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Grenade attack on Kenya church kills 1, wounds 14
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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15 21:47 Alaska Paul [336086]
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10 21:21 tipper [336089]
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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14 21:09 James [336091]
5 14:17 Silentbrick - Schlumberger Squishy Mud Division [336063]
11 23:22 DarthVader [336106]
Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 11/05/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336096 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Birthday Gam Shot

Famke Janssen [Dutch](age 48)



Sorry Gorb, this will have to do for now.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 11/05/2012 0:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Famke Beumer Janssen ( /ˈfɑːmkə ˈdʒænsən/; born 5 November 1964) is a Dutch actress and former fashion model. She is known for playing the villainous Bond girl Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye (1995), Evelyn Stockard-Price in House on Haunted Hill (1999), and Jean Grey/Phoenix in the X-Men film series (2000–2006).

Janssen was married to writer and director Kip Williams, son of architect Tod Williams, from 1995 to 2000. On 28 January 2008, she was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for Integrity for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime at a United Nations anti-corruption conference held in Nusa Dua, Bali

Dean Martin - Sway
Posted by: Au Auric || 11/05/2012 10:38 Comments || Top||

#3 
Posted by: gorb || 11/05/2012 22:44 Comments || Top||

#4  Good to see you're back, GB. We were getting kinda worried there.
Posted by: gorb || 11/05/2012 22:45 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Grenade attack on Kenya church kills 1, wounds 14
[Arab News] Gunmen hurled a grenade at a Kenyan church in a town near the Somali border yesterday, killing one policeman and wounding another 14 people, the latest such strike in the volatile area since Nairobi sent troops into Somalia to fight Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents.

The attack occurred during morning prayers at the church in the northeastern town of Garissa, which is home to a large number of Somalis and where 18 people were killed in similar grenade blasts in July.

“We have one fatality,” said regional police chief Philip Tuimur after a policeman died of his wounds in the attack on the Utawala church at a police camp in Garissa, which lies about 140 kilometers (90 miles) from the Somali border. “We have mobilized our officers to track down the attackers,” Tuimur added, without giving further details.

Kenya has been rocked by a wave of grenade attacks on cities including the capital Nairobi and the key port of Mombasa since the country sent troops into its troubled neighbor in October last year to fight the Al-Qaeda linked Shebab.

Fourteen people were also wounded in yesterday’s attack, which police said was carried out by two armed men. Most of the victims were policemen.

“We are attending victims mostly suffering from shrapnel wounds and burns, and we are evacuating to Nairobi three of the victims due to the nature of their injuries,” Dr. Mohamed Sheikh, medical director at the Garissa Hospital said.

The grenade “ripped through the roof during prayer session,” said a police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity, while witnesses cited by police said the attackers also fired gunshots.

Posted by: Fred || 11/05/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336119 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Africa North
Egypt Sinai Security Chief Sacked after Policemen Shot Dead
[An Nahar] Egypt's interior minister on Sunday sacked the head of security in North Sinai, a day after an attack that killed three coppers in the restive peninsula sparked protests by their colleagues.

Interior Minister Ahmed Gamal ordered that the head of security, Ahmed Bakr, be replaced by his deputy in response to complaints from police over lawlessness in the peninsula, security officials said.

Police and the army have become the targets of Death Eaters in the region bordering Israel, and suffered an unprecedented blow in August when gunnies killed 16 soldiers in an attack on a border outpost.

The military launched a wide-ranging campaign after that attack to flush out bad boys, but drive-by shootings such as the one that killed the coppers in el-Arish on Saturday have continued.

Egypt's interior minister on Sunday sacked the head of security in North Sinai, a day after an attack that killed three coppers in the restive peninsula sparked protests by their colleagues.

Interior Minister Ahmed Gamal ordered that the head of security, Ahmed Bakr, be replaced by his deputy in response to complaints from police over lawlessness in the peninsula, security officials said.

Police and the army have become the targets of Death Eaters in the region bordering Israel, and suffered an unprecedented blow in August when gunnies killed 16 soldiers in an attack on a border outpost.

The military launched a wide-ranging campaign after that attack to flush out bad boys, but drive-by shootings such as the one that killed the coppers in el-Arish on Saturday have continued.
Posted by: Fred || 11/05/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336078 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Nigeria Gunmen Burn Police Station, Phone Towers
[An Nahar] Gunmen with explosives attacked a cop shoppe, a primary school and two cellphone towers in a town in Nigeria's restive northeast early Sunday and set them ablaze, the military and residents said.

