[KhaamaPress] An internationally well-known war journalist claimed she received a jail threat for not tweeting an apology to the Taliban ...Arabic for students... for an article accusing Afghanistan’s Islamist authorities of "forcefully marrying teenage girls and using teenage girls as sexual slaves."
Lynne O’Donnell, an Australian writer who presently writes a column for Foreign Policy magazine, tweeted, "l apologize for 3 or 4 reports written by me accusing the present authorities of forcefully marrying teenage girls and using teenage girls as sexual slaves by Taliban commanders."
O’Donnell revealed on Wednesday that she was forced to make an apology by the Taliban.
"Tweet an apology or go to jail, said #Taliban intelligence," she tweeted. "Whatever it takes: They dictated. I tweeted. They didn’t like it. Deleted, edited, re-tweeted. Made video of me saying I wasn’t coerced. Re-did that too."
The journalist said that the agents disapproved of her reporting on LGBTQ persons and asserted that there were "no gays" in the country.
As of yet, the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture and intelligence authorities have not reacted on O’Donnell’s disclosures.
Following her alleged detention, harassment, and threats, Lynne O’Donnell, who has reported occasionally from Afghanistan for over 20 years, departed the country on Wednesday for Pakistain.
O’Donnell was the Afghanistan bureau head for the Agence La Belle France-Presse wire service and the News Agency that Dare Not be Named between 2009 and 2017, according to her biography on the Foreign Policy website.
#2
I side with the journalist in this case other than she needs to learn to blink in Morse Code. I am sure that we are sending money to the Taliban in some fashion currently, because Biden. Our Afghanistan spending and Iran spending ought to be queued up for Foreign Relations hearings in January or February.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/25/2022 12:02 Comments ||
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[KhaamaPress] The Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... ’s supreme leader, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, announced in a statement that accusations made against the Taliban officials and criticizing them for untrue things are prohibited and against "Islamic values".
According to the statement released by the Taliban’s office of the spokesperson, "There is no place for rumors in Islam because it causes hatred among the Moslems, it negates trust and affects morale."
Zabiullah Mujahid, a front man for the Islamic Emirate, stated that various Islamic Hadiths imply that unsubstantiated claims are deemed lies and should be punished.
The Taliban’s supreme leader stated in this message that there is a "punishment" for accusing the government, citing hadiths and verses from the Holy Qur’an.
Per the statement, it is inappropriate to verbally, nonverbally, or in any other way humiliate Islamic clergy and Taliban government officials.
Additionally, the Prophet of Islam is cited in this statement as saying that spreading false information or making allegations that cause unease in the community constitutes "participation with the enemies."
This statement comes as the Office of the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... Assistant Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released a report alleging the Taliban officials denying people’s freedoms, and maintaining inhumane behavior with them, citing torture.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/25/2022 8:35 Comments ||
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#4
She'd probably look better in a burqua. But they might beat her for singing.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/25/2022 8:35 Comments ||
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#5
Ooooo! I hope so
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/25/2022 8:41 Comments ||
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#6
So, if I continue to make true accusations, I am Ok. If I make untrue ones, then I am against Islamic values. Can I make true accusations, and still be against Islamic Values? I think I am in that category.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/25/2022 12:06 Comments ||
Top||
[AlAhram] An Al-Qaeda affiliate claimed a deadly suicide attack in a strategic garrison town near the Malian capital, according to jihadist monitor SITE which authenticated a statement from the group.
Guess that’s JNIM, then. Yesterday they weren’t sure if it was JNIM or ISIS.
An Al-Qaeda affiliate claimed a deadly suicide kaboom in a strategic garrison town near the Malian capital, according to jihadist monitor SITE which authenticated a statement from the group.
The Malian army previously blamed jihadists of the Katiba Macina group for the Friday attack with two vehicle-borne bombs that killed at least one soldier in Kati, the heart of the Malian military establishment.
The target was also near the residence of the head of the ruling junta Assimi Goita and the powerful defence minister.
On Friday, "a brigade of mujahideen conducted a blessed operation against the Malian army, the unjust killer of innocents, at the most notorious place in the capital Bamako, near the headquarters of the president and the defence ministry".
The group claims to have deployed two jacket wallahs and "commando fighters".
"If you have the right to hire mercenaries to kill defenceless innocents, then we have the right to destroy and target you," the statement continued, referring to paramilitaries linked to Russian private security group Wagner.
