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Three killed, 40 wounded in car bomb near Turkish police station
Today's Headlines
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Soros Attempted To Influence Supremes On Illegal Immigration Decisions
Posted by: charger || 08/18/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Not surprising - it didn't take much to get Roberts to roll over (twice); why not try it again and again?
Posted by: Raj || 08/18/2016 0:20 Comments || Top||

#2 
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 08/18/2016 20:16 Comments || Top||


Khizr Khan, Kinky Lick, What's The Difference?
Posted by: charger || 08/18/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fred, I know you're all powerful so could you please Stop the World...I want to get off.

Thank you.
Posted by: AlanC || 08/18/2016 7:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Oh my. Things are not looking good for the Khans. :-)
Posted by: gorb || 08/18/2016 11:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Frank?
Posted by: Shipman || 08/18/2016 12:38 Comments || Top||

#4  not me
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2016 15:34 Comments || Top||

#5  A pious old Muslim named Khan
Said "I want and I will coz I can"
For my son there's no flowers
Bring on Golden Showers
Bill, Hill, Jeffrey Epstein - a span!!!

what were you expecting? Zenobia?
Posted by: Bov Flimbers || 08/18/2016 23:39 Comments || Top||


-War on Police-
Baltimore police lieutenant suspended after calling Black Lives Matter protesters ‘thugs’
[WASHINGTONTIMES] A Baltimore Police lieutenant and union leader was suspended Monday after sending an email referring to Black Lives Matter protesters as "thugs" to the entire police force, according to local news reports.

The email followed demonstrations outside the Hyatt Regency Baltimore hosting the four-day Maryland Fraternal Order of Police conference.

"By now you have seen that the THUGS from Black Lives Matter and other similar groups have attempted to disrupt the State FOP Convention being held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel," Lt. Victor Gearhart, first vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 in Baltimore, wrote in the email obtained by WJZ, a local CBS News affiliate.

"Well today as check-in day with activities spread over the next 3 days so expect more bad behavior from the Thugs of Baltimore. On the bright side maybe they will stop killing each other while they are protesting us," he wrote.

T.J. Smith, a Baltimore Police front man, said Police Commissioner Kevin Davis was outraged by Lt. Gearhart’s comments, which are now the subject of an internal investigation, The Baltimore Sun reported.

"This frustrated a number of people," the front man told WJZ. "Calls have been coming in from officers about their outrage over this email."
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Calling them all thugs is both mean and a bit unfair. A lot of them are grifters, scam artists and professional rabble-rousers.
Posted by: SteveS || 08/18/2016 0:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Nice to know truth is no longer a defense in these sort of things.
Posted by: Raj || 08/18/2016 0:23 Comments || Top||

#3  Never was Raj. The "New Speak" contingent has always mandated that the narrative is all.
Posted by: AlanC || 08/18/2016 7:37 Comments || Top||

#4  "Calls have been coming in from officers about their outrage over this email."

In a word, *bullshit*. Your department leadership (and I use that term loosely) may not have the balls to stand up to bad behavior, but the cops on the street weren't calling you "outraged" over referring to BLM as "thugs".
Posted by: Crusader || 08/18/2016 10:03 Comments || Top||

#5  I don't understand the outrage - Lt. Gearhart ended his e-mail on a positive note! "On the bright side maybe they will stop killing each other while they are protesting us"
Posted by: Tennessee || 08/18/2016 10:39 Comments || Top||

#6  I suspect a deeper story here going back to the Mosby trial failures and the entire embrassment of the Mayor. This is just the excuse they were waiting for to punish the police union for their failure to submit to the political leadership.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 08/18/2016 12:17 Comments || Top||

#7 
"This frustrated a number of people," the front man told WJZ. "Calls have been coming in from officers our affirmative action staffers and political appointees about their outrage over this email."
FIFY.
Posted by: magpie || 08/18/2016 15:17 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Questions Raised Over Sudden Fall Of Baghlan's Dahna-e-Ghori
Video at the link whereby Kabul Karl mansplains things
Reports have emerged that just hours before the Taliban took control of Dahna-e-Ghori, the Baghlan provincial police chief allegedly ordered the head of operations to hand over all responsibilities to an unnamed person and return to Pul-e-Khumri, the provincial capital.

