Hi there, !
Today Mon 02/01/2010 Sun 01/31/2010 Sat 01/30/2010 Fri 01/29/2010 Thu 01/28/2010 Wed 01/27/2010 Tue 01/26/2010 Archives
Rantburg
531714 articles and 1856004 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 76 articles and 206 comments as of 15:29.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Dronezap kills at least five
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
4 00:00 Old Patriot [3] 
5 00:00 SteveS [] 
6 00:00 Fester Thaiger8930 [] 
4 00:00 mojo [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
4 00:00 mojo [] 
2 00:00 Anonymoose [1] 
2 00:00 TomAnon [1] 
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [1] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
2 00:00 newc [] 
0 [] 
0 [1] 
0 [1] 
0 [1] 
5 00:00 notascrename [] 
0 [] 
1 00:00 newc [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
4 00:00 Deacon Blues [] 
3 00:00 Ebbang Uluque6305 [1] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
Page 2: WoT Background
4 00:00 Frank G [1]
5 00:00 tu3031 []
1 00:00 3dc []
6 00:00 JosephMendiola [1]
3 00:00 Dave UK []
1 00:00 Black Bart Ebberens7700 []
0 []
4 00:00 Frank G []
0 []
1 00:00 Lem Fussel []
5 00:00 tu3031 []
0 []
3 00:00 HammeHead []
0 []
3 00:00 BrerRabbit [1]
3 00:00 Black Bart Ebberens7700 []
0 []
2 00:00 JosephMendiola [1]
3 00:00 JosephMendiola [1]
6 00:00 CrazyFool []
0 [1]
1 00:00 g(r)omgoru [1]
1 00:00 g(r)omgoru [1]
0 [1]
0 [1]
Page 3: Non-WoT
0 []
2 00:00 JosephMendiola [4]
5 00:00 BigEd []
0 []
7 00:00 Cornsilk Blondie []
4 00:00 JosephMendiola [1]
6 00:00 Frank G []
8 00:00 Kelly [1]
0 []
21 00:00 Thing From Snowy Mountain [1]
2 00:00 tu3031 []
Page 4: Opinion
3 00:00 JosephMendiola [1]
1 00:00 badanov []
1 00:00 Besoeker []
6 00:00 Besoeker []
2 00:00 Atomic Conspiracy []
10 00:00 James []
Page 6: Politix
0 []
10 00:00 Boss Snomotle8280 [1]
2 00:00 JosephMendiola [1]
5 00:00 JosephMendiola [1]
4 00:00 WolfDog []
5 00:00 gorb []
6 00:00 mojo []
Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 01/29/2010 09:01 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday


Katharine Ross aka Etta Place aka Elaine Robinson (70)


CT Scan

Nearly Nekkid

At 65



Ann Jura Nauseda aka Ann Jillian(60)




Oprah Winfrey (56)




Heather Graham aka Rollergirl (40)



Nearly Nekkid Jill Masterson Goldfinger Moment

Daily Gam Shot

Priming a Bicycle Seat for Gorb

Nightie Night
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/29/2010 9:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Lordy, GB, some of us are trying to get some work done!
Posted by: Fester Thaiger8930 || 01/29/2010 9:23 Comments || Top||

#3  Heather Graham is looking quite perky there. She's certainly a relief after Ann Jillian and Oprah Winfrey.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 01/29/2010 11:09 Comments || Top||

#4  #2 Lordy, GB, some of us are trying to get some work done!
Posted by: Fester Thaiger8930 2010-01-29 09:23


And, then there are those of us (retired) who appreciate GB's contributions with our morning coffee.
Posted by: WolfDog || 01/29/2010 11:14 Comments || Top||

#5  #2 Lordy, GB, some of us are trying to get some work done! Posted by: Fester Thaiger8930 2010-01-29 09:23

And, then there are those of us (retired) neglected leg men.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/29/2010 11:24 Comments || Top||

#6  Wolfdog, after that last pic, I didn't need any more coffee to wake me up.
Posted by: Fester Thaiger8930 || 01/29/2010 13:54 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Afghan villages form local militias

Good. That's what they're supposed to do, not wait to be rescued... or overrun by the Taliban or other gangs of bad guys.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/29/2010 04:33 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Compare wid WAFF > RISING TURKEY VS. RECEDING ARABS. ARTIC = Muslim Arab Govts-Soceties continue to suffer serious or inhibitive detriment from perennial, historically ANTI-DEMOCRATIC DYNASTIC TRIBALISM = TRIBALIST DESPOTISM, to the extent that as a class Muslim Arab Nations in the MidEast are slowly but steadily giving up VITAL ASPECTS/DOMAINS OF LOCAL SOVEREIGNTY, REGIONAL + GEOPOL SECURITY TO THE US-WEST, EVEN UNTO HISTOR HATED RIVAL ISRAEL.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/29/2010 23:15 Comments || Top||


Is The "Mission" In Afghanistan Having Any Lasting Effect?
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/29/2010 04:20 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Taliban rejects inclusion offer
Boy howdy, bet you never saw that coming ...
KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- The Afghan Taliban described an international effort to include moderate insurgents in the national reconstruction effort as misguided.

On Thursday London hosted an international conference on Afghanistan, bringing Afghan President Hamid Karzai together with world leaders, including U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The delegates at the conference announced a plan to bring low- and mid-level Taliban into the international effort to rebuild Afghanistan. The effort is modeled in part on the Sons of Iraq program, where Washington put insurgents on its payroll to fight the growing al-Qaida influence in Iraq.

The Taliban discounted the effort, saying it was a trick by the international community, Pakistani newspaper The News International reports.

"They think the mujahedin will be enticed by money or by positions of power," a Taliban statement read. "Such thoughts are baseless and futile and have no truth."

Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy to the region, said there was no discussion of an amnesty for the Taliban, stressing the immediate aim was to end the fighting.

