[KhaamaPress] The Taliban ...mindless ferocity in a turban... politicians are scheduled to meet U.S. officials in 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... on Wednesday to discuss the prospects regarding a possible peace deal in a bid to end the ongoing violence in Afghanistan, it has been reported.
Senior members of the group have told Rooters that the latest round of talks will take place with the U.S. officials only.
"After mutual consultations, we are going to meet U.S. officials in Doha on Wednesday. The meeting will continue for two days ‐ Wednesday and Thursday," a senior member of Taliban has told Rooters.
The Taliban leaders have also confirmed that the representatives of the other countries would not participate in the latest round of talks between the group and U.S. officials.
The earlier rounds of talks were held in the presence of Pak, Saudi, and UAE officials.
This comes as efforts are underway to initiate direct peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban group in a bid to find a political solution to the ongoing violence in Afghanistan.
However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... the Taliban group has so far refrained to participate in direct talks with the Afghan government officials.
[AFRICANEWS] Defiant protesters hit the streets in the town of Gadarif located in the country’s east. Thousands were seen in a video making the rounds on social media.
The government looks as defiant as the protesters with the later demanding the resignation of President Omar al-Bashir Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. Tomorrow could be a defining moment in the past weeks as two rival groups plan protests in the capital Khartoum. Security forces have routinely thwarted anti-government gatherings in the capital.
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[RADIOSHABELLE] 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... state parliament has elected a new president on Tuesday in a hotly contested presidential election.
Former Federal Minister for Planning and International Cooperation Said Abdullahi Dani has been declared as the winner of the race following the conclusion of a third-round contest which was participated by two candidates.
According to the electoral committee, Dani won Puntland regional leadership race with 35 votes.
He defeated his close rival, Asad Osman Diyano, a former intelligence official, who got 31.
The president-elect who briefly addressed the politicians pledged he will move the state forward from where his predecessor Abdiweli Gaas left.
The former president, Abdiweli Ali Gaas has congratulated the new president and wished him good luck in his new role.
Dani was the Minister of Planning of Somalia, having been appointed to the position on 17 January 2014 by Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Anthony Zinni, a retired Marine Corps general and former head of US Central Command who has been working as State Department envoy for the Trump administration to resolve a feud between 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... and its neighbors, has resigned from his post.
Zinni said he resigned after coming to the conclusion that he could not solve the Gulf dispute because of an inability to agree on what the mediation effort should be.
Zinni was a Marine general who once commanded US forces in the Middle East. After the military he served as special envoy to Israel and the Paleostinian Authority.
On June 5, 2017, 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... , Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut ties with key US ally Qatar, accusing it of backing extremism and building ties with Iran.
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#1
(Other news) But the resignation of former four-star Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni on Tuesday is no obvious rebuke to Trump. Instead, it appears to reflect Zinni's frustration with the Sunni-Arab monarchies in regards to their diplomatic freeze. That freeze centers around an economic blockade of Qatar by a Saudi-led alliance of other Sunni monarchies. Those nations are infuriated by Qatar's excessive support for Islamist revolutionary movements across the Middle East and Doha's increasingly close relationship with Iran.
In comments to various news outlets, Zinni said he saw no further point in trying to push the monarchies to find a compromise. He believed they had no interest in compromise.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... on Tuesday agreed to place a unit of the Iranian Intelligence ministry and two of its staff on the EU terrorist list for planning liquidations in Europe, the Danish Foreign Ministry and EU diplomats said.
The decision, which freezes financial assets in the bloc belonging to the unit and the two individuals, comes after Denmark said last year it suspected an Iranian government intelligence service of carrying out an liquidation plot on its soil.
La Belle France has said there was no doubt the Iranian intelligence ministry was behind a failed attack in Gay Paree.
Iran has denied any involvement in the alleged plots, saying the accusations were intended to damage EU-Iran relations.
"EU just agreed to enact sanctions against an Iranian Intelligence Service for its liquidation plots on European soil. Strong signal from the EU that we will not accept such behaviour in Europe," Denmark’s Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said on Twitter.
The decision was taken without debate at an unrelated meeting of Europe ...also known as Moslem Lebensraum... ministers in Brussels and the asset freeze comes into effect on Wednesday, EU officials said.