"We heard that there were some attacks in Fika by suspected 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...
terrorists. They attacked two telecommunication masts, a cop shoppe and a primary school," Lazarus Eli, military front man in Yobe State, told Agence La Belle France Presse.

A resident said he had seen the bodies of two coppers being brought out of the razed cop shoppe, but Eli said he could not immediately confirm whether there were casualties.

Eli said troops had deployed to the town to contain the violence. Fika is located some 170 kilometers (110 miles) from Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State and a hotbed of Islamist cut-thoat group Boko Haram.

Residents said the gunnies attacked their targets with explosives at around 4:30 am.

"They threw explosives and fired gunshots at their targets, setting them ablaze, and fled after the attack," Tanimu Mani told AFP.

"Soldiers who arrived in the town went inside the burnt cop shoppe and brought out the bodies of two coppers killed in the attack," he said.

Another resident, Hassan Gaji, a student, said he had heard blasts and gunshots during his early morning prayers.

"They were shooting seriously for about one hour," he said, adding that the town had been taken over by police and soldiers.
Posted by: Fred || 11/05/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336062 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Arabia
Kuwait Police Use Stun Grenades to Disperse Protesters
[An Nahar] Kuwaiti riot police used stun grenades and smoke bombs against thousands of demonstrators who blocked a major road south of the capital on Sunday as the emir met four leading opposition figures.

After elite special forces and police completely sealed off the original protest site in Kuwait City, organizers told supporters via Twitter to gather instead at Mishref, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the capital.

Although most roads leading to the new location were quickly closed off by police, thousands of people still managed to get through and immediately started marching.

They briefly cut off the sixth ring road, the main motorway in the south of Kuwait before calling off the demonstration barely an hour after it began.

The opposition had called the march to protest against an amendment to an electoral law ordered by the emir last month ahead of a snap December 1 parliamentary election.

"After we have expressed our message of rejecting any play in the constitution, we announce the end of the procession," said the organizers on their Twitter account named "The Dignity of a Nation."

Activists said a number of protesters were rounded up but there were no immediate reports of injuries.

Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah late on Sunday met four opposition figures including two former Islamist MPs in what appeared to be a mediation effort aimed at ending the stalemate.
Posted by: Fred || 11/05/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336064 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
Abul Kalam indicted
[Bangla Daily Star] The International Crimes Tribunal-2 yesterday indicted expelled Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
member Abul Kalam Azad with eight charges of crimes against humanity, including genocide, murders, rapes committed during the Liberation War.

The charges were based on eight incidents that left at least 12 unarmed people dead and two women raped in Faridpur during the nine-month-long war.

This is the first time an international crimes tribunal in Bangladesh is holding a trial with the accused absent.

Framing the charges, the three-member tribunal headed by its Chairman Justice ATM Fazle Kabir, with members Justice Obaidul Hassan and Judge M Shahinur Islam, fixed November 14 for the opening statement of the prosecution.
Posted by: Fred || 11/05/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336061 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Bombs in the North Caucasus wound two
Two separate bomb blasts in Russia's North Caucasus republics left two people wounded on Sunday evening.

One person was wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in Kabardino-Balkaria. The improvised explosive device was planted on the Kavkaz Federal Highway. The blast occured when a car with servicemen was driving by.

A statement by the republic’s emergencies ministry said, “One of them was injured. He is receiving medical treatment at the moment."

In a separate incident, a police officer was wounded in an explosion in Buinaksk, a city in Dagestan. The officer was hospitalized in critical condition. The city’s investigation department said the men lost both legs in the explosion.

Dagestan's interior ministry said in a statement, “An improvised explosive device went off at 21:15 Moscow time. It was planted under a Lada car owned by an officer of the city’s police department.”
Posted by: ryuge || 11/05/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336066 views] Top|| File under:


The Grand Turk
One Dead, 18 Hurt in Southeast Turkey Car Explosion
[An Nahar] A car went kaboom! on Sunday in a town in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast, killing an 11-year-old child and wounding 18 others, in an attack blamed on Kurdish rebels, officials and security sources said.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed the "heinous attack" which caused a civilian death as it happened close to a wedding gathering, reported the Anatolia news agency.

Erdogan strongly condemned the attack which he said was carried out by the "terrorist organization," referring to the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The blast which shattered windows of the nearby shops occurred in the Semdinli town of Hakkari province bordering Iraq and Iran, as an armored police vehicle passed by, said security sources.

