[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has been appointed as the head of Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... ’s political office 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... , the Taliban group announced late on Thursday.
The group in a statement said "In accordance with the decree issued by the Leader of Islamic Emirate, the esteemed Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has been appointed as the deputy of the Leader in Political Affairs and the chief of the Political Office of the Islamic Emirate."
The statement further added "This step has been taken to strengthen and properly handle the ongoing negotiations process with the United States."
Mullah Baradar was released from the prison in Pakistain late in the month of October last year.
The Afghan officials had earlier said that Mullah Baradar could play a key role in Afghan grinding of the peace processor.
In the meantime, the Taliban group statement added that multiple changes have also taken place in the military and civilian departments of the group besides the appointment of Mullah Baradar as the head of the group’s political office in Qatar.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2019 00:00 ||
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[PULSE.NG] Sudan's main opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi on Friday called for 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. to step down, throwing his support behind anti-government demonstrators after weeks of deadly protest.
Demonstrations have rocked the east African country since December 19, prompted by a government decision to triple the price of bread.
Since then 30 people have died in protest-related violence, according to officials, while rights group put the corpse count at more than 40.
"This regime has to go immediately," Mahdi told hundreds of worshippers at a mosque in Omdurman, the twin city of the capital Khartoum, which has seen near daily anti-government protests.
Echoing protesters' call for Bashir to resign, Mahdi gave an even higher corpse count for the demonstrations.
"More than 50 people have been killed since December," said Mahdi, a fixture of Sudanese politics since the 1960s whose government was toppled by Bashir in a 1989 coup.
After nearly a year in exile, Mahdi returned to Sudan last month on the same day protests began.
On Friday, he backed the Sudanese Professionals' Association (SPA), an umbrella group of doctors, teachers and engineers which is leading demonstrations.
"A period of transition will come soon... we are supporting this (protest) movement," said Mahdi, adding his party had signed a document with the association.
"This is a document for change and freedom," he said.
While Mahdi's Umma Party has served as Sudan's main opposition group, regularly campaigning against government policies, analysts say the SPA has emerged as the biggest challenge yet to Bashir's rule.
"Together we will hold peaceful demonstrations in Sudan and outside of Sudan," Mahdi said, condemning the use of "live ammunition" against protesters.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2019 00:00 ||
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[PULSE.NG] The trial reopened Friday of suspects in the deadly jihadist attack on the Tunisian capital's Bardo museum in 2015, with the hearing relayed by video to Gay Paree for French victims' families.
Several of the suspects in the attack that left 22 dead testified as the trial started in earnest, after five previous sessions over the last 18 months that had been taken up by procedural issues.
Among the 19 defendants who appeared in court were friends of suspected criminal mastermind Chamseddine Sandi, including his brother Achraf Sandi.
A security guard and 21 foreign tourists, including four Frenchies, four Italians, three Japanese and two Spaniards, were bumped off in the March 18, 2015 attack by two assailants armed with Kalashnikov rifles.
Dozens of others were maimed in the assault on the North African country's main museum, while the two button men were rubbed out. It was one of several attacks in Tunisia that have been claimed by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group.
The first suspect questioned in court, Mahmoud Kechouri, a 33-year-old labourer from a working-class district of Tunis, said he had helped with planning for the attack, including readying mobile phones for Chamseddine Sandi, a neighbour and longtime friend.
Kechouri said he had adopted Sunni turban ideology a decade ago but had not joined comrades who travelled to neighbouring Libya for training because he was the family breadwinner.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2019 00:00 ||
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[Aljazeera] Kingdom was determined to have fallen short in combating money laundering and terror financing, Reuters reports.
The European Commission has added Saudi Arabia to an EU draft list of countries that pose a threat to the bloc because of lax controls against "terrorism financing" and "money laundering", sources told Reuters news agency.
The move comes amid heightened international pressure on Saudi Arabia following the brutal murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The EU's list currently consists of 16 countries, including Iran, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and North Korea, and is mostly based on criteria used by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global body composed by wealthy nations meant to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.
But the list has been updated this week, using new criteria developed by the EU Commission since 2017. Saudi Arabia is one of the countries added to the updated list that is still confidential, one unidentified EU source and one unnamed Saudi source were quoted as saying.
Posted by: Besoeker ||
01/26/2019 00:00 ||
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[ARABNEWS] Italia pressured the Netherlands on Friday to accept 47 migrants colonists, including eight unaccompanied minors, who have spent seven days at sea aboard a humanitarian rescue ship that has been allowed to enter Italian territorial waters due to bad weather conditions.
The German aid group Sea-Watch tweeted that it has received no response to multiple requests for the Dutch-flagged Sea Watch-3 vessel carrying people rescued off Libya on Saturday to access a port. The boat was permitted to enter Italian waters Friday because of deteriorating weather conditions, and the Italian coasties said it was just off Syracuse, Sicily, flanked by coasties and financial police boats.