The Danish Foreign Ministry named the two employees as the deputy minister and director general of intelligence, Saeid Hashemi Moghadam, and Assadollah Asadi, a Vienna-based diplomat. Their names are set to appear officially in the EU’s Official Journal on Wednesday.
The move follows efforts by Denmark and La Belle France to marshal an EU-wide response to the accusations of the Iranian attack plots in La Belle France and Denmark late last year.
But imposing economic sanctions on Iran, however slight, remains highly sensitive for the bloc.
The EU has been straining to uphold the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers that U.S. 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... pulled out of in May. It has been less willing to consider sanctions, instead seeking talks with Tehran.
Iran has warned it could ditch the nuclear deal if EU powers do not protect its trade and financial benefits.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Netherlands accused Iran Tuesday of involvement in the murder of two dissidents on Dutch soil, adding that the EU was hitting Tehran with sanctions partly as a result of the killings.
The Dutch secret service "has strong indications that Iran was involved in the liquidations of two Dutch nationals of Iranian origin in Almere 2015 and in The Hague in 2017," Foreign Minister Stef Blok said in a letter to parliament.
"These individuals were opponents of the Iranian regime," he said in the letter, also signed by Dutch Interior Minister Kajsa Ollongren.
"The Netherlands considers it probable that Iran had a hand in the preparation or commissioning of liquidations and attacks on EU territory," the ministers said.
They added that the EU had on Tuesday "partly at the recommendation of the Netherlands" agreed to impose fresh sanctions on Iran.
Dutch police have previously named the two victims as Ali Motamed, 56, who was killed in the central city of Almere in 2015, and Ahmad Molla Nissi, 52, murdered in The Hague in 2017.
Last June, the Netherlands expelled two workers from the Iranian embassy in connection with the murders.
Tehran at the time protested the expulsion of the two diplomats as an "unfriendly and destructive move" and threatened to retaliate.
Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen had earlier confirmed that the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... has agreed on new sanctions targeting the Iranian Intelligence and Security Ministry and two Iranian nationals.
Denmark had led efforts for sanctions after allegations that Tehran tried to kill three Iranian dissidents on Danish soil.
La Belle France had meanwhile hit two suspected Iranian agents with asset freezes over a plot to bomb a rally near Gay Paree.
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[AlAhram] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...Qatar's colony in Asia Minor.... will ask U.S. officials in talks on Tuesday to hand over its military bases in Syria to Ankara or destroy them, the Hurriyet newspaper reported, a request that could further complicate discussions over the U.S. withdrawal from Syria.
"Give them or destroy them," a Hurriyet newspaper headline said, referring to what it said were 22 U.S. military bases in Syria. It cited unspecified sources as saying Turkey would not accept Washington handing them over to the YPG.
A senior Ottoman Turkish security official told Rooters last week Washington needed to allow Turkey to use its bases in Syria.
Kalin is Erdogan's front man and deputy head of Turkey's security and foreign policies board.
Erdogan warned on Monday the U.S. withdrawal must be planned carefully and with the right partners, saying only Turkey had "the power and commitment to perform that task".
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[Rudaw] Twenty-eight suspects were due to go on trial Tuesday over the liquidation of the Russian ambassador two years ago, including a US-based Moslem preacher blamed by Ankara for a failed coup the same year.
Andrei Karlov, 62, was rubbed out by an off-duty Ottoman Turkish policeman at a photo exhibition in Ankara on December 19, 2016, in a shock attack that was captured on camera by photographers attending the event.
The 22-year-old gunman, Mevlut Mert Altintas, shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) and "Don't forget Aleppo", vowing that those responsible for events in Syria would be held accountable.
Continued on Page 49
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[ALMASDARNEWS] The leader of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... ’s National Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli, stated on Tuesday that he supports the upcoming military operation in Syria.
"Nationalist Movement Party backs the government in its rightful fight against terrorism. Manbij should be saved from oppression," Devlet Bahceli told his party’s parliamentary group.
The opposition leader’s comments mirrored those of Ottoman Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... , who said that the entire eastern region of the Euphrates should be cleared from "YPG/PKK terrorists."
He said Turkey’s fight against terrorist in Syria is "rightful, legitimate and lawful."
"Whatever the U.S. does, no matter what they say; Turkey should enter the region east of the Euphrates for right, law, survival, and the security of the oppressed people, and should do whatever is necessary," he said.