The Taliban statement said that the only way to end the conflict in Afghanistan was through the departure of foreign military forces.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/29/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Horn
15 Somalis dead as Islamist attacks spark fighting
Women and children hardest hit. It's Somalia after all.
Somali insurgents sparked the heaviest day of fighting in the capital in months Friday, launching simultaneous attacks on government forces and peacekeepers that killed at least 15 people, residents and a medical official said.
Posted by: ed || 01/29/2010 07:25 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Somali pirates hijack Cambodian cargo ship
[Asharq al-Aswat] Somali gunmen hijacked a Cambodian cargo ship, the MV Layla-S, off Berbera after it unloaded at the port in the breakaway northern enclave of Somaliland, a regional maritime official said on Thursday.

"Crew members on board the ill-fated vessel are ... Pakistani, Indian, Sri Lankan, Somali and Syrian nationals," Andrew Mwangura of the Mombasa, Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme said in a statement. "It is said that the vessel has a link with Syrian and UAE businessmen. We are informed that she was taken by gunmen after discharging her cargo."

The hijacking appeared to have happened on Wednesday, but few other details were immediately available. The seizure came a week after Somali pirates freed a Greek-flagged tanker carrying 2 million barrels of oil for a record ransom.

Somaliland, which declared itself independent in 1991, is proud of its relative stability compared with the south of Somalia, where hardline Islamist rebels control large amounts of territory and are battling a weak Western-backed government.

Worldwide, piracy attacks rose by nearly 40 percent last year, with Somali gangs accounting for more than half the 406 reported incidents, the International Maritime Bureau says.

Typically, pirates from the failed Horn of Africa state hold the captured ships and crews hostage until ransoms are paid.

The International Chamber of Shipping, which represents 75 percent of the global seaborne industry, said this month that it felt deepening frustration at the international community's "impotence" in combating growing piracy in the Indian Ocean.
Posted by: Fred || 01/29/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Pirates


Al-Qaedas Yemeni branch reveals links to Somalia insurgency
[Maghrebia] The announcement by Somalia's al-Shabab movement that it is prepared to send fighters to help al-Qaeda in Yemen sheds light on the expansion of a movement viewed as an agent of al-Qaeda in the Horn of Africa.

The announcement could be nothing but moral support. However, it would be a big mistake to underestimate this movement which controls large parts of southern Somalia and its ability to offer logistical support to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Sheikh Mukhtar Al-Rubu (Abu Mansur), one of the main leaders of the "Shabab" movement, told Somali media on January 1 that his group is ready to "come to the aid" of al-Qaeda fighters in Yemen in case they are attacked by the US. Abu Mansur said during an al-Shabab fighters graduation ceremony in Mogadishu that his group is ready to cross the Gulf of Aden to assist al-Qaeda in Yemen. The latter recently suffered major losses, especially among its leaders who seem to have been killed by air and land raids. The group claimed the air strikes have been carried out by the United States, but the Yemeni government assured that it was its troops who carried out these attacks.

Sending fighters from the al-Shabab movement to Yemen will not be impossible. The distance between the two coasts of the Gulf of Aden can be crossed easily as hundreds of Somali refugees cross it in small boats every year to the south Yemen shores. The Somali government is absent in the south of the country, allowing al-Shabab to organise its fighters and send them to Yemen which welcomes Somali refugees fleeing the civil war in their homeland.

But sending Somali fundamentalist fighters to Yemen could represent a change in the equation. Al-Shabab was previously receiving assistance from "foreign mujahideen" who fought against the transitional government and foreign troops--these troops came from Ethiopia initially and were later replaced by the African Peacekeeping forces from Burundi and Uganda.

While there are no accurate accounts on the number of these "foreign mujahideen" who fight alongside the al-shabab fighters, the Somali government announces periodically that it has killed a number of foreign fighters in attempts to reveal to Somali public opinion that al-Shabab is directly linked to an ideology that is alien to Somali traditions, a clear reference to the influence of al-Qaeda.

The link between al-Shabab and al-Qaeda is obvious, even though the nature of this link is not always apparent. On many occasions last year, the leaders of al-Qaeda and specifically Osama bin Laden and Abu Yahya al-Libi pledged their support for al-Shabab in its quest to overthrow the current Somali government. Al-Qaeda leaders offered justifications allowing al-Shabab to continue fighting even though many of their demands were met, including withdrawal of Ethiopian troops and election of the Islamic leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad as president of the country, who promised to fulfil their demands to implementing Sharia law in Somalia.

Even though the Al-Shabab movement was not known until 2005, links between the two groups can be traced back to the early nineties when al-Qaeda, which was also recently formed at the time, sent a number of its fighters to Somalia to train local fighters for "jihad".

But the support lent by al-Qaeda to al-Shabab did not include granting them the title "Exclusive al-Qaeda agency" in the Horn of Africa as occurred with the al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and in Iraq. This lack of integration is perhaps a choice made by leaders of al-Shabab who have not yet decided whether or not to be an al-Qaeda branch, probably because they will have to change their whole strategy and objectives. By uniting with al-Qaeda they would be expected to fight the West and not simply concentrate on fighting the Somali government.

But not turning into an al-Qaeda branch does not mean that the two groups do not maintain excellent relations and are not fully co-operating. The clearest relationship is one that ties al-Shabab to the al-Qaeda's Yemen branch. Some information appeared lately which shows a much stronger relationship between the two groups then what is seen on the surface.

There were many similarities between the last attempt by al-Qaeda to blow up an American plane in Detroit last month and a similar attempt that Somali security forces aborted without realizing its significance at the time. Somali officials revealed recently that a young Somali man was not allowed to board a plane on November 13th, 2009 heading from Mogadishu to Dubai (making two stops, one in Hargeysa in Northern Somalia and another in Djibouti) after finding out that the passenger had chemical products and a suspicious syringe. Somali officials said that the young man had ties with al-Shabab and that a Somali tribunal had dismissed a case against him for lack of evidence.

As it was later discovered, the Nigerian young man Omar al-Faruk Abdul Mutalib used a chemical substance similar to the one carried by the young Somali.

