[AlAhram] Egypt's top prosecutor Nabil Sadek has ordered an asset freeze on Strong Egypt Party founder and opposition figure Abdel-Moniem Abdul-Fotouh and 15 others for alleged ties to terrorist activity.
Abul-Fotouh was incarcerated Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! last week, a day after he returned from London where he had given interviews critical of the government. The former Islamist presidential candidate and 15 others were also placed by a court decision on the country's terrorist list for alleged ties to the outlawed Moslem Brüderbund group.
The asset freeze orders described Abul-Fotouh as a leading member of the Moslem Brüderbund.
The terrorist designation followed a request from State Security prosecutors after investigations showed Abul-Fotouh and the others "led and joined a group established in violation of the law with the aim of harming the interests of the Egyptian state," state news agency MENA said, in reference to the Moslem Brüderbund.
The list includes Maha Azzam of the Chatham House think tank in London and the head of the so-called "Egyptian Revolutionary Council," Mahmoud Ezzat, the London-based acting Moslem Brüderbund Supreme Guide.
According to Egypt's "Terrorism Entity" law, individuals placed on the terrorism list are banned from travel, added on a watchlist, and subjected to an asset freeze. The designation decision can be appealed.
Egypt designated the Moslem Brüderbund a terrorist organization in December 2013.
Abul-Fotouh has for years distanced himself from the group and said he broke away with the movement in 2009 before he was officially dismissed in 2011.
He was ordered remanded into custody for 15 days pending investigations into charges including "publishing and broadcasting false news harming national interests" and "leading an illegal group" that aims to topple the regime and disrupt public order.
Abul-Fotouh was detained days after an interview with 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. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... i-based new outlet al-Jazeera Mubasher, which Egypt has banned, in which he criticised President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi for involving the military in politics and mishandling the economy.
The interior ministry accused him of holding "secret meetings" with leaders of the international Moslem Brüderbund organization in London earlier this month to carry out a plot aimed at sparking off unrest and instability in the country.
Abul-Fotouh was among several Egyptian politicians who called last month for a boycott of the upcoming presidential elections, due in late March.
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02/26/2018 00:00 ||
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[AlAhram] Dressed in military uniform, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi inaugurated on Sunday the East of the Suez Canal Counter-Terrorism command, a statement by presidential front man Bassam Rady said.
Several top state and army officials attended the event, including Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, Minister of Defence Sedki Sobhi, Army Chief of Staff Mohammed Farid and others.
The inauguration comes during the ongoing comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018, which was launched on 9 February by the Egyptian Armed Forces to counter terrorism in North Sinai and other areas across the nation.
"The inauguration of the Eastern Suez Canal counter-terrorism command comes within the framework of developing the Armed Forces' capabilities to carry out their sacred duty of protecting the homeland with maximum efficiency," the statement said.
"The president was briefed on the forces and the command's facilities before he visited the East of the Canal Command's headquarters, where tactics for Operation Sinai 2018 are planned," the statement added.
El-Sisi was also briefed by Army Chief of Staff Mohammed Farid on the results of the operation over the last 15 days.
"The president clarified that the current operation in Sinai already began in 2014 and will carry on until 2022, and said that Sinai's development expenses are expected to reach EGP 225 billion, a huge figure that requires the solidarity of all Egyptians to acquire," the statement added.
[ATimes] The European Commission vice-president for energy union, Maros Sefcovic, said during a visit to Azerbaijan last week that the European Union was ready to negotiate Iran’s participation in the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), a system of pipelines designed to pump Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region to southern Italy via Georgia, Turkey, Greece and Albania.
The European bloc is keen to get its hands on Iranian gas and has already held talks with Tehran on the issue. This means it is unlikely that the EU will budge on its opposition to US President Donald Trump’s demands for revising the Iran nuclear deal.
