent drive in the capital, police’s Detective Branch (DB) found those have been coming from outside the country.
The organisation is reportedly taking support from other militant outfits, including Hizb-ut Tahrir and Jama’atul Mujaheedin Bangladesh (JMB), in bringing these arms into the capital, according to sources.
“These arms and explosives are mainly coming from the hill tracks and border areas of the country,” says Md Didar Ahmed, additional commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).
Didar Ahmed also said they are working to track down the route through which these arms make their way in, giving priority to finding out who support and finance the network of such activities. Police have already tracked down three Ansarullah dens and are working to uncover if any are left.
Meanwhile, the organisation has already shifted existing hubs to new locations after a joint drive by DB police and counter-terrorism and transnational crime (CT) unit saw the end of three such dens.
During this drive, interrogation and some recovered documents pointed to the fact that the organisation has eight hubs in the capital.
When inquired, Monirul Islam, additional commissioner of DMP and chief of the CT unit, told the Dhaka Tribune that even though the Ansarullah dens were shifted before they could take action, there would be continued efforts to locate them.
Sources in the DB informed that although Ansarullah members in the other dens fled, the raid from three hubs in Mohammadpur, Badda and Dakkhinkhan yielded documents with information on suspected members and two possible financiers.
Sources also said Ansarullah operational wing member Redowanul Azad Rana is currently in Malaysia from where he is trying to conduct activities in Bangladesh, along with an IT expert named Tamim Al Adnani.
Directed by these two, the existing local members are now reportedly trying to make “book bombs,” which are easily transferable and law enforcers might not suspect them.
A DB high official, requesting to remain anonymous, told the Dhaka Tribune that they have got proof that an organisation named Dawatul Islam is providing financial support to Ansarullah along with Hizb-ut Tahrir. Dawatul Islam is a Moslem organisation based in London. The group was founded in 1978 from the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan-originated UK Islamic Mission to cater to East Bengali Muslims in Britain after the founding of Bangladesh in 1971. In 1990, the group Islamic Forum Europe broke off from Dawatul Islam, reportedly over Bangladeshi regional differences. The group is now based at another mosque, Jamiatul Ummah Bigland Street.
The raid of the Dakkhinkhan den yielded bombs set up inside books, usually dictionaries, said the official.
Upon contact, Mashruqure Rahman Khaled, deputy commissioner of DB police, said: “We are now analysing the evidence. We are looking into some suspects who used to live in the house, and trying to trace their locations.”
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04/07/2016 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] Rising tensions worldwide helped push up military expenditure in 2015, the first increase after four years of declining spending, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a report published on Tuesday.
For the full-year 2015, world military spending totalled $1.67 trillion, a rise of one percent from the previous year.
This seems commensurate with inflation...
The increase was attributed primarily to more expenditure in Eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East, while the decline in spending in the West was levelling off, SIPRI said.
The United States remains in pole position as the country that spends the most on its armed forces, by far.
Washington's military spending budget of $596 billion was down by 2.4 percent from the previous year, a smaller decline than in recent years.
SIPRI senior researcher Sam Perlo-Freeman said the United States now has "additional overseas contingency operations' (OCO) spending from the war against" the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS) group.
The world's second-biggest spender, China, dished out $215 billion, followed by 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... which overtook Russia for third place at $87.2 billion. Moscow spent $66.4 billion.
During the 10-year period from 2006-2015, the U.S. military budget shrank by four percent, while China's soared by 132 percent. Those of Saudi Arabia and Russia also increased significantly, by 97 and 91 percent respectively.
La Belle France, which had the fifth biggest budget in 2014, fell to seventh place behind Britannia and India.
Military spending budgets continued to decline across Western Europe, albeit less sharply than in recent years.
"The reasons for the change in trend are Russia, IS and 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... politics," Perlo-Freeman said, noting that Alliance members have agreed to maintain spending at two percent of their gross domestic product until 2024.