Security forces are undoubtedly trying to connect the dots between the two attempts and investigating whether the young Somali was on an "experimental" trip to discover how easy it was to smuggle these substances through security checkpoints and onto a plane. The result of this investigation will also determine whether the Somali young man was acting only on behalf of the Somali group, or if this operation was carried out in co-operation with al-Qaeda in Yemen. Al-Qaeda sent the young Nigerian to blow up the American plane.

Camille Tawil is a Lebanese journalist who specializes in Islamist groups. He has authored two books, "The Story of the Arab Jihadists", and "The Armed Islamic Movement in Algeria - From the FIS to the GIA". He wrote this analysis for Al-Shorfa.
This article starring:
ABU MANSURal-Shabaab
ABU YAHYA AL LIBIal-Qaeda
OMAR AL FARUK ABDUL MUTALIBal-Qaeda
SHEIKH MUKHTAR AL RUBUal-Shabaab
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad
Posted by: Fred || 01/29/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Somalia Islamist group bans video games
[Al Arabiya Latest] Somalia's Islamist insurgents on Thursday banned video games, one of the last forms of entertainment left for local youth, arguing they were destroying the country's social fabric.

The Hezb al-Islami group, currently engaged in a deadly insurgency against the internationally-backed federal government, made the announcement in a statement circulated in the areas it controls. "Starting two days after this statement's date of issue, all video game playing centers in the areas under Hezb al-Islam control should be closed and playing video games will be prohibited," it said. "Video games are designed in such a way that they destroy our social traditions and for that reason, anybody found ignoring this order will be punished and equipment will be confiscated," it said.

It was signed by Sheikh Mohamed Omar, head of propaganda for Hezb al-Islam, an insurgent group headed by influential cleric Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys and which controls densely-populated areas in and around Mogadishu.

Popular
Video games became particularly popular in areas on the outskirts of Mogadishu housing tens of thousands of families who fled the fighting in the capital since watching films on DVDs was also banned. Children and teenagers would gather after school in small centers like cybercafes where PlayStations were wired up and a 30-minute game cost 5,000 Somali shillings (around 15 U.S. cents). "Hezb al-Islam officials ordered us to close our video game centers so today we're closed. We don't have a choice," said Ali Hidig, a game centre owner in Elashabiyaha, a village hosting refugees on the ouskirts of Mogadishu. "Young boys used to like coming here for entertainment after school but it looks like this is now a thing of the past," he told AFP.

The disappointment was deep among teenage boys in the area, where movies and sports are also banned.

Banning fun
"We used to watch movies. They were banned. Now the PlayStations we had fun with are also banned. This country is not for young people like me," said Abdirahman Hirsi, a 19-year-old from Lafole town.

"They have basically banned everything that is fun, so we feel increasingly bored," said another boy.

Abdi Moge, an older resident in the village, argued that there were few alternatives to occupy young people other than joining an armed group. "Who knows what else the children are going to do now. It's not as if there was proper education for them. The more they are prevented from playing, the more likely they are to join the fighting," he said.

Hezb al-Islam and their insurgency comrades from the Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab group are implementing a very strict form of Sharia (Islamic law) in the areas they control. The Hezb al-Islam statement did not make clear what forms of punishment would be reserved for diehard gamers caught flouting the ban. However, in recent months across Somalia, people found dancing to traditional songs have been flogged, men guilty of trimming their beards arrested and youth playing football in shorts reprimanded by religious police units.

Satellite television is also banned in many areas and there are no cinemas left in central and southern Somalia, which are under Islamist control.
This article starring:
SHEIKH HASAN DAHIR AWEYSHezb al-Islami
SHEIKH MOHAMED OMARHezb al-Islami
Posted by: Fred || 01/29/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab

#1  Religion of peace fun and prosperity tm strikes again
Posted by: Jed || 01/29/2010 2:19 Comments || Top||

#2  I watched a programme about reconstruction efforts in Indonesia , 5 years after the tsunami .

It showed a certain village trying to get back up on its feet. Sadly the only thing impeding social and economic progress , was , you guessed it the Sharia police force stomping around , ruining chance and imposing lashes and beatings for anyone who 'steps out of line'

So thoroughly disappointing , you could see the doom in the villagers eyes , gutted that their lives are now subserviant to a deviant masochistic , uncompromising cult of the damned
Posted by: Oscar || 01/29/2010 5:00 Comments || Top||

#3  So thoroughly disappointing , you could see the doom in the villagers eyes , gutted that their lives are now subserviant to a deviant masochistic , uncompromising cult of the damned

Can't say that I feel very sorry for them if they won't do anything about it. It might be dangerous but if that's the way your life is gonna be then what do you have to lose?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 01/29/2010 11:57 Comments || Top||


Djibouti says to commit 450 troops to Somalia
ADDIS ABABA (Sh. M. Network) - Djibouti said on Thursday it planned to send 450 soldiers to Somalia possibly next month to boost the African Union (AU) peace mission that is protecting the fragile Western-backed government.

Uganda and Burundi each have 2,500 peacekeepers in Mogadishu with the AU's AMISOM force in Mogadishu. Its soldiers come under near-daily attacks from roadside bombs and rebel artillery. The force is struggling to raise its numbers beyond the 5,000 troops already present in the anarchic nation that has had no functional central government since 1991.

"We are preparing our troops. We are training them so that they can carry out their mission in a very efficient way," Djibouti's Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf told Reuters on the sidelines of an African Union foreign ministers' meeting.

Youssouf said he hoped his country's contribution would inspire others to do the same. "Somalia is a neighbouring country. We have a very close relationship. We can see what is going on there and we have to contribute as Africans," he said.

Youssouf said the region must remain watchful against rebel groups. "We have to be very vigilant because al Qaeda has a very large network in the Arabian peninsula and also in the Horn of Africa," he said.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/29/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
Two JMB men handed death sentences
[Bangla Daily Star] A court here yesterday handed down death sentence to two JMB leaders for killing Rajshahi University teacher Muhammad Yunus five years ago.

Of the two, Shahidullah alias Mahbub is married to a niece of Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, now-executed JMB military commander. The other one, Shafiullah alias Tarek, is commander of Rajshahi district Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, the banned Islamist outfit.

Besides sentencing them to death, Rajshahi Speedy Trial Tribunal fined them each Tk 5,000.