The group has been present in Mali since early 2021, according to Western diplomats.
The Malian army has intensified its anti-jihadist operations in recent months, relying on what it describes as Russian instructors.
Despite a deteriorating security situation, the junta turned its back on La Belle France and its international partners, instead leaning on Russia to stem the threat posed by jihadists to Mali, as well as Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and will leave office feet first, one way or the other... and Niger.
The Support Group for Islam and Moslems (GSIM) is the main jihadist alliance in the Sahel and is linked to al-Qaeda.
That’s the French name. In Arabic they’re called Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM).
The GSIM, whose influence on the ground continues to expand, comprises a myriad of groups including the Katiba Macina and operates mainly in Mali and Burkina Faso.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/25/2022 00:00 ||
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[AlAhram] Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, 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. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than there are in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really most important... on Sunday criticized Greece for allegedly violating a settlement that has governed relations between the rivals for nearly a century.
In a statement released on the 99th anniversary of the Lausanne Treaty, Erdogan accused Athens of undermining the rights of the Moslem minority in Greece's Thrace region.
Moslems in Thrace make up about 32% of the province's population and consist of ethnic Turks, Roma and Bulgarian-speaking Pomaks.
``The conditions registered in the treaty, especially the rights of the Ottoman Turkish minority, have been ignored or deliberately eroded,'' the nationalist leader said. ``It is not possible for our country to accept this situation, which is incompatible with good neighborly relations and loyalty to the treaty.''
The 1923 treaty was signed by the new Republic of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... to settle disputes with the Allies, including Greece, following World War I and the Ottoman Turkish War of Independence.
It outlined the rights of the remaining Moslem minority in Greece and Christians in Turkey after a bitter conflict between the countries, which was followed by a population exchange. It also set out conditions for Greek rule of the Aegean islands that lie off Turkey's coast.
Ankara has recently complained that Greece has violated the treaty by militarizing the islands. Athens says it is acting according to international law and is defending its territory in the face of constant Ottoman Turkish hostility.
On Friday, the Ottoman Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the closure of four Moslem minority schools in Thrace, saying it demonstrated ``discriminatory and oppressive policies'' by the Greek government.
The Greek Foreign Ministry rejected the ``unsubstantiated'' allegations, saying the schools were suspended because student numbers fell below minimum requirements.
NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... members Greece and Turkey have been at loggerheads for decades over a series of issues, including disputes over undersea exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean and the illusory sovereignty of uninhabited Aegean islets. The two neighbors have come to the brink of war three times in the past half century.
Erdogan last month broke off high-level talks with Athens.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/25/2022 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Pakistain and Afghanistan have reached an agreement to facilitate bilateral trade, especially coal for use in power generation to bridge the shortfall in electricity production in the wake of the high cost of furnace oil in the international market.
Coal is already being imported in small quantities for power generation via Chaman border station in 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... . Under the new agreement, coal imports will start at custom stations in Kharlachi and Ghulam Khan in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The coal will be used in power production at two plants — Hubco and Sahiwal plants. On July 5, the government authorised the trade of all rupee-denominated goods via land routes.
According to official sources, the coal import will address the country’s energy security to a large extent has already been reached with Kabul to import coal through trucks via land routes, the official added.
Pakistain has already turned into a net importer from Afghanistan since the Taliban ...Arabic for students... took control of Kabul in August 2021. During the period, Pakistain’s exports to Afghanistan also saw a deeper drop due to the non-availability of tradable currency through banking channels.
The decisions were reached during the three-day visit (July 18—20) of a Pakistain trade delegation to Kabul. Pakistain’s Secretary Commerce Sualeh Faruqui, headed the delegation to discuss mutual actions for enhancing bilateral trade, transit, and connectivity and take necessary trade facilitation measures.
Islamabad, in return, has offered several facilitation measures to promote imports from Afghanistan. One of the major demands from Kabul was for duty-free imports from Afghanistan, particularly of food items, to help combat rising food inflation.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/25/2022 00:00 ||
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#1
In other news, they have electricity in Afghanistan.
#2
Why don't they use HYV seeds from China and cultivate? See what happens. China is practically bribing officials of countries to let them experiment in their different soils. What's the worst that could happen?
