[Dawn] An unknown gang has kidnapped a female Afghan member of parliament, officials said Wednesday, in the latest example of prominent women being targeted in the country.
Fariba Ahmadi Kakar and her three children were taken at gunpoint on Saturday in the central province of Ghazni on the main highway from Kandahar city to Kabul.
"The security forces released her children (two girls, one boy) in an operation on Monday. But she has been kept in another location, we are still searching for her," Mohammad Ali Ahmadi, deputy provincial governor of Ghazni, told AFP.
"The town elders are also involved in talks with the kidnappers to secure her release," he added, giving no further details about the identity of the kidnap gang.
Several other officials in Ghazni and Kandahar confirmed the kidnapping, and dismissed interior ministry reports that Kakar was on a trip to Turkey.
Kakar's family earlier denied she had been taken hostage, with some relatives telling AFP she was in hospital.
Taliban front man Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP that he was not aware of the kidnapping.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
HUDUR, Somalia -- At least six people were killed in a heavy fighting erupted between the Somali Federal Government forces and Al Shabaab militants according to witnesses, Garowe Online reports.
Local reports add that other fifteen people were wounded during the fierce fighting which broke out when truckloads of government soldiers began to thrust into Bakool regional capital of Hudur in early hours of Tuesday morning.
The government forces advanced on to Al Shabaab bases in Garasweyne, which situates a few KMs away from Hudur and both sides exchanged heavy fires, Al Shabaab fighters were pushed back but they, were later reinforced by other militants, said an eyewitness in Garasweyne. He added that he saw six people who were killed in the battle including a civilian caught in the exchange of fire.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
GAROWE, Somalia -- Residents in Hasbahale village, which situates 80 KMs away from Puntland's coastal town of Eyl have seized a man suspected of being Al Shabaab member on Wednesday, Garowe Online reports.
Speaking on Puntland-based independent station, Radio Garowe, the Deputy Mayor of Eyl District, Faisal Khalif Waeys said the seized 'Al Shabaab suspect' was accompanied by two men who escaped before being captured him by the villagers.
"After long trip from faraway vicinity, he seemed tired and weak but shortly after the people captured him, he was handed over to local police forces," added Mr. Waeys.
The Al Shabaab suspect, who is believed to come from Somalia's southern part, was transported to Puntland capital of Garowe for interrogation.
Puntland government previously waged numerous military offensives against Al Shabaab fighters, who are hiding out in Golis Mountains and destroyed underground cells in urban areas, according to security officials. Puntland put its security sector on standby and high alert for possible infiltration into Puntland regions by Al Shabaab fugitives.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
[An Nahar] Medical aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF) closed all its operations in war-torn Somalia on Wednesday, warning of growing insecurity, after 22 years of working in the Horn of Africa troublespot.
"The closure of our activities is a direct result of extreme attacks on our staff, in an environment where gangs and civilian leaders increasingly support, tolerate, or condone the killing, assaulting, and abducting of humanitarian aid workers," MSF president Unni Karunakara told news hounds.
The pullout by MSF, an aid agency that has earned a reputation for working in the toughest of conditions, is major blow to the reputation of the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu and will affect hundreds of thousands of people.
"We are ending our programs in Somalia because there is an increasing imbalance between the risks and compromises that our staff must make, and our ability to provide impartial care to the Somali people," Karunakara said in the Kenyan capital.
MSF has treated more than 300,000 people so far this year alone in Somalia, a statement added.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
[Shabelle] government soldiers shot at indiscriminately to a number of Hodan residents in Mogadishu while they were expressing their grievances to a group of gunnies who demolished their residency using bulldozers.
Two civilians was struck down in his prime including a female demonstrator and an equal number sustained injuries.
The men believed to be government soldiers were hired to demolish structures housing civilians in Hodan district.
"Government soldiers who were equipped with bulldozers tried to demolish the structures and this resulted to chaos in the area" said an eye witness.
The Hodan district administration issued warnings to vacate the structures previously.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
[Jpost] Anti-Coptic violence taking place within "a general culture of impunity," Canadian MP Irwin Cotler says.
Islamic supporters of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi launched on Wednesday arson attacks against churches, resulting in the destruction of at least three buildings. Moslem Brüderbund supporters wreaked havoc on Coptic Christian businesses and property throughout the country.
There may have been more than 20 incidents of burning of churches and attacks on Christian institutions, based on unconfirmed reports on Twitter from Coptic leaders and organizations who are closely following the outbreak of anti-Christian violence.
Bishop Anba Suriel, the bishop for the Coptic Orthodox Church in Melbourne, wrote on his Twitter micro blog, "over 20 separate attacks on churches and Christian institutions all over Egypt."
Suriel added, "These attacks on the Copts is unprecedented in the modern era." He called on the international community not to be passive.
The Egyptian state news agency Mena reported assaults on three churches, including the destruction of the Mar Gergiss church. AFP reported that the attackers tossed Molotov cocktails at Mar Gergiss in Sohag, on the west bank of the Nile. The city of Sohag has a large Coptic community.
