[Ynet] The newly elected Libyan prime minister has taken charge of his office with the help of an Islamist militia, officials said, the latest in the crisis roiling the North African country where a renegade general is leading an offensive against Islamists.
Lawmaker Fatma al-Majbari said on her Facebook page that gunnies helped bring Ahmed Maiteg to government headquarters in central Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... late on Monday.
Maiteg, who was recently elected prime minister by Libya's Islamist-dominated parliament, then held his first Cabinet meeting behind closed doors.
[AnNahar] Frenchie Serge Lazarevic, kidnapped in Mali by al-Qaeda in 2011, appeared in a video aired on Tuesday by Dubai-based Alaan television urging French President Francois Holland to act to secure his release.
Video can be seen at the link.
Lazarevic, wearing a black turban, sporting a long beard and flanked by gunnies, said the video was being recorded on May 13.
He is the last French hostage worldwide still being held.
The 50-year-old man was kidnapped by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) on November 24, 2011, along with Philippe Verdon who was found rubbed out in July last year.
He was accompanying Verdon on a business trip when they were seized by a group of gunnies at a small hotel in Hombori, in the north, according to his relatives.
AQIM was behind the killing of two French journalists in November.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/04/2014 00:00 ||
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[AyPee] KADUNA, Nigeria -- Ten generals and five other senior military officers were found guilty in courts-martial of providing arms and information to Boko Haram extremists, a leading Nigerian newspaper reported Tuesday. Simply can't figure it out. They're always on to our ops, and we just keep losing weapons.
The news follows months of allegations from politicians and soldiers who have told The Associated Press that some senior officers were helping the Islamic extremists and that some rank-and-file soldiers even fight alongside the insurgents and then return to army camps. They have said that information provided by army officers has helped insurgents in ambushing military convoys and in attacks on army barracks and outposts in their northeastern stronghold. Barracks life is boring, we're bush soldiers at heart.
Leadership newspaper quoted one officer saying that four other officers, in addition to the 15, were found guilty of "being disloyal and for working for the members of the sect." All in all quite shocking.
Posted by: Besoeker ||
06/04/2014 02:44 ||
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#1
At least the Nigerians have sense enough to court martial them. If they worked in this country for DoJ they'd get promoted.
#5
SP, I dunno about the Saudis, they've been actively trying to distance themselves from violent Islamic movements since it has come home to haunt them. Remember the Grand Imam at the Great Mosque in Mekkah issued a Fatwa denouncing violence in the name of Islam.
If it is a nationally sponsored activity, my money is on the Paks, Boko Haram is so violent, it smacks of the fanatical craziness tearing Pakistan to pieces right now and we know who got that started (General Haq al Zia and the ISI).
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
06/04/2014 17:17 Comments ||
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#6
BC,
Boko Hokem is finaced by Kidnapping (e.g. sell as "brides"), Robbery (banks and rural villages), Protection Money,Foreign terrorist organizations, Foreign civic groups. See Who's financing Boko Haram?.
Days after the end of a "month of tranquility" in South Sudan, army officials say there has been fighting in Upper Nile and Unity states, two of the hotspots in the nearly six-month-old conflict in the young country.
Sudan Peopleâs Liberation Army (SPLA) spokesman, Colonel Philip Aguer, told South Sudan in Focus that fighting has been going on since the weekend in Upper Nile, and blamed the opposition for the new unrest.
âThe rebels of Riek Machar violated the ceasefire in Nassir," a small town in Upper Nile state on the northern bank of the Sobat River, Aguer said.
"They have been shelling Nassir on the 31st, on the 1st and on the 2nd. They also shelled Gelaciel in Barliet County, Upper Nile, using artilleries and this has led to the wounding of many soldiers and the death of one soldier in Nassir,â he said.
Opposition military spokesperson Lul Ruai Koang confirmed the fresh fighting, but blamed government forces for starting it.