In Asia, rising spending in Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan and Vietnam reflected tensions with China and North Korea, SIPRI said.
#1
Well, just think how bad it would've been without the Nobel Peace Prize-winner on the throne in D.C.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/07/2016 7:29 Comments ||
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#2
When you believe the Left's fantasy that America was really the big evil in the world and do what you can to leash and declaw it, you get this result. The world has always been a nasty place. Now its going to revert to its natural state of nastiness and chaos. Those who can are going to build their equivalent of walls and armies to protect their own interests. That big mangy flea bitten watch dog that howled in the night and crap on the lawn is about gone and that which it kept at bay is now coming to knock on your door.
There are "hundreds of jihadists planning to strike Western targets on European soil," already present on the continent, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon told his Polish counterpart, Antoni Macierewicz, in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
"We are concerned that what we saw in Paris and Brussels is just the start, and that attempts to carry out terrorist attacks in Europe will continue," he added. Paging Mr Kratman. Mr Tom Kratman to the white courtesy phone, please.
#1
How the Kremlin Manipulates Europe’s Refugee Crisis
"Warsaw is similarly sanguine. “We’re familiar with this Kremlin game,” stated a senior Polish intelligence official who noted that Poles who were repatriated home after decades in the Soviet Union, where Stalin had deported them, included many KGB Illegals. Polish security had a devilish time detecting those spies, “and these were our own people. We have no idea who these Arabs even are.”"
#5
The Kremlin plays the middle against both ends; they're so good at it you cheer them on as their AA missiles 'mysteriously' and (as the blogfather would say) 'unexpectedly' fall into the possession of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
#6
That was for From. Bright Pebbles, you're the guy who said it was People's Private Business when the Panama Papers were released talking about how the Russian government laundered money to buy influence in the West.
Yep, something in the collective Russian DNA that seems to revel in dark plots and schemes.
"The Brothers Karamazov" offers some insight into the REAL workings of the Russian mind.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
04/07/2016 11:37 Comments ||
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#8
Interesting link, newc. It's no surprise that Russians would get up to such shenanigans. What is surprising and extremely disappointing is that Western European leaders would play right into it.
[IsraelTimes] One of two Islamic State jacket wallahs briefly worked at the EU body headquarters in 2009 and 2010, report says
One of two Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... jihadists who blew themselves up at Brussels airport on March 22 briefly worked as a cleaner at the European Parliament several years ago, the EU body said Wednesday.
"He held a summer holiday job cleaning at the Parliament for one month in 2009 and one month in 2010. Those were the only instances he worked at the Parliament," it said in a statement.
It did not name the individual, but a source close to the inquiry told AFP it was Najim Laachraoui.
Laachraoui and fellow suicide bomber Ibrahim El Bakraoui blew themselves up at Brussels Airport in coordinated attacks two weeks ago that also struck a Brussels metro station and killed a total of 32 people.
Laachraoui is also suspected of being the bomb-maker for the Gay Paree terror assaults last November after his DNA was found on some the explosives used in the attacks, which killed 130.
The European Parliament said the suspect did not have a criminal record when he worked for the cleaning firm it had contracted at the time.
"As required by the contract, the cleaning firm submitted proof of the absence of a criminal record to the European Parliament," the statement said.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/07/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Does the fact that my first reaction was a sigh of regret, makes me a bad person?
#2
I'm conflicted too g(r)om. We have people here with lots of security telling the peons they must accept the risks of the ruling class' virtue signaling. They only seem excited when it's the 'right people' who get harmed.
"It's... ummm... something else."
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The March 22 ISIS attacks in Brussels represented a security "failure", Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel admitted Wednesday, but he rejected the notion his country was a "failed state".
Belgian authorities have faced strong criticism at home and abroad for not doing more to prevent the carnage, as links emerged between the Brussels attackers and the snuffies behind the Gay Paree terror assaults in November.
"When there is an attack like that of course that’s a failure and nobody can deny this," Michel told news hounds in Brussels.