AFP reported two churches were attacked in El-Menia province, causing fire damage to both buildings.
There may have been more than 20 incidents of burning of churches and attacks on Christian institutions, based on unconfirmed reports on Twitter from Coptic leaders and organizations who are closely following the outbreak of anti-Christian violence.
There were reports that one of Egypt's oldest churches, the fourth century Virgin Mary in Minya, was engulfed in flames.
Speaking with The Jerusalem Post from Ottawa, Irwin Cotler, a former Canadian justice minister and current Liberal MP, said the "Army should be providing more protection to the Copts."
Cotler spearheaded a report -- Securing the Human Rights of Coptic Christians in Egypt After the Arab Spring -- in Canada's Parliament in May to protect the rights of Copts and "hold those responsible for attacks on Copts."
The anti-Christian violence by radical Islamists and Moslem Brüderbund supporters is taking place within "a general culture of impunity," he said.
Suriel complained on his Twitter feed that Western media have ignored the violent attacks.
Dexter Van Zile, the Christian media analyst for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, told the Post, "The bishop has a legitimate beef with people."
The "silence is troubling" from "the people charged with promoting human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. ," Van Zile said. "Progressive Christianity does not want to confront Islamic violence."
Van Zile added it is "outrageous" that Copts are being scapegoated for ouster of the Moslem Brüderbund-affiliated president Morsi.
Writing on the website of the conservative National Review, Andrew C. McCarthy, a leading US expert on radical Islam, blamed Western media reports for ignoring and distorting the "Islamic supremacist aggression against Egypt's Christians -- which was a prominent feature of Moslem Brüderbund governance."
He blasted Wednesday's AFP report for exculpating "the Islamic supremacists by editorializing, in the report, that these were 'reprisal' attacks."
McCarthy wrote, "The Brotherhood is not 'retaliating' against Christians. Islamic supremacists are persecuting Christians... which is what they do in Mohammedan-majority countries."
The Egyptian news outlet Daily News reported "two churches in the Fayoum village of Al-Nazla were set on fire, in addition to the local Christian Friendship club."
"Mary Mina Church and its services building were set on fire," said Basem Beshay, the media officer of the local Dostour Party branch.
According to the Daily News, Beshay added, "The Third Apostolic Church, its medical center and the house of the priest were set on fire by protesters."
Beshay said arson attacks targeted a Christian-owned pharmacy and an interior design store in Minya.
The violence on Wednesday comes after the shooting of a young Coptic girl in Cairo last week. After completing her Bible class at the Ahmed Esmat Street Evangelical Church, Jessi Boulus was shot. Her uncle works as a pastor at the church.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/15/2013 02:12 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood
#1
No surprise. Why is Obama friends of the MB?
Posted by: Paul D ||
08/15/2013 10:09 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Because President Obama and his administration were trying to encourage a counterbalance to the Saudis' influence (and the Wahabbis by extension.) Hence the support given to the MB, the favor that Qatar enjoyed inside the Beltway, the attention paid to Erdogan, etc.
Much of this, IMNSHO, can be attributed to the undue and pervasive influence the MB has in Washington. Through its front groups, including CAIR, various and sundry 'agents' within the USG, and by a liberal application of money and favors by both MB and Qatar, the MB has pretty much managed to portray itself as a 'reasonable' version of political Islam (though its objectives are no different than the Wahabbis and Salafists).
Call it "Islam with a suit, tie and Western university degree". That the team that's in power in DC had used the same tactics to get where they are now also probably struck a sympathetic chord.
#4
And right now the Egyptian army is on Obama's sh*t list, so he's not going to ask them to protect the Copts.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
08/15/2013 12:23 Comments ||
Top||
#5
And if they burn a few Christian churches so much the better as far as Obama is concerned
I wouldn't go so far as to assign that response to the President. However, it is fair to say it's likely not a critical issue on the administration's foreign policy list.
And right now the Egyptian army is on Obama's sh*t list, so he's not going to ask them to protect the Copts
I'd say that the inverse to that is more a accurate assumption, and more important.
#6
So Pappy whether its Saudi, Qatar or MB we have no true friends as they all believe in political Islam. That Turk Pm is in the same boat.
The King of Jordan is our closest muslim ally!
Posted by: Paul D ||
08/15/2013 14:13 Comments ||
Top||
#7
"the administration's foreign policy"
As near as I can tell, this Administration's foreign policy consists entirely of "What can we do to screw over the United States the most and do maximum damage to her, and also totally alienate her allies?"
And they're accomplishing their goal. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara ||
08/15/2013 15:15 Comments ||
Top||
#8
When it comes to supporting despots or supporting people wanting liberty, EVERY TIME O has come down on the side of despots. EVERY TIME.
Wake up and smell the rot, people.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/15/2013 15:43 Comments ||
Top||
#9
So Pappy whether its Saudi, Qatar or MB we have no true friends as they all believe in political Islam. That Turk Pm is in the same boat.
Well, yes. The issue is whether one recognises the risks when dealing with those groups and acting accordingly.