A TOLOnews investigation found that following the orders, government forces allegedly responded quickly and retreated from the district – without a single bullet being fired off.

The fall of Baghlan's Dahna-e-Ghori district meanwhile sparked questions among some top local authorities including the provincial governor, Abdul Sattar Barez, who said he has called for a full investigation into the incident.

However, battles are ongoing and have escalated in areas around Pul-e-Khumri city - following the infiltration by Taliban into the area.

Reports have meanwhile also emerged that security forces are allegedly fighting battles without accurate intelligence on the presence of armed opponents in the area.

Last week, the security forces reportedly shelled a compound in the area but later realized no insurgents were present at the time.

However, officials said about 600 security force members had been deployed to Dahna-e-Ghori before the takeover, but Taliban numbers are estimated to be about 300.

"Besides the opponents and enemy, armed men with black masks are currently present in Dahna-e-Ghori," said Abdul Ghafar Ehsan, the commander of the 2nd Battaltion of 209 Shaheen Army Corps.

TOLOnews found that the Baghlan police chief allegedly ordered Sayed Zaiwar Shah Sadat, the head of operation for Dahna-e-Ghori, to hand over responsibility to someone else and return to Pul-e-Khumri. According to troops in the area they took mostly all military equipment with them when they retreated.

When asked to comment on the incident, the Baghlan police chief said that the Ministry of Interior (MoI) had ordered police chiefs of Baghlan, Kunduz, Takhar and Badakhshan provinces not to share information with the media about current battles.

But, the Baghlan governor did say he has requested a full investigation into the incident.

"Terrorists have gathered here from three or four provinces and they are planning to launch a massive operation on our check points," said Barez, the governor.

However, overall security along the Baghlan-Kunduz highway has also deteriorated and those traveling out of Pul-e-Khumri city have said they are afraid the Taliban may ambush security forces.

Meanwhile, officials in Baghlan-e-Markazi district have said that insurgents have flocked into Baghlan from several neighboring provinces.

Baghlan has strategic importance as it connects the center of the country with northern provinces and some central Asian countries including Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

Security experts said that the presence of Taliban in Baghlan can damage Afghanistan's relations with these countries as it also threatens the stability of the northern parts of Afghanistan.

Posted by: badanov || 08/18/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  on a slightly grander scale, our elected representatives handed off responsibilities to an unnamed person
Posted by: Bov Flimbers || 08/18/2016 23:51 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Egypt Launches Inquiry Into Two Prominent Politicians Suspected Of Spying For Hezbollah
[BREITBART] Egypt’s Attorney-General has ordered an inquiry into two prominent politicians suspected of spying for Hezbollah.
Former presidential candidates Abdul Meneem Abnu Elfutuh, chairman of the Islamist Strong Egypt party, and Hamdin Sabahi, a frontbencher for the veteran WAFD party, have been accused of collaborating with the Iran-backed militia and its patrons, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

The two, who ran in the 2011 elections that followed Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
’s ouster, recently attended a "pro-resistance" conference organized by Hezbollah in Beirut. Following that, a police complaint was filed against them for allegedly colluding with Hezbollah and Iran to undermine Egypt’s national interests.

Meanwhile,
...back at the game, the Babe headed for second base. He almost made it. Then Sheila slapped him....
on Tuesday, the Israeli Shin Bet Security Service reportedly uncovered a Hezbollah terrorist cell in Qalqilya, in the northern West Bank.

Shin Bet said that several groups of Paleostinians have recently been detained as suspects in plotting attacks at the instructions of Hezbollah.

A group from Qalqilyah was instructed to perpetrate an attack against soldiers, according to the Israeli security service. The Shin Bet identified the head of the ring as Mustafa Hindi, 18, from Qalqilyah, and says he was recruited via his Facebook profile.

Hindi was allegedly in touch with his Hezbollah operator, dubbed "Bilal," on Facebook and later via an email account that he opened on Hezbollah’s instructions.

According to the Shin Bet, Hindi was instructed to recruit a group of activists to carry out attacks against Israeli targets, including shooting at an IDF patrol in the Qalqilyah area.

Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Arabia
Baby Bin Laden Calls for Saudi Gov't to Be Ousted, End of US Influence
[SPUTNIKNEWS] Hamza Bin Laden, son of al-Qaeda founder and former leader the late Osama bin Laden
... who is now among the dear departed, though not among the dearest...
, has called for the overthrow of the Saudi government and an end to the US influence on Riyadh, a US-based extremism watchdog said on Wednesday.

"Hamza bin Laden echoes father's call to overthrow Saudi regime, cut #US influence in country, & train w/ #AQAP [al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000...
]," Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intelligence Group, wrote on her Twitter account.

Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  Soddi allowed Bin laden, now they get to reap what they sow. I hope he burn Mecca to the ground...
Posted by: 49 Pan || 08/18/2016 10:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Soddi allowed Bin laden, now they get to reap what they sow. I hope he burn Mecca to the ground...
Posted by: 49 Pan
Concur - the Saudis need to reap what they are sowing. Their arrogance will be their downfall.
Posted by: Tennessee || 08/18/2016 10:26 Comments || Top||

#3  Funny, because Baby Bin Ladin is, or was, hosted by the Iranians.
Posted by: Pappy || 08/18/2016 10:40 Comments || Top||

#4  I'd settle for the end of Soddy influence in the U.S.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 08/18/2016 11:02 Comments || Top||

#5  I hope he burn Mecca to the ground...

bulldozes it flat and salts the earth.

FIFY (finished....)
Posted by: AlanC || 08/18/2016 11:21 Comments || Top||

#6  A better title would be:

Baby Bin Laden Calls for Saudi Gov't to Be Ousted, End of US Influence protection.
Posted by: gorb || 08/18/2016 12:00 Comments || Top||

#7  "Soddi allowed Bin laden,"

Allow? The Bin Laden family RUN Saudi Arabia... Look up the "Grand Mosque Seizure" where they decapitated the Wahhabi insurgents but turned over the country to their leaders...all under the Bin Laden family direction.
Posted by: Clerert and Company5286 || 08/18/2016 21:51 Comments || Top||


Europe
French prime minister backs local burqini bans, urges calm
[IsraelTimes] 3 Riviera towns have prohibited the modest Muslim swimwear on their beaches

France’s prime minister is expressing support for local bans of burqini swimsuits, saying the swimwear is based on the “enslavement of women” and therefore not compatible with French values. However, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Wednesday in the La Provence newspaper that he’s not in favor of a national law against them.

Three French Mediterranean towns have banned the burqini, citing security concerns after a summer marred by extremist attacks. Critics say the bans are discriminatory.

Valls said the swimwear represents a “provocation” and an “archaic vision” that women are “immodest, impure and that they should therefore be totally covered.” The Socialist premier also warned that the far-right is profiting from the burqini tensions.

Police in Cannes apprehend Muslim women wearing burkinis

[Ynet] Ten Muslim women wearing burkinis to the beach have been apprehended by police in the southern French city of Cannes in the three weeks since it imposed a temporary ban on the full body swimsuit, a local official said.

Belgium hunts cousin of Brussels attacks brothers

[IsraelTimes] Belgian authorities are hunting a cousin of the El Bakraoui brothers who blew themselves up in the Brussels airport and metro attacks, a source close to the inquiry says Wednesday. Oussama Atar, who spent years in jail in Iraq before returning to Belgium in 2012, is wanted on suspicion of involvement in the March 22 Islamic State-claimed bombings, the source tells AFP on condition of anonymity, confirming Belgian media reports.

Police arrested Atar’s mother, sister and one of his friends during raids in Brussels on August 11 but released them shortly afterwards, says the source who was not authorized to speak on the record.

Investigators have “very strong” suspicions that Belgian-Moroccan national Atar was linked to the attacks in which his cousins Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui blew themselves up with a third bomber, killing 32 people, the source says. Atar was one of the “most wanted in Belgium and even in Europe,” the source adds.
And from Elmerert Hupens2660:
New Oktoberfest Security Rules: Backpacks & Large Bags Banned, New Fence To Be Built

Update from An Nahar at 10:10 a.m. ET -- background on Oussama Atar:
Atar's brother Yassine was arrested with two other men five days after the March 22nd Brussels attacks and remains in detention.