But "I cannot accept the idea that we’re a failed state."
Reality doesn't care whether you accept it or not, it just continues being real.
A total of 32 people died in the suicide kabooms at Brussels airport and a metro station.
The carnage came four days after the sole surviving suspect in the Gay Paree attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was tossed in the slammer Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! in Brussels, just around the corner from his family home, after four months on the run as Europe’s most wanted man.
"It took 10 years to stop Bin Laden," Michel countered, referring to former Al-Qaeda chief the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now neither a strong horse nor a weak horse, but a dead horse... Abdeslam is currently awaiting extradition from Belgium to La Belle France and has denied any prior knowledge of the Brussels bombings.
Belgium, a notoriously complex country divided along linguistic and political lines, has been accused of failing to keep better track of suspected Death Eaters, as the Gay Paree attacks were largely planned in Brussels.
"We’re a small country at the heart of Europe... a hub from where one can easily organise attacks in other European countries," Michel said, calling for better cross-border intelligence cooperation.
"That’s where we have a lot of work to do."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
a notoriously complex country
There's a more piquant phrase, but this is supposed to be a family-friendly site.
[Iran Press TV] The southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep has become a hub for selling antiques and artifacts stolen by the ISIS terrorist group from Syria, says Russia’s permanent UN ambassador.
ISIS’s annual illegal income from the sales of stolen historical relics reaches nearly 200 million dollars, Vitaly Churkin said in a letter presented to the UN on Wednesday.
He stressed that most of the artifacts are sold on the black market after being smuggled into The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... from Syria. "Those pieces of antiques are sold through auctions illegally on websites and through local markets," Churkin added.
Thousands of internationally recognized archaeological sites are still held by the Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... terrorists, nine of which are present in the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List, he noted.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2016 00:00 ||
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[AlAhram] The first Syrian family to be resettled in the US under a speeded-up "surge operation" for refugees left Jordan on Wednesday for Kansas City, Missouri, to start a new life.
Ahmad al-Abboud, who is being resettled with his wife and five children, said he is thankful to Jordan, where he has lived for three years after fleeing Syria's civil war. But the 45-year-old from Homs, Syria, said he was ready to build a better life in the US.
"I'm happy. America is the country of freedom and democracy, there are jobs opportunities, there is good education, and we are looking forward to having a good life over there," al-Abboud said.
They have been living in Mafraq, north of Amman. Al-Abboud was unable to find work, and the family was surviving on food coupons.
"I am ready to integrate in the US and start a new life," he told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named in Amman's airport before the family boarded a flight to Kansas City.
Al-Abboud said he wanted to learn English and find a job to support his family.
Since October, 1,000 Syrian refugees have moved to the US from Jordan. 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... has set a target of resettling 10,000 Syrian refugees by Sept. 30.
A resettlement center opened in Amman in February to help meet that goal, and about 600 people are interviewed every day at the center.
The temporary processing center will run until April 28, said US Ambassador Alice Wells, who was at the airport to see the al-Abboud family depart.
Gina Kassem, the regional refugee coordinator at the US Embassy in Amman, said that while the target of 10,000 applies to Syrian refugees living around the world, most will be resettled from Jordan.
"The 10,000 (figure) is a floor and not a ceiling, and it is possible to increase the number," Kassem told news hounds.
While the resettlement process usually takes 18 to 24 months, the surge operation will reduce the time to three months, Kassem said.
The UN Refugee Agency prioritizes the most vulnerable cases for resettlement, and refers them to the US to review, Kassem said. The priority is given to high-risk groups such as unaccompanied minors and victims of torture and gender-based violence, she said.
"We do not have exclusions or look for families with certain education background, language skills or other socio-economic factors, and we do not cut family sizes," she said.
Jordan hosts about 635,000 of the more than 4.7 million Syrians who have registered with the UN refugee agency after fleeing the war. The total number of Syrians in Jordan is more than 1.2 million, including those who arrived before the conflict began in 2011.
