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U.N. Team Blocked from Syria's Daraa as Regime Arrests 'Thousands' in Banias
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Andrea Anders aka Alexis "Alex" Garrett in "Joey (TV)" aka Nicole Allen in "The Class (TV)" aka Brandy in "Sex Drive" aka Linda Zwordling in "Better Off Ted (TV)" aka Alice in "Mr. Sunshine (TV)" (age 36)


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/10/2011 1:13 Comments || Top||

#2  According to 1 site, her parents were Swiss. Also, Billie was "dating" Howard Hughes for about 3 years. Apparently was a big silent movie star.
Posted by: sam3rd || 05/10/2011 10:08 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Suicide Attack Kills Three in E Afghanistan
[Tolo News] At least three civilians including two students were killed and 12 others were hurt in a suicide kaboom in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, local officials said.

The incident happened at 10:00 am local time when a suicide attacker went kaboom!" near Qargha district office building, Faizanullah Patan, a front man for governor of Laghman told TOLOnews news hound.

Two Afghan coppers were also maimed in the attack, he added.

No Group including the Taliban has grabbed credit for the attack.
Yet again, the Taliban are silent.
The Taliban have recently stepped up their activities in the country often targeting government buildings.

Violence has increased as the Taliban have announced the launch of their spring offensives over a week ago.
A singularly ineffective spring offensive, by many accounts. But perhaps things will get better for the Taliban as time goes by.
Taliban fighters on Saturday attacked government buildings for the second day in southern Kandahar province and 23 forces of Evil were killed in the festivities.

The festivities continued for two days ending last night, Kandahar local officials said on Monday.

Two Afghan police have been killed in the festivities and forty people including fifteen civilians, twelve Afghan coppers, and thirteen Afghan cops have been maimed in the deadly firefights, Interior Ministry Spokesman Zemarai Bashari told news hounds at a news conference on Sunday.

Confirming the death of three people Kandahar central hospital said another 50 have been injured during the festivities.

Southern Kandahar province, the birth place of the Taliban, has recently been the scene of a wave of deadly and embarrassing incidents since the beginning of counterinsurgency combat in Afghanistan.

Interior Ministry Spokesman Zemarai Bashari warned of an increase in Taliban-led attacks in the days ahead.
Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
North, South Sudan Agree Abyei Troop Withdrawal
[An Nahar] North and south Sudan have agreed to start withdrawing unauthorized troops from the flashpoint Abyei border region, the United Nations
...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
said, a week after festivities there left 14 people dead.

The two sides agreed that the pullout would begin from Tuesday and be completed within a week, the U.N. Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said in a statement late on Sunday.

The decision was taken at a meeting of a joint committee, comprising representatives of the north and the south and chaired by UNMIS Force Commander Major General Moses Obi, the statement said.

"The meeting agreed that both parties will create a conducive environment by de-escalating tensions and speaking to their respective communities on the ground regarding the implementation of the Kadugli agreements, and ensuring freedom of access for UNMIS," the peacekeeping mission added.

A peace accord signed by the two sides in the South Kordofan state capital Kadugli in January called on all forces to withdraw from the bitterly disputed region except the special Joint Integrated Units (JIUs) of northern and southern personnel, both army and police, alongside U.N. peacekeepers.

The United Nations and Western observers say the two armies have been reinforcing their positions in and around Abyei in recent months.

The JIUs will stay in the area, charged with ensuring its security.

It is not the first time that Khartoum and Juba have committed to implementing the Kadugli agreements, and the International Crisis Group sounded a note of warning shortly after the U.N. announcement, saying the Abyei conflict was reaching a tipping point.

Escalating tensions on the ground and between the leaders in Khartoum and Juba, who have both made unilateral claims over Abyei endangered Sudan's fragile peace and the smooth secession of the south, the Brussels-based think tank said.

Abyei's future status is the most sensitive of a raft of issues that north and south Sudan are struggling to reach agreement on ahead of the south's full independence, due to take place in exactly two months time.

Deadly fighting and recriminations have flared since January, when the region had been due to vote on whether to join the north or the south, alongside a referendum in the south that delivered a landslide for secession.

But the plebiscite was postponed indefinitely amid deadlock between north and south over who should be eligible to vote.
Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan


Africa North
Rebels drive back Gaddafi forces west of Misrata
MISRATA, Libya — Rebels fighting to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi drove his forces westwards from the besieged port city of Misrata on Monday and were poised to make another thrust, an AFP correspondent reported as NATO said the strongman’s time was running out.

After heavy clashes, the insurgents were in control of a long stretch of road hugging the coastline west of Misrata, Libya’s third city which Gaddafi’s forces have laid siege to for more than two months, forcing thousands to flee.

The Red Thingy Cross said meanwhile it delivered a shipment of humanitarian aid to the rebel-held western city amid concerns that Gaddafi’s forces may have dropped mines into the harbour from helicopters bearing the Red Thingy Cross emblem.
That'll get them a sternly-worded reprimand from Geneva...
On the battlefront, the rebels managed to force Gaddafi’s troops about 15 kilometres (10 miles) from Misrata on Monday, advancing to Dafnia and ready to move on Zliten, the next major town on the road to Tripoli, an AFP correspondent said.

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said time was running out for Gaddafi, who would ultimately lose his decades-old grip on power given the “wind of change” sweeping the Arab world, the death of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and mounting pressure on the Taliban in Afghanistan.

“The game is over for Gaddafi” who “should realise sooner rather than later that there’s no future for him or his regime,” Rasmussen told CNN late Sunday.

“We have stopped Gaddafi in his tracks. His time is running out. He’s more and more isolated,” the NATO chief said.
We? Who is this 'we' to which he refers?
NATO said Monday that in latest sorties its warplanes hit five rocket launchers, one self-propelled artillery piece, one truck-mounted gun and three buildings “hosting active shooters” in the vicinity of Misrata. It also hit 26 ammunition depots and 16 “vehicle storages” near Hun, eight military vehicles near Brega, two military operational facilities near Tripoli and four ammunition dumps near Zintan.

The fighting has been heaviest in and around Misrata, a make-or-break city in the Libyan conflict about 200 kilometres (125 miles) east of the capital. A thick plume of smoke spread on Sunday over the city, the main source of supplies to rebels in western Libya, from blazing fuel depots that Gaddafi’s forces bombed a day earlier.