Two of his other cousins, Moustapha and Jawad Benhattal, were arrested on June 18 on suspicion of planning an attack during a public screening of a Euro 2016 football match between Belgium and Ireland, Belgian media reported.

Atar was arrested in Ramadi, Iraq in February 2005 and sentenced to 10 years in jail for illegally crossing the border from Syria, his lawyer at the time, Vincent Lurquin, told AFP. After spending time in jails, including the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, he was freed and sent back to Belgium in September 2012.

"I don't know what happened to him after that," Lurquin said.

Atar said in an interview in 2011 that he had gone to Syria to study Arabic then went to Iraq to take medicines to people in need. His case had been backed by rights group Amnesty International.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/18/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:


The Grand Turk
Turkey starts releasing 38,000 jailed for pre-coup crimes to make room for purge arrests
[AlAhram] Turkey on Wednesday began freeing the first of some 38,000 prisoners not linked to the failed coup who are to be released in a move aimed at relieving pressure on prisons overcrowded with putsch suspects. The parole decision came as Turkey presses on with the biggest purge in its modern history after the July 15 bid by rogue elements in the military to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said the release was "not an amnesty" but the measure could eventually apply to almost half of the Turkish prison population which has swelled to over 200,000 since the attempted coup. It will not apply to convicts guilty of murder, terrorism or state security crimes, or the thousands detained after the putsch.

"The regulation refers to crimes committed before July 1, 2016. The crimes committed after July 1, 2016 are outside its scope," Bozdag said on Twitter. "As a result of this regulation, approximately 38,000 people will be released from closed and open prisons at the first stage."

According to Turkish officials, over 35,000 people have been detained since the coup attempt although almost 11,600 of them have since been released.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said the first convicts began to be released from Istanbul's Silviri prison hours after the announcement.

Bozdag said in an interview with A-Haber television that the parole could in the end apply to 99,000 out of Turkey's current total prison population of 214,000. According to Anadolu, the total capacity of Turkey's prisons is for 187,351 people.

More fired and arrested
In the latest move Wednesday, the authorities fired another 2,692 civil servants mostly from the police, the official gazette announced. Some 75,000 people have already been dismissed from their jobs over alleged links to Gulen.

Turkey has pressed the United States to extradite Gulen to face trial back home, with prosecutors already demanding a symbolically tough punishment of two life sentences and 1,900 years in jail.

US Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Ankara next week, the White House announced, in the highest ranking visit to Turkey by any Western official since the coup.

With concern also surging over the authorities' attitude on press freedom, security forces sealed and raided the premises of the pro-Kurdish daily Ozgur Gundem following a court order to shut it down. A Turkish official said the closure had nothing to do with the state of emergency but was because the court found the paper was acting as a mouthpiece for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Ozgur Gudem said in a statement on its website that two dozen people were detained in the police raid. Meanwhile, one of the paper's board members Asli Erdogan -- a prominent writer -- was detained in a police raid on her home, Turkish media said. However the paper still managed to distribute a four-page edition, with the headline "We will not give in."
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/18/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


Turkey: Crucial Discussions on Constitutional Amendments in Absence of Kurds
[Asharq al-Aswat] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
’s Parliament committee gathered for the first time Friday, excluding pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), to discuss changes to the country’s constitution and carried out the discussions on Tuesday.

In a move showing unity between the parties, the ruling Justice and Development Party or AK Party, the main opposition Republican People’s Party or CHP and the Nationalist Movement Party or MHP‐ clearly signaled that they would preserve the common ground that emerged in the wake of the July 15 defeated coup.

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus commented on the exclusion of the HDP on Sunday.

"As a party which has received votes from 5 million people, the HDP is a legitimate political party. This is what we have been insistently saying since June 7," Kurtulmus said.

In the June 7, 2015, parliamentary elections, the HDP emerged as a voice of hope for marginalized Kurds as well as left-wing voters.

After the June 7 results failed to produce a single-party government and coalition talks failed, snap elections were held on Nov. 1, 2015, bringing the AKP to power as a single-party government yet again.

