#2
Other discoveries are that sun is bright and hot up close, water is trending towards wetness, and that the UN will do anything to get an international tax to pump money into their pockets.
[Maghrebia] Libya added al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden to its terrorist watch list, pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Sunday (January 17th). Brigadier General Mohamed al-Ramali, the head of the Libyan General Directorate of Passports and Nationalities, reportedly asked the Libyan intelligence director to add "international fugitive Osama Mohamed Awad Bin Laden, born July 30th, 1957", to the watch list of those entering Libya. "In the event that there is any information about the al-Qaeda leader, this should be referred to Arab and International police forces," al-Ramali wrote. The move reportedly aims at facilitating Bin Laden's arrest by Interpol.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2010 00:00 ||
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SATKHIRA, Jan 18(BSS): The Special Tribunal-1 for the trial of the BDR mutineers of Satkhira, after 40 days of its adjournment, today framed charges against 60 accused of their involvement in the mutiny.
The trial started at 10.25 am with Chairman of the tribunal Director General (DG) of BDR Major General Moinul Islam in the chair where all the 60 accused BDR members were produced.
The court was adjourned about 40 days back after two days of functioning on December 7 and 8. The other members of the trial are-Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Mohammad Khasruzzaman, Lieutenant Colonel Kazi Khalid Hossain and Major Lutful Karim. Advocate Mosharraf Hossain Kajol and Shahidur Rahman pleaded as Public Prosecutors (PP) while Commanding Officer (CO) of 7th Battalion Lieutenant Colonel Badrul Alam moved the case as prosecutor.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/19/2010 00:00 ||
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The program to build a huge mosque next to London's Olympic site was brought to an end by Newham council yesterday.
The Mosque was meant to provide accommodation for 12,000 worshipers and would have been the largest Muslim place of worship of Europe. The council may also impose a compulsory purchase of the land, since a provisional mosque has been unlawfully operating there for three years.
The project was supported by Tablighi Jamaat, who have 80 million followers across the world. Tablighi Jamaat is a proselytising organization that adopts a strict interpretation of Islam. Despite the fact they have denied partaking in terrorist activities, intelligence agencies have recognized links between this group and British terrorists.
Newham Council's decision was highly criticized by the Muslim Council of Britain who condemned the expulsion and described the ruling as "unfounded hostility and hysteria".
However, others that had been calling for a stop to the project saw their efforts pay off yesterday. The local community and Christian religious groups have actively opposed the plan since 2007. A petition including over 48,000 signatures was presented to the Government against the project. Several Muslim groups have also supported the Council's decision and efforts to counter youth radicalisation. They declared that a mosque should be the result of a "community effort" rather than the project of one group.
The Government is secretly supporting an attempt by UK-based Islamists to have their names removed from an international terror blacklist
The seven men were placed on the United Nations list because they were suspected of having links with al-Qaeda and the Taliban. As a result they have been barred from leaving Britain and their assets have been frozen by the Bank of England and HM Treasury. They include individuals who were:
* convicted of involvement in the 2003 Casablanca bombings and of possessing terrorist documents in the UK,
* accused of assisting the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa and of being an associate of Osama bin Laden,
* found guilty by a military court of plotting terror attacks.
But an attempt by the men to have their names removed from the UN list has now won the backing of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
The British Foreign Office have always had a thing for romantic Arab types. I imagine it drove Mr. Churchill mad when he was prime minister.
The FCO has insisted that it is acting because it has reviewed the men's cases and does not think they are dangerous. However, sources in Washington said the move by the British Government risked worsening relations between the US and UK at a time of heightened concern over security. The men are also named as suspected Islamist extremists on a US Treasury list barring them from travel to the United States.
Washington is unlikely to relish the prospect of removing a number of men classed as terror suspects by the UN from its own watch lists, or of having to unblock any financial assets the men may have in the States, as a result of diplomatic pressure by Britain. A US terrorism expert who has advised the American government said: "This action by the UK government will not go down well with the administration in Washington."
The individuals were placed on the UN list as the result of requests by their countries of origin, who claim to have identified them on the basis of secret intelligence or as a result of criminal investigations. However the men, who regard themselves as political dissidents, deny having links to terror groups and claim they were named in an attempt to discredit their opposition activities.