Two different visions
It has been reported that the US State Department is trying to persuade the EU to collaborate in improving the pact that Iran and six world powers (the United States, China, Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom and France) signed in 2015. Aimed at reining in potential military applications of Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic and financial penalties, the accord has been criticized by Trump since his presidential campaign.
Trump is seeking an additional agreement to limit Iran’s uranium enrichment permanently – under the current terms, restrictions expire in 2025. The US commander-in-chief also wants a stronger regime of inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the imposition of new sanctions if Tehran develops or tests long-range missiles. He says that without these changes the Islamic Republic will be able to make a nuclear bomb.
So while Trump has basically sent an ultimatum to the EU, the State Department has chosen a softer approach, inviting the European grouping and its major countries to consider working together on what Washington views as the Iran nuclear pact’s deficiencies.
European energy companies could play a major role in modernizing Iranian gas infrastructure. Possible new US sanctions against Tehran are clearly at odds with this design.
In its National Security Strategy, the Trump administration says it will help allies and partners reduce reliance on “those that use energy to coerce.” Paradoxically, Washington’s confrontational position toward Iran risks undermining the EU’s efforts to diversify its energy suppliers and, accordingly, degrade Russia’s ability to use gas exports to influence European geopolitics.
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02/26/2018 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Azad Jammu and Kashmire (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan called for greater support from the international community in controlling the recent surge in violence in India-held Kashmire.
Addressing a convention of British councillors, lord mayors and mayors in London, Khan remarked that the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... Security Council (UNSC) should intercede to take full cognisance of the situation in India-held Kashmire and "stop massacres, killings, and illegal detentions".
The AJK president said, "The conflict of Jammu and Kashmire is the most obscure in the region where thousands of people are killed, maimed, tortured, and incarcerated every year."
Unlike other conflicts, Kashmire has little visibility on the international radar and remains the least reported conflict, he said, adding that the world powers should play their "rightful role instead of acting as bystanders in the Kashmire dispute".
Khan asked: "Has the UN not intervened in South Sudan, Mali, Central African Republic, Yemen, and Libya, without waiting for the consent of the parties to the conflict?"
The AJK president was of the view that Pakistain should no longer hold dialogue with India on Kashmire because of three reasons: "Kashmire is an international, not a bilateral, dispute; secondly, India has closed all doors for bilateral dialogue; and thirdly, the rounds of bilateral engagement so far have proved to be a mirage and totally unproductive."
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02/26/2018 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] KARACHI: Police on Saturday informed the administrative judge of the antiterrorism courts that South Wazoo youngster Naqeebullah Mehsud and three other persons were killed in a fake encounter by a police team that also framed them in forged cases.
The investigating officer, SSP Abid Qaimkhani, also told the judge that a request had been sent to seek permission from the provincial home department to register a case against the police team under the Sindh Arms Act, 2013 for foisting weapons upon the victims.
The IO also submitted an investigation report under B (bogus) class in five cases registered against Naqeeb, Mohammad Sabir, Nazar Jan and Mohammad Ishaq after they were murdered in an alleged shoot-out on Jan 13 in Shah Latif Town.
Continued on Page 49
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Protesters in India are calling for a boycott of Pampers nappies
Activists from the Islamic group Darsgah Jihad-o-Shahadat yesterday lodged a formal complaint with the police in Hyderabad
They have taken offense with a cartoon cat appearing on the product
Lines of its face resemble the word Prophet Mohammed in Arabic No, they don’t. Not even if you squint really hard, based on the example given at the link.
Groups have staged 'Pampers burnings', setting fire to nappies in the streets
Owner Procter and Gamble said design was intended as 'innocent animated cat’
If the mobs are buying diapers to burn, P&G will be happy to sell more product. If they are simply taking them from the shops, it is a matter for the police. The accusation, however, is hysterical nonsense — P&G has been in Saudi Arabia since 1956, entering India almost a decade later. If there were an issue with the packaging artwork, the Saudi employees would have pointed it out.