"They are the ones who have been shelling our positions. You know they have been attempting to go beyond Nassir to surrounding villages. And whenever they want to make that, they would do the shelling first to give the forces that are trying to get out of Nassir cover, so they did the same today," Koang said.
At least 120 people were killed in northern Yemen on Monday in fighting between Shi'ite Muslim Houthi rebels and government forces before a ceasefire was agreed, a Yemeni official said on Tuesday.
Ahmed al-Bekry, deputy governor of Omran province, said that Yemeni war planes bombed positions held there by Houthi fighters and army forces clashed with the rebels, killing around 100 of them. He said about 20 government soldiers were killed as well.
He said fighting ended by Monday evening after the sides agreed a ceasefire and no clashes were reported on Tuesday.
âThings are calm [today] after mediation efforts led by the interior minister,â Bekry told Reuters, adding Yemeni air force action on Monday was one of the main reasons for the Houthis' assent to a truce.
[AnNahar] Emirati authorities have tossed in the slammer Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! an Asian resident suspected of spying for a foreign country by providing sensitive military information deemed threatening to the UAE, state news agency WAM reported Tuesday.
Prob'ly not pirates, then?
Neither the man's identity nor the country for which he was allegedly working were named.
The suspect is accused of "spying for a foreign country in order to damage the political and military status of the United Arab Emirates," WAM quoted Prosecutor General Ahmad al-Danhani as saying.
He had allegedly been "exploiting his job at one of the country's ports and was seeking to illegally obtain military information considered among the national security secrets" of the UAE.
Based on findings of the state security service, the suspect was asked to gather "information and documents on sensitive military installations" by people working for a foreign country aiming to obtain these secrets.
The man has been referred to the public prosecution and is under arrest as the investigation continues, Danhani said, without giving more details.
Last September, an Emirati court placed in durance vile Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! a Pak man for three years for spying for an unnamed foreign country.
And in January 2013, an Emirati married to an Iranian woman was sentenced to seven years for spying.
#1
TW,
Back in 2010, Oman busted a UAE spy ring, probably with the aim of understanding the close Oman-Iran relationship. Likely Iran was returning the favor. China has pivoted to Iran in the middle east. Another fringe benefit of champ's failed Syrian strategy.
[AnNahar] At least seven people were killed and three maimed when their vehicle hit a roadside kaboom in northwest Pakistain on Tuesday in a suspected sectarian attack, officials said.
The incident took place when a Datsun pick-up truck hit an IED near Parachinar, the main town of Kurram tribal agency which lies along the Afghan border and is a hotbed of both Taliban-linked and Sunni-Shiite violence.
"It was a roadside IED, four people was struck down in his prime while three others died in the hospital," Maqsood Hassan, a local government official told Agence La Belle France Presse.
An intelligence official confirmed the incident, adding that the vehicle was carrying people from a Sunni Moslem dominated area while the bomb was went kaboom! in a Shiite area.
"Apparently it was a sectarian attack," he said.
His account was also confirmed by a resident.
Kurram is frequently the scene of sectarian violence between Pakistain's Sunni Moslem majority and Shiite minority.
[AnNahar] Shelling of conflict-hit Iraqi city Fallujah killed 18 people and maimed another 43 Tuesday, according to Doctor Ahmed Shami at the city hospital.
The shelling, which hit a market, municipal offices and in the vicinity of the hospital itself, struck at around midday, said an AFP journalist in the city, just a short drive west of Storied Baghdad.
Fallujah has been out of government hands for months, with gunnies holding sway. The army has regularly shelled the city, and attempted multiple ground offensives in a bid to re-take it.
The army insists it is targeting murderous Moslem hideouts, but residents and human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... groups say civilians are bearing the brunt of the shelling.
Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... also said last month that authorities have likely violated the laws of war by targeting Fallujah hospital.
The crisis in the desert province of Anbar, which borders Syria and of which Fallujah is a part, began in late December when security forces dismantled a longstanding protest camp maintained by the province's mainly Sunni Arab population to vent grievances against the government.