#3
Well, the good thing.
The (35 hour!) lightly loaded flights back to Jordan will be cheaper, like $700. Travel advisory: gun bags and boxes of ammo should be shipped separately.
This seems odd -- perhaps various parties are working at cross purposes?
[AlAhram] An effort to prosecute five men held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for the Sept. 11 terrorist attack has hit another snag.
A two-week pretrial hearing scheduled to start Tuesday was abruptly canceled late last week by the military judge presiding over the case after he received a confidential notice from Justice Department lawyers.
The document is sealed, its contents not even disclosed to prosecutors or the defense. But there are indications the filing has raised issues that will result in further delays in a case that has been mired in the pretrial stage for years.
"I suspect we are back in this limbo stage and it will take some time to get out," said Jim Harrington, a lawyer for Ramzi Binalshibh, one of the five men facing a tribunal known as a military commission for his alleged role in the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacking plot.
From what little information can be gleaned from the judge's brief cancellation order, the new issue appears to be at least tangentially related to an FBI investigation of a possible security breach involving members of the Binalshibh defense team. The investigation was closed without criminal charges and the judge, Army Col. James Pohl, ultimately decided that it did not create a conflict of interest that required Harrington to step down.
Pohl had directed a special review team of Justice Department lawyers to look into the FBI investigation and any potential conflict. He also told them to notify him of any new investigations. That may have happened Friday, when the judge received the notice that prompted him to cancel the session.
"My best guess, and this is purely speculation, is that there is some new investigation that the special review team is advising the commission of," said James Connell, a lawyer for defendant Ammar al-Baluchi.
A Justice Department front man declined comment Tuesday.
The revelation of the FBI investigation in April 2014 stalled proceedings in the case for 18 months. Though the judge ruled there was no conflict, Harrington said he is still receiving court-ordered information into what he called a "gross violation of the attorney-client privilege" and there may be future revelations that the judge will have to address.
The five defendants, including self-proclaimed criminal mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, face charges that include terrorism and nearly 3,000 counts of murder. They could get the death penalty if convicted.
All five men were held in secret CIA prisons for interrogation before they were brought to Guantanamo in September 2006 for military prosecution. The case has been dogged ever since by legal and political issues as well as the logistics of trying a case at the isolated base in southeastern Cuba. They were arraigned for a second time in May 2012 and more than a dozen pretrial hearings have been held since.
The chief prosecutor, Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, is legally barred from any involvement with the work of the special review team and did not predict when the proceedings would resume in a statement on the cancellation of the hearing. He said prosecutors are still working seven days a week to compile classified evidence for the defense by a Sept. 30 deadline.
"We pledge to the families of the 9/11 fallen that the United States will not rest until justice is fully achieved," Martins said.
The next hearing is to start May 30 but the judge said in his order that "further adjusting the schedule" may be necessary.
[DAWN] LAHORE: The first analysis report of the Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) about the identity of the suspected jacket wallah indicates that Khorasani group, an offshoot of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), was behind the Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park attack.
Khorasani group of the TTP (Jamatul Ahrar) was said to be most notorious since it had leanings towards the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS) murderous Moslem group.
The PFSA was engaged by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) after a damaged head of the suspected suicide bomber was found at the site of the blast which claimed more than 70 lives, besides injuring over 300 people, mostly children and women.
After the blast, the TTP (Jamatul Ahrar) had shared a photo of the alleged bomber, claiming responsibility of the attack.
The CTD had sent the photo to the PFSA for a detailed comparative analysis to reach a conclusion.
The analysis was done using forensic image analysis tools and software.
"After performing morphological analysis for forensic image comparison it was concluded that the "ear" seen in the questioned photo matches with the "ear" seen in the reference photo", the PFSA’s report disclosed. A copy of the report is available with Dawn.
As only an ear of the suspected bomber was left undamaged, the analysis remained restricted to that particular body part.
"The forensic image comparison was inconclusive for other facial features due to extremely damaged condition of facial features in the questioned photograph", the report states.