... (literally The Centre for Jihad and Martyrdom)[1] is an Islamist group based in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, with branches in the state of Kerala.[2] The group claims to have trained about 50,000 people in self-defence techniques at its training camps in Hazrat Ujale Shah Idgah grounds at Saidabad and Purani Haveli.[3][4]
The training camps were closed in 2013 after the death of Shaik Mahboob Ali and restarted in 2017.[5] Some of the former members of this group are accused of joining al-Qaeda and its affiliates and of involvement in multiple terror attacks across India.
The article also lists connections to Indian Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Al Qaeda affiliates Lashkar-e-Taiba and Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, Tehreek-Ghalba-e-Islam, and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.
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02/26/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
Sometimes I kinda feel bad for ol' Allan. When it comes to followers, he really got the short end of the stick.
#2
The Lions of Islam get snappy
Whenever their nappies are crappy,
But why are they bitter?
A box and some litter
Is all they give Al, and he's happy!
[ALGEMEINER] The IDF conducted a large-scale drill this past week that simulated potential ground incursions by elite Hezbollah forces into northern Israel during future conflicts, the Hebrew news site Walla reported on Sunday.
In such scenarios, the IDF believes the Iran-backed Shi’a terrorist group will use massive barrages of short-range fire to enable its fighters to cross the border from Leb into Israel, according to Walla.
"I very much respect Hezbollah, but we’ve honed our ability to take the sting out of them," Col. Manny Liberty ‐ the commander of the IDF’s 769th Brigade ‐ told Walla. "We have a number of surprises waiting for Hezbollah."
Referring to the current situation along the Israel-Leb frontier, Col. Liberty said, "Hezbollah is present all the time, it is not hiding in the rear. We are seeing more attempts to create provocations...but Hezbollah is very careful not to stretch the rope."
"Hezbollah hasn’t finished its job in Syria [where it has been fighting on behalf of the Assad regime], but it also hasn’t abandoned its array in southern Leb," Liberty noted.
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02/26/2018 00:07 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Sheikh's sermon seems to refer to Hamas, one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbung millipede, accusation that PA helped Israel track down and kill terrorist Ahmed Jarrar
A Paleostinia holy man from Jenin who implicitly accused the Paleostinian Authority of treason has been suspended and fined by the PA Ministry of Waqf.
The imam was also accused of failing to encourage Paleostinians to support PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... .
Sheikh Mohammed Abahreh, the imam of the Jenin Grand Mosque in the northern West Bank, was notified on Sunday that he would not be permitted to deliver Friday sermons until further notice.
In addition, the ministry decided to cut NIS 500 ($143) from his salary under the pretext that Abahreh had "violated the directives of the Waqf Department."
The PA requires all mosque preachers to abide by a weekly directive issued by its Ministry of Waqf that provides them with talking points for their Friday sermons.
The move is in the context of the PA’s effort to prevent krazed killer preachers and Hamas supporters from controlling mosques, a PA security official explained. "The preachers receive their salaries from the Ministry of Waqf," the official noted. "If they don’t abide by the rules, they are subject to punitive measures."
Last week’s directive to preachers instructed them to devote their Friday sermons to the issue of "confidence and trust in Allah." The ministry also instructed preachers to urge worshipers to rally behind the leadership of Abbas.
However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... Abahreh did not comply with the directive and chose to talk about treason and its dangers to Paleostinian society, according to sources in Jenin.
Although he did not directly accuse anyone of "treason," the preacher’s words were interpreted as criticism of the PA leadership, the sources added.
Abahreh is from the village of al-Yamoun, where Israeli security forces earlier this month killed Hamas terrorist Ahmad Jarrar. Jarrar was a member of a Hamas terror cell that killed Rabbi Raziel Shevach in the northern West Bank in January.
Abahreh’s talk of "treason" was apparently linked to Hamas accusations that the PA security forces had helped Israel track down and kill Jarrar.