As long queues formed at fuel stations amid fears of shortages, rebels warned Misrata’s residents could run out of food and water within a month if they are not provided with “game-changing” weapons to defeat Gaddafi’s forces.

Because of shelling of the city’s port over the past two weeks, only one aid ship a week is now reaching Misrata, said a spokesman in the eastern rebel bastion of Benghazi. The latest shipment of aid to land in the port on Monday morning was carrying surgical kits, spare parts to repair water and electrical supply systems, and 8,000 jars of baby food, the Red Thingy Cross said in a statement.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  advancing to Dafnia and ready to move on Zliten

Which means they are advancing toward Tripoli.

Saw a report some rebels had reached Zliten.

It looks like the end is rapidly approaching for Daffy.
Posted by: phil_b || 05/10/2011 1:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Would you care to put a small bet on it, phil_b?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/10/2011 3:42 Comments || Top||

#3  I'll give Daffy 2 weeks max.

His heavy weaponry should be gone by then. Either destroyed from the air or abandoned by his troops.

Once it's a small arms war. He doesn't have the numbers.
Posted by: phil_b || 05/10/2011 6:02 Comments || Top||

#4  If Gaddafi fails to survive, I suspect the west will be quite perplexed at the type of gratitude the victors may deliver.


Posted by: Besoeker || 05/10/2011 6:12 Comments || Top||

#5  I'm sorry phil_b, I don't see any signs that NATO attacks---including the initial Tomahawking, managed to substantially harm his heavy weapons. In any case, I expect BRICs are resupplying him right now.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/10/2011 6:33 Comments || Top||

#6  There are reports that Khadaffy's troops are parking SPG and tanks next to hospitals and schools, under their parking cover structures. Those cannot be hit since a miss would take out a school or hospital. They have also been parking armor next to mosques and putting up tents to park the armor under. Once again, ROE will prevent attacks there, and it is difficult to tell what is actually contained in the tent - some reports say that active ambulances are pulled into the tents at night, to create the heat signatures and make an attack even more difficult.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 05/10/2011 21:13 Comments || Top||


Libyan delegates back rebel council
Representatives from 25 Libyan local councils have met in Abu Dhabi, expressing support for the uprising against long-time leader Muammar Qadaffy.
... a proud Arab institution for 42 years ...

This is first time that leaders from councils and tribes in south and west Libya, away from the heartland of the rebellion in the east, have been able to meet. A representative from Sirte, Qadaffy's hometown, was among the delegates in attendance on Monday.

"As we continue our support for the 17th February uprising and, in defiance of the regime's claims, we announce unequivocally our allegiance to and trust in the National Transitional Council (NTC)," a statement said.

"In support of the struggle of the Libyan people to establish a modern civil society, (70) members of various local councils - which represent the different western, central and southern regions and tribes of Libya - have come together in Abu Dhabi".

The conference called for international recognition of the National Transitional Council (NTC) and for providing the rebels with advanced weaponry, they say, is needed to defeat Qadaffy's better-armed troops.

An official from the NTC who requested anonymity told AFP news agency that the Abu Dhabi meeting was aimed at "strengthening the unity of the Libyan regions and tribes".

Representatives from smaller, beleaguered western cities such as Zwara used the meeting as a platform to publicise their sufferings, which have received less attention than Benghazi and Misrata, a western city and Libya's third-largest that has been besieged by Qadaffy's forces for months.

The delegates will travel to Doha, the Qatari capital, later this week, and then convene for the first time in Benghazi on Friday.

The show of unity may also help the opposition forces convince a skittish market to buy oil from rebel-held eastern Libya.

So far, the NTC has only been able to sell around one million barrels to Qatar for $120m. But on Monday, Aref Ali Nayed, a representative for the council abroad, said the council will sell oil through international tenders.

World powers have promised $250m in humanitarian aid to the rebels and said the Qadaffy regime's frozen overseas assets, estimated at $60bn, would be used later to assist the Libyan opposition.
Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The conference called for international recognition of the National Transitional Council (NTC) and for providing the rebels with advanced weaponry...

Now I'm hiding in Honduras Abu Dhabi
I'm a desperate man
Send lawyers, guns and money
The shit has hit the fan
Posted by: DepotGuy || 05/10/2011 11:48 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Yemeni protesters attacked in Hudaydah
[Iran Press TV] Yemeni security forces have attacked an anti-government protest rally in the western city of Hudaydah, injuring dozens of protesters.

The protesters gathered near the city's university on Monday to call for the immediate ouster of Yemeni President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower...
, who has been in power since 1978.

Witnesses say those injured were shot by live rounds.

Yemeni security forces also opened fire on anti-Saleh protesters in the southwestern city of Dhamar, but there were no reports of casualties.

Earlier in the day, Yemeni troops attacked anti-regime protesters in the southern city of Taizz, killing at least five protesters and injuring more than 80 others. Some of the injured are reported to be at death's door.

Yemeni troops also fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse the protesters.

Similar anti-government protests were also held in the capital and the city of Ibb. There were no reports of festivities.

In Sana'a, some protesters wrote their home telephone numbers in red on their chests, an indication they were ready to die for the freedom of their country and wanted to make it easier to have their bodies identified.

According to local reports since the beginning of anti-Saleh demonstrations across Yemen, at least 300 protesters have been killed and many others injured during festivities with riot police and armed forces loyal to the isolated Yemeni president.
Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Another Bahraini rights activist detained
[Iran Press TV] Saudi-backed Bahraini forces have nabbed another rights activist as the Manama regime continues its brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters.

Mahdi A'aya was nabbed in the northern village of Barber on Monday, a week after regime thugs set his house ablaze.

Since the beginning of anti-government protests in Bahrain, authorities have nabbed scores of opposition activists, doctors and human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
activists. It is believed that they were jugged because they had "evidence of atrocities committed by the authorities, security forces and riot police" during the crackdown on anti-government protesters.

Rights activists say most of the detainees were subject to severe torture. About several anti-government protesters have died under torture while in police custody.

In its latest report, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) said that prominent activist Abdul-Hadi al-Khawaja, a Danish citizen, had been tortured beyond recognition by Saudi-backed regime forces warning that all anti-government protesters nabbed by the regime are at "very high risk of torture" or death.