The opposition party leader also slammed U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton’s recent remarks on Kurds in Syria.
"I categorically ask this: As an independent and sovereign country, does Turkey ask you and your bosses what to do? What kind of disrespect and what kind of misbehavior is this?" Bahceli questioned.
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[ALMASDARNEWS] US National Security Advisor John Bolton has reportedly told Ottoman Turkish officials that President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... ’s article, which was published on 7 January 2019, was wrong and offensive.
Bolton, who is currently on a tour of the Middle East attempting to convince US regional partners that they won’t leave them to fend for themselves in the fight against ISIS*, noted that Washington would oppose any mistreatment by Ottoman Turkish forces of its Kurdish allies in Syria, Rooters reported, citing an unnamed senior US official.
John Bolton didn’t believe that he had been disregarded due to the Ottoman Turkish president’s refusal to meet with him, as plans for bilateral talks had not been confirmed in advance, the unnamed US bigwig said.
Previously, Erdogan, while commenting on Bolton’s statement regarding a possible Ottoman Turkish operation against Kurdish forces, criticized him by saying that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund.... could never compromise on the issue of the Kurdish YPG militia, as, according to the president, they had never actually fought against ISIS.
"Bolton is making a big mistake, his statement is unacceptable. Terrorist organizations do not represent Kurds. Those who spread lies about Turkey killing Kurds in Syria are trying to play on the mood of the world community", Erdogan said during his presentation to the parliamentary faction of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
On 7 January 2019, The New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... published an article written by Ottoman Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan where he evaluated the US withdrawal from Syria, noting that Trump’s move needs to be carried out in close cooperation with "the right partners to protect the interests of the United States, the international community and the Syrian people".
The Ottoman Turkish president highlighted that Turkey is "the only country with the power and commitment to perform that task".
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Oh my. That, dear Reader, is about as perfect example of chutzpah as I have ever seen.
[ALMASDARNEWS] A Ottoman Turkish political official with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) claimed on Tuesday that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... is the "only friend" the Kurds have in this world.
Omer Celik, the front man for President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... ’s governing Ottoman Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP), on Tuesday, rejected claims that Turkey was a threat to Kurds and said that Turkey was the Kurds’ "only friend."
"No one can teach the Republic of Turkey lessons about protecting our Kurdish brothers," he began.
"The Republic of Turkey is the biggest, even the only friend of the Kurds", Celik told news hounds, as quoted by Anadolu.
He then rejected any accusations leveled at Turkey and concerns over its treatment of Kurds.
"Those who tell Turkey ’don’t touch Kurds’ should look in the mirror and remember their oppression of Kurds", Celik emphasized.
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"No one can teach the Republic of Turkey lessons about protecting our Kurdish brothers," he began.
"We have had so much practice with the Armenians that we have the subject mastered!" (/sarc, in case it's needed...)
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Ottoman Turkish prosecutors on Monday filed a police report against Ottoman Turkish actor Metin Akpinar for "inciting armed revolt against the Ottoman Turkish republic,’’ Vatan newspaper reported.
Earlier Metin Akpinar, a well-known comedian in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , was accused of making "insulting" statements that alluded to Ottoman Turkish President Erdogan.
"If we do not reach this (democracy), like what happened to all forms of fascism ...a political system developed in Italy, symbolized by the Roman fasces -- thin reeds, each flimsy in itself but unbreakable when bound into a bundle. Its distinguishing philosophical feature is the Corporate State. The word is nowadays thrown around by all sorts of people who have no idea what they're talking about... , the leader might be hung from his feet or maybe poisoned in the cellars or meet the same end as other leaders in the past," he reportedly said on television on Friday.
The Istanbul public prosecutor said on Sunday that Akpinar was being investigated over "insulting comments that targeted the Ottoman Turkish president with coup and death threats".
Akpinar, 77, and another Ottoman Turkish actor, Mujdat Gezen, had been taken by coppers separately to give testimony in the same investigation.
Akpinar had also claimed on opposition Halk TV that any leader who "turned to Russia except Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) left office" through coups. Ataturk was the founder of modern Turkey.
Turkey has witnessed three military coups in 1960, 1971 and 1980. In 1997, an army-led campaign forced the government to resign and then in July 2016, there was an attempted overthrow of Erdogan blamed on a US-based Moslem preacher.
