[DAWN] Despite seemingly stalled peace talks between Afghanistan's government and the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... , officials say the Afghan intelligence chief speaks by telephone with myrmidon leaders nearly every day about the country's constitution and political future.
In addition, Afghanistan's national security adviser has conversations with the Taliban every other month, officials familiar with the efforts said.
The News Agency that Dare Not be Named has seen documents allegedly describing the conversations between the Afghan officials and the Taliban leadership in Pakistain and the Gulf state of 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... , where they maintain an office.
While Afghan officials said neither side was ready to agree to public peace talks, the documents allegedly revealed details of the issues discussed, including the Taliban's apparent willingness to accept Afghanistan's constitution and future elections.
A senior Afghan security official, who had taken notes on the details of talks, rifled through a black leather-bound book until he came to a list he called "Taliban talking points".
The Afghan security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media, claimed the Taliban wanted certain amendments to the constitution although not immediately.
They also envisioned an Islamic system of governance in Afghanistan, he said.
Among the Taliban's demands, according to the official:
They accepted education for boys and girls at all levels, but wanted segregation by gender.
Women could be employed in all fields, including defence and the judiciary, and they could serve as judges at all levels except the Supreme Court.
The Taliban wanted constitutional guarantees that a woman could not be president.
Special courts should be established to oversee thousands of cases that allege land was taken illegally by the rich and powerful in the post-Taliban era. Many of the land owners are former warlords who are now in the government. The Taliban wants the land returned to those from whom it was taken.
Elections could be held after an interim government is established, with no one affiliated with past governments allowed to serve in the interim administration. The Taliban said all sides could keep areas currently under their control until voting is held.
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08/30/2017 00:00 ||
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[RADIOSHABELLE] A senior Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... official has accused the foreign warships on the coast of Somalia of carrying out frequent shelling on seaside villages in its territory.
Speaking to the local Media, Mohamud Ahmed Aynab, who is the commissioner of Alula town in Bari region said the naval ships often carry out bombardments on civilian areas.
Aynab has called on Puntland authorities to deal with the strikes by the warships and protect the civilians living in the coastal areas, who are vulnerable to the attacks.
The governor’s call comes days after unknown fighter jets bombed Afkala-haye locality, near Alula, located near Bossaso, the port town of Somalia’s Puntland state.
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08/30/2017 00:00 ||
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[RADIOSHABELLE] A total of 1,819 Burundian troops of the 44th and 45th battalions have started to replace the 38th and 39th battalions serving in the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the Burundian army front man said Tuesday.
"Some troops have already departed to Somalia, but a big number of them flew today morning to Somalia," said Burundian Army Spokesman Colonel Gaspard Baratuza.
Baratuza said the work of Burundian troops serving in the AMISOM is "commendable," while their "successful" mission faces several challenges.
Burundi is a main contributor of troops in the AMISOM.
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08/30/2017 00:00 ||
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[RADIOSHABELLE] Herders who were sent packing from Lamu County by security agencies on suspicion of being Alshabaab murderous Moslems have now pitched camp at the Kipini border of Lamu and Tana River causing residents in the areas sleepless nights.
On August 18,Linda Boni director Joseph Kanyiri ordered all herders to remove their animals from inside the Boni forest in the next 48 hours and that anyone that fails to do so would be considered a terrorist and bombed alongside the forest.
Kanyiri said they want every human being who isn’t part of the operation to move out in order to allow for the bombing of Alshabaab hideouts inside the forest.
He said many of those posing as herders were suspicious, since their activities are closely related to those of the Alshabaab and that it was hard to comprehend how the herders who graze their livestock in the forest claim not to see any attackers or even their hideouts and added that they are probably part of the terror gang.
"The so called herders must give the security an attitude to operate and deal with Alshabaab.They stay in the Boni forest claiming to graze their livestock yet they claim not to see any terror camps or any attackers who flee inside the forest.we want them all out in the next 48 hours," said Kanyiri.
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08/30/2017 00:00 ||
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[RADIOSHABELLE] A top European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... military leader visited Headquarters U.S. Africa Command, in Stuttgart, Germany, to discuss ways to further strengthen the strategic relationship between the two entities, Aug. 24.