Frankly and bluntly, it'd be incredibly myopic and stupid to say "to hell with them and we're never going to deal with them". The US, during the Cold War, didn't do that with the USSR (tho the Brits were much more cozy...) or the Chinese. Though as Thing From Snowy Mountain once said - the ones who supported the USSR during the Cold War are now running things.
As for Jordan being an ally, I have my opinion. It likely wouldn't be well-received here in some sectors.
#13
"You think more attention would be paid by the lame stream media if it were instead of Coptic churches, they were Black churches? "
I think they'd breathlessly report it if there were claims of Black churches being burned - and that they wouldn't bother to investigate to see whether it were true. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara ||
08/15/2013 20:09 Comments ||
Top||
Riot police backed by armored vehicles, bulldozers and helicopters swept away two encampments of supporters of Egypts ousted President Mohammed Mursi on Wednesday, sparking running street battles elsewhere in Cairo and other Egyptian cities. At least 192 people were killed nationwide, many of them in the crackdown on the protest sites.
Clashes broke out elsewhere in the capital and other provinces, injuring more than 1,400 people nationwide, as anger spread over the dispersal of the 6-week-old sit-ins of Mursi supporters. Police stations, government buildings and Coptic Christian churches were attacked or set ablaze.
The violence drew condemnation from other predominantly Muslim countries, but also from the UN and the United States, with Secretary of State John Kerry saying it had dealt a serious blow to political reconciliation efforts in Egypt.
The assault to take control of the two sit-in sites came after days of warnings by the interim administration that replaced Mursi after he was ousted in a July 3 coup. The camps on opposite sides of the Egyptian capital began in late June to show support for Mursi. Protesters have demanded his reinstatement.
The smaller camp was cleared relatively quickly, but it took hours for police to take control of the main sit-in site, which is near the Rabbah Al Adawiya Armory Mosque that has served as the epicentre of the pro-Mursi campaign.
A mosque. Of course. Figures...
Several senior leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood who were wanted by police were detained after police stormed the camp, according to security officials and state television. Among those seized were Brotherhood leaders Mohammed El Beltagi and Essam El Erian, and hard-line cleric Safwat Hegazy all wanted by prosecutors.
Wonder if they'll ever be seen again...
Smoke clogged the sky above Cairo and fires smoldered on the streets, which were lined with charred poles and tarps after several tents were burned.
In imposing the state of emergency, the government ordered the armed forces to support the police in restoring law and order and protect state facilities. The nighttime curfew affects Cairo and 10 provinces.
The Egyptian Central Bank instructed commercial banks to close branches in areas affected by the chaos, a sign of alarm that the violence could spiral out of control. The landmark Giza Pyramids and the Egyptian Museum also were closed to visitors for the day as a precaution, according to the Ministry of Antiquities.
The world cannot sit back and watch while innocent men, women and children are being indiscriminately slaughtered. The world must stand up to the military juntas crime before it is too late, said a statement by the Brotherhoods media office in London emailed to The Associated Press.
The smaller of the two protest camps was cleared of protesters by late morning, with most of them taking refuge in the nearby Orman botanical gardens on the campus of Cairo University and the zoo. An AP reporter at the scene said security forces chased protesters in the zoo. At one point, a dozen protesters, mostly men with beards and wearing traditional Islamist garb, were handcuffed on a sidewalk under guard outside the university campus. The private ONTV network showed firearms and ammunition allegedly seized from protesters.
Security forces later stormed the larger camp near the armory mosque in the Cairo district of Nasr City. The armory mosque has served as the epicentre of pro-Mursi campaign, with several Brotherhood leaders wanted by police believed to be hiding inside.
The pro-Mursi Anti-Coup alliance claimed security forces used live ammunition, but the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the police, said its forces only used teargas and that they came under fire from the camp.
The Interior Ministry statement also warned that forces would deal firmly with protesters who were acting irresponsibly, suggesting that it would respond in kind if its men are fired upon. It said it would guarantee safe passage to all who want to leave the Nasr City site but would arrest those wanted for questioning by prosecutors.
Army troops did not take part in the two operations, but provided security at the locations. Police and army helicopters hovered over both sites hours after the police launched the simultaneous actions shortly after 7am (0500 GMT).
The Health Ministry said 149 civilians were killed and more than 1,400 injured, while Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim said 43 policemen died in the assault. He said Mursi supporters attacked 21 police stations and seven Coptic Christian churches across the nation, and assaulted the Finance Ministry in Cairo, occupying its ground floor.
An alliance of pro-Mursi groups said Asmaa Mohammed El Batagi, the 17-year-old daughter of the senior Brotherhood figure who was detained by police, was shot and killed. Her brother, Ammar, confirmed her death on his Twitter account.
A security official said 200 protesters were arrested at both sites. Several men could be seen walking with their hands up as they were led away by black-clad police.
The Muslim Brotherhoods political arm claimed that more than 500 protesters were killed and some 9,000 wounded in the two camps, but those figures could not be confirmed and nothing in the video from AP or local TV networks suggested such a high death toll.