According to BCHR, more than 1,000 people, including anti-regime protesters, rights activists, former politicians, senior holy mans and medics have been jugged over the past three months.

So far, Manama has sentenced four protesters to death, saying they were involved in the killing of two coppers during street protests. Bahraini authorities have also charged 21 activists, including opposition leaders, with attempting to topple the government.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth had turned a paler shade of blue. Star-A-Star had struck again...
authorities have cut-off electricity to the eastern island of Sitra and troops surrounded several villages in the region.

Since the beginning of protests in Bahrain in mid-February, Manama showed itself capable of great brutality in suppressing anti-regime protesters.

Scores of protesters have been killed and many others have been nabbed during Manama's violent crackdown on protesters. Regime forces have also raided dozens of mosques, schools, sacred sites and even graves in persisting efforts to suppress all opposition.
Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Opposition Sticks to GCC Proposal, Says No Changes to It
[Yemen Post] The opposition said on Saturday it will stick with the GCC proposal to tackle the Yemeni political crisis, just as the GCC Secretary General told news hounds in Abu Dhabi that no changes were made to the proposal.

Muhammad Qahtan, the front man for the Joint Meeting Parties, the opposition bloc, said:" we take the proposal which President-for-Life Saleh
... exemplifying the Arab's propensity to combine brutality with incompetence...
refused to sign and which remains unchanged".
... which implies he's not only not gonna sign it, he's gonna ignore it...
On Friday, reports said that the GCC submitted a new version of the initiative, but Abdul Latif Al-Zayani, the GCC head, said that they only added the names of the officials from the government and the opposition who will sign the deal in Sana'a.

Recently, Al-Zayani asked both sides to present a list of 15 officials each, expressing hope and optimism the West-backed effort will end the months-long crisis in Yemen.

The initiative was rejected by the hundreds of thousands of antigovernment protesters in the squares of change and freedom in most of the Yemeni cities. Under it, Saleh will quit and the protests should end.
Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Saleh Will not Resign until Opposition Stops Irresponsible Attitudes
[Yemen Post] Yemen's ruling party said on Sunday that President-for-Life Saleh
... exemplifying the Arab's propensity to combine brutality with incompetence...
will not resign amid the current circumstances, as an official in the party warned none can predict how the situation will develop here because of the continuous irresponsible attitudes of the opposition.
"Irresponsible attitudes" means they want to dump him...
Ahmed Ubaid bin Dhagher, assistant Secretary General of the party, said there is hope that the political forces in Yemen will reach an agreement to end the current crisis, pointing to the GCC West-backed initiative.

The Joint Meeting Parties, the opposition coalition, has recently said it will stick to the GCC plan, warning that any postponement of signing it will put the regime directly before the people's choice.

The GCC initiative represented the good way out of the Yemeni crisis, but to translate it to concrete results, its terms should be implemented according to their appropriate sequence. In other words, the resignation of President Saleh should occur after the opposition removes all causes of political and security unrest," he said. "The opposition is taking advantage of the unrest and this makes the situation more complicated".

It is true there are hard-line forces within the opposition bloc pushing to make the situation much worse and seeking to derail any national reconciliation effort, but our bid relies on the good Yemeni people inside the bloc and the youths who must place their country's interest above anything else, he said.

The General People's Congress Party, the governing party, backed all the initiatives offered by President Saleh to lift the country out of all crises, but the opposition faced that through raising their political demands, he added.

"The GCC power transition initiative aimed to maintain Yemen's unity and stability, and for this, the ruling party must back and take its principles to avoid violence and end the political unrest".

The best solution to the Yemeni crisis is that the opposition stop its coup projects and conspiracies against the country, and really the GCC plan paves the way for ending our crisis, he said in an interview with the September 26 website.

" Amid such circumstances, President Saleh should not quit, if he does, a real threat will be posed to the country's unity and security. Also, if he does, the people will resist that and will urge to stay".
Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  IN OTHER IRRESPONSIBLE NEWS, BHARAT RAKSHAK > JeT: US, WORLD WILL SEE MORE OSAMAS UNLESS UNJUST ATTITUDES AGZ MUSLIMS CHANGED.

ARTIC > JeT AMIR M. HASSAN = argues that as MORE OSAMAS ARE KILLED BY THE ANTI-MUSLIM US-WEST, THE MORE NEW OSAMAS WILL BE CREATED TO TAKE THE PLACE OF ONES LOST.

* Reminds me of CHIEF COCHISE's character in the movie "FORT APACHE" > "...AND FOR EACH APACHE THAT YOU KILL [US Cavalry soldiers], TEN WHITE MEN WILL DIE"!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/10/2011 1:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Only if we continue to choose to allow it, Joe.
Posted by: lotp || 05/10/2011 14:27 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Huji chief Sabbir remanded again
[Bangla Daily Star] A Dhaka court on Monday placed Abdul Hannan Sabbir, acting chief of banned Harkatul Jihad Al Islami (HuJI),
Founded in 1984 by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Aktar. The Bangla branch was established in 1992 with assistance from Osama bin Laden. Recruits come mostly from Deobandi madrassahs. HuJI and Fazlur Rehman Khalil are signators of bin Laden's declaration of war on the west.
on a five-day fresh remand in a case filed for kaboom on a Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) rally in 2001.

Metropolitan Magistrate Keshab Roy Chowdhury passed the order after Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Inspector Mrinal Kanti Saha, also the Investigation Officer (IO) of the case, produced him before the court on completion of his five-day remand in the same case.

The IO on Monday sought his 10-day remand.

In the prayer, the investigation officer mentioned that Sabbir was directly involved with the kaboom. So, he needs to be remanded to find out whereabouts of the other attackers.
"Fetch the mustache wax and the Number 7 truncheons!"
Earlier on May 3, Sabbir was granted a five-day remand for interrogation in the case.

Rapid Action Battalion on April 25 tossed in the clink two HuJI members, including Sabbir, from a hideout at Keraniganj.
Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: HUJI


Caribbean-Latin America
Death in Durango: Toll in Mass Graves Rises to 180 -- UPDATEDx2
For a map, click here. For a map of Durango click here. To read a previous report on the Durango mass graves click here.Conflicting reports on Mexican news websites Milenio and El Diario de Coahuila have the death toll of between 171 and 181. As of 1555 hrs, El Diario de Coahuila reports the death toll at 181, while as of 2134 hrs Milenio reports the death toll at 171, sourced from the Mexican wire service Notimex. Dunno if the difference is a language problem, or a journalist did some math. We will know more tomorrow morning. Durango state attorney general's office said this morning the total in Durango is 180, and includes five, not four sites.
The death toll in mass graves in Durango, Durango rose to 180 dead as a fourth and a fifth gravesite were discovered and are currently being excavated, according to Mexican press reports.