Militants subsequently seized parts of the picturesque provincial capital, Ramadi, and all of Fallujah, ... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperity or a really nice place to raise your kids... the first time anti-government forces have exercised such open control in major cities since the peak of the deadly violence that followed the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.
They have held all of Fallujah since, and protracted battles have continued in Ramadi.
#1
18 people killed in shelling in Fallujah. Boy, this coffee tastes good. Civilians are bearing the brunt of the shelling. Fine coffee, fine coffee. Got to get more of this.
And the airstrikes, we need more airstrikes. Can't forget the airstrikes. Hell, yes. Moslems , send in more Moslems and get me some more coffee.
Posted by: Big Thromoth3646 ||
06/04/2014 4:50 Comments ||
Top||
#2
18 people killed in shelling in Fallujah. Boy, this coffee tastes good. Civilians are bearing the brunt of the shelling. Fine coffee, fine coffee. Got to get more of this.
And the airstrikes, we need more airstrikes. Can't forget the airstrikes. Hell, yes. Moslems , send in more Moslems and get me some more coffee.
Posted by: Big Thromoth3646 ||
06/04/2014 4:50 Comments ||
Top||
#3
One more time, Hemingway. Maybe it'll sound less stupid on the third go around.
[Ynet] Commander of maimed Border Policeman: 'We feel the friction with the Paleostinians on a daily basis'; Fatah: Heinous Israeli crime shows Netanyahu government's aggression.'
"There was no prior warning about the attack, but we are well trained to expect a lone terrorist, " a Nahal commander told Ynet on Tuesday, recounting the events at the Tapuach Junction in which one officer was moderately maimed by a terrorist.
"We called out 'terrorist!' when he started shooting and fortunately there weren't many people at the junction," the officer, N, said.
"We feel the friction with the Paleostinians on a daily basis, and expect incidents like that to happen at any given moment. The only way to deal with a lone terrorist is by remaining vigilant all the time," N continued.
Security forces increased its presence in the area, ahead of the terrorist's funeral. The defense system fears festivities, like the ones happening from the early morning hours near the junction, would increase.
Earlier, Paleostinian protesters blocked Highway 60, near the Tapuach Junction, and started throwing stones and setting tires on fire. They smashed the windshields of two Israeli vehicles that passed by, wounding two Israelis lightly.
Preliminary investigation into the incident in the Judea and Samaria Division found that the terrorist, 30-years-old Alaa Muhammad Awad Audah from Nablus, likely acted on his own, without any instruction of one of the terror organizations, despite the fact he is identified with the Fatah movement.
According to the investigation's findings, near 11:45 pm, when the junction was mostly light on traffic, an Israeli civilian noticed a Paleostinian acting suspiciously, standing at the junction and looking at the soldiers securing the area.
The civilian told the soldiers about it, and commanders of the Border Police and the Nahal Brigade's 931 Battalion decided to look into the suspicions. Two of the soldiers walked toward him to ask him what he was doing, noticed he drew a gun, and then he fired at least two shots in their direction.
One of the soldiers, a Border Policeman, was hit in his leg, and while the Nahal soldier provided his comrade with initial medical assistance, the rest of the soldiers charged the terrorist and shot him to death.
"The heinous Israeli crime shows the whole world that the racist Netanyahu government continues its aggression against our people and our lands, and that it perpetuates the occupation, killings and construction in the settlements, instead of peace," Fatah said in a statement on Tuesday morning.
"The martyr's blood was not spilled in vain, and he will increase our determination to rid ourselves of the occupation and form an independent Paleostinian state with Jerusalem as its capital."
Relatives of the Audah denied the army's claim that he shot up the Border Police post.
They said Audah had a store selling mobile phones, and that he was at the junction awaiting a delivery of phones for his store.
According to Audah's relatives, when he got to the junction, he got out of the taxi that brought him there and went on foot to retrieve his shipment, to avoid traffic caused by the IDF's checkpoint. They claimed the IDF fired at him as soon as he got out of the vehicle.