Kurdish rebels have carried out similar attacks on security targets in the past.

Semdinli is the scene of frequent festivities between Turkish security forces and PKK members.
Posted by: Fred || 11/05/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336063 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Muslim on Muslim.
Posted by: tipover || 11/05/2012 1:41 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Blast damages shrine in Peshawar
[Dawn] PESHAWAR: Suspected Islamic fascisti blew up a portion of the historical Phandu Baba shrine in the suburban area of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
on Saturday evening.

However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster...
police failed to decide if the scene of occurrence was situated in the limits of Badhber cop shoppe or it fell in the jurisdiction of Chamkani cop shoppe.

A police official of the rural circle said that explosives were planted on the premises of the shrine that went off at 7:45pm. The entire building was damaged in the blast but there was no report of casualties, he added.

Officials of Chamkani cop shoppe, when contacted, said the area fell in the jurisdiction of Badhber cop shoppe.

The Badhber police also didn’t provide any information about the blast.

No case was registered till filing of this report owing to jurisdiction dispute between the two cop shoppes.

MAN KILLED: One person was killed and his house got damaged in an kaboom at Wadpaga village on the outskirts of Peshawar on Saturday.

The officials of Chamkani cop shoppe said that the blast took place at about 10am. The blast site was away from the main population, they added.

DSP Fazl Wahid Khan said that Omar was injured seriously in the blast. He departed this vale of tears when he was being shifted to Lady Reading Hospital.

The DSP said that the victim’s father was taken into custody for interrogation because they had dumped 22 shells of mortar and about 1,000 kilograms of explosives inside the building.

The victim’s family, he said, belonged to Kajori area of Khyber Agency and it was yet to be ascertained as if the dear departed was associated with Islamic fascisti or not.
Posted by: Fred || 11/05/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336064 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  You really gotta wonder how many shrines are left.
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/05/2012 0:42 Comments || Top||


Gunmen kill three in Turbat
[Dawn] QUETTA: Unidentified gunnies shot up a restaurant in Mand Blo town of Turbat killing three people and injuring another on Sunday, DawnNews reported.

The gunnies managed to escape from the scene after the attack.

Levies sources said that the attack took place in the Pak-Iran border town of Mand Blo, when unknown attackers riding on cycle of violences shot up a group of people sitting at a roadside restaurant, killing three persons and injuring another person.

The security sources added that all the victims hailed from Punjab and were allegedly trying to travel to Europe illegally via Iran.

The bodies and injured were shifted to a nearby hospital where none of the victims were identified as yet.
Posted by: Fred || 11/05/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under:


Four, including a political activist, killed in Karachi violence
[Dawn] At least four people, including a leader of Awami National Party (ANP), bit the dust on Sunday in violence related incidents in the city, DawnNews reported.

Fazal Rabi, a political activist belonging to ANP, was rubbed out in Gulshan-e-Maymar by unidentified gunnies. The dear departed was party’s president of the Zareena colony ward.

A dead body was found from Mehran town of the Korangi area.

Two bodies were recovered from the Garden East area. Police claimed that there were signs of torture on the body.

A police official sustained injuries during a firing incident near Bolton Market.

Two people received bullet injuries in the area of Bin Qasim and Garden Usmanabad.
Posted by: Fred || 11/05/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under:


Bomb at police check post in Jala Bela leaves eight injured
[Dawn] PESHAWAR: A bomb kaboom near a police check post in Jala Bela, Charsadda has left eight people injured, including five coppers and three civilians, officials said. One of the injured was a child.

SHO Daudzai Police Station, Amir Amir Sultan confirmed that a bomb had been fixed on a cycle next to the police check post, when it went kaboom!.

SP Javed Khan said that three kilograms of explosives had been used in the blast. The kaboom has destroyed the check post, sources said.

The injured have been shifted to hospital, where two of the injured are said to be at death's door, Charsadda hospital sources said.
Posted by: Fred || 11/05/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Southeast Asia
Car bomb kills two in southern Thailand
Security has been tightened after a series of deadly blasts in Narathiwat province on Saturday. Two bomb explosions killed two people and wounded more than ten.

Police will release sketches of two suspects seen on security camera footage near a house behind Rueso district police station - the site of a car bomb that killed two people. Police will seek arrest warrants for the pair. The second blast, which involved a motorcycle, took place near a school.