Lt. Gen. Esa Pulkkinen, the Director General of the EU Military Staff and Director of the EU Military Planning and Conduct Capability, spent the day meeting with top AFRICOM officials, discussing opportunities for increased cooperation on the African continent.
Pulkkinen, a member of the Finnish Armed Forces, sees AFRICOM’s efforts in Africa as complementary to the EU’s missions there. There are a variety of ways the two collaborate, including information sharing and military liaison arrangements.
Africa presents both risks and opportunities, said Pulkkinen, and the EU is heavily engaged, directly and bilaterally through its member states, to bring stability to the continent.
"Without the security you can’t have any development," he said.
Both AFRICOM and the EU work towards stability in Africa by strengthening the security structures, providing support to the militaries and civilian forces, which are critical to the fight against terrorism, he said. As an example, Pulkkinen cited the efforts of the EU and AFRICOM in Somalia.
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08/30/2017 00:00 ||
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[Libya Observer] The rift between Awaqir tribe in Benghazi and rogue General Khalifa Haftar ... served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... widened on Monday following the selection of primitive Faraj Egaim as Deputy Minister of Interior in the government of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... -based Presidential Council.
Sources said Egaim agreed to join the Presidential Council, which Khalifa Haftar totally rejects, after a meeting with the head of Presidential Council Fayaz Sirraj.
Awaqir tribal leader Hussein Atia told Alnabaa TV that Sirraj has already appointed Egaim as Deputy Minister of Interior at the request of the tribe. He said Awaqir decided to join Sirraj’s government in Tripoli because Abdullah al-Thanni’s government in east Libya is powerless.
The tribe has now secured two senior positions in the Tripoli government with the first was for al-Mihdi al-Barghati as Minister of Defense.
Faraj Egaim arrived at Benina Airport on Monday (photo below) after a short visit to Tunisia where he had reportedly met with Fayaz Sirraj. The airport saw tight security measures by Awaqir rustics who cordoned off the area following security reports that son of Khalifa Haftar, Saddam, was intending to storm the airport to arrest Egaim.
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08/30/2017 00:00 ||
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[Libya Observer] The Head of the UN-proposed government's Presidential Council, Fayez al-Sirraj, has stated that Libya's never-changing policy is opposed to any efforts aiming at resettling illegal migrants colonists in the country. If Libya doesn't want them why should Europe?
In his speech at the Gay Paree-held European migration summit, al-Sirraj said that Libya is like Europe a victim of the issue, saying Libya is tolerating huge burdens that have so far troubled its budgets.
"Libya's coastguards and border guards have no equipment to combat the armed smuggling networks because Libya is banned from importing weapons." al-Sirraj indicated.
He added that Libya sees that the solution lies in providing economic support for the immigration source countries so that their nationals would need not make the perilous sea journey to Europe, saying that he welcomes Chad and Niger's attendance at the summit in the hope that a common ground will be reached to help secure the joint borders soon.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2017 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Days after the White House accused Pakistain of continuing to harbor holy warriors on its soil, the top US commander in Afghanistan claimed that the United States "knows the Afghan Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... leadership is in Quetta and Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. The allegation elicited a sharp reaction from Islamabad, which has been fuming over the US president’s harsh remarks, with top government ministers calling upon the US to stop blaming Pakistain for its failure in Afghanistan.
Gen John W. Nicholson, who has been commanding the US forces in Afghanistan since March last year, told Afghan media outlet Tolo News on Saturday that Washington was aware of the Afghan Taliban leadership’s presence in Peshawar and Quetta, adding that the US military would continue to put pressure on Taliban sanctuaries inside and outside Afghanistan.
"The Quetta shura, Peshawar shura -- these shuras are identified by cities inside Pakistain; we know Afghan Taliban leaders are in these areas. Support for holy warriors and Lions of Islam has to be reduced -- [it] has to be stopped," Gen Nicholson said in the interview.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2017 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Foreign Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said on Monday that Pakistain had suspended talks and bilateral visits with the United States as a mark of protest over the recent anti-Pakistain diatribe by US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... Sources quoted the minister as telling the Senate, which converted itself into a committee prior to its regular session, that Pakistain had taken the fiery ...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob... remarks seriously.
US Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice Wells was supposed to arrive here on Tuesday, while the foreign minister himself was to travel to the US last week under the previous schedule.