It says the analysis was conducted according to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) of the agency’s audio visual analysis department.
A senior police official who was privy to the investigation told Dawn the image analysis by the agency helped the detectives to trace the turbans network.
However, nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... he said, the police would not rule out other options till the completion of the investigations.
He said after the PFSA analysis report, Khorasani group was being focused on by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed by Punjab government after the blast. The group had its network of controllers in many parts of the province, the police official added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-ul-Ahrar
[DAWN] Politicians belonging to opposition parties severely criticised Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... 's decision to form a judicial commission to clear his children of allegations that resurfaced after 'Panama Papers' revelations.
The Pakistain People's Party termed the premier's address to the nation last evening "most unfortunate," because he "blamed his woes on the policies of Zulfikar and Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... to deflect the storm brewing as a result of the Panama Papers."
"Instead of answering questions raised in the leaked documents, the PM resorted to a blame-game against PPP leaders," Farhatullah Babar, the party’s spokesperson, said in a statement issued soon after the PM’s address.
Responding to the PM’s claims regarding the detention of the fat merchantman ’Jonathan’, Babar said, "He conveniently forgot that the fat merchantman was held up by customs authorities after it was found to be carrying a sugar plant instead of the intended steel scrap cargo."
The prime minister, Babar said, would do well to answer questions raised by the leaked documents, rather than playing a blame-game.
Talking to a private television channel, 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.... leader Asad Umar claimed that the whole nation is disappointed over the "one-member judicial commission" formed to probe such a critical matter.
"He [PM Nawaz] said whoever has a complaint against him or his family shall go to the commission and prove it, which is a joke since it is the PM who needs to prove his innocence," said Umar.
PTI front man Naeemul Haq, in a statement, said the PM had not specified who would choose the judge to head the proposed judicial commission, or whether it will be empowered to examine Sharifs’ assets abroad as well.
Haq also contended that rather than anyone else having to prove their claims, it was the Sharifs who would have to account for their wealth before the commission.
Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... emir Sirajul Haq ...current head of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. Siraj was born in 1962 and entered politics shortly after that... said if the premier sincerely desires a probe, he should immediately hand over the matter to the National Accountability Bureau so that the truth is out.
He said given nature of the allegations, inquiry into the matter is not the job of a retired judge. Rather a full-fledged investigation agency should do the task.
Or else, he suggested, the matter should be entrusted to the Chief Justice of Pakistain who should appoint a judicial commission comprising three senior most judges of the apex court for the purpose.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[AnNahar] A member of the Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... i royal family and a Pak have been released by kidnappers in Iraq after nearly four months in captivity, the Qatari foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
The pair were among more than 20 people kidnapped from a desert hunting party close to the Saudi border last December.
Reports at the time of the kidnapping said that those seized included members of the emirate's ruling family.
The ministry initially announced "the release of a Qatari citizen and his Asian companion who were kidnapped in Iraq."
"Efforts are still ongoing to free the rest of the 26 kidnapped," a brief statement published on the official QNA news agency said.
A foreign ministry front man told AFP that negotiations were continuing with the Iraqi government to try to secure the release of the remaining hostages.
It is not known if any ransom was paid for the release of the two men freed on Wednesday.
The hostages were kidnapped when gunnies attacked their camp in a Shiite-majority area of southern Iraq.
Nine members of the party managed to escape and cross into nearby Kuwait.
There is widespread enmity towards the Gulf Arab states in Shiite areas of southern and central Iraq because of their support for Sunni rebels in the conflict raging in neighboring Syria.
Iran-backed Shiite militias, which have a major presence in the region, have sent fighters to Syria to support Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... 's regime.
The hunting party was in Iraq on an officially licensed expedition and Doha has put pressure on the Shiite-led government in Baghdad to help secure the hostages' release.
Wealthy Gulf Arabs often brave the risks of travel to countries like Afghanistan and Pakistain as well as Iraq to hunt with falcons without the bag limits and conservation measures they face at home.