"The HDP needs to remain in the legitimate realm of politics," Kurtulmus said, adding that the HDP should particularly "exclude the PKK [the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party] by saying ’the PKK is a terror organization.’"

"The HDP should meet the expectations of the people who voted for it," said the deputy prime minister.

In a common matter, the Nationalist Movement Party sent four members, including ex-Deputy Meral Aksener, a vocal challenger for the party leadership, to the party’s disciplinary committee for discharge proceedings.

The members are accused of breaching sections of the party constitution, which require cooperation, communication, and mutual respect among the party members.

Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte


India-Pakistan
Pak's Use of Terror Major Roadblock in Ties: Foreign Secretary
[OUTLOOKINDIA] India's efforts to have "closer and broader" cooperation in South Asia often faced roadblocks due to "unique challenge" from Pakistain which tends to use terrorism as an instrument of policy of diplomacy, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said tonight.

In strong criticism of Pakistain, he said almost all major iniatiatives of India in SAARC -- be it enhancing connectivity or having deeper engagement in some other key areas -- did not fructify due to hurdles posed by Islamabad, adding terrorism is central to the problem.

The Foreign Secretary described Pakistain as a country which not only has a "different view of the region but also has an atttitude towards use of terrorism as a instrument of policy of diplomacy which makes it a difficult partner for all of us."

The Foreign Secretary was interacting with journalists at Foreign Correspondents' Club here during which he touched upon a wide range of issues including challenges on foreign policy front and India's engagement with major powers like US, Russia and China.

Talking about government's neighbourhood first policy, he said though India has been sincere in ensuring development of the region, its politics often come into play.

"While we all agree that we should move forward, it does not always go smoothly as domestic politics of our neighbours pose challenges. We have learnt to be patient and the mix of diplomacy and patience did see through difficult situations," said Jaishankar.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies


Court sends suspected LeT operative to JC till Sep 15
[PTINEWS] A special court today sent Bahadur Ali alias 'Saifullah', a Pak national allegedly working for terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba
...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI...
, to judicial custody till September 15, after the NIA said it did not require his further custodial interrogation.

According to court sources, Ali was produced before District Judge Amar Nath on expiry of his NIA remand, and during in-camera proceedings, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) moved an application seeking one month JC for the accused.

In a new twist to the ongoing turmoil in Kashmire, NIA had cited Ali's confessional video to claim that the ongoing unrest in the Valley was being orchestrated by Pakistain-based LeT which had played a major role in fuelling the unrest, triggered by the encounter killing of a turban leader.

The agency has claimed that since summer this year, the banned outfit, with the "help of Pak forces deployed on the border", pushed heavily armed holy warriors into India with the direction to mix with local people, create disturbance and attack police and security forces.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas Expresses Concern over Ties with Iran
And so they should. They're selling their Arab souls to the Iranian Shiite devil for a mere 30 pieces of silver. It's a betrayal of all the truly awful things the Muslim Brotherhood stands for.
[Asharq al-Aswat] Commander of Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,’ West Bank Department Saleh al-Arouri has expressed deep concern over the high cost that the movement might pay to Iran in return for the military and financial support received by Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, sources affiliated with Islamic movement in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
said.

Arouri, who resides in Turkey, accused Commander of Iran’s Quds Force Qassem Soleimani of attempting to "lure Hamas by blurring the identity of the Qassam Brigades and integrate it with Quds Force to become an Iranian executive tool."

Arouri said in a closed session that Soleimani wants Hamas’ full loyalty similar to the Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
movement, which announced its allegiance to Iran during a visit to Tehran by a delegation headed by its Secretary General Ramadan Shalah.

Arouri expressed fear that Hamas would be blacklisted by Arabs and the West due to its armed wing’s loyalty to Iran. He also feared that relations between al-Qassam and Iranian Revolutionary Guards might be similar to ties that exist between the Lebanese so-called Hezbollah and Iran.

His statements came amid disputes inside Hamas movement on relations with different axes in the region.

One faction in Hamas supports restoring relations with Iran at the expense of other Arab countries, while another faction rejects repairing ties.

Among those supporting the restoration of relations with Iran is Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar, who has very close ties to al-Qassam Brigades.