Italia and Malta, the closest EU nations, have both refused to allow entry to rescue vessels operated by humanitarian groups in what they say is a bid to discourage smuggler boats from departing Libya by diminishing the prospect of rescue.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini told news hounds in Rome that he sent a letter to the government in the Netherlands officially requesting that they organize landings for the migrants colonists "aboard this vessel that waves a Dutch flag."
Dutch Migration Minister Mark Harbers said that without the prospect of such a comprehensive solution to how to process migrants colonists rescued at sea that the Netherlands "will not take part in ad-hoc measures." He added that the ship flying the Dutch flag doesn’t oblige the Netherlands to take action.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
'Tow the bastards back to Libya' would be the way I'd handle this.
#3
Not only tow them back to Libya but then impound their vessel. If the vessel is old and decrepit, then tow it out to the middle of the sea and scuttle it. If the vessel is seaworthy and appears to have some years of useful life left in it then tow it back to Italy and auction it with the proceeds to pay for all the towing.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
01/26/2019 13:02 Comments ||
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#4
These "Sea Watch" vessels sound like human traffickers.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
01/26/2019 13:16 Comments ||
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[ALMASDARNEWS] The Republican People’s Party (CHP) called on 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... to cooperate with the Syrian government on fulfilling the 1998 Adana Agreement.
According to a statement from the CHP Deputy Chairman, Unal Cevikoz, Erdogan should cooperate with Syria in order to combat terrorism, as this was a major stipulation in Adana Agreement.
Ceviköz added that working with Syria to fight terrorism is a necessity based on the principle of reciprocity.
As part of the Adana Agreement, Syria is not allowed to harbor any terrorist groups, in particular, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Syria is also not allowed to provide any weapons or financial support to the PKK; they must cooperate with the Ottoman Turkish government in the fight against any PKK elements.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2019 00:00 ||
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[ARABNEWS] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund.... may establish its own 32km security zone in northern Syria to keep Kurdish militias away from its border, 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... said on Friday.
The threat by Ankara to "go it alone" with a buffer zone follows silence from Washington on US involvement in the plan.
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... proposed the border zone, but has not specified who would create, enforce or pay for it, or where exactly it would be.
"We expect the promise of a security zone, a buffer zone aimed at protecting our country from terrorists, to be fulfilled in few months," Erdogan said on Friday. "Otherwise we will establish it ourselves.
"Our only expectation from our allies is that they provide logistical support to Turkey's effort. Our patience has a limit. We will not wait for ever for the fulfilment of the promises given to us."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2019 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] After receiving a SOS call from the embassy of China, which a police officer said was unjustified, the capital police, paramilitary troops and the army along with emergency and rescue officials reached the premises within minutes.
However, we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by... once in the embassy located in Diplomatic Enclave, the law enforcement agencies were informed that the alarm had been sent out only to check the response time and preparedness of the departments.
A senior police officer, who requested anonymity, was of the view that the embassy cannot check the response time and preparedness of the law enforcement agencies or send out such an alarm.
"Panic buttons are installed in embassies to seek help in a disaster or emergency situation, not to check our preparations or performance," the officer maintained.
Besides, he added, there was no need for checking the preparedness of the law enforcement agencies and the rescue department since a mock exercise had already been conducted in the Chinese embassy last month.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
Somebody wasn't happy with something. This was sending a message.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
01/26/2019 4:54 Comments ||
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[DAWN] The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday confirmed that Pakistan has received a third and last $1 billion tranche as part of balance-of-payments support from Saudi Arabia.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2019 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... police on Friday tossed in the calaboose Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! two suspects ‐ a man and his son ‐ over their alleged involvement in shooting at and wounding Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... ' (PTI) member of Sindh Assembly Ramzan Ghanchi a day earlier, police said.
Ghanchi was shot injured on Thursday night in Karachi's old city area, in the limits of Napier cop shoppe, reportedly over a dispute about laying a water line in the Timber Market area.
"Napier police started the paperwork but haven't done much else against a man and his two sons over charges of attempted murder and arrested SLearned Elders of Islamn Soomro and his son Shahnawaz," said City Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Muquddus Haider.
SLearned Elders of Islamn Soomro is the president of the Timber Market Association.
A third suspect, SLearned Elders of Islamn's son Ali Soomro, who is also the vice chairman of the union council in the area, was still on the run. SSP Haider said the suspect had managed to escape to interior Sindh and efforts were underway to arrest him.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2019 00:00 ||
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[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The government of India has reacted to the statement by the Pak officials that ’India has no role in Afghanistan’, emphasizing that Pakistain cannot decide on behalf of an independent and sovereign country and dictate Afghanistan’s foreign policy.