Both attacks happened a day after Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra took charge of national security operations.

Violence continued in the South yesterday. Chula Woma, a school teacher in Pattani province, was shot by a pillion rider on a motorcycle as he waited at a bus stop. He was seriously injured and taken to hospital.

Also in Pattani, Tasmi Kabae was gunned down while riding a motorcycle. An unknown number of people opened fire at him with a 9 mm pistol about 1 a.m. He died at the scene.

Meanwhile, government forces killed a suspected terrorist militant during a shootout in Songkhla province early yesterday morning. The clash occurred when police surrounded a house after getting word that a number of terrorists militants were hiding there. A 10-minute exchange of fire took place. The deceased was identified as Mayuding Sama. Two others in the house escaped.

Authorities said a bomb was found in Narathiwat province, which was successfully defused. Two fake bombs were also found in another district of Narathiwat yesterday morning.
Posted by: ryuge || 11/05/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336066 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Assad's forces storm Hamas offices in Damascus (Al Jazeera blog link)
Posted by: phil_b || 11/05/2012 16:46 || Comments || Link || [336106 views] Top|| File under:

#1  any chance this is related to the shoot down of one of their Air Force planes?

I can't help thinking Benghazi 15,000 SA-7s missing and possibly some showing up in Gaza would make them look responsible if a SA-7 took out a Syrian warplane.
Posted by: Water Modem || 11/05/2012 23:29 Comments || Top||


Iran sets up new base near disputed islands
TEHRAN: Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards inaugurated a new naval base yesterday to reinforce Tehran’s authority over three Persian Gulf islands also claimed by the neighboring United Arab Emirates, Iranian state TV reported.

The base near the Iranian mainland’s southern port of Bandar-e Lengeh some 1,100 kilometers (700 miles) south of Tehran is the Guards’ fifth in the Gulf. The Guards’ navy chief Gen. Ali Fadavi said missile and marine units have been deployed there. It lies north of the Iranian-controlled islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb that dominate the approach to the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.

Iran took control of the Persian Gulf islands in 1971, after British forces left the region. Since 1992, the UAE has repeatedly claimed the islands and last month at the UN General Assembly, it said Iran’s “occupation” violates international law. In April, a visit by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the islands inflamed the dispute over the territories and prompted an outcry by UAE and its Arab allies. Tehran later vowed to develop the islands through tourism and other industries, though little has been reported on that since the visit. During the inauguration of the base, Guards chief Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari expressed the hope that new base could support economic development of the islands.

Tehran says the islands have been part of states that existed on the Iranian mainland from antiquity until the British occupied them in the early 20th century.

Tehran also maintains that an agreement signed eight years before its 1979 Islamic Revolution between Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the ruler of one of the UAE’s seven emirates, Sharjah, gives it the right to administer Abu Musa and station troops there. There was no agreement on the other two islands. The UAE insists they belonged to the emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah until Iran captured them by force days before the UAE statehood in 1971.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/05/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336132 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How many people live there?
Posted by: American Delight || 11/05/2012 6:06 Comments || Top||

#2  Dunno how many people live there. A couple of other stories: Here and here. Looks like Iran is get itself into a strategic position to block the Strait of Hormuz?
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/05/2012 7:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards
Well there ya go!

Hope they don't get picked off by Slaying Mantis types.
Posted by: Shipman || 11/05/2012 11:06 Comments || Top||

#4  Tourism you say?

Snorkeling, swimming, para sailing, wind surfing, wide sandy beaches, boating...it's all there. Throw in a four star hotel and a halfway decent nightclub and you just might have something. Can't you imagine all the glistening, wet skin in those bikinis on those beaches? No? I guess the Iranians aren't really famous for that sort of thing.

According to Wikipedia there are 2131 inhabitants. The way the story reads on Wikipedia the UAE claim is based on British occupation that began shortly after the turn of the century when the UAE didn't even exist. Sounds like before then it really was Iranian or Persian or whatever they were calling themselves back then. It has a small harbor that would probably be big enough for the Iranian navy. UAE can make all the claims they want but I think they've lost it.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 11/05/2012 13:57 Comments || Top||

#5  POOF.
Posted by: newc || 11/05/2012 17:43 Comments || Top||

#6  Can we relocate Gitmo there?
Posted by: American Delight || 11/05/2012 19:41 Comments || Top||

#7  at the balloon drop, it will be first to go
Posted by: Frank G || 11/05/2012 19:59 Comments || Top||

#8  "Can't you imagine all the glistening, wet skin in those bikinis on those beaches? No? I guess the Iranians aren't really famous for that sort of thing."