It however acquitted six other JMB men of the murder. They are Abu Isa alias Enamul Haque, Golamur Rahman alias Golam Mostafa, Abul Kashem alias Tufan, Abdul Matin alias Bomaru Matin, Abdur Rahman alias Arif and Zakir alias Jayed.

Except Zakir, who has been on the run, all accused were produced before the court.

Yunus, an economics professor at RU, was knifed to death while on a morning walk near the campus on December 24, 2004. The courtroom was chock-a-block when Judge Md Manjurul Bachhid began pronouncing the verdict at 2:45pm. The judgment is based on judicial confessions, as there were no eye-witnesses, said the judge adding that Mahbub and Tarek can go to the High Court to appeal against their convictions in 30 days.

Rehana Yunus, wife of Yunus, told The Daily Star that she was not quite satisfied as some of the "killers have got off scot-free".

Her daughter Sara Sudipa said, "I can't get my father back, but the verdict will somewhat console our hearts, though partially."

Abdul Halim, Yunus's brother and complainant of the murder case, died 42 days after his brother's death. In the charge sheet, CID Inspector Helaluddin said 10 militants took part in the murder operation. Of them, Ibrahim was killed in 2005.

JMB supremo Shaikh Abdur Rahman, who was executed along with five other JMB leaders in March 2007, had ordered Mahbub to kill Yunus. Mahbub picked the 10 to carry out the order.

The Criminal Investigation Department did not press charges against 13 Islami Chhatra Shibir leaders and workers who were earlier suspected by police of being involved in the murder. Those dropped from the charge sheet included Sirajus Salehin, former president of Binodpur unit Shibir, student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami.

Our RU correspondent adds: Teachers, students and different organisations at RU yesterday hailed the verdict. RU Vice-chancellor Prof Abdus Sobhan described the verdict as a milestone in efforts to establish the rule of law. Bangladesh Chhatra League, Samajtantrik Chhatra Front, JSD Chhatra League, Chhatra Union, Chhatra Moitree, Muktijoddhar Santan Command and Kendrio Sangskritik Jote demanded immediate execution of the convicts.
This article starring:
ABDUL MATIN ALIAS BOMARU MATINJMB
ABDUR RAHMAN ALIAS ARIFJMB
ABU ISA ALIAS ENAMUL HAQUEJMB
ABUL KASHEM ALIAS TUFANJMB
GOLAMUR RAHMAN ALIAS GOLAM MOSTAFAJMB
SHAFIULLAH ALIAS TAREKJMB
SHAHIDULLAH ALIAS MAHBUBJMB
ZAKIR ALIAS JAIEDJMB
Posted by: Fred || 01/29/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh


China-Japan-Koreas
North Korea detains American for crossing border
[Dawn] North Korea said Thursday it has detained an American for illegally entering its territory, in what would be the second such case in a month if confirmed, reports AFP.

The North's official news agency said the man was held Monday after crossing from China but did not identify him or give any details.

"An American was detained for trespassing on the border of the DPRK (North Korea) with China on January 25," the agency said in a one-sentence report. "He is now under investigation by an organ concerned."

In Washington, a US State Department spokesman said he had no knowledge of the case.

It was unclear if the reported detention had any connection with US missionary Robert Park, who was held on December 25.

Jo Sung-Rae, a South Korean Christian involved in Park's case, told AFP: "Right now we have no information about the reported entry of another
American."

Park crossed a frozen border river from China on Christmas Day to make a protest against repression in the hardline communist North.

Washington has been seeking access to him through the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang, which represents its interests.

Park, 28, claimed he had seen a vision from God of North Korea's liberation and redemption, according to his colleagues. They said he had crossed the border shouting, "I came here to proclaim God's love".

The North last month confirmed it is investigating a US citizen -- sumed to be Park -- for illegal entry but given no further details.

The missionary carried a letter calling on North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il to release political prisoners, shut concentration camps and improve rights and conditions, according to his colleagues.

The North, which depicts the United States as its arch-enemy, has detained a few Americans in recent decades. They were eventually freed, in most cases after high-level mediation.

TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years in a labour camp after crossing the border and reportedly filming inside the North.

Kim pardoned them last August after a visit to Pyongyang by former president
Bill Clinton.

After months of sabre-rattling marked by a nuclear test and missile launches, the North used Clinton's visit to extend peace feelers.

US envoy Stephen Bosworth visited Pyongyang last month to try to persuade it to return to six-nation nuclear disarmament negotiations.

The North is demanding that sanctions be lifted before it comes back to the talks. It also calls for early discussions with Washington on a pact to formally end the 1950-1953 war.

The US and South Korea say the North must first return to the nuclear talks and demonstrate a commitment to scrapping its atomic programmes.
Posted by: Fred || 01/29/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Any American landing in China should be given a flyer by our embassy saying, "If you are stupid enough to even get NEAR the North Korean border", you are on your own. They're nuts, and we likely won't be able to help you."
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia || 01/29/2010 4:26 Comments || Top||

#2 
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 01/29/2010 12:00 Comments || Top||

#3  TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years in a labour camp after crossing the border and reportedly filming inside the North. Kim pardoned them last August after a visit to Pyongyang by former president
Bill Clinton.


But this time it's guys, so don't expect Bubba to fall all over himself to help out.
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/29/2010 12:08 Comments || Top||

#4  Personally I think we ought to hire the Norks to keep watch on our borders.

Would do us both some good and might break the ice.
Posted by: Kelly || 01/29/2010 19:44 Comments || Top||

#5  There should be a Darwin award for people this stupid.Do something that rates right up there with "watch this", but MAYBE doesn't get you killed. Maybe a patch for their jacket.
Posted by: notascrename || 01/29/2010 20:46 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Chicago-Bound Amtrak Stalled by Terror Threat
Posted by: tipper || 01/29/2010 16:04 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "The conductor was suspicious when he saw the man with a tan blanket over his entire body and couldn’t see anything he was doing".