Previous reports said that the two original sites in La Providencia and La Fuentes colonies were being excavated since the discovery of the third gravesite in Vicente Suarez colony. No new bodies have been found in any of the three other sites.

The fourth gravesite is in Valle del Guadiana colony and as with the other three gravesites, is within Durango city limits.

The fifth gravesite is in Ejido San Ignacio, El Consuelo, Durango, just north of Gomez Palacio, which is several hundred kilometers east of Durango city.
Strange that Mexican press would include this gravesite in the Durango city total.
A total of 17 dead at the new site have been found. whic were exhumed Monday. The gravesite is currently being worked by a unit of the Mexican Army.

In other news, the beheaded bodies of six unidentified individuals were dumped near a secondary school in Azcapotzalco colony in Durango city early Sunday morning.

The discovery was made near the Escuela Secundaria Tecnica numero 57 on Calle Uxmal, where students were to gather for a celebration of Mothers Day. An intimidating message was left with the bodies.
Posted by: badanov || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Failed state alert.

STRATFOR predicts that one of the cartels, the Sinaloa-based one, will soon attain mastery over the others, which means the government in Mexico will likely be forced to cut a deal with the Sinaloa cartel.

This is bad, and getting worse. Close the border, NOW.
Posted by: lex || 05/10/2011 1:28 Comments || Top||

#2  If you want the border closed the state of Arizonia is tackling the problem in a unique way. Private Donations, and they have raised a lot of money in just two days. They also intend to use prisoners for the labor ala Sheriff Joe.
Posted by: bman || 05/10/2011 10:12 Comments || Top||


Mayhem in Monterrey: 13 Die
For a map, click here. For a map of Nuevo Leon, click here. For a map of Monterrey, click here. Note: The last two items are late items due to be updated as more information becomes available.
A total of 13 individuals died in drug related violence in and around Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, according to Mexican news accounts.
  • A Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon municipal police officer was wounded in a shooting at a sports complex near Guadalupe Sunday. Armed suspects aboard a vehicle convoy fired on two police officers near the intersection of calles Potasio and Criolita in the Jardines de Nueva Lindavista colony. One of the officers managed to return fire, but it is unknown if he hit anything.

  • Three unidentified youths were shot to death at a bar in southern Monterrey city Sunday afternoon. The shooting took place at the La Barrica bar on Calle Rio Nazas in the Altamira colony where armed suspects travelling aboard a Renault sedan opened fire on the three men. A worker at a nearby bakery was wounded by stray gunfire.

  • A shootout and a vehicle pursuit in Guadalupe ended with an overturned vehicle and four dead armed suspects Sunday.

    Guadalupe police officers on patrol were fired on by armed suspects aboard a Honda CRV SUV and a Chevrolet Malibu sedan near the intersection of Calle Toltec and Avenida Juarez in the Almaguer colony. The police then pursued the shooters through El Sabino and 20 de Noviembre colonies before ending near the intersection of avenida Juärez and Lazaro Cardenas at a shopping mall.

    The SUV crashed as it turned on Avenida Juarez when the driver attempted to avoid a convoy led by the Guadalupe police chief, and overturned the vehicle. Three of the suspects died at the scene as police gunfire hit them, while the fourth died before medical help could arrive.

    Minutes later the occupants of the Malibu sedan came under police gunfire near the intersection of calles 5 de Mayo and 20 de Noviembre. Gunfire damaged the vehicle, and apparently the suspects managed to escape.

  • On Saturday, Guadalupe police officers came under gunfire near the intersection of avenidas Juarez and Israel Cavazos when armed suspects aboard a van shot at the officers. The driver of the police patrol car crashed the vehicle, injuring one officer. A nearby civilian driving a Ford Focus was hit in the leg by stray gunfire. Unconfirmed reports are that a 10 year old child was wounded by gunfire as well.

    The suspects managed to escape the scene. Police arrested three unidentified individuals suspected by being scouts for drug gangs.

  • A gunfight between Guadalupe municipal police and armed suspects took place Monday night killing two.

  • A shootout between rival gangs Monday in Nuevo Leon has left a toll of at least four dead on the Monterrey-Miguel Aleman highway near General Treviño.
Posted by: badanov || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Mexican Marines bag 14 bad guys, Mexican Army bags 3
For a map, click here. For a map of Tamaulipas, click here. A hat tip to Nota Roja narcoblog for additional details.
A Mexican Naval Infantry unit raided a camp on an island in the Mexican half of Falcon Reservoir in south Texas Sunday afternoon, killing 12 members of the Los Zetas drug and while losing one marine, according to Mexican news accounts.

Mexican naval officials (SEMAR) said the island was used as a staging area to transship marijuana into the US by boat. The island itself is less than four kilometers from the northern Tamaulipas city of Nuevo Ciudad Guerrero.

Reports say marine return fire killed the 12 armed suspects in the raid.

Seized in the aftermath was 19 rifles, one .50 caliber Barrett heavy rifle CDP, a 5.56mm machine gun, weapons magazines, ammunition, ballistic protection vests and tactical gear.

Mexican military units were involved in a number of other counternarcotics actions in Tamaulipas.

  • The day before in Valle Hermosa, Tamaulipas, a Mexican Marine unit on patrol repelled a small arms attack, killing two armed suspects.

    Valle Hermosa is halfway between Reynosa and Matamoros.

    The unit was on patrol near the intersection of calles Emiliano Zapata and Lopez Mateos in the Juan Jose Tamez colony when it came under fire by armed suspects.

    Following the gunfight, marines seized three rifles, two handguns, 893 rounds of ammunition, a grenade, 37 weapons magazines, a stolen vehicle and other gear.

  • A Mexican Army unit patrolling in Reynosa, Tamaulipas killed three armed suspects in an exchange of gunfire Sunday.