The FCO confirmed that following its own investigations it has submitted a request with the United Nations's sanctions committee for the men to be removed from the list and no longer to be subject to Terrorism (United Nations Measures) Order 2006 or the al-Qaeda and Taliban (United Nations Measures) Order 2006. The committee will have to agree unanimously for this to happen. A spokesman for the FCO said: "We have applied for these men to be delisted. A review of their designation has concluded they do not meet the criteria and are not associates of al-Qaeda and the Taliban."
That's a suspiciously narrow definition. What about Al Qaeda associate organizations like Lashkar-e-Taiba, or some of the others Fred listed yesterday?
The spokesman added: "We've submitted a delisting request with the sanctions committee of the UN, where we will be presenting our evidence, including intelligence-based evidence, to show these men should no longer be regarded as dangerous or as associates of al-Qaeda or the Taliban. We hope that if they come off the UN list they will also be taken off the US's own list."
At the same time the men -- who cannot be named for legal reasons --have taken HM Treasury to court in a bid to have the Terrorism Orders freezing their assets revoked. In a number of cases currently before the UK Supreme Court the men are seeking to have the orders, issued by the Treasury on behalf of the UN, ruled unlawful on the grounds that they "restrict fundamental human rights without the express authorisation of Parliament".
Among the men backed by the Foreign Office is a doctor who fled to London in the 1990s and became involved with a group opposed to one of the regimes in the Middle East. He is accused by the US Treasury of providing assistance to the al-Qaeda bombers who destroyed the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing more than 230 people, and of being an associate of Osama bin Laden. Both his and his group's assets have since been frozen. He denies the accusations and says his group is committed to peaceful means.
Let's start with a definition of peaceful, and move on to what the group has been applying their peaceful means.
Another has been living in Britain since the mid-1990s after a court in his country of origin convicted him in his absence of planning terrorist attacks.
A number of individuals linked with a group opposed to the regime of Colonel Gaddafi, are also being supported by the FCO in their attempts to be removed from the UN list. The group is accused by the UN of links to al-Qaeda and involvement in the Casablanca bombings in 2003 and the 2004 Madrid train bombings. They include one who was convicted by a Moroccan court of involvement in the Casablanca bombings, which killed over 40 people and injured another 100. He also pleaded guilty in a UK court to possessing documents likely to be useful in preparing an act of terrorism. Another was described by the US Treasury as key financier for the group.
Didn't Laurence of Arabia do things like that?
However, one of the group on the UN list said: "The only reason we are on UN and US lists is because the Libyan government has wrongly alleged to the UN that we are terrorists. But we have never made any threat against either the UK or the US. We do not have any links with al-Qaeda."
The list also names a man in his 50s, wanted by Interpol after being accused of raising funds for terror groups linked to Osama bin Laden. The man's solicitor said he denied the accusations.
Critics of the system of Terrorism Orders have condemned the fact they were introduced by the Government through 'orders in council' rather than by legislation debated in Parliament. Further, they claim the UN is forcing the UK authorities to impose draconian restrictions on individuals.
Eric Metcalfe, of the legal reform group Justice, said: "Of course it's right we take measures against people who finance or assist terrorists, but this should be done through prosecutions in the criminal courts. As it is individuals are being listed as associates of al-Qaeda or the Taliban on suspicion alone, with no opportunity to clear their name. In some cases the UK government doesn't even have access to the information used to justify their inclusion on the list."
But Mr Simcox said: "One of the men that the FCO is trying to defend is a convicted terrorist here in the UK and has been convicted abroad for his involvement in the slaughter of over 40 Moroccan civilians. Another is the former leader of a Jihad group which is now part of al-Qaeda, and who celebrated the 7/7 bombings. The UK should be concentrating on cracking down on all Jihadi outfits, rather than focusing its attention on defending convicted terrorists."
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will give his highly anticipated testimony to an inquiry into the Iraq war next week, the panel said on Monday.
Give 'em hell, Tony ...
Blair, whose popularity was hurt by his decision to have Britain join the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, will face several hours of questioning at the five-person tribunal Jan. 29,' the Washington Post said.
The inquiry was commissioned by Blair's successor as prime minister, Gordon Brown. It is examining the case made to Parliament and the public to join the war, along with errors in planning.