DUH!!
Posted by: Tom- Pa || 01/29/2010 16:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Minneapolis’ Star Tribune reported Lutalo was released in August from New Jersey prison after a 27-year term for aggravated assault, robbery and two counts of weapons possession.

Sounds to me like he wants to go back...
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/29/2010 16:38 Comments || Top||

#3  The conductor was suspicious when he saw the man with a tan blanket over his entire body and couldn’t see anything he was doing.

Tan blanket profiling?
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/29/2010 16:44 Comments || Top||

#4  Won't it be fun when the TSA sets up shop in train stations? And imagine the checkpoint at your average bus station: Maybe the side of the bench nearest the street light would be the secure zone.
The One promised more jobs, and how better to create them than in improving security, right?
Posted by: James || 01/29/2010 16:44 Comments || Top||

#5  Tan blanket profiling?

We prefer to call them 'blankets of color'.
Posted by: SteveS || 01/29/2010 17:42 Comments || Top||


American pleads not guilty in Mumbai case
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] An American, David Headley, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to US charges that he scouted targets for a militant Pakistani group blamed for the attack on Mumbai in 2008.

In court documents, prosecutors have laid out details of his surveillance in India on behalf of Lashkar-e-Taiba and another militant group in planning the Mumbai attack and details of another plot against Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, which published blasphemous cartoons in 2005. Lashkar has been blamed for the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans.

Headley, who spent several years in Pakistan, has previously pleaded not guilty to similar charges. His accused co-conspirator, 49-year-old Pakistani-born Chicago businessman Tahawwur Rana, entered a not-guilty plea on Monday to charges he provided material support to the plots and to Lashkar.
This article starring:
DAVID HEADLEYLashkar-e-Taiba
Posted by: Fred || 01/29/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba


India-Pakistan
Drone attack kills at least five
AT least five suspected militants have been killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan's tribal area near the Afghan border, officials say.

The attack late on Friday targeted a militant compound in Muhammad Khel, a town in North Waziristan, a local government official said.

"Initial reports say at least five people were killed and there are fears the toll may go up," he said.

A security official, who also confirmed the toll, said the drone fired three missiles.

The compound was believed to be a centre for local Taliban and was also a base for insurgents belonging to the Haqqani network, which is known for staging attacks on US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Officials also said the site was used by foreign fighters but the identity of the suspected insurgents killed in the attack was not immediately known.

Washington has branded Pakistan's lawless tribal belt that runs along the Afghan border the most dangerous place in the world, rife with Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants plotting attacks on Western targets.

A volley of drone strikes, which fuel anti-American sentiment in the nuclear-armed Muslim nation, have hit the northwest this month.

The strikes have been concentrated on North Waziristan, a bastion of Al-Qaeda fighters, the Taliban and the Haqqani network.
Posted by: tipper || 01/29/2010 16:53 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  a local government official said.
"Initial reports say at least five people were killed and there are fears the toll may go up," he said.


sounds we have a symp. Return tonight for that pug
Posted by: Frank G || 01/29/2010 17:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Geez. AA gun in the shop?
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/29/2010 18:31 Comments || Top||

#3  Geez, if feel bad about the drone.
Posted by: Kelly || 01/29/2010 19:41 Comments || Top||

#4  #3 Geez, if feel bad about the drone.
Posted by: Kelly


No need, he works for the Pakistani government.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/29/2010 23:35 Comments || Top||


Feel Good Video - Drones: 21st century warfare
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/29/2010 04:51 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Somebody give that guy a hand.
Posted by: gorb || 01/29/2010 5:27 Comments || Top||

#2  I believe you will find it at the 20s point....
Posted by: TomAnon || 01/29/2010 8:23 Comments || Top||


15 killed in Bajaur clashes
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Fifteen militants were killed during clashes with security forces and Salarzai Lashkar and air raids and artillery shelling in various areas of Bajaur Agency on Wednesday, official sources said. One soldier also lost his life in the clashes.

Security forces also took control of the strategically-important hilltops during an intensive action against militants in Salarzai Tehsil in the troubled tribal region. Official sources told The News that contingents of security forces and the Salarzai Lashkar were on way to the mountainous Mulla Said and Chinar areas to launch a joint operation against the hiding insurgents in the locality. However, a group of militants ambushed the convoy with rockets and other sophisticated weapons in Chinar area, the erstwhile stronghold of insurgents in Salarzai.

At least, 12 militants and a soldier were killed in the face-to-face fighting, the sources added. Meanwhile, the security forces also carried out air offensive against militants and bombed and captured important hideouts and centres located on hilltops in Mulla Said in Salarzai.

The security forces shelled and strafed militants' positions in Mano, Chinar and Mulla Said in Salarzai and Sewai, Damadola, Khaza and Badankot in Mamond with artillery, gunship choppers and jetfighters. Three militants were killed and many others injured while a number of hideouts destroyed during the action.
Posted by: Fred || 01/29/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Rumours about Hakimullah's death circulating
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] After several days of silence, rumours were once again circulating on Wednesday that chief of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Hakimullah Mehsud had died of fatal injuries that he had sustained in a drone attack in Shaktoi village of South Waziristan on January 14.

However, sources close to Hakimullah Mehsud denied such reports and claimed he was in good health.There were rumours that the TTP leader, after sustaining injuries, was under treatment at the house of his second father-in-law in Mamozai village of upper Orakzai Agency.

Some reports said a doctor was taken from a private hospital in Hangu district to Mamozai village in Orakzai for treating the militant commander. Other reports from Orakzai said the house Hakimullah was staying in was shelled by the Pakistan Army gunship helicopters on Tuesday.

A Taliban commander, who is considered very close to Hakimullah, denied reports about his death. "If you trust me, I can assure you he is safe and sound. I have spoken to him three hours ago and he was quite well," claimed the militant commander, but wished not to be named. He admitted that Hakimullah was present in Shaktoi but left the house minutes before it came under attack by the US drone. He claimed the TTP leader had not suffered even a minor injury in the attack. Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas, when reached by phone, said: "We are also hearing the reports, which have not been confirmed so far."
Posted by: Fred || 01/29/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  I read the BBC and He posed in Tribal Wear Fashion showing legs off and still attached unscathed on him ! ( Bawd ) Pic was shown on : BBC and Various : Channels !
Posted by: Omaick de Medici4078 || 01/29/2010 0:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Last I heard, he was at his father-in-law's house in Mamozai village according to thenews.com.pk.
Posted by: newc || 01/29/2010 9:15 Comments || Top||


Four militants killed in SWA search operation
[Geo News] Four militants were killed in an action in South Waziristan as part of the ongoing Operation Rah-e-Nijat.