    The report said that the patrol, part of the Mexican 8th Military Zone approached a pickup truck with darkened windows near the intersection of calles Monte and Eman in the Expo Fiesta colony when they were fired on by three suspects aboard. Army return fire killed all three.

    Following the gunfight, the unit seized four rifles, one handgun, one grenade, 610 rounds of ammunition, 39 weapons magazines, drugs and miscellaneous equipment.

  • In Altamira, Tamaulipas, Mexican Marines arrested four unidentified individuals and seized two vehicle said to be linked in fighting between rival drug gangs in several locations in the city.

    Marines also found two individuals who had been killed, although in reports it wasn't clear if they were armed suspects or civilians. Marines also seized one 40mm grenade.
Posted by: badanov || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hmm. There appears to be hope. Mexico has Marines of their own.
Posted by: Snakes Slineth5246 || 05/10/2011 23:11 Comments || Top||


Europe
Suspected militants arrested in Paris
FRENCH police have captured seven suspected Islamist militants in raids in Paris and its suburbs, officials say, as France tightens security in the wake of the death of Osama bin Laden.

Six suspects were detained yesterday but the main target of the operation, an Indian national who recently arrived from Algeria, was taken today, according to officials close to the inquiry.

Interior Minister Claude Gueant had said yesterday that France had no concrete evidence of a specific attack being planned, but security forces were in a heightened state of vigilance over the Jihadist threat.

The first arrests were made in Paris in two largely immigrant suburbs: Stains, where searches continued, and Garges-les-Gonesse, officials close to the inquiry told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Indian who was arrested today was "the main target" and had "links with Pakistan", an official said, also on condition he not be identified.
Posted by: tipper || 05/10/2011 08:30 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  More fall-out from the bin Laden stash, or just clearing the decks for action?
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/10/2011 10:13 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
US wants access to bin Laden widows
[Bangla Daily Star] The United States wants access to the late Osama bin Laden's
... who had a brief but splitting headache...
three widows and any intelligence material its commandos left behind at the al-Qaeda leader's compound, a top American official said in comments broadcast Sunday that could add a fresh sticking point in already frayed ties with Pakistain.

Information from the women, who remained in the house after the commandos killed bin Laden, might answer questions about whether Pakistain harbored the al-Qaeda chief as many American officials are speculating. It could also reveal details about the day-to-day life of bin Laden, his actions since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and the inner workings of al-Qaeda.

The women, along with several children also picked up from the house, are believed to be in Mighty Pak Army custody. A Mighty Pak Army official declined to comment Sunday on the request, which US National Security Adviser Tom Donilon revealed on NBC's "Meet the Press."

The CIA and Pakistain's spy agency, known by the acronym ISI, have worked uneasily together in the past on counterterrorism, but the unilateral US raid -- done without Pakistain's advance knowledge -- has exposed the deep mistrust that scars a complicated if vital partnership for both nations.

Even before the May 1 raid, the ISI said it was cutting cooperation with CIA to protest drone strikes close to the Afghan border, among other things. In the current environment, Pakistain could use the fact it has something Washington wants -- bin Laden's widows -- as leverage to reduce some of the pressure it is under.

Bin Laden was found in a large house close to a military academy in the army town of Abbottabad where he had been living for up to six years. His location raised US suspicions that he had help from some Pak authorities, possibly elements of the powerful army and intelligence services.

Donilon said Washington had seen no evidence that the Pak government had been colluding with bin Laden -- the public line taken by most US officials since the raid, including President Barack B.O. Obama in comments also broadcast Sunday.

"But they need to investigate that," Donilon said. "And they need to provide us with intelligence, by the way, from the compound that they've gathered, including access to Osama bin Laden's three wives, whom they have in ... custody."

Donilon also said Pak authorities had collected other evidence from the house which the United States wanted to "work with them on assessing." US commandos managed to seize a large and valuable intelligence haul that included videos, telephone numbers and documents, along with the body of bin Laden, before flying back to Afghanistan, according to US officials.

The Pak government has strongly denied
No, no! Certainly not!
it knew of bin Laden's whereabouts, but Western governments have long regarded Islamabad with suspicion. Its armed forces have historical -- some say ongoing -- links with Islamist bad boys, which they used as proxies in Afghanistan and India.

The allegations of Pak collusion pose an acute problem for the B.O. regime because few can see any alternative but to continue engaging with the country. Unstable and nuclear-armed, it remains integral to the fight against al-Qaeda as well as to American hopes for beginning to draw down troops in Afghanistan later this year.

"We need to act in our national interest," Donilon said. "We have had difficulty with Pakistain, as I said. But we've also had to work very closely with Pakistain in our counter-terror efforts."

The American commandos killed bin Laden and up to four other people, including one of his sons, at the compound.

Pak officials have given little information, some of it conflicting, about the identities of the women and kiddies left behind, including exactly how many there are and what they allegedly have been saying.

One of the wives is Yemeni, Pak officials have said. A copy of her passport, leaked to the local media, identifies her as Amal Ahmed Abdullfattah. She has allegedly told Pak Sherlocks that she moved to the home in 2006 and never left the upper floors of the three-story compound, where bin Laden was living.

She is from the southern Yemeni province of Ibb, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) south of the capital, Sanaa. A family member there has sought a meeting with Pakistain's ambassador to Yemen to ask about her fate and whether she is to return to Yemen. The relative, a cousin named Walid al-Sada, said the ambassador did not know and promised to get back to the family.

Pakistain Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tahmina Janjua said no countries have asked for the return of bin Laden's relatives. The Foreign Ministry in a statement last week said they were being well looked after and will be returned to their countries of origin.

When the Navy SEALs raided bin Laden's compound, they collected computer equipment and videos, including one that showed bin Laden huddled in a blanket and wearing a knit cap while seated on the floor watching television -- an image that contrasts with the bin Laden seen in propaganda videos released over the years, which depicted him as a charismatic religious figure unaffected by the world's scorn.

But many Paks, who are routinely misled by their government and live in a country where television and newspapers report conspiracy theories about the malign intentions of the United States uncritically, don't believe bin Laden has died.