Nahal Brigade soldiers detained a Palestinian who approached an IDF base near Ramallah, carrying a knife and a Palestinian flag. The suspect was heard shouting "Allahu akhbar" ("God is great").
[AnNahar] Unknown gunnies on Tuesday shot up a Syrian polling station in the Jdeidet Yabous area near the border with Leb, which witnessed huge gatherings of Syrians who flocked to vote in their country's presidential election that got underway on Tuesday.
"Sniper gunshots from al-Zabadani mountain are targeting the polling station in the border area of Jdeidet Yabous," LBCI television reported.
The TV network aired footage of armed security personnel running near the station while journalists were asked to leave the area out of fear for their safety.
Meanwhile, ...back at the dirigible, Jack stuck the cigar in his mouth, stepped onto the gantry, and asked Got a light, Mac?
Von Schtinken stopped short, lowering the dagger and trying to control his features. If you light that thing, Herr Armschtröng, he pointed out, his voice tense, we all die!... al-Jadeed TV said "around 5,000 Syrian citizens entered Syria to cast their votes."
According to Voice of Leb radio (93.3), the Syrian interior ministry increased the ballot boxes at the Jdeidet Yabous polling station from six to 17 "due to the massive turnout."
"The main entrance of the al-Masnaa border crossing was turned into a pedestrian pathway due to the severe traffic jam on the border," the radio station added.
Quoting Lebanese General Security sources, Voice of Leb radio (100.5) said 6,628 voters had crossed into Syria until 12:00 p.m.
"5,519 voters crossed via al-Masnaa, 62 from al-Buqaiaa, 635 from the al-Abboudiyeh border crossing and 412 from the al-Arida border crossing," the sources said.
Leb's National News Agency said the square and streets of the Bekaa town of Hermel witnessed mass rallies by Syrians residing in the region and preparing to vote in their country's polls.
It said security measures by the Lebanese Army "prevented voters from reaching the polling stations that were set up on the border with the towns of al-Qasr, Hawsh al-Sayyed Ali and al-Misherfeh."
"But dozens managed to cross on foot through the side roads and neighboring groves," NNA added.
The agency said some of them had arrived in the area at early dawn while others "slept in the open, awaiting the opening of the polling stations."
Meanwhile, ...back at the dirigible, Jack stuck the cigar in his mouth, stepped onto the gantry, and asked Got a light, Mac?
Von Schtinken stopped short, lowering the dagger and trying to control his features. If you light that thing, Herr Armschtröng, he pointed out, his voice tense, we all die!... several people were maimed when a Syrian bus carrying voters collided into security concrete blocks. The maimed were rushed to hospitals in the area.
In the North, around 800 Syrians crossed into their country through the al-Abboudiyeh border crossing, nearly 600 via the al-Arida crossing and some 200 through al-Buqaiaa, according to NNA.
Last Wednesday, tens of thousands of Syrians living in Leb flocked to their embassy in Yarze near Beirut to cast their vote in an election branded by the Syrian opposition and its backers as a "farce."
Two little-known candidates are facing Assad in the vote, which will only be held in regime-held territory and exclude refugees who fled Syria through unofficial crossings.
The Syrian Embassy in Leb rejected in a letter of protest recent measures taken by the Lebanese government against the Syrian refugees, As Safir newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq had announced Saturday that Syrian refugees in Leb will lose their status as such if they return home for a visit.
More than a million Syrians have fled their war-torn country for Leb in the past three years, according to the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... .
The refugee influx into Leb has burdened the country's weak economy, with politicians on all sides calling for measures to limit the flow.
Leb has not signed the Convention on Refugees, and refers to Syrians forced out of their country by war as "displaced."
The authorities say the actual number of Syrians in Leb is far higher than the nearly 1.1 million accounted for by UNHCR.
Leb has frequently complained it lacks the necessary resources to cope with them, and that the labor market is struggling to accommodate them.
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.
"Iran called. They are sending us air support to counter the government air force that has been punishing us." 