According to ISPR, On Jndola Sector, security forces conducted search and clearance operation and cleared area up to Ziaratzai near Ahmedwamand Tapar Punga near Nanu and recovered huge cache of arms and ammunition.

Security forces conducted search and clearance operation at Ziaratzai Top near Ahmedwam and killed 4 terrorists.

On Shakai Sector security forces conducted search and clearance operation at Darakai, Tarakai, Khanzirai, Manzai and cleared number of compounds and cache of arms and ammunition were recovered.

Terrorists fired on security forces check post at Tarkai Sar near Ladha which was effectively responded.

Razmak Sector. Security forces are consolidating their positions in the Razmak Sector.

In Operation Rah-e-Rast in Swat-Malakand, security forces conducted search and clearance operation at Bari Kot, Chakdara and Mam Derai and apprehended 7 suspected terrorists.

Security forces conducted search and clearance operation at Allah Dand, Zulam Kot and Mangora and recovered huge cache of arms and ammunitions.

One terrorist voluntarily surrendered to security forces at Kalakot.

In total 30,768 Cash Cards have been issued to displaced families of Waziristan.
Posted by: Fred || 01/29/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Filipino militant not killed in Waziristan strike: report
[Dawn] The Philippine military doubts reports that a Filipino terror suspect was killed in a US missile attack in Pakistan, with one senior officer telling The Associated Press Thursday that the militant was sighted last week in the Philippines' volatile south.

Pakistani military intelligence officers said last week that Abdul Basit Usman, who is wanted by the United States, was believed killed in an American drone strike on Jan. 14 on the border of Pakistan's South and North Waziristan tribal regions.

Another 11 militants were also killed in the strike on a militant compound near the Afghan border. Authorities have previously said the attack had targeted the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud.

US and Philippine military officials tried to verify the report. If confirmed, it could indicate stronger ties between Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network and Southeast Asian terrorist groups than previously thought.

Philippine military spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said their intelligence indicates so far that Usman has not left the country and is hiding in Muslim guerrilla strongholds in the south's mountainous heartland.

The military, however, will continue to investigate and will be ready to cooperate with Pakistani authorities in conducting DNA tests if tissue samples from the slain militant can be secured.

'There is a bigger probability that it's not him, than it's him,' Brawner said.

The slain militant appears to have been a different person, also named Usman, said US and Filipino military officials who oversee counterterrorism operations in the southern Philippines. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of their work.

The Philippine military official told The AP that Usman was sighted near southern Maguindanao province last week, adding he was '99 percent sure that he's still here in the country.'

The US State Department's list of most-wanted terrorists identifies Usman as a bomb-making expert with links to the Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf extremist group and the Southeast Asian Jemaah Islamiyah network. It offers $1 million for information leading to his conviction, and says he is believed responsible for bombings in the southern Philippines in 2006 and 2007 that killed 15 people.

Philippine police captured Usman in 2002 for a bomb attack that killed 15 people and wounded 100 others in the southern port city of General Santos, but he escaped from jail, according to police.

Usman was among those charged for allegedly helping plot an Oct. 10, 2006 bombing that killed eight people and wounded 28 others near a Roman Catholic church during a fiesta celebration in Makilala town in southern North Cotabato province.

He also was charged in another bombing that day that wounded four people in a crowded public market in southern Tacurong city.

Usman has not been convicted of any of the crimes.
Posted by: Fred || 01/29/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Nato supply convoy ambushed in Karachi
[Dawn] A convoy of trucks carrying supplies for Nato forces fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan was attacked with guns and grenade on the Northern Bypass in the early hours of Thursday, leaving three people wounded.

The incident caused the authorities concerned and stakeholders to review the security measures in place for the safe transportation of more than 400 consignments, which leave for the landlocked neighbouring country every month.

Three trucks -- bearing registration numbers TLK-927, LSA-8417 and SI-5287 and loaded with machinery and other equipment meant for the Nato forces -- left the Karachi port in the early hours of Thursday, police said.

They added that the convoy was on its way near Dalda Mor on the Northern Bypass when armed men riding two motorbikes appeared on the road and stopped the vehicles, which were already moving at a very slow speed.

"One of them [the armed riders] threw a hand grenade [at the trucks] before the men travelling in the trucks get out of their vehicles," said Sub-Inspector Shahid Chaudary, SHO of the Site-B police station.

"This was followed by heavy firing which remained mostly untargeted and random," he said quoting the people who were wounded in the ambush.

Two people were hit by shrapnel from the hand grenade mostly in the leg while another sustained bullet wounds.

"All the wounded were travelling in the same truck, while those travelling in the other two vehicles remained unhurt."

All three wounded were shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi, where the condition of 36-year-old Zar Habib and 22-year-old Imran was declared stable after initial treatment. Both were hit by the shrapnel, a hospital official said.

However, the official said: "26-year-old Ghani-ur-Rehman who sustained bullet wounds was operated upon. We have put him under observation and the victim seems to be doing better."

The Site-B police station later registered a case (FIR No 76/2010) under Sections 324 (attempted murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code and Sections 3 and 4 of the Explosives Act against unidentified people on the complaint of Zar Habib.

Meanwhile, authorities at the central police office asked the stakeholders to review the security arrangements for the transportation of supplies to the war zone.

In an hours-long meeting held later in the day, the police authorities found handling of such huge consignments a serious challenge amid violations of the defined rules by transporters supplying logistic support and food items to the forces fighting in Afghanistan.

"About 50 oil tankers and more than 400 trucks leave two ports of the city for Afghanistan every month," said Waseem Ahmed, the capital city police officer (CCPO).