Obviously you haven't see Iranian babes partying in Turkey. Not just the hijab comes off.
Posted by: European Conservative || 11/05/2012 20:25 Comments || Top||

#9  ION NAVBASES, FREEREPUBLIC > RED FLAG IN THE ATLANTIC: CHINA IS ANGLING TO TAKEOVER US AIR BASE IN THE AZORES.

The presently unused or under-utilized AB#4, aka Lajes Field.

D *** NG, does the Atlantic command of the Iranian or IRGC Navy know???

versus

* RENSE > [AlexAnsary.TV] CALIFORNIA CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE WANTS TO LEASE FORMAL/EX-NAVY BASE TO CHINA, at Alameda Point.

ARTIC = denotes that major deal is in the works for China Development Bank to help finance projects at other ex-Navy bases in CA, i.e. Treasure Island + Hunter's Point.

WALL STREET JOURNAL is observing as these Deal(s) could set an important precedent vee other former USDOD sites throughout the USA.

[POTUS CARTER + PANAMA CANAL here].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/05/2012 20:48 Comments || Top||

#10  Pictures, EC. We need pictures!
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 11/05/2012 21:32 Comments || Top||

#11  Just trust me :-)
Posted by: European Conservative || 11/05/2012 23:36 Comments || Top||

#12  Like Reagan said, trust, but verify.
Posted by: SteveS || 11/05/2012 23:57 Comments || Top||


Syria Rebels Seize Oilfield, Down Warplane
[An Nahar] Rebels seized a major oilfield and shot down a warplane in eastern Syria Sunday, a watchdog said, notching up new battlefield successes even as the opposition met in Qatar under U.S. pressure for a makeover.

The rebel advances in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor came as their positions were pounded by warplanes around the capital Damascus
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
and in the northern provinces of Aleppo
...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...
and Idlib.

State media also reported that a blast near the Dama Rose Hotel in the heart of Damascus maimed 11 civilians. It blamed the kaboom on "terrorists" -- the regime's term for armed rebels.

The hotel hosted U.N.-Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
envoy Lakhdar Brahimi during his visits to Damascus. The office of the Ombudsman, headed by diplomat Mokhtar Lamani, is also there.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the seizure of the eastern oilfield marked a first by the opposition since the revolt against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Horror of Homs...
's regime erupted in March 2011.

"Rebels in the Jaafar Tayyar Brigade took control of al-Ward oilfield, east of the town of Mayadin, after a siege that lasted several days," it said.

"This is the first time the rebels have taken control of an oilfield," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told Agence La Belle France Presse.

The fighting began at dawn and lasted several hours, said Abdel Rahman, adding that 40 soldiers on guard were either killed, maimed or taken prisoner.

The Observatory later announced rebels in Deir Ezzor had shot down a warplane, citing witnesses.

The group, which gathers its information from a network of activists, lawyers and medics in civilian and military hospitals, said initial reports indicated the pilot had been captured.

Fighting also erupted near a political intelligence office in Damascus province, the Observatory said, adding that warplanes later carried out three raids on the Ghuta region northeast of the capital.

An AFP correspondent in Aleppo province reported three air strikes in close succession on the town of Al-Bab, with witnesses saying there were at least four fatalities.

The Observatory gave an initial toll of 96 dead -- 35 civilians, 41 soldiers and 20 rebels -- nationwide on Sunday.

The escalating conflict added urgency to a meeting of the opposition Syrian National Council in the Qatari capital Doha, with the United States reportedly pressing for a new umbrella organization to unite the country's fractured regime opponents.

According to the reports, which emerged after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as The Liberatress of Libya and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another John Quincy Adams ...
charged the SNC was not representative, long-time dissident Riad Seif is touted as the potential head of a new government-in-exile dubbed the Syrian National Initiative.

But as the Doha meeting got under way, Seif denied he planned to head a government in exile.

"I shall not be a candidate to lead a government in exile... I am 66 and have health problems," he told news hounds.

SNC chief Abdel Basset Sayda denounced what he called "efforts to bypass the SNC and numerous attempts to find substitutes" for the group, though he recognized that some criticisms of it are "founded."

The SNC lashed out on Friday at alleged U.S. interference in the opposition, accusing Washington of undermining the revolt and "sowing the seeds of division" by seeking its overhaul.