Before he was detained, Mohammed El Beltagi put the death toll at more than 300, urged police and army troops to mutiny, and said Egyptians should take to the streets to show their disapproval of the crackdown.
Oh, Egyptian people, your brothers are in the square. ... Are you going to remain silent until the genocide is completed? said El Beltagy, who is wanted by authorities to answer allegations of inciting violence.
Police fired tear gas elsewhere in Cairo to disperse Mursi supporters who wanted to join the Nasr City camp after it came under attack. State TV also reported that a police captain had been abducted by Mursi supporters in the area.
Islam Tawfiq, a Brotherhood member at the Nasr City sit-in, said the camps medical centre was filled with dead and that the injured included children.
Security officials said train services between northern and southern Egypt were suspended to prevent Mursi supporters from travelling to Cairo. Clashes erupted on two roads in the capitals upscale Mohandiseen district when Mursi supporters opened fire on passing cars and pedestrians. Police used teargas to chase them away.
Churches belonging to Egypts minority Coptic Christians were torched in four provinces south of Cairo Minya, Assiut, Sohag and the desert oasis Fayoum. In the city of Bani Suef south of Cairo, protesters set three police cars on fire. Farther south in the Islamist stronghold of Assiut, police used teargas to disperse pro-Mursi crowds in the city centre.
The US gave a stern warning to Egypts leaders, with Kerry condemning the violence as well as the restoration of emergency rule. He urged them to calm the situation.
This is a pivotal moment for all Egyptians, said Kerry, who spoke by phone with the foreign minister. The path toward violence leads only to greater instability, economic disaster and suffering.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogans office called it a serious blow to the hopes of a return to democracy, while Iran warned that the violence strengthens the possibility of civil war.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, who also condemned the violence, called for a genuine transition to a genuine democracy. That means compromise from all sides the President Morsi supporters but also the military.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged all Egyptians to focus on reconciliation, while European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said dialogue should be encouraged through peaceful protest, protecting all citizens and enabling full political participation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
An Egyptian Health Ministry spokesman has again raised the death toll from the previous day's clashes between police and supporters of the country's ousted president to 525.
The spokesman, Khaled el-Khateeb, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the number of injured in the previous day's violence has also risen and now stood at 3,717.
#3
The world cannot sit back and watch while innocent men, women and children are being indiscriminately slaughtered. The world must stand up to the military juntas crime before it is too late, said a statement by the Brotherhoods media office. "The Copts, however, are fair game, being infidels and all that"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/15/2013 8:08 Comments ||
Top||
#4
The world cannot sit back and watch while innocent men, women and children are being indiscriminately slaughtered.
We do it daily for Chicago. Could it be because of who's run it for generations and their 'one' is on the throne in the Beltway? Can't draw attention to blood in our own streets.
#5
Not to get too Darwinian, but omnivores don't need to kill to survive, their motivations generally lie elsewhere. Common motivators may include [but are not limited to] greed, hate, and sex.
[Al Ahram] Egypt's Ministry of State for Antiquities (MSA) has closed all archaeological sites and museums across Egypt, as well as the ministry's administrative premises.
The decision came in response to violence in Egypt following police attempts to break up Moslem Brüderbund sit-ins at Rabaa Al-Adawiya in Nasr City and Al-Nahda Square in Giza.
Minister of State for Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim established an emergency operation room to follow up on security measures taken at archaeological sites and museums across the country, in order to protect them from looting or encroachment.
During festivities, pro-Morsi protesters destroyed guard kiosks at the entrance to the National Museum of Alexandria, and at the Malawi National Museum in the Upper Egypt city of El-Minya.
Ibrahim told Ahram Online that both museums are safe, however. "Thank God, nothing happened to the museums themselves," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#2
My take is that the Egyptian Generals may have huge investments in the tourist industry; which has collapsed since Morsi and the MB can into power.
Posted by: retired LEO ||
08/15/2013 2:34 Comments ||
Top||
#3
The Egyptian Generals also have a huge investment in being Egyptian Generals. If the MB takes over, there will be a rather large reduction in force, starting at the top.
#5
Raj - just the first leg. Going straight on to Mog and then Yemen. No need to waste a nice vacay
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/15/2013 8:09 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Reduction in force? But that's how they've been introducing the draftees from up-river to the concepts of toilets and regular bathing with soap. Erdogan of Turkey showed how to deal with senior officers with independent ideas, and there is an entire cadre of MBs moving up the ranks and eager for promotion beyond their ability.
#11
Erdogan of Turkey showed how to deal with senior officers with independent ideas, and there is an entire cadre of MBs moving up the ranks and eager for promotion beyond their ability.
The Egyptors had lead time, saw situation, hammer down. It could still happen in Turkey..... Thought Clubs will out in the end maybe?
[An Nahar] The teenage daughter of a senior Moslem Brüderbund leader was reported killed Wednesday as police cracked down on a Cairo camp set up by supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi.
Seventeen-year-old Asmaa al-Beltagui, daughter of wanted Brotherhood leader Mohammed al-Beltagui, was killed in festivities at the Rabaa al-Adawiya protest camp, Brotherhood front man Gehad al-Haddad said.