"I think Osama did not die," said Mohammad Khan at a newspaper kiosk in Rawalpindi city. "I don't believe even 1 percent that he was martyred in Abbottabad. The making of a video is not a big thing for America. They can do what they want because they have the latest technology. They can make impossible things seem possible."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  Should have crammed them all into one of the MH-47s to begin with.
Posted by: Zebulon Thranter9685 || 05/10/2011 0:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Actually Bin Laden never existed. It is just like that season of the TV show Dallas that ended up being a dream. The last ten years have just been a bad dream and we are all about to wake up....... I like my conspiracy theory better.
Posted by: darrylq || 05/10/2011 10:49 Comments || Top||

#3  ION PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > OSAMA BIN LADEN'S YEMENI WIDOW [Amal al-Sadah] TO BE REPATRIATED: PAK DIPLOMAT.

Back to Yemen + Parents, Family once post-Raid interrogations are completed.

VERSUS

* SAME > BIN LADEN'S YOUNGEST SON [Hamza]DISAPPEARED DURING RAID, + is seemingly NOT in US-PAK custody although their search continues.

Hamza Bin Laden = "Crown Prince of Terror", i.e. Heir-N-Successor in interest to Big Daddy OBL'S Al-Qaeda, Terror crown. REPOR VOWED REVENGE AGZ US AS A MATTER OF COURSE IFF THE US EVER KILLED OSAMA.

[RISE OF FUTURE MONGOL CHIEF, WARLORD, + EMPEROR TEMUJIN = aka GHENGHIS KHAN here]???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/10/2011 23:56 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Al-Qaeda in Iraq pledges support for al-Zawahri
BAGHDAD— Al-Qaeda’s front group in Iraq reaffirmed its support Monday for the terror network’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, a week after US commandos killed Osama bin Laden. Al-Qaeda has not yet announced a successor and there is some uncertainty about whether al-Zawahri will indeed take over for bin Laden.

In a statement posted on an insurgent website Monday, the Islamic State of Iraq also taunted President Barack Obama as “the rat in the black house” and said he should remain fearful of bin Laden’s promise to threaten the United States.

“The martyrdom of the sheik (bin Laden) will increase the determination and steadfastness among his brotherly mujahideen,” read the statement. “To our brothers in al-Qaida, first among them sheik Ayman al-Zawahri and his brothers in the leadership of the organization, may God reward you and grant you patience for this loss.”

The statement amounts to an official letter of condolence for bin Laden, who was killed in a US strike last week on his compound in northern Pakistan. It was signed by Abu Bakr al-Husseini al-Baghdadi, a pseudonym for the anonymous new leader of al-Qaida’s front group in Iraq.
Can't quite allow himself to be named, can he...
The Egyptian-born al-Zawahri was long bin Laden’s deputy, but has clashed in the past with al-Qaida’s front group in Iraq. Both bin Laden and al-Zawahri urged followers to focus attacks against US and Israeli interests, and sharply condemned the network’s Iraqi wing for targeting Shiite Muslims during the years that Iraq teetered on the brink of civil war.

The new statement did not call for specific attacks on the US but said Obama should be mindful of bin Laden’s 19 operatives who attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

“And now the same fear and terror after his death will hurt you as his legacy, and will be a hard burden on you, spoiling your lives and threatening your security and consuming your economy,” the statement said. “It is the right of Osama bin Laden’s men to fulfill his oath.”

Al-Qaida in Iraq has by and large confined its attacks to its home country. In a second statement Monday, it claimed responsibility for a suicide bomber who last week killed 20 police officers in the Iraqi town of Hillah by ramming the explosives-packed vehicle he was driving into a barricaded security compound.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  She'd look sexier widout the cheek, lip gloss, + prob the beret.

Thats two Qaeda affiliates for AYMAN.

AYMAN 2, AWLAKI 0, OTHER 0 [AFAIK], although Ayman may want to consider donating his points to AwLaki + Other.

To wit,

* PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > [WH NatSecAdv Tom Donilon] US NOW LOOKING FOR ZAWAHIRI.

* SAME > Al-QAEDA IN IRAQ SUPPORTS ZAWAHIRI, VOWS REVENGE.

* SAME > AL-QAEDA GROUP [AQIM = Maghreb] CLAIM BIN LADEN TRIUMPH IN ARAB REVOLTS. Regional Muslims encourages to rise up and fight the "AMERICAN ZIONIST WESTERN UNJUST AGGRESSORS".

Gaawd, anuther long one.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/10/2011 0:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Isn't ISI (not the one in Pakiland) on their third or fourth al-Baghdadi by now?
Posted by: Zebulon Thranter9685 || 05/10/2011 0:56 Comments || Top||

#3  OOOOppsies, forgot BHARAT RAKSHAK > WHITE HOUSE: AL-QAEDA NOT "STRATEGICALLY DEFEATED" WID BIN LADEN DEATH.

Ex-POTUS Dubya's "long war" taint over just becuz the US got Osama - ditto for Radical Islam's jihad.

The strategic strategy of strategeery ....
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/10/2011 0:56 Comments || Top||

#4  Seems to me that the #2 automatically becomes #1 when #1 is offed. That's the point of being #2, isn't it? That Ayman has to beg for support doesn't bode well for him. Neither does the big "Shoot Me" sign on his back.
Posted by: Spot || 05/10/2011 7:53 Comments || Top||

#5  Oy Vey! Ti mir nit kayn toyves. Al-Zawahri
Posted by: JohnQC || 05/10/2011 8:54 Comments || Top||

#6  Seems to me that the #2 automatically becomes #1 when #1 is offed. That's the point of being #2, isn't it?

One would think so, Spot, but most organizations do not have that 'promote from within' culture that armed forces and a few corporations like Procter & Gamble are noted for...which is why so many#2s end up parachuted in as the top guy for another company. Proof that Dr. al Zawahiri ought not be promoted is how much he is struggling now, after only few days at the helm.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/10/2011 10:25 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Thai policeman loses leg in bombing
A bomb attack in Yala province injured two police sergeants and three local residents on Tuesday. The blast amputated Pol Sgt Wutthinan Chan-orn's leg and injured Pol Sgt Homhuan Polcha in the head and left leg, as well as two others local residents. All were rushed to a nearby hospital.

Early police investigations showed that terrorists insurgents hid explosives close to an electricity pole on a road in Muang district and triggered them in order to lure security officers to investigate. The first attack took place at about 1 a.m.