About the recently unveiled policy of the US president on South Asia, Mr Asif said it envisaged no military role for India in Afghanistan. According to the sources, the minister said it was rather a role of economic development. He claimed during the in-camera session of the committee that India would not be allowed to use Afghan soil to destabilise Pakistain.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
Great, maybe we can suspend their aid payments.
[DAWN] The local administration on Monday sealed the offices of six non-government organizations for not having obtained no-objection-certificates to work in the Shangla district.
Deputy Commissioner Abdul Kabir Khan accompanied by Assistant Commissioner, Alpuri, Tariq Mehmood and a police contingent sealed the NGOs’ offices. Kabir Khan told mediapersons on the occasion that the action was taken on the special directives of the provincial government. He said the NGOs had been directed to provide NOCs, but they failed to do so.
The NGOs include Community World Service Asia, Pakistain Mission Society, Help in Need, Lassoona, Nida-Pakistain and ISWDO. The deputy commissioner said offices of NGOs operating without NOCs would be sealed.
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08/30/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
The deputy commissioner said offices of NGOs operating without NOCs would be sealed.
[Al Jazeera] Councillors in the Iraqi province of Kirkuk have voted to take part in next month's Kurdish independence referendum, in a session, however, that was boycotted by Turkmen and Arab members.
The central government in Baghdad is strongly opposed to Iraqi Kurdistan's planned September 25 referendum, which is non-binding but could lead to independence.
Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... an ethically-mixed oil-rich province is not part of the Kurdistan region, but has a large Kurdish population.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2017 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] David Govrin lands in Cairo accompanied by embassy staff, expected to work from his home in suburb of capital
Israel’s ambassador to Egypt has returned to his post, eight months after he and his small staff returned home because of unspecified security threats.
Cairo airport officials said the ambassador, David Govrin, flew back to Cairo on Tuesday with eight staff members. The ambassador and his staff are expected to resume work from the envoy’s suburban Cairo home.
The Israeli embassy in Cairo has been closed since protesters stormed it in 2011.
The Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment. The airport officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Prior to their departure in mid-December, the ambassador and his staff routinely flew home on Thursday and returned to their post on Sunday.
Last week, Egyptian media reported Govrin visited the country for a day, accompanied by a team of embassy employees.
The British Daily Telegraph reported in January that the embassy staff were removed from Egypt in late 2016. Govrin had since been carrying out his duties from Jerusalem, the report said.
Israel, which is a bitter enemy of the Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", terrorist group in the neighboring Gazoo Strip, sees Egypt as an important ally in the battle against Islamic myrmidon groups in the region and the two countries have close security and intelligence ties.
Govrin, who speaks fluent Arabic, took up his post in July 2016. He posted a video at the time on the internet in which he addressed the Egyptian people and spoke of his hopes for developing ties.
On September 9, 2011, several thousand protesters forcibly entered the Israeli embassy in Giza, Cairo, after breaking down a perimeter wall to the compound. The protests began in response to the inadvertent killing of five Egyptian security guards by IDF soldiers during an attempt to catch forces of Evil who had ambushed and killed eight Israelis along the Israel-Egypt border.
Israel’s embassy in Amman, which was evacuated in July following an incident involving a security guard there, remains shuttered.
[AlAhram] Jordan will open its main border crossing with Iraq on Wednesday for the first time since 2015 now that Iraqi forces have gained control of the main highway to Baghdad 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 myrmidons, officials said on Tuesday.
Iraqi troops pulled out of the Tureibil post, on the 180 km (110 mile) border, in the summer of 2014 after the Lions of Islam secured nearly all the official crossings of the western frontier as they swept through a third of the country.
Commercial traffic continued for a year after until Iraq launched an offensive in July 2015 to reclaim the area and deprive the Lions of Islam of funds raised from truck drivers forced to pay a tax on cargo coming in from Jordan.
Officials say customs and border arrangements have been finalised, with security measures in place to ensure the 550 km highway from the border to Baghdad was safe.
"The opening of the crossing is of great importance to Jordan and Iraq ... It's a crucial artery. Jordan and Iraq have been discussing reopening it for a while," Interior Minister Ghaleb al Zubi said last week.
Zubi did not give date then, but several trade and business officials have said they have been invited to an event on Wednesday to mark the re-opening.