A spokeswoman for the main pro-Morsi coalition, the Anti-Coup Alliance, told Agence La Belle France Presse the girl had been shot twice, once in the chest and once in the back.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Al Ahram] Egyptian Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim held a presser Wednesday after the main sit-ins of supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi in Cairo and Giza were cleared.
According to Ibrahim, violence nationwide left at least 43 members of the police potted - 18 officers and 25 soldiers - and 211 injured. He added that 21 cop shoppes were raided by supporters of the Brotherhood Wednesday.
Kerdasa cop shoppe in Giza was attacked using rocket-propelled grenades and two coppers were killed.
"Many protesters fired excessively from roof tops [at Rabaa sit-in in Nasr City] on security forces," said Ibrahim, claiming that security forces "only used tear gas to disperse the protests."
Ibrahim, who described pro-Morsi protesters as an "armed gang," said scores of weapons were confiscated during the dispersal, including grenades, guns and bullet-proof vests.
He added that at least seven churches were destroyed or torched Wednesday by suspected Islamists.
When asked about newly established sit-ins by the Brotherhood, Ibrahim said that both the police and army would disperse any new assemblies in accordance with the law.
Following the dispersal, several pro-Morsi protesters camped in front of Mostafa Mahmoud Mosque in Giza's Mohandiseen district.
Ibrahim also denied media reports of the arrest of eight Moslem Brüderbund leaders, including Mohamed El-Beltagy and Safwat Hegazy.
He further criticised "the exaggerated numbers of those slain announced by some media," affirming that security forces were determined to keep the casualities as low as possible.
At least 150 civilians were been killed in Wednesday's violence, according to the Ministry of Health. The Moslem Brüderbund has claimed the corpse count has exceeded 2000.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Al Ahram] State television and private channel ONTV are showing pictures of a steady stream of supporters of Mohamed Morsi leaving the Rabaa Al-Adawiya sit-in with their hands in the air. State television reports that they have been offered a safe exit by the interior ministry.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Al Ahram] Forty-one people were killed in the Egyptian province of Minya on Wednesday in violence ignited by the security forces' assault on protest camps set up by supporters of the deposed president, Mohamed Morsi, Health Ministry officials said.
Six of the dead were coppers, according to Mohamed Abdo, head of the ambulance department. The toll was confirmed by a statement from the Minya branch of the Health Ministry. Minya is a city on the Nile some 200 km (125 miles) south of Cairo.
Minya is one of 14 governorates where a month-long curfew was imposed by Egyptian authorities in the wake of Wednesday's violence. The curfew would run from 7 p.m. until 6 a.m.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Dawn] Egypt declared a month-long state of emergency Wednesday as violence raged across the country following a crackdown on supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.
The nationwide state of emergency will begin at 4:00 pm, the presidency said in a statement read out on state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
Egypt's health ministry said on Wednesday that 149 peoples had been killed on Wednesday in a police raid on supporters of deposed President Mohamed Mursi at a Cairo protest camp and festivities nationwide.
"The dead are both from police and civilians. We are waiting to get more details," said the ministry's front man, Hamdi Abdel Karim, adding that 1,403 people had been maimed.
Egyptian vice president, Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei Egyptian law scholar and sometime Iranian catspaw. He was head of the IAEA from December 1997 to November 2009. At some point during his tenure he was purchased by the Iranians. ElBaradei and the IAEA were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for something in 2005. ElBaradei served on the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group, a lefty NGO that is bankrolled by the Carnegie Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as George Soros' Open Society Institute. After the fall of Mubarak he ran for president. He lost. , announced his resignation in a letter to the interim president to protest the deadly police assaults.
The teenage daughter of a senior Moslem Brüderbund leader was also reportedly killed Wednesday during a police cracked down on a Cairo camp set up by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.
Seventeen-year-old Asmaa al-Beltagui, daughter of wanted Brotherhood leader Mohammed al-Beltagui, was killed in festivities at the Rabaa al-Adawiya protest camp, Brotherhood front man Gehad al-Haddad said.
A spokeswoman for the main pro-Morsi coalition, the Anti-Coup Alliance, told AFP the girl had been shot twice, once in the chest and once in the back.
Earlier on Wednesday, Security forces backed by bulldozers moved in on two huge protest camps set up in Cairo by supporters of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi, launching a long-threatened crackdown that left dozens dead.
The operation began shortly after dawn when security forces surrounded the sprawling Rabaa al-Adawiya camp in east Cairo and a similar one at Al-Nahda square, in the centre of the capital.
Witnesses and an AFP correspondent said police rained canisters of tear gas down onto tents before entering Rabaa al-Adawiya, sparking pandemonium among the thousands of protesters who set up the camp soon after Morsi was ousted by the army on July 3.
Men in gas masks rushed to grab each canister and dunk them in containers of water.
Clashes quickly erupted between protesters and security forces on one side of the camp, as automatic fire could be heard. It was not immediately clear who was doing the shooting.
Television footage showed injured people being carried to a makeshift medical centre as well as police dragging away protesters, who have defied numerous ultimatums to end their demonstrations.