The wounded police were part of the investigative team collecting evidence after the first attack. They were sitting in a bus stop shelter when the second bomb went off.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/10/2011 03:42 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Msia detains Singaporean over militant ties
[Straits Times] MALAYSIAN police are holding a Singaporean under a tough security law on suspicion of channelling funds to an Islamic myrmidon group in the southern Philippines, officials said on Monday.

'Abdul Majid Kunji Mohamad is suspected of funnelling funds and providing logistic (aid) to a myrmidon organisation in southern Philippines,' Ismail Omar, inspector general of police, said in a statement.

'Abdul Majid Kunji Mohamad was jugged because his involvement will endanger Malaysia's security.'

Mr Ismail said Abdul Majid, a businessman who lives in Kuala Lumpur, was tossed in the calaboose May 6 in the capital and is being held under the controversial Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows for indefinite detention without trial.

Malaysia is assisting the Philippines to broker peace with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in an effort to end a bloody secessionist war in the restive but mineral-rich region of Mindanao, in the southern Philippines.

A long-running rebellion in the region has left more than 150,000 people dead.
Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Moro Islamic Liberation Front


Gunmen seize Malaysian businessman in Philippines
[Straits Times] TEN gunnies kidnapped a Malaysian businessman on a troubled southern Philippine island that is a known stronghold of Islamic bully boys, authorities said on Monday.

Mohammad Nasaruddin Bensaidin, 38, was seized from a small town on Jolo island on Saturday, regional police chief Director Felicisimo Khu said.

'The suspects were unidentified and fully armed,' Mr Khu said, adding that an investigation was being conducted by police on Jolo.

Regional military front man Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang described Mr Bensaidin as a businessman from Kuala Lumpur who had been living on the island for a month.

Lt Col Cabangbang said Sherlocks were trying to determine what business Mr Bensaidin was engaged in, although initial investigations showed he claimed to be dealing in lizard trading.

'We do not have any other information about him,' he said.
Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf


Manila police nab Al-Qaeda-linked militant at mall
[Straits Times] POLICE in the Philippines say they have captured a jihad boy with an Al-Qaeda-linked movement in an operation at a Manila shopping centre.
Busted by mall cops? Dewd!
They say they police intelligence unit tossed in the clink Asdatul Sahirun on Sunday at a shopping mall in the capital's Malate tourist district. Sahirun is suspected member of the Philippines' Abu Sayyaf
...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder...
turban movement.

Authorities have been on alert for possible attacks following the late Osama bin Laden's
... who is no longer with us, and won't be again...
killing in Pakistain.

Sahirun has the death sentence on twelve systems been implicated in nine murder cases in southern Basilan province, where Abu Sayyaf operates.

Abu Sayyaf is notorious for bombings, kidnappings and beheadings. It has been blacklisted by Washington as a terrorist organisation. US-backed offensives have hindered its ability to launch attacks.
Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrians protest US interference
[Iran Press TV] Hundreds of Syrians staged a sit-in before the United States embassy in 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...
on Sunday to protest the U.S. intervention in Syria's internal affairs, state SANA news agency reported.

The protesters shouted slogans to refuse the "double standards policy" of the U.S. and said the U.S. intervention would only "strengthen the unity of the Syrian people," according to SANA.

Syria said it has tossed in the clink tens of wanted people in northern Syria and seized large quantities of "sophisticated weapons", adding that its army is still hunting down "armed terrorist groups" across the country, state-run al-Baath daily reported on Sunday.

Syrian Television on Saturday broadcast confessions of a terrorist group that attacked the military families' residences in the town of Saida, Daraa, in April, 29th, with the aim of killing people, stealing weapons and raping women.

Members of the group confessed that they had received money and bought weapons from external sides. They tried to exploit the protests to attack the army and the security forces.

The captured men also confessed to receiving money and weapons from a Saudi man called Saud al-Outaibi, to carry out attacks against army units and security agents.
Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria blames 'armed gangs' for bus ambush
[Al Jazeera] The Syrian government says 10 civilian workers have been killed by an "armed terrorist gang" in a bus ambush near the city of Homs.

The official state news agency carried images of the bus that it said was returning from Leb on Sunday when it was attacked.

The agency quoted a doctor at a hospital in Homs as saying the victims had been shot at close range.

The authorities have blamed armed gangs backed by foreign powers for the violence during Syria's seven-week uprising against the authoritarian rule of president Bashir al-Assad.

But human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
campaigners cast doubt on the incident near Homs, the country's third largest city, where army and security presence is heavy.

They said scores of unarmed protesters, including a 12-year-old child, had been killed by security forces in the city, and that no independent observers were allowed to verify official accounts.

Troops backed by tanks entered residential areas in Homs and Tafas, a town in the south, early on Sunday amid the sound of gunfire, activists said.

Night rally attacked
In the eastern city of Deir al-Zour, a witness said Syrian forces killed at least two unarmed demonstrators on Sunday when they opened fire on a night rally.

"There are two bodies on the ground and no one can reach them. There is still gunfire and people are fleeing the scene," the witness told Rooters from the Old Airport district of the tribal city.

Deir al-Zour, the centre of Syria's oil production, has been witnessing rallies that have attracted up to 4,000 people each night since security forces killed four pro-democracy protesters on Friday, residents said.

Demonstrators earlier tore down a golden statue of Assad's elder brother, Basil, who had been the presumed heir to the former president, Hafez al-Assad.

In the coastal city of Baniyas, two pro-democracy leaders and at least 250 people have been jugged since army units stormed the city on Saturday, a rights organisation said.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sheikh Anas Airout, the preacher at the city's main Rahman mosque, and prominent activist Bassam Sahyouni were seized by security forces.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, the observatory's director, said a 10-year-old boy was also tossed in the slammer in what appeared to be a move designed to punish the child's parents.

'City of ghosts'
"Baniyas is a city of ghosts today, it's empty and totally isolated from the rest of Syria," Ammar Qurabi of Syria's National Organisation for Human Rights said.

"There's a de facto curfew and people are not going out," he said.

Activists said four women were killed on Saturday as they were demonstrating along with 150 others on the main coastal highway from Marqab village, near Baniyas, calling for the release of detainees.

In Deraa, the southern city where the military has been deployed for two weeks to quell unrest, security forces allowed people to come out for few hours on Sunday to buy essentials but then imposed a curfew, according to activists.

Syrian authorities have banned foreign media from reporting from the country. As a result of these restrictions, Al Jizz cannot independently verify these figures.