"It was decided in a meeting held in February 2009 that the transporters would hire trained security guards to escort the convoys and also make arrangements for the security of the facilities where these consignments are kept before their transportation to Afghanistan. But unfortunately a majority of them doesn't pay heed."

The Thursday meeting served as a warning to the stakeholders, he said, adding that if they did not revise the present arrangements, the police had powers to charge them under a recently promulgated law.

"The Sindh Shops and Establishment (Security) Ordinance-2009, which has recently become effective, binds business concerns generating profits to make their own security arrangements," the CCPO added.

"In such a situation, we want those who generate business including these transporters in this city to contribute their share and if they insist on defying the rules we now have the powers to take action against them. The transporters of [Nato] supplies to Afghanistan have been conveyed this message very loud and clear."
Posted by: Fred || 01/29/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan

#1  we really need to get on an alternate route through the caucus region.
Posted by: newc || 01/29/2010 9:16 Comments || Top||


Blast in Jaffarabad claims four lives
[Dawn] Four people were killed and 20 others injured in an explosion in Sobatpur town of Jaffarabad on Thursday.

An explosive device attached to a bicycle parked near a small restaurant went off when a pick-up arrived there.

Jaffarabad's District Police Officer Syed Fareed Ali Shah told Dawn that the device contained about 2kg of explosives. Three people died on the spot and the fourth in a hospital.

Three of them were identified as Pervez, Irshad and Sawali.

Most of the people who suffered injuries were inside the restaurant. A woman and two girls were among the inured. They were passing by the area.

The injured were taken to civil hospital in Dera Allahyar and 10 of them who had suffered serious injuries were taken to a hospital in Larkana.

The pick-up was completely destroyed. The restaurant and some nearby shops were partially damaged.

According to sources, tribesmen supporting Nawab Aali Bugti who were in the pick-up were the target of the blast. Police have registered a case.

It was the third blast in Jaffarabad and Panjgur districts in four days.
Posted by: Fred || 01/29/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas 'will not recognise Israel'
Hamas political leader has said that his group will not recognise Israel despite new pressures and will give priority to building resistance to the Jewish state.

Addressing a rally in the Syrian capital on Friday to mark the end of the Israeli attack on Gaza a year ago that killed 1,400 Palestinians, Meshaal said Hamas does not want another war with Israel, but it will stick to armed struggle as a means to liberate occupied land.

"Hamas will keep rejecting the occupation and refuse to recognise the legitimacy of the Zionist entity. Priority will remain building and developing the resistance," said Meshaal, who lives in Syria along with other Hamas leaders in exile.

"Pressure, siege, temptations and opening doors or communication channels will not fool Hamas, which will not compromise on the rights. Hamas will be only tempted by restoring the land," Meshaal said.

Meshaal was referring to increased contacts between Hamas and Western delegations since the Gaza war, including a meeting with a US group that included Jack Matlock, a former American ambassador in Moscow.

'Gaza still wounded'
"Triumphant Gaza today is still wounded. Its houses are still destroyed. It's still under siege and its borders are still closed. Add to this the new steel wall," Meshaal said, referring to a structure being built by Egypt along its border with Gaza to stop the smuggling of arms and goods into the strip.

"Today we do not seek war but if war is imposed on us we will fight fiercely," Meshaal said.

Meshaal said reconciliation with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, was needed to strengthen the Palestinian cause but he made no new proposals on how to do so after Egyptian efforts to bring about agreement between the two sides foundered.

Meshaal also said that captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit will not be freed unless Israel releases hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

"Shalit will not to home before the liberation of our prisoners," he told the rally, blaming Israel for the failure to reach a deal on freeing the soldier, who was captured in June 2006.
Posted by: Swanimote || 01/29/2010 08:34 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: Mike || 01/29/2010 10:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Hamas 'will not recognise Israel'

Then Hamas will die.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/29/2010 12:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Won't stop the "Peacemakers"
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/29/2010 12:30 Comments || Top||

#4  "What is that? Is that a country? I don't recognize it..."
Posted by: mojo || 01/29/2010 16:47 Comments || Top||


Hamas: Israel assassinated operative in Dubai
Hamas bad boy becomes humus.
Hamas claimed on Friday that Israeli agents assassinated one of the Palestinian militant group's veteran operatives in a killing allegedly carried out last week in Dubai, and vowed to retaliate.

The militant group identified its slain figure as Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, one of the founders of Hamas' military wing that has been responsible for hundreds of deadly attacks and suicide bombings targeting Israelis since the 1980s. It said he was 50 years old.

Hamas blamed Israel for the slaying but gave no details on how al-Mabhouh was killed and no information on alleged Israeli involvement in the man's death. Israel's government had no immediate comment.
Choked on a ham sandwich, he did.
It said al-Mabhouh, who was born in the Gaza Strip, was involved in the kidnapping and killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1989 and that he was still playing a "continuous role in supporting his brothers in the resistance inside the occupied homeland" at the time of his death.
Posted by: ed || 01/29/2010 07:17 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  More
Posted by: tipper || 01/29/2010 12:07 Comments || Top||

#2  And more
Posted by: tipper || 01/29/2010 12:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Shocking
Posted by: tipper || 01/29/2010 12:18 Comments || Top||

#4  Now he's a "good injun"
Posted by: mojo || 01/29/2010 16:48 Comments || Top||


Israeli tanks target Gaza homes, farmlands
[Iran Press TV Latest] Israeli army tanks have opened fire on houses and farmlands in the eastern parts of the Gaza Strip, according to a report by the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC).

A number of Israeli tanks invaded lands located near al-Shojayia district and fired at Palestinian farmers near the northern Gaza-Israeli borders on Thursday afternoon, reported IMEMC.

The farmers said that a number of homes and lands were damage but reported no injuries.

Meanwhile, Palestinian armed factions reported that they had fired two home-made shells at Israeli areas near Gaza. Israeli sources said that the shells landed in open areas, causing damage but no injuries.