Since last year, the Iraqi army has regained most of the mainly Sunni Moslem Anbar province's main towns that fell to the ultra-hardline jihadist group.
Iraq has also been working on securing the highway which connects Iraq's Basra port in the south to Jordan, where the Red Sea port of Aqaba has long served as a gateway for Iraqi imports coming from Europe.
Jordan hopes the reopening of the route will revive exports to Iraq, once the kingdom's main export market, accounting that accounted for almost a fifth of domestic exports or about $1.2 billion a year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
They have fallen by more than 50 percent from pre-crisis levels.
"This will increase industrial exports and also revive the two countries' trucking industry. It's a major boost to the economy," Nael Husami, general manager of the Amman Chamber of Industry, adding transport costs would fall by nearly half.
Jordanian exporters have had to use more expensive sea routes to Iraq's Um Qasr port or another land route across Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and Kuwait, businessmen say.
The restoration of trade links will also give a push to an oil pipeline project running from Basra to Aqaba. Prime Minister Hani al Mulki had visited Baghdad earlier this year to revive the frozen project.
Jordanian officials are hopeful the crossing with Syria on its northern border can also open by the end of the year once a U.S.-Russian de-escalation zone in southwest Syria that includes the area is cemented.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/30/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
Nice!
Gateway to Israel and overland route from the Med to the Persian Gulf.
[Al Jazeera] Two right-wing members of the Israeli parliament have entered the al-Aqsa Mosque compound after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lifted a two-year ban prohibiting politicians from visiting the site.
Accompanied by heavily-armed police, Yehuda Glick, of Netanyahu's Likud party, and Shuli Mualem-Rafaeli, of the Jewish Home, went to the site early on Tuesday as part of a one-day trial period.
Paleostinian leaders condemned the move, with Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for the Paleostinian presidency, saying that the Israeli government was responsible for the provocations at the compound.
Masud Ganaim, a Paleostinian member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, also said allowing right-wing politicians into the complex had "the goal of provoking Arab and Moslem sentiment and inflaming the situation".
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08/30/2017 00:00 ||
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[Inquirer] Seven people, including four members of the Abu Sayyaf, were killed in a clash in Barangay Bud Bunga in Talipao, Sulu on Tuesday afternoon.
Cirilito Sobejana, commander of Joint Task Group Sulu, said the battle was between the Jul Hamidi clan and the Abu Sayyaf led by Al Arod. Sobejana said Jul Hamidi himself was killed in the clash.
Sobejana said the Abu Sayyaf left behind those who were killed but took with them their injured.
Posted by: ryuge ||
08/30/2017 00:00 ||
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[AlMasdar] The highway connecting the Syrian cities of Homs and Hama has been opened for humanitarian convoys, including international ones, Head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the opposing sides in Syria Lieutenant General Alexandr Vyaznikov told news hounds. He added that the first United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... convoy had already travelled along the highway.
"In the past couple of days, the Center for Reconciliation of the opposing sides in Syria has made an agreement to open the Homs-Hama highway," he said.
"The next task is to repair the highway and ensure traffic safety, while demining needs to be done on certain segments of the highway," Vyaznikov noted.
According to him, the Russian military has already accompanied the first UN convoy, consisting on 48 trucks, to provide aid to the residents of al-Rastan.
According to earlier reports, the Russian military reached an agreement on the unblocking of the Homs-Hama highway with the armed opposition groups active in the de-escalation zone north of Homs.
At the Astana meeting on Syria, the guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire (Russia, Iran and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... ) signed a memorandum on setting up de-escalation zones in the war-torn country.
De-escalation zones include the Idlib Province, some parts of its neighboring areas in the Latakia, Hama and Aleppo Provinces north of the city of Homs, Eastern Ghouta, as well as the Daraa and al-Quneitra Provinces in southern Syria.
Starting from May 6, military activities and aircraft flights in the de-escalation zones are banned. At the same time, Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to take all the necessary measures to continue fighting against forces of Evil on these territories and in the rest of Syria.
The memorandum will remain in effect for six months and can be automatically extended for another six months.
Three de-escalation zones have already been established, while the fourth zone in the Idlib Province is being set up.