Blair is likely to be questioned about his government's use of intelligence that was later found to be flawed, and about accusations that he offered President George W. Bush backing for an invasion as early as April 2002 - a year before legislators approved Britain's involvement,' the newspaper noted.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/19/2010 00:00 ||
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SEOUL, Jan. 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korea reaffirmed its stance Monday that it will not return to international negotiations on its nuclear arms programs unless sanctions on it are removed.
The statement by an unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesperson came less than a week after the U.S. said the removal of sanctions can only be considered after the North returns to the six-nation talks that also group South Korea, Japan, China and Russia.
If North Korea "goes out for the six-party talks, remaining subjected to the sanctions, such talks will not prove to be equal," it said in the statement carried by its official Korean Central News Agency, pledging it will "never allow this to happen."
North Korea, which last week proposed talks on formally ending the 1950-53 Korean War, also reiterated its demand that they be started to help move forward the six-party talks. "There will be a starting point of confidence building only if the parties concerned sit at a negotiating table for concluding a peace treaty," it said.
It added that a peace treaty to formally close the war that involved the U.S. on the South Korean side and China on the North Korean side will help "put an end to such vicious cycle of distrust and build confidence to push forward denuclearization."
North Korea "is not opposed to the six-party talks and has no ground whatsoever to delay them," it said. The country had declared the talks "dead" after it drew U.N. condemnation for its rocket launch seen as a test of ballistic missile technology in April last year. North Korea conducted its second nuclear test less than two weeks later.
Defending its rocket launch as an act of sovereignty, North Korea said it is "nonsensical" to "sit at the negotiating table with those countries that violate its sovereignty."
"Such extreme encroachment upon the sovereignty of a country" has compelled the North to go ahead with its nuclear test, it said. "If the six-party talks are to take place again, it is necessary to seek whatever way of removing the factor of torpedoing them."
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/19/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
IOW, we give up our best bargaining chip in return for the 'favor' of talks.
London - After nearly 30 years behind bars, the Turkish man who tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II walked out of a prison a free man Monday and promptly predicted the end of the world. Now a gray-haired 51-year-old, Mehmet Ali Agca declared himself the "Christ eternal" and prophesied that humanity would be wiped out this century, in a statement passed out to a scrum of television cameras and waiting reporters in Ankara, the Turkish capital.
Later, the hollow-cheeked Agca, who has spent more of his life in prison than out, was declared mentally disturbed by doctors who exempted him from mandatory military service, the Associated Press reported.
Agca shot John Paul several times on May 13, 1981, as the pontiff waved at followers while riding in his open-backed popemobile through St. Peter's Square in Rome. Bystanders screamed in horror as the pope was whisked away with serious wounds to his hand, arm and abdomen. Agca was caught at the scene, convicted and sent to an Italian prison, where he remained for 19 years. But his motives for the shooting have remained opaque, clouded by his own contradictory statements, and it is still unclear whether he acted on his own or whether the attack was plotted by others.
Allegations persist that Agca's assassination attempt was commissioned by Soviet intelligence, acting through Bulgarian agents, to remove John Paul because of his support for the anti-Communist Solidarity movement in the pontiff's native Poland. An Italian parliamentary panel concluded in 2006 that the Soviet Union, which collapsed in 1991, was responsible. Moscow denies any involvement.
Agca has said he would speak about the attack after leaving prison and that he would entertain book and movie offers. Upon his release Monday, he also vowed to write a new and perfect Gospel, telling reporters that the one in the Bible was flawed. He also proclaimed that "all the world will be destroyed [and] every human being will die" by century's end.
In 1983, John Paul visited his would-be killer and bestowed his forgiveness.
In 2000, the Italian president issued an official pardon for Agca. That cleared the way for his extradition to Turkey to serve out a sentence for the murder of a left-wing journalist, Abdi Ipekci, in 1979. Agca, an alleged sympathizer of a far-right movement called the Gray Wolves, had escaped from prison less than six months into his sentence for Ipekci's killing.
Agca has expressed a desire to travel to Rome to pay tribute to John Paul, who died in 2005.
"If Ali Agca wants to come and pray at John Paul II's tomb, I fully agree," Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, told Italian television Monday, according to Italy's ANSA news agency.