Akpinar said democracy was the "only option to save Turkey from polarization".
Gezen, 75, was more direct in his remarks against Erdogan on the same program: "He tells the people ’know your place’. Look Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... , you cannot test our patriotism. Know your place."
The investigation into the men came after the president said on Sunday: "They should be brought to account for this by the judiciary."
Erdogan hit out at the "so-called artists" during a speech in Istanbul. "We cannot leave this business without giving a response, they will pay the price."
Thousands of Turks including artists and journalists have been prosecuted in recent years over allegedly insulting Erdogan, although most have not been imprisoned.
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Gee, imagine what the US press corps would look like if everyone that had insulted Trump was locked up.
[Al Jazeera] India's lower house of parliament has approved a bill that would grant residency and citizenship rights to non-Moslem immigrants colonists, sparking protests that brought the country's populous northeast to a near standstill.
The legislation, which still needs the approval of the upper house, seeks to grant rights to Hindus, Jains, Parsis and several other non-Moslem religious groups who migrated illegally from Bangladesh, Pakistain and Afghanistan.
"They have no place to go except India," Home Minister Rajnath Singh told parliament on Tuesday. "The beneficiaries of the bill can reside in any state of the country."
Critics have called the proposal, contained in the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019, blatantly anti-Moslem and an attempt by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to boost its Hindu voter base ahead of a general election due by May.
The bill sparked a second day of protests in the northeastern state of Assam, where nearly 4 million people, accused of being foreigners, were effectively stripped of their citizenship last year.
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[DAWN] A court in Lahore has completed the trial of a Czech woman tossed in the clink ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... last year on charges of attempting to smuggle heroin from Pakistain to Abu Dhabi.
During Tuesday's brief court hearing, 21-year-old Tereza Hluskova pleaded innocent. No, no! Certainly not! A judge will announce a verdict before the end of January and she faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Since her arrest in 2018, Hluskova has told Sherlocks that she came to Pakistain to work as a model but that someone put narcotics into her luggage. She was arrested as she tried to board a flight for Abu Dhabi.
The woman claims she is a model and Czech diplomats have provided her legal assistance.
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[DAWN] Provincial Home Minister Mir Zia Langove has said blasts in Pishin and Panjgur indicate that hostile intelligence agencies operating from Afghanistan are behind acts of terrorism taking place in different parts of Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... , but pledged that members of security forces would foil such acts.
"Hostile spy agencies are busy in making plots against Pakistain and they have been funding and arming bully boyz targeting members of our security forces and innocent people of Balochistan," Mr Langove said while talking to journalists in Civil Hospital’s Trauma Centre where he met victims of the Pishin blast.
"The US and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... forces have now been defeated in Afghanistan and, therefore, the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... should now set up a task force for ensuring peace in Afghanistan," he said.
Denouncing double blasts in Pishin and Panjgur, Mr Langove said that despite terrorists’ attacks morale of members of security forces of Pakistain was high and such incidents could not deter the government and security forces’ resolve to continue the war against terrorism.
"A single network is behind all incidents of terrorism taking place in different parts of Balochistan and that network is using names of different gangs and it is operating from Afghanistan," the minister said.
He appealed to doctors to end their strike as efforts were under way to recover kidnapped Dr Ibrahim Khalil.
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[DAWN] The Afghan president's special envoy for regional consensus on Afghan peace met Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Wormtongue Qureshi in Islamabad on Tuesday, in what was his first visit abroad following his appointment to the new position.
Mohammad Umer Daudzai conveyed President Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. 's greetings to the Pak leadership and expressed Afghanistan's "strong desire to work closely with Pakistain in all areas of mutual interest", a statement issued by the Foreign Office said.
The special envoy also relayed "deep appreciation of the sincerity and vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight... for peace and stability in Pakistain", the blurb added.
Daudzai acknowledged that the fact that Qureshi visited Kabul thrice within a span of four months was "a clear proof of Pakistain's strong support for Afghanistan".
During his visit, the envoy briefed the foreign minister on the nature of his position which entails that he "help create harmony among the various stakeholders".
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[Rudaw] A significant number of US forces are stationed in Kirkuk's K1 military base, the Peshmerga confirmed.