Protest leaders wearing gas masks stood defiantly on a stage while crowds of people wearing face masks stood amid the swirling tear gas as bulldozers began dismantling the camp.
Egypt's interior ministry mid-morning said security forces have "total control" over Al-Nahda Square, the smaller of the two camps.
"Police forces have managed to remove most of the tents in the square," the ministry said.
A security official told AFP that dozens of Morsi supporters had been tossed in the slammer Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! with the help of residents of the area.
Television footage showed protesters who had been rounded up sitting in the ground handcuffed and surrounded by security forces.
Families, with their children, carrying plastic bags were seen being escorted out of the square by police.
Railway authorities announced that all trains had been grounded to prevent protesters from moving outside of Cairo and reassembling.
Morsi's Moslem Brüderbund urged Egyptians to take to the streets in their thousands to denounce the "massacre".
"This is not an attempt to disperse, but a bloody attempt to crush all voices of opposition to the military coup," Brotherhood front man Gehad al-Haddad said on Twitter.
The Rabaa al-Adawiya protest camp, where several Brotherhood leaders are staying, "is calling on Egyptians to take to the streets to stop the massacre", Haddad said.
In a separate tweet, Haddad said at least 250 people were killed and over 5,000 injured in the crackdown. There was no immediate independent confirmation of the tolls.
An AFP correspondent counted 43 bodies at a makeshift morgue at Rabaa al-Adawiya, adding that many appeared to have died from gunshot wounds.
There were no women or children among the dead, the correspondent said.
Police barred journalists not already in the camp from entering.
Egypt's interior ministry said two members of the security forces were killed in the operation.
The crackdown came just hours after the United States urged the military-backed interim government to allow Morsi supporters to protest freely.
State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said Washington regarded freedom to protest as a "key part" of the democratic process but would be concerned by reports of violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[AAWSAT.NET] Egypt's vice president for foreign affairs, Mohamed El-Baradei, resigned on Wednesday after only one month in office, in protest at the decision to use force to clear protest camps occupied by protesters demanding the reinstatement of ousted Moslem Brüderbund-backed president Mohamed Mursi.
In his resignation letter to interim president Adly Mansour, which was subsequently posted online, El-Baradei said: "It has become difficult for me to continue bearing responsibility for decisions that I do not agree with and whose consequences I fear. I cannot bear the responsibility for one drop of blood."
"As you know," it continued, "I saw that there were peaceful ways to end this clash in society, there were proposed and acceptable solutions for beginnings that would take us to national consensus."
El-Baradei's resignation followed the announcement that the official corpse count of Wednesday's violence in Egypt had reached 149, with hundreds more injured.
In response to the violence, the Egyptian government declared a month-long state of emergency. It also introduced a curfew in many areas, from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Foreign governments were quick to denounce the use of violence, including condemnations from the US, UK, Turkey and Qatar, among others.
In his letter, El-Baradei expressed his deep disappointment in the days events--and those that preceded them.
"I will remain faithful and loyal to this country, whose security, stability and progress I believe can only be achieved through national consensus and social peace," he wrote.
He also said that he believed this in turn is only achievable through the establishment of a civil state and the separation of religion and politics.
Observers and analysts have commented over recent weeks on disagreements within the interim government, which failed to reach a consensus on how to approach the dissent from Moslem Brüderbund and pro-Mursi supporters.
"Within the government, there are two contradictory directions," Rabab Al-Madi, professor of political science at the American University of Cairo told the AFP news agency.
The first camp, she explained, consisted of the interior ministry and military leaders.
"The other camp," Mahdi continued, "represented by Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei Egyptian law scholar and sometime Iranian catspaw. He was head of the IAEA from December 1997 to November 2009. At some point during his tenure he was purchased by the Iranians. ElBaradei and the IAEA were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for something in 2005. ElBaradei served on the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group, a lefty NGO that is bankrolled by the Carnegie Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as George Soros' Open Society Institute. After the fall of Mubarak he ran for president. He lost. and Deputy Prime Minister Ziad Bahaa Eldin, speak to a different constituency and have a more democratic approach."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Guardian Ng] AMID shock over the recent massacre in Borno State, the Defence Headquarters Wednesday disclosed the killing of 18 terrorists, including Momodu Bama. Bama was the second-in-command to the leader of Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... , Abubakar Shekau.
The Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, said in Abuja that Bama and the other 17 Boko Haram bully boyz died during encounters with special forces of the military and security services in Bama, a border community area.
Olukolade also said that Bama's father, Alhaji Abatcha Flatari, "who is also one of the spiritual guiding lights of the outlawed gunnies group" died in the attack. He said that 24 bully boyz were tossed in the slammer Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
The Defence front man added: "Momodu Bama has been personally leading the attacks against troops and innocent citizens in the communities of Yobe and Adamawa. A specialist in manning the anti-aircraft guns of the group, he is known to be vicious and heartless with a penchant for personally slaughtering and executing his victims. Momodu Bama has been a most wanted terrorist with a N25 million bounty already placed on his head."