Their favored prey is the houbara bustard, a large game bird once nearly hunted to extinction in the Middle East.
[IsraelTimes] Israeli security agencies are on alert over the potential for cyber-attacks by Anonymous on Thursday, after the hacker group previously targeted the Jewish state each April 7.
The attacks in solidarity with the Paleostinians have in the past succeeded in blocking government sites, including for the ministries of defense and foreign affairs.
"We are prepared for all forms of aggression," an official from the Shin Bet domestic security agency tells AFP. "Israel is well-protected."
In the past Israeli governmental and company sites have been shut down; sites have been hijacked to display photos and videos from Anonymous; and data has been pirated and made public, says Meni Barzilai from the University of Tel Aviv’s cyber research center.
Dozens of experts from both the private and public sectors as well as hackers are to gather Thursday in Tel Aviv to monitor potential attacks and offer help to companies and institutions targeted.
#1
One could hope the Mossad would knock on some doors of these little buck futters who seem to think they can get away with stuff like this with no physical consequences.
#3
Identify them, make them 'somewhat less anonymous', and let nature take its course.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/07/2016 10:44 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Who could connect a campaign of 'accidents' or wet jobs if they're anonymous? How do you connect the dots? Unless they self identify, but that in turn, makes them targets for others. Put themselves into a corner haven't they?
[IsraelTimes] Satellite images show villages razed in area; reports suggest fortified site may house armed Iranian missiles for use against Jewish state
Neatly labelled satellite images provided by Stratfor can be seen at the link.
The Lebanese terror group Hezbollah has reportedly been constructing a fortified base inside Syria that it may be using to store Iranian ballistic missiles with the range to hit Israel.
Satellite images of an area on the northern Lebanese-Syrian border show that Hezbollah has been consolidating positions it conquered from Syrian rebels in June 2013, global intelligence company Stratfor said Wednesday.
Photos show several facilities in the region around Qusair, including one large compound surrounded by an earthen berm. Villages up to four kilometers (2.5 miles) from the base have been razed to enable clear observation of the territory, and tunnels have reportedly been dug back under the border and into Leb.
Other sources said there are long-range missiles at the base including Iranian-manufactured Shabaab-1, Shabaab-2, and Fateh-110 ballistic missiles, although there was no satellite confirmation to back up the claim.
"While these missiles could prove crucial in the event of a large-scale Israeli ground offensive against Hezbollah in Leb, they are not beyond the reach of the Israeli Air Force," the report said. "Notably, imagery does not show significant underground facilities at the base capable of protecting this weaponry."
The missiles are estimated to have ranges from 200 to at least 1,000 kilometers (125-625 miles), putting all of Israel within striking distance.
Several Arclight airstrikes in Syria, attributed to the Israeli Air Force, reportedly targeted advanced weapons shipments to Hezbollah. Although Israel has never publicly admitted to carrying out the strikes, it has vowed to prevent Hezbollah from obtaining any game-changing weapons.
One source said the plan is to also store Katyusha rockets, mortars, and howitzers at Qusair as well as to station some of Hezbollah’s 60 T-72 battle tanks at the base. Additional intelligence reported four munitions factories in the complex.
Stratfor said the installation is part of a Hezbollah plan to keep a force of 3,000 fighters in Syria as well as provide a base of operations for its sponsor, Iran. An Iranian diplomatic source claimed officers from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps make frequent visits to the positions near Qusair, Starfor said.
Hezbollah conquered the area while fighting on behalf of the Syrian government against rebels in the country’s civil war.
Based on information from diplomatic sources and those described as "close to Hezbollah," Stratfor assessed that Hezbollah will strive to further increase its presence in Syria as a precaution against the possible ousting of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... ’s regime by rebels.
[Iran Press TV] Russian Kamov Ka-52 attack helicopters, nicknamed Alligator, have been captured on a video while pounding positions held by the ISISTakfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... terrorist group in Syria’s Homs province.