In the closed session, Arouri talked about Hamas’ participation in municipal elections, and expressed support to Zahar’s statements regarding not letting the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
return to the Gazoo Strip.

However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome...
Arouri criticized Zahar’s announcements, especially that the latter expressed his stance during interviews with Iranian media, such as Fares News Agency.

Arouri said Zahar’s remarks won’t benefit Hamas, which will appear to be disregarding the Cairo and Doha agreement.

Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Look for Saleh al-Arouri to succumb to food poisoning in the next few months.
Posted by: Pappy || 08/18/2016 10:45 Comments || Top||

#2  exactly what I first thought, Pappy
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2016 12:13 Comments || Top||

#3  KIA in mysterious carbomb explosion. Obviously Israeli caused, obviously!
Posted by: magpie || 08/18/2016 15:22 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran rejects arrest of British, French diplomats
Iran’s Foreign Ministry has dismissed the reports about the arrest of two European diplomats.

No foreign diplomat was arrested in the country’s west, an informed source in Iran’s Foreign Ministry said, ISNA news agency reported Aug. 17. The two diplomats’ visit to one of the country’s western provinces was already coordinated, the source said.

“The travel and meetings were made with a prior notice,” the source added.

The diplomats’ vehicle was stopped by police only for checking the documents and they continued to their trip after being identified, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry source.

Meanwhile, Mehr news agency quoted an IRGC intelligence official in Kurdistan Province as saying the diplomats were suspiciously filming military sites and when ordered to stop, they fled. A Toyota Pajero with a diplomatic license plate was finally forced to stop near Irankhah village, close to Saqqez city, said the official.

The incident occurred on Aug 13, the IRGC official said, adding the vehicle’s passengers were Sébastien Surun, French political attaché, and Charlotte Lopez, second secretary of the British Embassy in Tehran.

The security official further said the two diplomats were driving illegally through some regions of Kurdistan Province without having any permission or prior coordination. He also said the IRGC intelligence forces sized the diplomats’ camera.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/18/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Iran says Russian bombers only refuel at Hamadan base
Russian bombers only refuel at the Nojeh airbase in Iran’s western Hamadan city, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of parliament’s Foreign Policy and National Security Commission, has said.

He further said Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has issued permission for the Russian aircraft conducting sorties against terrorists in Syria to refuel in the base, Tasnim news agency reported Aug. 17.

Boroujerdi added that the refueling of Russian planes is done within the quadripartite cooperation between Iran, Russia, Syria and Iraq.
That explains the overflights of Iraq...
“Neither Hamadan airbase has become a Russian base, nor any Russian fighter has been deployed there, so this isn’t against the Islamic Republic’s constitution,” the senior MP said.
The Rooshins don't need to deploy fighters. They needed to deploy bombers and that's just what they did...
“This cooperation is carried out in line with Iran’s goals in fighting terrorism,” he added.

On Aug. 16, Russia said its Tu-22M3 and Su-34 bombers are deployed in Iran and from there the aircraft are hitting the “Islamic State” (IS) terrorist group in Syria. Some Iranian politicians’ raised concerns on the issue, saying the move is against the Islamic Republic’s constitution.

During a parliament session held Aug 17, Iranian MP Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh said the deployment of Russian military forces in the Nojeh airbase is against the Article 176 of the Islamic Republic’s constitution. In response to him, Iranian parliament’s speaker Ali Larijani said no military base was given to Russia.

“No base in Iran has been given to Russian military,” Larijani said. “Tehran cooperates with Moscow on regional issues, including Syria, but no base has been given to them.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, Boroujerdi rejected some Israeli media reports about deployment of Russia’s S-400 air defense system in the Nojeh airbase.

“Nothing by Russia has been deployed on the Islamic Republic’s soil,” he underlined.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/18/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  ...and a few things might have fallen off the back of the truck!
Posted by: Raj || 08/18/2016 0:22 Comments || Top||


US paid Iran $1.3 billion in cash to settle old dispute
[NYPOST] The B.O. regime’s $400 million payoff to Iran was followed by a second transfer of $1.3 billion, it was reported Tuesday.

President B.O. took considerable flak for the first payment, which coincided with the release in January of four Americans being held by Tehran.

Critics charged that the move smacked of ransom, which the US has pledged never to pay.