According to Olukolade, "as troops intensify pursuit of gunnies who have been unleashing mayhem in Borno and Yobe communities, the death of Momodu Bama, said to be the Second-in-Command to the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, has been confirmed by other arrested terrorists. This followed encounters with the gunnies around the Bama corridor. The troops are continuing the pursuit of the gunnies while intensifying aggressive aerial and land patrols to ensure better security cover for the communities, especially in the two states."
And worried by the killings in Borno State, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar Sa'ad III and other Islamic leaders of the Jama'atu Nasir Islam (JNI) have expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the emergency rule imposed by the Federal Government on three northern states to curb insurgency.
The Sultan who is the President-General of JNI, in a statement issued in Kaduna Wednesday, said that his group, the apex Islamic body in the North, " received with consternation ... the senseless killings that occurred at police and military formations in Bama, Malam Fatori, Borno State, which was climaxed with senseless killings of innocent worshippers during early dawn prayers at a mosque in Konduga village, some kilometres away from Maiduguri, Borno State."
Wednesday too, Spain and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) condemned the killings in Borno State while the United States (U.S.) pledged assistance to curb insurgency.
The Sultan, who expressed dismay at the inability of the emergency rule to address the increasing attacks by Boko Haram, remarked: "We are indeed perplexed that with the state of emergency currently in place in Borno State and with the visible security checkpoints at every nook and cranny of the state, it is hardly believable that such dastardly acts could still occur unabated," he said.
He added that "the JNI is seriously perturbed by it and calls for curtailing the proliferation of small arms."
According to the statement by the Secretary-General of JNI, Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, the Sultan said: "In as much as there is the need for restraint and caution on the part of the coppers, in the affected areas, we are interested to know how the perpetrators gained access to the cordoned areas with such explosives and guns.
"Who were they? Why were they not prevented or arrested? What were the motives behind such repeated orchestrated heinous acts? Indeed there is much more than meets the eyes.
"In the light of the above, we call on government at all levels to do everything possible as a matter of urgency to stop these evil acts of unleashing terror on innocent and peace-loving souls, by restoring law and order.
"Above all, the restoration of use of GSM in Borno State should be a topmost priority to those that matter. This is to facilitate security alert in a situation where insecurity has wreaked unprecedented havoc on innocent citizens. Even if it is to be restored, it must be to some selected/strategic government officials within the state.
"In the meantime, as we commiserate with the families of the victims of those evil acts of terror and condole with the parents and guardians who lost their wards in the debacle, we call on all and sundry to continue praying for peace, progress and development of the nation."
While expressing condolences to the families of the affected victims and government of Borno, the Sultan stressed: "The barbaric, callous, obscure and incomprehensible attack is utterly condemnable in its entirety, especially that over 50 persons were lost and the sacred month of Ramadan had just ended."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Boko Haram
Bahraini police fired teargas and birdshot at demonstrators on Wednesday, witnesses said, as protests to press demands for democratic change in the kingdom turned violent.
Opposition figures had called in social media for mass rallies on Wednesday in Bahrain, prompting the authorities to tighten security and warn of tough measures and leading the United States to temporarily close its embassy.
There were no reports of serious injury in the clashes that erupted after sunset in a number of villages around the capital Manama.
In Shakhoora, a village west of the capital Manama, a standoff deteriorated into a clash between the police on one side of a barbed wire fence they erected overnight and about 300 demonstrators chanting anti-government slogans on the other. A Reuters witness said police charged the crowd, firing birdshot and teargas. They said some people were overcome by teargas but there were no reports of serious injury.
Witnesses said similar clashes occurred in some other villages, including Karana where demonstrators responded by throwing firebombs at police, without causing casualties.
Earlier, a protest of some 100 people ended peacefully in the village of Saar west of Manama without police intervention. The main opposition Al Wefaq Society said on its website that around 60 protest rallies were held in 40 locations on Wednesday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
A Russian Interior Ministry soldier was killed and two more were injured by twin bomb explosions during a search for Islamist terrorists militants in Chechnya. The blasts took place on Monday afternoon near the western village of Achkhoi-Martan, where the Chechen Interior Ministrys Akhmad Kadyrov unit was on a reconnaissance mission in a forest area.
The explosions, 25 minutes apart, killed a sniper and caused two more soldiers to suffer concussion and shrapnel wounds." One of them is in a serious condition.
The second bomb was detonated as reinforcements arrived in the area following the first blast, according to the police.
[Dawn] ISLAMABAD: Local police raided over a dozen houses across the city to pick up sectarian Muslim clerics on their watch list but in vain and only to retreat quickly in the face of the menacing mood of their supporters.
Independent sources told Dawn that the police were so keen to avoid a confrontation that even the only cleric the police caught hold of in the predawn raids -- Ibrahim Haidri from his house near Bari Imam -- was set free after a few hours.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
At least 21 people were killed and 66 others injured in a series of car bombings in Baghdad on Thursday. The attacks occurred almost simultaneously during Baghdad's rush hour.