The suspension of the Jenin imam coincided with a public opinion poll published on Sunday that showed that a growing number of Paleostinians are worried about a "regression in freedom of expression in Paleostinian society."
Conducted by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center, the poll of 1,200 Paleostinians showed that the percentage of those who said freedom of expression was not permissible had risen to 30 percent, compared with 23% in July 2016.
[AlAhram] A top Egyptian security delegation arrived in the Paleostinian Gazoo Strip Sunday to follow up on the implementation of a stumbling political reconciliation agreement between rival Paleostinian factions Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", and Fatah.
According to media reports, the Egyptian delegation is headed by Major General Sameh Nabil from the Egyptian Intelligence, Egypt's general consul to Ramallah Khaled Samy as well as other officials.
Earlier Saturday, Hamas front man Fawzi Barhoum said the Egyptian delegation will follow up on the execution of the reconciliation agreement, which was signed in Cairo in October 2017, adding that talks with Egyptian officials in Cairo early this month were positive.
"Hamas will present needed facilitations and necessary measures to help the Egyptian delegation succeed in implementing the reconciliation and boosting steps of confidence-building to achieve the desired national unity, especially in light of huge challenges facing the Paleostinian cause and threats to the rights of the Paleostinian people," Barhoum said in a Facebook post Saturday evening.
In a tweet Saturday, senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk said that he hopes that the Paleostinian people don't lose hope in full reconciliation and national unity and can face "conspiracies that aim to eliminate the Paleostinian cause", mentioning the so-called "Deal of the Century".
The "Deal of the Century" ‐ a plan under development by the US ‐ will reportedly exclude Jerusalem from a future Paleostinian state, as a solution to the Paleostinian-Israeli conflict.
"What has been accomplished as understandings until now is enough for a re-launch of the (reconciliation) accord and stop the pain and agony for our people," Abu Marzouk said.
In media statements, Fatah front man Atef Abu Saif said Saturday that he hopes the visit by the Egyptian delegation would end up with an understanding granting "more powers to the Paleostinian government and removing hurdles facing its activities in the Strip."
Sunday's visit comes a few weeks after a Hamas delegation led by the head of its politburo, Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank... , arrived in Cairo discuss with Egyptian officials the security, reconciliation and humanitarian conditions in Gazoo.
Negotiations between the two main Paleostinian factions Hamas and Fatah to achieve Paleostinian reconciliation, brokered by Egyptian Intelligence, led to an inked agreement in October to end the 10-year-old row between the two groups.
However, the hip bone's connected to the leg bone... implementation of the agreement has since suffered setbacks, including an exchange of accusations of non-commitment to the deal brokered by Egypt.
[ChicagoTribune] Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Air Operations started using the airport for detainee removal flights in June 2013, and 12,509 people have been flown out as of June 28, 2017. The immigrant detainees are bused into Gary from a detention center about 40 miles away in Broadview, Ill.
They are then flown to Brownsville, Texas, near the Mexican border, for deportation. Although President Donald Trump has taken a hard line on immigration, more than 2 million people were deported during President Barack Obama's time in office.
Northwest Indiana Resistance's Ruth Needleman, co-organizer with L.E. Whitman, said it was upsetting to watch people climb into the plane. The group is a coalition of regional action groups organized after the Trump administration's travel ban was enacted in January 2017.
The protest drew activists from Black Lives Matter Gary, Fight for $15, Calumet Strategy Group, Northwest Indiana Federation of Interfaith Organizations, Social Action Temple Israel, among others. Other protesters arrived via bus from Chicago.
It also drew a sizable presence from organized labor — including United Steel Workers members from as far away as Houston.
Gary/Chicago International Airport spokesman David Goldenberg because it receives federal funding like other airports, they are unable to refuse federal flights from operating at the airport.
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.
...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. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
[DAWN] Azad Jammu and 
[DailyMail] 
...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank...