[AlMasdar] The Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) has carried out retaliatory airstrikes against militant positions in northern Homs Governorate.
The SyAAF airstrikes targeted the town of Houla in the militant-held Rastan region north of Homs city. Rebel media reports that at least two airstrikes fell on the settlement.
The strikes were conducted in response to incessant violations – usually in the form of shelling – by jihadist forces of the ceasefire agreement established for the Rastan area.
Indeed, about twelve hours ago jihadist fighters of the Al-Qaeda-linked Ha’yat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group operating within the Rastan region launched an offensive on pro-government forces west of Salamiyah city. Whether or not the airstrikes are specifically linked to this event cannot be determined yet.
Syrian government forces generally respond to ceasefire violations with artillery or airstrikes against militant positions in the area where jihadists were known to have conducted the attack.
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08/30/2017 00:04 ||
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[AlMasdar] The Lebanese Army has entered the once 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.... (ISIS) occupied areas along the Syrian border, today, after a three year long absence.
According to Leb’s al-Manar, army units have deployed the Murtbaya Crossing that is located near the Zamrani Road in the Ras Ba’albak area of the Beqa’a Governorate.
The Lebanese Army is currently searching the ISIS-occupied areas for explosives and should declare the area safe very soon.
The remaining Islamic State bandidosmurderous Moslems that once occupied these areas have been transported from Ras Ba’albak to the Deir Ezzor Governorate city of Albukamal on the Syrian-Iraqi border.
[AlMasdar] In a recent interview with the Rooters news agency, a leading commander of the Kurdish Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), the all-female counterpart to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), claimed that the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) ‐ which both militias are a part of ‐ currently has 15,000 troops invested in the ongoing battle for Raqqa city.
The commander, Nowruz Ahmed, said that this US-vetted Raqqa strike force of 15,000 fighters is part of total SDF strength of at least fifty thousand troops, located throughout all of northern Syria, which have been in service since the end of last year with; this number, she clarified, continues to grow.
In reference to the battle for Raqqa, Ahmed believes that there are around 700 to 1,000 ISIS holy warriors remaining in the city (compared to a recent US intelligence estimate of 2,000) and that it would take about another two months before the SDF fully captured the city from the terrorist group.
Ahmed added that the SDF has no intention to remain in Raqqa after the city is cleared of ISIS unless asked to do so, that there currently was no planned operation for an advance into Deir Ezzor Governorate, although commanders were "studying" such an offensive, and that the US-backed alliance would remain neutral towards government-led forces so long as they did not "make a target" of it.
[IsraelTimes] As US and Israel accuse UN body of not doing enough to prevent weapons smuggling, Beirut says renewing mandate paramount to country’s security
Leb has called for a UN peacekeeping force’s mandate to be renewed without changes so that it can continue working to prevent hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil conveyed Leb’s position to representatives of the UN Security Council’s permanent members on Tuesday.
The peacekeeping mission known as UNIFIL is up for renewal when its mandate expires on August 31. Israel and the US are pressing for improvements to the force to combat what they say is the spread of illegal arms to Hezbollah-dominated southern Leb.
The UNIFIL commander in Leb and the Lebanese government reject the claims. Bassil said renewing the force’s mandate is paramount to the country’s security. He pointed to what he said were daily Israeli violations of UN resolutions and Lebanese illusory sovereignty.
The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley ...first woman to serve as Governor of South Carolina, and the second Indian-American governor in the country, after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. At the age of 39, Haley is the youngest current governor in the U.S., a distinction formerly held by Jindal. She is a Republican, which really grates on the Dems... , blasted the commander of the UNIFIL peacekeepers on Friday, accusing him of turning a blind eye to weapons smuggling by Hezbollah, considered a terror group by Israel and the US.
Haley had said the 10,500-strong UNIFIL force was "not doing its job effectively" and singled out its Irish leader, Major General Michael Beary.
"What I find totally baffling is the view of the UNIFIL commander General Beary," Haley told news hounds, accusing him of ignoring Hezbollah’s arms caches. "General Beary says there are no Hezbollah weapons."
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely echoed Haley on Sunday.
"We shall not allow this blindness to continue," she told Israel Radio.