The new footage showed advanced copters pouring unguided rockets on terrorists’ positions somewhere between the city of Palmyra and al-Qaryatayn town, which has been liberated from ISIS just recently by the Syrian Army.
The Ka-52 Alligator, one of the Russian Air Force’s most advanced choppers, is able to destroy tanks, armored and non-armored ground targets, and enemy troops and copters, both on the front line and in tactical reserves. It can travel at a speed of 290 kilometers (180 miles) per hour.
Alligator’s 30-mm automatic cannon can carry explosive incendiary or armor-piercing rounds. Moreover, it is equipped with both guided missiles such as Ataka and Vikhr-1, and a launch system for S-8 unguided missiles, and can operate around the clock and in all weather conditions.
Upon a request from the Syrian government, Russia started conducting Arclight airstrikes against the ISIS Takfiri terrorist group’s positions and those of other terrorist groups in Syria on September 30. Since then, the strikes have killed hundreds of ISISDeath Eaters and other foreign-backed bully boyz and inflicted heavy material damage to them.
Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. According to a February report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injuring 1.9 million others, and displacing nearly half of the country’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
[AlAhram] Al Qaeda's Syrian offshoot Nusra Front confirmed on Wednesday that their front man and veteran Death Eater fighter Abu Firas al-Suri was killed in a US air strike in Syria.
In an online statement, Nusra Front said Abu Firas died in an attack on Sunday by an "Arab-crusader coalition" led by the United States, confirming an April 4 statement on his death by al Qaeda's North African wing.
Abu Firas, a former Syrian army officer discharged in the late 1970s because of his Islamist leanings, fought in Afghanistan in the 1980s and worked with al Qaeda leader the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now sometimes referred to as Mister Bones... to galvanize support for the fundamentalist Taliban movement, Islamist rebel sources said.
Abu Firas became a front man for the Nusra Front and was also a member of the group's policy-making Shura Council.
A Pentagon front man told Rooters on Monday that a US air strike on April 3 hit a meeting of high-level al Qaeda officials in northwest Syria at which Abu Firas was present.
While the United States is part of a coalition of nations attacking Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... in Iraq and Syria, it has also launched separate strikes on the Nusra Front group, notably in the northwestern province of Idlib.
[JPOST] Leb has been bustling in the past few days following the discovery of the biggest prostitution network ever operated in the country. While pro-Hezbollah newspapers deem that the Lebanese organization aided in exposing the network, anti-Hezbollah social media activists have launched an attack against the organization, claiming that one of its members was the network's head.
The prostitution network, revealed by the Lebanese police in the coastal city of Jounieh, north of Beirut, included 75 women, most of them Syrian. The network's operators convinced the women to leave their homeland and move to Leb by offering them apparent jobs at Lebanese restaurants.
Inspected by 18 guards at the brothel, the women were obliged to serve as hookers 20 hours a day. If a woman's client did not like the way he was treated by her, she would have been hit, tortured or sexually harassed by the network's operators.
The network, which started operating in 2011, was not only a prostitution network, but also an ISIS-like human trafficking network, in which the operators sold or hired out women to other networks.
Four women had managed to escape from the brothel, fleeing to the southern Dahiya, a Beirut suburb known as Hezbollah's enclave in Leb. A source affiliated with Hezbollah told the Lebanese daily newspaper al-Nahar that the women arrived in Dahiya believing that they would find a refuge there from the network's operators.
The official Iranian news agency, Fars, also stressed the positive role performed by Hezbollah in that incident. Hailing the Lebanese terror organization, the story's headline on Fars read: "How did Hezbollah rescue young Syrian girls from prostitution network in Jounieh?"
Nevertheless, anti-Hezbollah newspapers argued that the girls have undergone sexual harassment by Hezbollah's members, which caused Dahiya residents to address Hezbollah's security committee in the suburb, demanding its immediate intervention.