Nuri Hama Ali, the head of the Peshmerga Pirde Front, told Rudaw on Monday the US force went to the base because they have no other suitable facility locally.
Ali’s statements confirm several media reports over the weekend of the US forces stationing in Kirkuk.
Part of the US force was pulled from Syria and others have come from Anbar, according to Ali.
Ali welcomed the US move and said it would positively reflect in military relations between the forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government and Iraqi government.
"If the US forces remain in the base, it will positively impact relations between the KRG and the Iraqi forces as currently a Peshmerga delegation is engaged in talks with the coalition to normalize Kirkuk's situation and free the city of all various forces that have come in," he said.
The US government has made previous statements that it does not want to mediate between Erbil and Baghdad over disputed territories. Washington argues it is up to Iraqis to resolve their issues constitutionally.
Prior the events of October 2017, the K1 base had been controlled by the Peshmerga. It later fell to the Iraqi forces.
The base is just 15 kilometers from Kirkuk city center.
Diverse and disputed Kirkuk province is strategic. It is home to tremendous oil reserves, an airport, shares a border with Iran, and links several northern Iraqi provinces to the Kurdistan Region.
Thousands of families from Kirkuk and surrounding areas were displaced because of the October events. Many say they will not return until the Peshmerga and Asayesh (Security) forces go back because of ISIS sleeper cells.
KRG Peshmerga are constitutionally a part of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF). Relations between the Peshmerga and traditional Army units are far better than with Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitias and the Federal Police.
[Rudaw] Five ISIS holy warriors, 11 women, and 30 children were handed over to Kazakh authorities by the Kurdish-led authority in northern Syria (Rojava) with the help of US mediators, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced over the weekend.
"Five terrorists, 11 women, and 30 children" holding Kazakh citizenship were handed over to their country through US mediation, the SDF media office said Saturday.
The statement identified the women and kiddies as "prisoners" without specifying whether they were families of ISIS fighters.
"Months ago, in a meeting between the Syrian Democratic Forces, Kazakhstan Counter-terrorism Forces and the self-administration authority in northeastern Syria, an agreement over Kazakh citizens who had joined the ranks of the ISIS terrorist organization and detainees of the Syrian Democratic Forces to their governments," the statement added, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
Cooperation in counterterrorism and the method of deporting the Kazakh citizens were also discussed. The process took time due to "technical reasons". The statement did not give details on US involvement.
Foreign ISIS fighters held in SDF custody is a major issue. The authorities in Rojava want countries to take their citizens back to be tried for their crimes in their own courts. But home countries, fearing a shortage of evidence to secure prosecutions, have been reluctant to take their citizens back.
Iraq, for its part, has taken it upon itself to place suspected ISIS members on trial, frequently sentencing them to death. Human rights organizations warn many are not being given fair trials.
Following 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... ’s announcement he intends to withdraw US troops from northern Syria imminently, SDF officials warned foreign ISIS fighters could be released from SDF custody.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the SDF is seriously considering the release of 3,200 foreign and local ISIS fighters in Syria after home countries refused to take them back.
The SDF is thought to be holding around 2,080 women and kiddies from 44 different countries and 1,100 fighters from 31 different countries.
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[Rudaw] A group of Yezidis is still being held captive by ISIS in the group's dwindling bastion in eastern Syria while others are at camps designed for the Death Eaters’ families in Iraq.
"Some of them in the Sousa area of Syria have called us saying due to frequent bombings they live in misery," Daud Elias, who is from Kocho village and has 15 members of his family missing, told Rudaw.
Elias says around 10 Yezidis held by ISIS in Sousa in Deir ez-Zor are pleading for help by phone.
The Kurdish led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been battling to defeat ISIS in their enclave of Hajin and Sousa towns in Deir ez-Zor governorate on the Iraqi border.
The SDF has reported ISIS heavy losses.
Based on information given to Elias by their relatives held in the Syrian town, some of the Yezidis have died in coalition bombings targeting ISIS.
"The warplanes have been bombing the town recently, killing some Yezidi children and women," Elias claimed, adding they are living in a "terrible situation" as ISIS is using them as "human shields."
Elias said a Yezidi woman he spoke with is asking the relevant authorities in the Iraqi government and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to reach out to free them.
"The woman called for her voice to be heard and to reach out to Kurdistan and Iraq," he said.