[IsraelTimes] Khamenei’s foreign policy adviser derides ’sloganeering by the new US administration for domestic consumption’
Iran on Tuesday dismissed as "dreams" the idea that it might allow inspections of its military sites under the Islamic republic’s nuclear deal with world powers.
"What has been said about inspections of our military sites, which are completely confidential and classified, is the mere expression of dreams," government front man Mohammad Bagher Nobakht said.
"We will not accept anything outside our frameworks from the Americans -- especially visits to military sites," he told a televised weekly presser.
Ali Akbar Velayati, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s foreign policy adviser, also dismissed "sloganeering by the new US administration for domestic consumption."
Iran "will never allow Americans or non-Americans to visit military sites which are a sensitive, important and strategic part of national security," Velayati told state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
"The Americans should take the dream of visiting our military sites, using the pretext of the JCPOA (the nuclear deal) or any other pretext, to their graves."
The officials were reacting to media reports that Washington’s UN envoy Nikki Haley ...first woman to serve as Governor of South Carolina, and the second Indian-American governor in the country, after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. At the age of 39, Haley is the youngest current governor in the U.S., a distinction formerly held by Jindal. She is a Republican, which really grates on the Dems... last week discussed with ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano access to Iranian military sites under the framework of verification of the 2015 nuclear accord.
In its routine reports, the IAEA has said that Iran is in compliance with its landmark agreement with six major powers.
The landmark deal saw Iran curb its atomic activities and submit to closer IAEA inspections in order to make extremely difficult any attempt to make a nuclear weapon.
In exchange, nuclear-related sanctions against Iran were removed.
Other punitive measures by the West, including those relating to Iran’s missile program, remained in place or have been boosted.
Haley’s trip to Vienna, where the IAEA is based, came amid growing concerns about the accord’s future, with US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... calling it the "worst" deal ever and threatening to tear it up.
Tensions have risen between long-time foes Tehran and Washington since Trump entered the Oval Office, with each side accusing the other of not honoring the spirit of the nuclear accord.
President Hassan Rouhani has said that Iran could walk away from the deal within hours, accusing Washington of "constant and repetitive breaking of its promises" under the agreement.
Haley responded that new US sanctions against Iran relate to Iran’s support for "worldwide terrorism" and other behavior, and that Tehran cannot "use the nuclear deal to hold the world hostage."
In October, Trump is due to notify Congress about whether Iran is adhering to the deal.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/30/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
"Can we inspect the rubble after the radioactivity dies down?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/30/2017 9:21 Comments ||
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There will be a significant savings in salary, benefits, and overhead as a result, I suspect, going some way toward President Trump's goal of cutting government spending.
[DAWN] Most of the United States' special envoys will be abolished and their responsibilities reassigned -- including those for climate change and the Iran deal -- as part of the State Department overhaul, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told Congress on Monday.
Special envoys for Afghanistan-Pakistain, disability rights and closing the Guantanamo Bay detention centre will be eliminated under the plan. But President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... 's administration plans to keep envoys for religious freedom, fighting anti-Semitism and LGBT rights, despite speculation from critics that it would seek to downgrade those priorities.
Lawmakers of both parties, think tanks and even the diplomats' association have long called for absorbing some of the countless US envoys and special representatives into related offices, to help reduce redundancies across the State Department's notoriously unwieldy bureaucracy. But the idea has attracted new scrutiny amid the Trump administration's plans to drastically cut the State Department's budget and concerns that Trump was eschewing the promotion of American values overseas.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2017 00:00 ||
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#3
I'm sure the UN needs more "special rapporteurs" and "poofters with portfolio" but usually Euriness get those plum postings.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/30/2017 9:30 Comments ||
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#4
Strange, we're not feeling any negative impact of the cuts or unfilled gov't positions here in central Georgia. I'm sure it will come in a virtual avalanche.
#6
It took these guys seven months to do this? I wouldn't have done anything else except for this from the get-go; it would have sent a message right out of the box. At least a few heads are rolling - better than nothing, I suppose.
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.
[DAWN] Foreign Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said on Monday that Pakistain had suspended talks and bilateral visits with the United States as a mark of protest over the recent anti-Pakistain diatribe by US President 
[Inquirer] Seven people, including four members of the Abu Sayyaf, were killed in a clash in Barangay Bud Bunga in Talipao, Sulu on Tuesday afternoon. 