"It is not for Pakistain to decide as to what role another country has in regional or global affairs. Pakistain also cannot decide on behalf of an independent and sovereign country Afghanistan and dictate them as to how to conduct their foreign policy," the Ministry of External Affairs of India said in a statement.
The statement further added that "Pakistain should first and foremost introspect its own role and responsibility in the precarious situation in Afghanistan; put an end to all kind of support to cross border terrorism from territories under Pakistain’s control, and join international efforts to bring inclusive peace to Afghanistan."
According to reports, Pakistain’s foreign ministry front man Mohammad Faisal on Thursday said that India has no role to play in Afghanistan.
Faisal also added that Islamabad played a key role in arranging direct talks between the Taliban ...Arabic for students... and the US to find a peaceful solution to the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2019 00:00 ||
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[Jerusalem Post] Russia and Iran are not allies in Syria, said Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Ryablov in a CNN interview on Friday, he added that Russia is committed to the security of Israel.
"We in no way underestimate the importance of measures that would ensure very strong security of the state of Israel," Ryabkov said.
He also said any claims of US President Donald Trump is involved with the Russians are "out of touch with reality."
"Please do not be afraid of your own shadow, we [Russians] are not that threatening," he said.
[ALMASDARNEWS] On Friday morning, thousands of rustics from Syria, Iraq, and Leb traveled to the town of Ithriya in northeastern Hama to meet with a large Syrian government delegation.
During the meeting, the rustics and Syrian government reached a consensus on the upcoming Ottoman Turkish military operation and their proposed safe zone.
The Arab rustics then released a joint statement that rejected the Ottoman Turkish operation and safe zone.
"The flag of Syria is the banner of the homeland, which symbolizes its illusory sovereignty," the statement began.
"We strongly oppose the creation of a so-called safe zone in the north of Syria... The Syrian people are brought up on the concept of protecting the independence and illusory sovereignty of their homeland and themselves by all possible means against any kind of aggression, including the occupation of the Syrian territory by the United States and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...Qatar's colony in Asia Minor.... ," the joint statement read.
The leaders of the clans have agreed that the Syrian nation has the right to decide the country’s political, economic, and social future through dialogue without foreign interference.
"We stand for the unity and independence of Syria and against any project or plan for the division [of the territory] under any excuse," the statement added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
Erdogan seems to be fading out here.
Posted by: Roger Smith ||
01/26/2019 22:58 Comments ||
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[PRESSTV] Israel has reportedly sent strongly-worded messages to Leb, delivered through La Belle France, warning the Arab country of the consequences of the precision missiles possessed by the Hezbollah resistance movement.
According to Israeli media, the issue was discussed at length during a Wednesday meeting between the regime’s President Reuven Rivlin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Gay Paree.
The talks, also attended by Israeli air force commander Amikam Norkin, were held ahead of Macron’s planned visit to Beirut.
In a move coordinated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Rivlin has reportedly stressed Tel Aviv’s concern over Hezbollah’s "large rocket and missile arsenal", and what Israel calls "efforts made by Iran and Hezbollah to improve the precision of the missiles the Lebanese organization holds."
He has also expressed the regime’s worry about the tunnels Israel says Hezbollah has dug near the occupied territories.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
The only "strongly-worded" messages that might work are the ones painted on bombs.
[ARABNEWS] Any deal between Syria’s Kurds and Damascus should respect the "special status" of Kurdish-led forces who fought the ISIS group, a top Kurdish commander of those forces said.
"Any political agreement should include the special status" of the Syrian Democratic Forces after they fought ISIS "on behalf of all humanity and even the Syrian army," SDF commander-in-chief Mazloum Kobani said.
"This is our red line and we will not concede this" in ongoing talks with the Damascus regime, he said in an exclusive interview on Thursday.
The SDF control around a third of Syria after expelling gunnies from a large northeastern swathe of the war-torn country with backing from the US-led coalition.
The Kurdish-led alliance "protected northeastern Syria ... liberated these areas, and have the right to continue protecting the region," said Kobani, who was speaking near the northeastern city of Hasakah.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... ’s government has gained ground against rebels and gunnies with key Russian backing since 2015, and now controls almost two-thirds of the country.
It is determined to reassert its authority over SDF-held areas, which make up the lion’s share of the rest.
But after years of marginalization, the Kurds are determined to keep some of the autonomy they gained during the eight-year war.
The SDF could "agree to be part of the national army of a future Syria, but only on the condition they keep their special status," Kobani said.
Damascus has rejected self-rule in northeastern Syria, but Kurdish leaders started talks with the government in July in a bid to seek some form of decentralization.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/26/2019 00:00 ||
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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.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has been appointed as the head of 
... 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...
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