Meanwhile,
...back at the scene of the crime, Lieutenant Queeg had an idea...
concerns remain for the welfare of Dorothy Parvaz, an Al Jizz journalist, who has not been heard from since she arrived in 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...
, more than a week ago.
Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Did this "armed gang" by any chance have tanks?
Posted by: Zebulon Thranter9685 || 05/10/2011 0:59 Comments || Top||


U.N. Team Blocked from Syria's Daraa as Regime Arrests 'Thousands' in Banias
[An Nahar] Syrian authorities have stopped a U.N. humanitarian team from visiting the protest city of Daraa where hundreds are said to have been killed in a government crackdown, a U.N. front man said Monday.
"The U.N. humanitarian assessment mission has not been able to get into Daraa," U.N. deputy front man Farhan Haq told news hounds.

"We are trying to clarify why it hasn't had access. We are also trying to get access to other areas of Syria," Haq added.

The United Nations
...boodling on the grand scale...
announced last Thursday that Syria had agreed to let a U.N. team into Daraa, after U.N. Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon appealed directly to Syria's President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad.
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...

Ban also urged Assad to cooperate with a U.N. Human Rights Council inquiry into the clampdown on protests and carry out "bold" reforms.

Syrian security forces rounded up thousands of men as they went house to house in a bid to crush an anti-regime protest movement in the coastal city of Banias on Monday, as shots rang out in a 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...
suburb surrounded by troops, activists said.

Protests organizers meanwhile called for a day of solidarity Tuesday with "prisoners of conscience" held in Syrian jails, according to a statement posted on the Syrian Revolution 2011 Facebook page.

Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said water, electricity and telephone lines have been cut off in Banias, on Syria's northwest Mediterranean coast.

"There were house-to-house raids overnight and it continued on Monday morning," Abdul Rahman said, adding that the men were being rounded up for questioning in a stadium based on lists of names.

"Thousands of men, including youths, have been rounded up by the army and security forces ... to be interrogated and they are being beaten. More than 400 are still being held," the activist said.

He denounced the authorities for using brutal force to crush the protests, telling Agence La Belle France Presse: "The military solution is useless in Syria. Things will only be solved when a democratic society emerges."

"Residents hoped that the army would arrest regime supporters who have terrorized Banias but instead the army tossed in the calaboose unarmed residents," he said.

Among those jugged were protest leaders and doctors at a hospital which was encircled by the military, the Syrian Observatory said in a statement on Sunday.

The military said six soldiers, including three officers, were killed in festivities Sunday as the army pursued "armed terrorist groups" in Banias, Homs and the countryside around the southern town of Daraa -- three protest hubs.

Tanks rumbled into several districts of the central industrial city of Homs and deployed along the corniche in Banias overnight Saturday-Sunday, according to activists.

"Banias is cut off from the outside world," one activist said.

Owners of Internet software shops have also been tossed in the calaboose, he said, although detainees aged over 40 had been released.

Hundreds of women have taken to the streets of Banias since early Monday to demand the release of men tossed in the calaboose by security forces and some even charged checkpoints to vent their anger, activists said.

Meanwhile gunfire broke out in the western Damascus suburb of Muadamiya in the morning and telephone lines were cut, an activist said.

"Troops and security forces are circling Muadamiya," said the activist.

A witness confirmed the report, saying the main road to the Damascus suburb had been sealed off. The source of the gunfire could not immediately be determined.

Despite the heavy-handed repression, the Syrian Revolution 2011, a Facebook group that has been a motor of the protests, said "demonstrations will continue every day."

It also called for "a Tuesday of solidarity with prisoners of conscience held in the jails of the criminal Syrian regime."

Embattled President Bashir al-Assad, quoted on Monday in Al-Watan newspaper which is close to the government, vowed to press ahead with reforms and forecast the political crisis in Syria was nearing an end.

"The crisis will pass and end, and the question of administrative, political and press reforms will advance," Assad was quoted as telling a delegation of residents of the main port city of Latakia, north of Banias.

He stressed the need "to consolidate national unity because the nation is the mother of all of us and we need to unite in the face of this plot." Syrian officials claim that "terrorist gangs" and foreign hands are behind the unrest.

The military launched its action in Banias and Homs after ending a 10-day lockdown in which dozens were killed and scores jugged in Daraa.

Rights groups say more than 600 people have been killed and 8,000 tossed in the clink or gone missing in the eight-week crackdown on protesters.

The Committee of the Martyrs of the 15 March Revolution puts the corpse count at 708 while the Observatory says 621 non-combatants were killed and 120 soldiers and security forces.

The United States has warned it would take "additional steps" against Syria if it continues its deadly crackdown while the European Union decided on Friday to impose sanctions on 13 Syrian officials.
Posted by: Fred || 05/10/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Oh boy, oh boy! Does pencilneck going to get it now!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/10/2011 3:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Only Assad and about 3 other people control all the strings of power in Syria. If Israel was on the ball right now, it should take down one or two of the other ones, leaving just pencil neck and one other to duke it out for absolute power.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/10/2011 13:58 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2011-05-10
  U.N. Team Blocked from Syria's Daraa as Regime Arrests 'Thousands' in Banias
Mon 2011-05-09
  Syrian troops, tanks enter Homs, Tafas
Sun 2011-05-08
  Gunfire disrupts pro-Osama rally
Sat 2011-05-07
  Drones kill 17 in North Waziristan
Fri 2011-05-06
  Fidel, Meshaal criticise way Osama was killed
Thu 2011-05-05
  Pakistan warns US not to stage more raids
Wed 2011-05-04
  No release of Bin Laden death pic
Tue 2011-05-03
  US: Pak Compound was Built Specifically for Bin Laden
Mon 2011-05-02
  Osama bin Laden sleeps widda fishes
Sun 2011-05-01
  Osama bin Laden dead
Sat 2011-04-30
  Saif al-Arab Gadhafi Reported Titzup
Fri 2011-04-29
  Blast kills 14 in Marrakesh; suicide bomber suspected
Thu 2011-04-28
  Some Syrian military units appear to be fighting each other.
Wed 2011-04-27
  Yemen's Ruling Party and Opposition To Sign Deal in Riyadh soon
Tue 2011-04-26
  NATO air strike pounds Gaddafi compound

Better than the average link...



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