"Those living under ISIS are subject to be killed as ISIS territory continues to shrink and the group's Lions of Islam have all gathered in this small pocket," he said, quoting the woman.
Though the US-led international coalition backed operation to clear ISIS from the Middle Euphrates River Valley, elements of the Iraqi military have supported the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The SDF and KRG have been unable to reach a deal on cross-border support. The KRG has thousands ’Roj Peshmerga’ originally from Syria, but they have longstanding differences with the dominate Democratic Union Party in Syria.
Basim Khidir, a KRG authority in the office for the rescuing of kidnapped Yezidis, confirmed Elias's reports.
"We are also aware of the fate of some Yezidis still held by ISIS especially those in Sousa in Deir ez-Zor," Khidir said.
In addition to Syria, Khidir added that other Yezidis are held in special camps for ISIS relatives in Iraq.
Exact figures on the number of Yezidis rescued remains unknown, as Baghdad, Erbil, and non-governmental organizations separately report figures.
"We are trying to rescue some of them. And for others we are searching for a solution in order to also rescue them," he said.
Located in the Shingal region on the Iraq-Syria border ‐ north of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... ‐ the Yezidi homeland was overrun by the holy warriors in August 2014.
Thousands of Yezidis were summarily executed with others being kidnapped in a KRG and UN recognized genocide.
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[ALMASDARNEWS] Russia has allegedly joined the Syrian government in calling for the release of Hannibal Qadaffy from a Lebanese prison, Saudi-based Asharq al-Awsat reported on Tuesday.
According to the Asharq al-Awsat report, Russia entered the communications line that is calling for the release of Hannibal Qadaffy from a detention center belonging to the Information Division.
The report claims that Russia entered the communications line after Saif al-Islam Qadaffy, Hannibal’s brother, urged them to help secure the release of the latter from a Lebanese prison.
Hannibal was locked away I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! by members of Harakat Amal after they learned of his presence inside Leb.
Prior to his arrest in Leb, Qadaffy was living in an undisclosed location inside Syria.
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[ALMASDARNEWS] Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... Danny Danon told Fox News during an interview on Tuesday that his country is ready to attack the Iranians inside Syria at any time.
"The Iranians are not going anywhere," Danon told Fox News, claiming that "they are deploying more forces into Syria."
When asked about the security of Israel’s northern border, Danon said Iran wants "to take over Syria. They want to push everybody out of Syria."
"We cannot allow it; we will not allow it. We will attack anytime we see a threat to Israel in Syria," Danon continued.
"We will attack the Iranians; we have proved it in the past," he said.
Danon added that the U.S.’ withdrawal from Syria will not have much of an effect on Israel’s policy in Syria because they will continue to act against any threat to their state.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/09/2019 00:00 ||
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[ALMASDARNEWS] Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. has once again rejected a government formation proposal, a new report claimed on Tuesday.
According to Saudi-based Asharq al-Awsat, Saad Hariri refused Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil’s proposition of forming a 32 minister government because the Lebanese Prime Minister believes Hezbollah is behind the move.
The report claimed that Hariri told Bassil that he was rejecting the proposition as "no matter what happens because Hezbollah is behind it."
Hezbollah "wants to impose it on the PM-designate, who does not want to introduce new norms in the formation of governments," the report claimed.
Hariri and his supporters have accused Hezbollah of stirring the issues plaguing the formation of the government.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/09/2019 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Mahfouz Ould al-Walid, known as "Abu Hafs al-Mauritani," the former Mufti of al-Qaeda, revealed in an interview with Al Arabiya English what he described as the balanced relationship pursued by both the Iranian regime and 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... with armed myrmidon groups.
According to his interpretation, the two countries’ relations with al-Qaeda, the Takfir, Hijra, Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and other gangs are part of the agenda to maintain "political interests".
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
01/09/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
Abu Hafs al-Mauritani who stayed in Tehran – with other al-Qaeda leaders – for a decade [following Afghanistan expulsion in 2002]. And with the "Arab Spring", most left Iran for Egypt and Libya where they received the protection of the Obama White House.
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...
The Taliban leaders have also confirmed that the representatives of the other countries would not participate in the latest round of talks between the group and U.S. officials.
...also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
[AlAhram] 
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
Mehmood 
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too.