Clinton has voiced frustration with the SNC, calling it unrepresentative of on-the-ground opposition forces and saying it "can no longer be viewed as the visible leader of the opposition."

In his remarks, Sayda also argued military action against the regime must be "organized and unified," so that the various military groups battling the regime can form the "core of the next Syrian army."

On the diplomatic front, French President Francois Hollande
...the Socialist president of La Belle France, and a fine job he's doing of it...
visited Leb before traveling to Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face...
, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was on his way to Cairo, with Syria topping the agenda for both.

Israel's armed forces chief Benny Gantz said, meanwhile, that his country could become involved in the conflict, as fighting raged on the strategic Golan Heights.

"This is a Syrian affair that could turn into our affair," the army's website quoted him as saying during a visit to troops on the frontier. It added that he told the soldiers to be alert, but did not elaborate further.
Posted by: Fred || 11/05/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336078 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  When Hillary Clinton says you need a makeover you know you're ugly.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 11/05/2012 15:06 Comments || Top||


11 Wounded in Blast Near Dama Rose Hotel in Damascus
[An Nahar] An kaboom shook the area near the Dama Rose hotel in the heart of the Syrian capital on Sunday, wounding 11 civilians, state media reported.

"An kaboom caused by cut-throats went off near to the Dama Rose hotel and the union federation, which left a number of people maimed and causing damage to the area," Syrian TV said, using the regime's term for armed rebels.

State news agency SANA said the blast maimed 11 people, adding that the explosive "planted by terrorists" weighed about 50 kilos (30 pounds).

The Dama Rose hotel hosted U.N.-Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
envoy Lakhdar Brahimi during his visits to Damascus
...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat...
. The office of the Ombudsman, headed by diplomat Mokhtar Lamani, is also located there.

The Local Coordination Committees, a network of activists on the ground, also reported plumes of smoke rising near Ommayad Square after a "powerful kaboom" rocked the area close to the hotel.
Posted by: Fred || 11/05/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336062 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Syria opposition groups hold crucial Doha talks
[Dawn] The opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) begins a four-day meeting Sunday in Doha, where the United States will reportedly press for an overhaul of the coalition aiming to topple Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Horror of Homs...
Details have emerged of plans to reshape the opposition into a representative government-in-exile, after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as For a good time at 3 a.m. call Hillary and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another John Jay ...
charged that the SNC was not representative.

Rebel forces in Syria have criticised the SNC as out of touch, and the opposition is also split ideologically.

The Doha talks come a day after rebels in northern Syria launched an offensive to take control of a key airbase.

Washington is pressing for a makeover of the opposition, with long-time dissident Riad Seif reportedly touted as the potential head of a new government-in-exile dubbed the Syrian National Initiative.Seif and about two dozen other leading opposition fiures gathered in Amman on Thursday and came up with proposals for a new body to represent the disparate groups opposing Assad.
Posted by: Fred || 11/05/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336072 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  where the United States will reportedly press for an overhaul of the coalition aiming to topple Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir

A story of no leverage, no clue and no thought. They're killing each other and we're trying to stop them... do you see the error?
Posted by: Shipman || 11/05/2012 15:21 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2012-11-05
  Grenade attack on Kenya church kills 1, wounds 14
Sun 2012-11-04
  Two Suicide Bombers Attack Restaurant in Somali Capital
Sat 2012-11-03
  30 people shot dead in Nigeria, rights group says
Fri 2012-11-02
  US withdraws its support for Syrian National Council
Thu 2012-11-01
  Armed Islamists on Tunis streets after clashes
Wed 2012-10-31
  18 militants killed in Khyber, Orakzai
Tue 2012-10-30
  Israel Hit by 18 Rockets as Hamas Seeks Revenge
Mon 2012-10-29
  52 Dead in Syria Clashes, Air Raids after Eid Truce Collapses
Sun 2012-10-28
  Almost 150 Killed on First Day of Syria Truce
Sat 2012-10-27
  Indonesia foils plot to attack US missions
Fri 2012-10-26
  Afghanistan mosque suicide bomb attack kills at least 41
Thu 2012-10-25
  Israel says 79 rockets fired at it from Gaza
Wed 2012-10-24
  Libya fighters seize Bani Walid
Tue 2012-10-23
  Foreign jihadists pour into northern Mali
Mon 2012-10-22
  Men 'planned mass suicide attack'

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