The Israeli army launched a massive military offensive, known as 'Operation Cast Lead' against the coastal Gaza Strip in December 2008 and January 2009. More than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed during the three-week offensive, which imposed $1.6 billion in damages to the Gaza economy.
Posted by: Fred || 01/29/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  "Avi, see that open field? Kill it"
Posted by: Frank G || 01/29/2010 7:13 Comments || Top||

#2  And fine tanks they are.
Posted by: Kelly || 01/29/2010 9:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Palestinian armed factions reported that they had fired two home-made shells at Israeli areas

(Hystericly screaming) BUT THAT'S NO REASON TO SHOOT BACK. Morons.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/29/2010 12:30 Comments || Top||

#4  Gaza has farmlands? What do they grow? Kassams?
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 01/29/2010 18:15 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
New marksmanship training being tested at Fort Benning
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/29/2010 04:57 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Excellent!
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/29/2010 5:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Range training is really your morning coffee for keeping you on your toes. Everything will go wrong at some point, and the unexpected should be expected.

The best one I ever saw was on an M203 grenade range, when a private started screaming bloody murder, so everyone halted, and a few seconds later, some guys on motorcycles went driving through the downrange area.

The First Sergeant was perturbed to a degree that First Sergeants rarely experience. He used some bad words.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 01/29/2010 19:50 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Bomb near mosque kills soldier in Thai south
A bomb killed a soldier in the compound of a mosque in southern Thailand on Friday and two other soldiers were wounded in a gun battle that subsequently broke out with terrorists suspected insurgents, police said.

A small homemade explosive was detonated in the mosque compound in Pattani province as the three soldiers stood guard while colleagues went inside the mosque to pray, Police Major General Pichet Pitisethapan told Reuters. A group of assailants then opened fire, leading to a five-minute gun battle that wounded the two soldiers, he said.
Posted by: ryuge || 01/29/2010 08:23 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran executes 2 men accused of seeking to topple the state
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran on Thursday executed two men accused of involvement in an armed anti-government group, as the public prosecutor announced that new death sentences have been issued against opposition activists involved in protests over June's disputed presidential election.

The two men, who were hanged before dawn Thursday, did not appear to be connected to the postelection protests - at least one of them was arrested before the election, according to his lawyer.
But state media depicted the two as part of the protest movement, a sign of how the government has lumped together many of its enemies with the political opposition amid its postelection crackdown. The media's depiction of the executions may aim to intimidate the opposition ahead of new street demonstrations expected in February.

In a further move likely aimed at cowing protesters, Tehran's prosecutor announced that five people have been sentenced to death for involvement in the most recent major demonstrations, on Dec. 27. That day saw the worst violence of postelection crackdown, with at least eight people killed in clashes between police and protesters and hundreds arrested. The new verdicts raise to nine the number of people sentenced to death for involvement in protests, said the prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi.

He also announced that another group of the postelection detainees would go on trial on Saturday. He said the trial will demonstrate the role of "leftists, Bahais and those who were directed by foreign hands" in the postelection turmoil. He did not say how many new defendants would go on trial.
Iranian authorities regularly accuse the U.S., Britain and other foreign enemies of fueling the unrest in a bid to oust the country's clerical leaders. They have also accused followers of the Baha'i faith, which is illegal in Iran because it is seen as heretical.

The two men who were executed, Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour, were convicted by a Revolutionary Court of belonging to "counterrevolutionary and monarchist groups," plotting to overthrow "the Islamic establishment" and planning assassinations and bombings, Dowlatabadi told state TV.

He said the two confessed during the trial and that an appeals court upheld their death sentences. He made no mention of the postelection protests in connection to the case.

Rahmanipour's lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, told the Associated Press Thursday that the 20-year-old Rahmanipour was arrested in April on the charge of membership in an armed opposition group, the Royal Association of Iran. She said his trial and verdict were "unfair and illegal," saying his lawyer was not allowed to participate in the court sessions and he was forced to confess. She said she and Rahmanipour's relatives had not been notified of any appeal's court ruling upholding the death sentences.

Iran's English language channel, Press TV, said that among the charges against the two was that they had a role in the 2008 bombing of a mosque in the southern city of Shiraz.

Still, state TV portrayed the executions as part of the postelection crackdown. In a report aired on the channel and reported on its Web site, it said Rahmanipour and Zamani were among those sentenced to death "in the wake of the rioting and counterrevolutionary and antiestablishment acts of recent months."
Posted by: Steve White || 01/29/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran



Who's in the News
54[untagged]
3al-Qaeda
3TTP
2Taliban
2Govt of Iran
1Commies
1Govt of Pakistan
1Govt of Sudan
1Hamas
1Hezbollah
1Jamaat-e-Islami
1Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
1Lashkar e-Taiba
1Pirates
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1al-Qaeda in Arabia
1al-Shabaab

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2010-01-29
  Dronezap kills at least five
Thu 2010-01-28
  Saudis declare victory over Houthis
Wed 2010-01-27
  Yemen rebels complete pull out from Saudi land
Tue 2010-01-26
  NJ authorities seize grenade launcher, weapons from VA man at hotel
Mon 2010-01-25
  Chemical Ali executed
Sun 2010-01-24
  Saudis conduct 18 airstrikes on northern Yemen
Sat 2010-01-23
  Militants report 15 dead in missile strike
Fri 2010-01-22
  Hamas accepts Israel's right to exist. No it doesn't.
Thu 2010-01-21
  Suicide car bomb wounds 33 in northern Iraq
Wed 2010-01-20
  Christian-Muslim Mayhem in Nigeria Kills Dozens
Tue 2010-01-19
  Three titzup in N. Wazoo dronezap
Mon 2010-01-18
  Taliban militants attack Afghan capital Kabul
Sun 2010-01-17
  Dronezap waxes another dozen in South Wazoo
Sat 2010-01-16
  Abu Nidal organization hijacker from 1986 dronezapped in Wazoo
Fri 2010-01-15
  Pak Taliban says Hakimullah Mehsud injured in attack

Better than the average link...



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.
44.200.240.205
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (25)    Non-WoT (11)    Opinion (6)    (0)    Politix (7)