A well-known social media activist opposing Hezbollah, the Lebanese journalist Jerry Maher, claimed that the network was headed by Hezbollah member, Ali Hussien Zeaiter. Zeaiter was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in 2014 for "helping Hezbollah to acquire UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles)."
According to Maher, a group of Hezbollah's deputies in the Lebanese Parliament helped the network's members to smuggle the women into Leb illegally. The Hezbollah-affiliated MPs also ordered senior Lebanese security officials to aid and protect the network's members, while in exchange, they received some of the network's profits. According to Maher, Hezbollah used this income to pay the expenses of its deaders' families.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
[Iran Press TV] Leb’s Hezbollah resistance movement has strongly condemned the latest decision by the Egyptian satellite service provider, Nilesat, to stop airing its news channel, Al-Manar.
Hezbollah decried the decision in a statement issued on Wednesday, according to al-Ahed news website.
The movement said the decision is a blatant violation of the freedom of opinion and expression as well as an attempt to "silence the voice of resistance".
Hezbollah also stressed that such unjust measures will not succeed in silencing the voice of the pro-resistance media outlets in Leb and Paleostine.
The movement called on the company to reverse its decision immediately and urged the Egyptian authorities to exert pressure on the satellite operator to restore Al-Manar.
The statement added that the Egyptians know before others that such actions serve the Israeli goals and demands.
[IsraelTimes] Move comes ahead of visit to Cairo by Saudi Arabian king, amid Gulf crackdown on Lebanese Shiite group
A leading Arab satellite operator cut transmission of Hezbollah’s television channel Al-Manar on Wednesday amid soaring tensions between the Lebanese Shiite terrorist group’s backer Iran and Sunni powerhouse 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... "Nilesat informed the [Lebanese] telecommunications ministry of the need to stop transmitting Al-Manar channel through the Nilesat satellite," Leb’s National News Agency reported. "The management of Nilesat said the reason for the request… was that it had violated their agreement by airing programs that provoke sectarian strife and sedition.”
Nilesat did not immediately comment when contacted by AFP at its Cairo headquarters.
The cut came ahead of a planned visit by Saudi King Salman to Egypt, which operates the Nilesat satellite.
Last month, Gulf Arab states led by Saudi Arabia blacklisted Hezbollah, the leading force in Lebanon’s governing bloc, as a “terrorist” organisation. The kingdom halted a $3 billion program of military aid to Lebanon to protest what it said was “the stranglehold of Hezbollah on the state”. It also urged its citizens to leave Lebanon and avoid travelling there.
Al-Manar said on its Arabic Twitter account that it could still be watched via a Russian satellite or online.
The moves against Hezbollah come amid a spike in tensions between its backer Tehran and Riyadh this year after demonstrators stormed the kingdom’s missions in Iran following Saudi Arabia’s execution of a Shiite cleric. The kingdom cut diplomatic ties with Iran and led Arab allies in a series of retaliatory measures against it. While Saudi Arabia is the main supporter of Syria’s Sunni-led rebels, Hezbollah is fighting alongside President Bashar Assad’s troops, who are backed by Iranian troops officially called “military advisers” by Tehran.
Perhaps this influenced Egyptian sensitivity to Saudi desires:
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.
[IsraelTimes] As Egypt struggles to provide security for peacekeeping force, American officials reportedly say Israeli-Egyptian border can be monitored by unmanned technology instead
[Iran Press TV] The head of Libya's self-declared administration in the capital, 
North Korea
[AlAhram] An effort to prosecute five men held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for the Sept. 11 terrorist attack has hit another snag.
[DAWN] LAHORE: The first analysis report of the
[DAWN] Politicians belonging to opposition parties severely criticised Prime Minister 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Iran Press TV] Russian Kamov Ka-52 attack helicopters, nicknamed Alligator, have been captured on a video while pounding positions held by the 
[AlAhram] Al Qaeda's Syrian offshoot Nusra Front confirmed on Wednesday that their 
[JPOST] 
[Iran Press TV] 