"Let's not forget that . . . the first to forgive him was John Paul II," Turkson said. But, he added, Agca "would have to be accompanied to the Vatican by a large number of security officers -- that has to be clear."
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/19/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
man who tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II walked out of a prison a free man Monday and promptly predicted the end of the world.
I can easily see the end of HIS world
Millions of Catholics want him DEAD.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/19/2010 12:18 Comments ||
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#2
I'm not a catholic. But maybe we should have a pool on how many days til he's found in four different alleys or become one with the pavement?
The architect of an Al Qaeda-inspired terror plot to cripple Canada's economy and unleash mass carnage by blowing up buildings in downtown Toronto has been sentenced to life in prison.
"The potential for loss of life existed on a scale never before seen in Canada," said Justice Bruce Durno, while sentencing Zakaria Amara, one of the linchpins of the Toronto 18 terror cell and mastermind of a "spine-chilling" plot. "Had the plan been implemented, it would've changed the lives of many, if not all Canadians, forever," Durno told the Brampton court, saying this is one of those "rarest of cases" where the maximum sentence is appropriate, even for a young first offender.
The sentence is the stiffest ever given under the Anti-Terrorism Act, which was introduced after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S. The 24-year-old Mississauga man will be eligible for parole in six years and three months. If he is ever granted parole, he will be subject to a lifetime of monitoring.
At a hearing last week, Amara told the court he was sorry and deserved nothing less than "absolute contempt" from the Canadian people, whose trust he vowed to regain. "I just want to reassure you that whatever promises I made, I will still try my best," said Amara, as his wife, mother and sister looked on from the body of the court.
Among other things, Amara confessed to leading a terrorist training camp, researching ways to build a bomb, ordering the necessary chemicals and building a remote-controlled detonator. He planned to detonate three one-tonne truck bombs, made with ammonium nitrate, outside the Toronto Stock Exchange, the Front St. offices of Canada's spy agency and a military base off Highway 401. To maximize casualties, he wanted to place metal chips in the bombs and detonate them at 9 a.m., when the downtown would be bustling.
"There can be no legitimate suggestion that this was not the real thing," said Durno. "This was not a group of amateurs whose efforts were inevitably doomed to failure."
Amara was among 18 people charged in the summer of 2006 after a complex investigation that involved numerous police and intelligence agencies, both domestic and international. In October, he pleaded guilty to participating in the activity of a terrorist group and intending to cause an explosion that was likely to cause serious harm or death.
Amara was one of the leaders at a December 2005 training camp in Washago, Ont., where recruits listened to jihadi speeches and took up firearms training with a gun that he supplied. He had photos and maps of Parliament with him and sought approval or support from the Mujahideen overseas. In the spring of 2006, he meticulously planned a deadly plot, hoping it would prompt Canadian military forces to withdraw from Afghanistan.
Amara's role as the "directing mind of a plot that would have resulted in the most horrific crime Canada has ever seen" is why he was given a harsher sentence than a co-accused, Saad Gaya, also sentenced by Durno on Monday. The Oakville man, who also pleaded guilty to the bomb plot, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. But with credit for pre-trial custody, Gaya will serve another 4 1/2 years. He could be eligible for full parole after serving one third of his sentence, or about 18 months. Durno noted Gaya, 22, "was not the prime mover" in the group.
#1
eligible for parole in six years and three months
Nothing conveys the seriousness mass murder as religous war, wiping out the political leadership of your nation and crippling the economy like eligible for parole in six years and three months.
Posted by: ed ||
01/19/2010 8:10 Comments ||
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#2
on the CNN crawl this morning it said "alleged ringleader gets life sentence." Um, if you get sentenced, should you really drop the "alleged" part of it?
#3
The Oakville man, who also pleaded guilty to the bomb plot, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. But with credit for pre-trial custody, Gaya will serve another 4 1/2 years. He could be eligible for full parole after serving one third of his sentence, or about 18 months.
18 months. That's it. And the ringleader gets a lifetime sentence of... 6 years more or less. Pays to base your islamist terrorists in Canada, don't it? You'd think such light sentences for the group would indicate the judge believes there was no harm, no foul. Believes that the charges were unwarranted.