[Rudaw] The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is a "tragic" legacy from Iraqi former dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s foreign ministry spokesperson told Rudaw late Friday, adding that the Kurdish group is an "imported" issue from The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... .
On Wednesday, a shelling in Zakho, Duhok province killed nine Arab tourists and injured 22 others from Iraq’s central and southern provinces. Baghdad and Erbil have blamed the Ottoman Turkish army for the deadly attack while Ankara denied its involvement. The incident took place in Parakh village which has seen years of conflict between Turkey and the PKK. The deadly attack has created a diplomatic spat between both neighbouring countries.
Turkey claims that the PKK is a "terrorist" organization and poses a threat to its national security from inside Iraq. Iraqi foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed al-Sahaf told Rudaw’s Nwenar Fatih late Friday that the Kurdish group has become a headache for Iraqi governments since the collapse of the Baath regime in 2003.
"The PKK is one of the heavy and tragic legacies left by the toppled Baath regime, and there are historical problems that have accumulated on the democratic system after 2003," said Sahaf, adding that the PKK is an "imported" issue from Turkey.
The PKK was founded in 1978 with the stated goal of struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. In the early eighties, the party made an agreement with the Iraq-based Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to move some of its troops to what is now the Kurdistan Region. However, those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... the KDP, which still rules the Region, now has thorny relations with the PKK and strong ties with Ankara. Both Kurdish parties fought for years in the nineties over land control in the Region.
Turkey has carried out dozens of anti-PKK military operations inside the Kurdistan Region since the nineties. There have been reported agreements between Ankara and Baghdad which allowed the Ottoman Turkish army to carry out military campaigns inside Iraq.
The Iraqi spokesperson told Rudaw that there has never been any agreement between both countries over the PKK.
"There was never an agreement, but the minutes of a bilateral meeting, in which it was decided that if Turkey wanted to take any military action, it had to ask the Iraqi government every time," Sahaf said, adding that Ankara has never abided by this.
He also clarified that none of the Iraqi governments, which were formed after 2003, have recognized such a decision by Hussein’s regime and Ottoman Turkish government, "because it violates Iraq’s illusory sovereignty and harms its security and stability."
The PKK-affiliated forces, which have controlled parts of the Yazidi heartland of Shingal for years following the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) attacks in 2014, have enjoyed good relations with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) but clashed with the Iraqi army several times over land control.
Baghdad and Erbil have an agreement in 2020 to expel the PKK-affiliated forces in Shingal and "normalize" the situation there but these forces have refused to leave the town.
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) too has blamed the PKK for creating issues for the Region such killing members of Peshmerga forces and giving Turkey an excuse to attack the bordering areas. Over a hundred civilians have been killed in recent years due to Ottoman Turkish bombardments in these areas.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/25/2022 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
[Rudaw] The general commander of the Kurdish led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said that they would avenge an SDF commander and two other fighters, who were killed in a dronezap outside Qamishli on Friday.
Media outlets affiliated with the SDF on Friday reported a drone attack on a vehicle near a residential area on Qamishli-Tirbespi (al-Qahtaniyah) road, saying that three people were killed in the attack without identifying them.
The SDF on Saturday confirmed the identities of the dear departed as the commander of the SDF’s counter terrorism unit Salwa Yusef, Joanna Hasso, and Ruha Bashar.
The SDF said that the three were killed by a Ottoman Turkishdronezap while they were on duty.
SDF General Commander Mazloum Abdi on Sunday offered his condolences to the families of the three, vowing Dire Revenge.
"The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund... 's targeting [of] them undermines [the] war against ISIS [Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... ]," Abdi said, calling on partners to make "greater efforts to stop violations."
"We will avenge," he added.
The US Central Command also offered its condolences on Sunday.
Turkey often targets the US-allied SDF and its backbone, the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria on the grounds that they have links with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and pose a threat to Ottoman Turkish bordering areas.
The Ottoman Turkish defense ministry said on Sunday that they had "neutralized" PKK/YPG members who were preparing for an attack on Aleppo.
The PKK is an gang fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. Ankara considers the group and its alleged offshoots in Syria as terrorist organizations.