The $400 million was the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement with Iran to resolve a dispute over a failed arms deal signed before the 1979 fall of the shah.

But there was no word about what happened to the rest of the debt -- $1.3 billion.

On Tuesday, The Weekly Standard reported that the second payment was also quietly delivered.

Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Julia Frifield sent a letter to Congress on March 17, 2016, stating, "Iran received the balance of $400 million in the Trust Fund as well as roughly $1.3 billion representing a compromise on the interest," according to the magazine.

This payment was likely made in cash, since the US has no banking relationship with Tehran.

Wooden pallets stacked with euros, Swiss francs and other currencies were flown into Iran in an unmarked cargo plane to cover the first $400 million.

"The reason that we had to give them cash is precisely because we are so strict in maintaining sanctions -- and we don’t have a banking relationship with Iran -- that we couldn’t send them a check," Obama said in an Aug. 4 presser.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  ...as well as roughly $1.3 billion representing a compromise on the interest," according to the magazine.

I thought interest was, like, haram in Islam?
Posted by: Raj || 08/18/2016 0:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Indeed it is, Raj. What this truly is: jizya
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 08/18/2016 11:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Look for ValJar's fingerprints once again.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 08/18/2016 12:19 Comments || Top||

#4  So pay to a Governemnt that says "Dead to America"

Smart.
Posted by: Tarzan Slailet2796 || 08/18/2016 12:55 Comments || Top||

#5  Death.
Posted by: Tarzan Slailet2796 || 08/18/2016 12:55 Comments || Top||

#6  So if you wonder how some of these terrorist groups keep showing up with these bright shiny brand new Hi-Lux pickup trucks and brand new 14.5mm AA guns...now you know.

Just like last week when "Ima in Hiding" Nusrallah said they got all of their money from Iran...there you go.

Euros and Swiss francs are much harder to trace.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 08/18/2016 12:58 Comments || Top||

#7  Ahhh, a billion-three: Chump change!

Or maybe Champ Change.
Posted by: Bobby || 08/18/2016 13:13 Comments || Top||

#8  "An old dispute?"

'Yeah.'

"How old?"

'Really old'?

"Really old?"

'Yeah, really, really old.'

"Like how many years old?"

'Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm, nobody remembers.'
Posted by: Bobby || 08/18/2016 13:35 Comments || Top||

#9  OK so the U.S. owes 1,3 billion.
Deduct it from the compensation for the embassy hostages back then.
Posted by: European Conservative || 08/18/2016 13:39 Comments || Top||

#10  we don’t have a banking relationship with Iran

No electronic routing numbers so we won't know where it came from. Wonder if this is part of the billion$ smuggled out of Iraq after the fall of his namesake.
Posted by: Skidmark || 08/18/2016 14:50 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2016-08-18
  Three killed, 40 wounded in car bomb near Turkish police station
Wed 2016-08-17
  Anjem Choudary Convicted of Supporting ISIS
Tue 2016-08-16
  Russia deploys jets at Iranian Airbase to combat insurgents in Syria
Mon 2016-08-15
  Taliban takes control of Dahana-e-Ghori in North of Afghanistan
Sun 2016-08-14
  ISIS Member Beheads His Father in Mosul
Sat 2016-08-13
   Terror on Swiss train as passengers are attacked by passenger with fire and knife
Fri 2016-08-12
  Iraq Kurds Say IS Financier Killed in Joint Raid with U.S.
Thu 2016-08-11
  Canadian authorities foil ISIS suicide bombing, suspect killed
Wed 2016-08-10
  Hezbollah drone carries out airstrike over southern Aleppo
Tue 2016-08-09
  Jamaat-ur-Ahrar claims hospital bomb attack that killed 70
Mon 2016-08-08
  Iran executes nuclear scientist reputed to have spied for U.S.
Sun 2016-08-07
  Syrian opposition: rebels break Aleppo siege
Sat 2016-08-06
  Belgium police machete attack: Female officer attacked outside station by someone shouting 'Allahuh Akhbar'
Fri 2016-08-05
  Head of Isis in Egypt killed by security forces
Thu 2016-08-04
  Islamic State Names New Leader of Boko Haram


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