One car bombs went off in the crowded district of Alawi, near the Green Zone, killing four people and injuring 12. Another car bomb tore through a parking lot in Baghdad's northern district of Kadhmiyah, killing seven and injuring 20 others.
Meanwhile, a car bomb detonated in Bab al-Mu'dham area in downtown Baghdad and killed five people and injured 13 others. A fourth car bomb blew up on al-Qanat Street in the eastern part of the capital.
Also, a car bomb struck the district of Shurta al-Khamsa in southwestern Baghdad, killing three people and injuring 11.
Guerrillas from the communist New Peoples Army attacked a Japanese business site in Mindanao. The Sumitumo facility in Bangbang, a village in North Cotabato province, has been targeted repeatedly. Local officials believe the attack could have been instigated by the company's refusal to pay the NPA's "revolutionary" tax, taken from businesses and politicians as the price for doing business.
Leb Daily Star says the number is 16... "Chickens, coming hoooome, to rooooost"
powerful car bomb ripped through a crowded southern Beirut neighborhood that is a stronghold of the militant group Hezbollah on Thursday, killing at least 14 people and trapping dozens of others in burning cars and buildings in the latest apparent violence linked to the civil war in neighboring Syria, officials said.
Groups opposed to Syria's President Bashar Assad have threatened to retaliate against Hezbollah for intervening on behalf of his regime in the conflict. The blast raises the worrying specter of Lebanon being pulled further into the Syrian civil war, which is taking on an increasingly sectarian tone.
It was the second such explosion in just over a month in south Beirut, an overwhelmingly Shiite area tightly controlled by Hezbollah, and the deadliest attack in decades against the neighborhoods that are considered key bastions of support for the group. The blast appeared to be an attempt to sow fear among the group's civilian supporters and did not target any known Hezbollah facility or personality.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/15/2013 16:02 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
I can't find my scorecard. Who's winning in Syria?
It's like watching the Eagles play the Giants when you're a Cowboys fan, I don't know who to root for. In this case I hope they go into double overtime and have to quit when they run out of players.
[An Nahar] A jihadist group has expelled rebel Free Syrian Army fighters from their positions in the northern city of Raqa, a watchdog reported on Wednesday.
"Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) have taken control of the positions of the Ahfad al-Rasul brigade in Raqa," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
For more than a week, festivities have pitted jihadists against the Ahfad al-Rasul brigade, a part of the mainstream Free Syrian Army, which has the backing of many Western and Arab countries.
The fighting between the two rebel groups erupted when ISIS attacked Ahfad al-Rasul positions in the city, according to the Observatory and brigade officials.
"They wanted to take our munitions and weapons," an official from Ahfad al-Rasul told Agence La Belle France Presse on condition of anonymity.
Late on Tuesday, the jihadists blew up a car in front of an Ahfad al-Rasul post in the city, killing at least five fighters, before going on to seize control of all its positions.
"ISIS wants to control the whole city," said the Observatory's head, Rami Abdel Rahman.
Islamist fighters captured Raqa in March, making it the only bustling provincial capital to have fallen out of regime hands since the March 2011 start of Syria's uprising against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
Residents have since staged several demonstrations against exactions by ISIS, which has links to al-Qaeda.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: al-Nusra
#6
Thank you TW. Unrelated.... did I send you this a few days back >
Not to me, personally, Besoeker, but yes. I chose not to publish it, because every single bloody time something like that gets published, I have to defend against gleeful accusations that the Jews are all commiesSocialists Progressives who want to bring down this great nation of ours and would cheerfully accept the destruction of Israel rather than go against their antisemitic Liberal friends.
Given how many of those who post here are Jews, part-Jews, married-to-Jews, or have Jewish friends and relations, one would think that meme would get a rest, but no. So I gave my nerves a rest instead.
Not your fault, and no reflection on the article, but I've been running a bit ragged lately, and y'all have to pay the price.
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.
[Dawn] An unknown gang has kidnapped a female Afghan member of parliament, officials said Wednesday, in the latest example of prominent women being targeted in the country.
[Jpost] Anti-Coptic violence taking place within "a general culture of impunity," Canadian MP Irwin Cotler says.
[Al Ahram] Egypt's Ministry of State for Antiquities (MSA) has closed all archaeological sites and museums across Egypt, as well as the ministry's administrative premises.
[Al Ahram] Egyptian Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim held a 
[Al Ahram] Forty-one people were killed in the Egyptian province of Minya on Wednesday in violence ignited by the security forces' assault on protest camps set up by supporters of the deposed president, Mohamed Morsi, Health Ministry officials said.
[Dawn] Egypt declared a month-long state of emergency Wednesday as violence raged across the country following a crackdown on supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.
[AAWSAT.NET] Egypt's vice president for foreign affairs, Mohamed El-Baradei, resigned on Wednesday after only one month in office, in protest at the decision to use force to clear protest camps occupied by protesters demanding the reinstatement of ousted 
[Dawn] ISLAMABAD: Local police raided over a dozen houses across the city to pick up sectarian Muslim clerics on their watch list but in vain and only to retreat quickly in the face of the menacing mood of their supporters.