Ankara has carried out two major military operations against Kurdish forces in Syria since 2018 and has in recent months renewed threats to carry out a new offensive against them in Syria's northern towns of Manbij and Tal Rifaat. Kurdish forces have said that they have taken the threats seriously and begun making preparations.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/25/2022 01:34 ||
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[MIDDLEEASTEYE.NET] As Iranian film director Morteza Fatemi fled robbers last month, one of his assailants cried out a chilling warning: "Wherever you go, I will find you."
Fatemi was attacked by men with machetes near the Mellat cinema in an affluent part of northern Tehran. It is just one example of a crime wave sweeping a suffering Iran.
As the sanctions-hit country gets poorer, its people are becoming ever more desperate in their efforts to make ends meet.
Iranians have been placed under great stress caused by United States sanctions and internal mismanagement.
Rouzbeh Kordouni, the head of Iran's Social Security Research Institute, announced in May that 15 percent of the population were under the absolute poverty line between 2013 and 2017, but this figure reached 30 percent in just two years, between 2018 and 2020.
That spike coincided with the unilateral withdrawal by the US from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposition of harsh sanctions.
The government of President Ebrahim Raisi says that it is trying to curb high inflation, but so far it has not been successful. In fact, costs have been rising every month, according to Iran's Statistics Centre.
According to the labour and social welfare ministry, it is alarming if the inflation rate increases by about 1.5 percent. Yet the Statistics Centre revealed that inflation in May rose about 12.2 percent from April, and for food alone was 25.9 percent higher.
CELEBRITIES NO IMMUNE FROM ROBBERIES
Fatemi managed to escape the robbers by jumping into a car, but he had been followed for a while. He said he was struck by the thieves' boldness.
Similarly, the former coach of the national junior freestyle wrestling team became the target of an armed robbery on Tehran's Imam Ali highway. The button men stole Ali Safai's Toyota Land Cruiser and shot him twice in the left leg.
It's not just the wealthy and well-known who are being targeted. Wallets and phones are violent mostly peaceful mostly peacefully taken from people daily, and Iranians are worried.
"A few weeks ago, two men on a cycle of violence stole my mobile phone while I was in a taxi. I was busy with my phone, reading a message with the window down in the car. Suddenly, the robbers grabbed it from my hand," said student Mohsen Yazdanshenas.
"The 'Find my iPhone' feature didn't work for me, and filing a report in the cop shoppe was like torture, as it was very difficult and time-consuming. There has been no outcome so far."
Reports have emerged of metal being stripped from the streets, including manholes, foundations of pedestrian bridges, traffic signs, electric wires and telecommunications cables.
A few months ago, Tehran municipality said traffic equipmant worth 55bn tomans ($12.9m) had been stolen.
This ranges from guardrails, warning and direction signs to cameras and electronic equipment at bus stations. Last winter, the theft of metal bridge fittings caused a part of the Shahid Hamdani highway to be closed for over two weeks.
FRAIL ECONOMY THE ROOT CAUSE
Many experts say the rise in crime has a direct correlation with increasing poverty and the widening social class gap.
"All economic variables, especially unemployment and lack of purchasing power, have a direct impact on theft, pickpocketing, robbery, and all kinds of crimes that are committed with the sole aim of affording to live," said a sociologist and university professor in Tehran who spoke to MEE on condition of anonymity.
"If the basic needs, including food, housing, and so forth are endangered, all other needs will be neglected. Therefore, when people's livelihood is threatened, they do wrong things, such as robbery, and they have no fear of doing it because they have nothing to lose."
In 2009, around 200,000 thefts were reported. By 2021, that figure had grown by a factor of seven, with about 1.4 million thefts recorded that year.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/25/2022 00:00 ||
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[10 views]
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#1
"Iranians have been placed under great stress caused by United States sanctions and internal mismanagement."
Question now is:
After Putin's visit last week, will Russia become a major Iranian provider?
Either way, Iran serves is just another good example of a collection of Powerful Elite in Government more focused on their political agenda than the problems of its people.
#5
Thanks to the Clinton Crime Syndicate, the Russians are flush with uranium from the US. So just like shipping scrap steel to Japan in the 1930's, we're enabling our adversaries.
Imagine that; making money on both ends of the conflict spectrum.
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.
...Arabic for 
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
...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. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than there are in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really most important...
...Arabic for 
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund...
[MIDDLEEASTEYE.NET] As Iranian film director Morteza Fatemi fled robbers last month, one of his assailants cried out a chilling warning: "Wherever you go, I will find you."