But no... "The potential for loss of life existed on a scale never before seen in Canada," said Justice Bruce Durno, while sentencing Zakaria Amara, one of the linchpins of the Toronto 18 terror cell and mastermind of a "spine-chilling" plot. "Had the plan been implemented, it would've changed the lives of many, if not all Canadians, forever," Durno told the Brampton court, saying this is one of those "rarest of cases" where the maximum sentence is appropriate, even for a young first offender.
I can only conclude that Durno supports terrorism against Canadians. At the least, the message he's sent to terrorists is that they will be protected from any harsh sentence. In fact, a "life" term of 6 odd years for the ringleader with a fully operational attack ready to go and 18 months for the co-conspirators would seem to beckon future jihadis to Canada.
#4
I can only conclude that Durno supports terrorism against Canadians.
Or this is the harshest sentance he can impose under Canadian law.
To the 'burgers of the Great White North:
What does "life sentence" mean in Canada?
I know in Germany a life sentence means ten years.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
01/19/2010 11:59 Comments ||
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#5
Life sentence in Canada is minimum to serve before parole eligibility- 10-25 years. There is no maximum limit on a life sentence.
Prior to Durno's appontment as judge, he served as a crimianl defense lawyer. And continues to serve criminals rather than the law with his light sentences on the most heinous of crimes.
#6
Let me point out to you that once this dude gets inside a Canadian Federal prison he'll have to put up with the . . . . others who are incarcerated therein. A vast majority of the others (really bad dudes) are of the cultural variety who have lived in Canada for a very, very long time before the wheel -if you catch my drift, and they will give him an extremely bad time. All the time. Not only will he have to deal with the native gangs but, even worse, he'll also have to listen to Country music all day every day.
He'll wish he were not there. Every day that he lives will seem as long as a lifetime. No relief from the pressure. None.
I must go and talk to some friends who have friends whose relatives are on the inside looking out. Maybe they can arrange a "Welcome" party for him. "Allan's Snackbar!!!!!!!!"
Southers said: Some people might argue that U.S. foreign policy exacerbates terrorism. Our enemy, if you will(emphasis added, UP), uses our foreign policy to suggest that, in the case of Islam, that this is a war against their religion, and given media networks overseas such as Al-Jazeera and others, they use what we do to suggest that this is a holy war.'
#1
Sounds like a defeatist, a pessimist, a whiner. Instead of a guy who looks for excuses to explain why we can't win, I want a guy who looks for ways that we can.
#2
Where the hell does Bumbles find these clowns? First we have someone who advocates Pedophilia as the 'safe school czar' and now a surrender-monkey as a TSA nominee...
[Dawn] Five Americans held in Pakistan on suspicion of using the Internet to contact militants said on Monday they had been tortured as police asked a court to indict them on terrorism charges. The students, in their 20s and from the US state of Virginia, were detained last month. Police produced them before an anti-terrorism court on Monday after completing their interrogation.
"We are being tortured, we are being tortured," several of the men shouted in English from a prison van as it left a court in Sargodha town in eastern Pakistan after their hearing, which took place under tight security.
Jehangir Sarwar, a senior lawyer present in the courtroom, quoted one of the five men as complaining of "police excesses".
Sarwar, who was in the court as an observer and was not representing anyone, did not say which of the five men made the remark, while police officials denied that mistreatment was raised during the brief hearing.
"None of the five men said anything of the sort in the court. As far as I know, one of these men had a stomach problem," said Aamir Abbas, a local police official who worked on the case.
A police officer involved in the case, Amir Abbas Shirazi, dismissed the accusation. "One of them just complained to the court about a stomach problem and said he needed some medicine," Abbas told reporters.
Bet his stomach felt better after a dose of night-stick ...
The five Americans, one of them wrapped in a shawl and another wearing a woolen cap, were brought to the court in handcuffs. Police did not allow reporters into the hearing. They face lengthy prison terms if found guilty.
Shirazi said police had submitted their interrogation report, including a chargesheet and evidence, and asked the court to indict the suspects under anti-terrorism laws and for violating the penal code.
"These clauses relate to involvement in activities of terrorism and subversion in Pakistan or any of its allies," Shirazi said.
The men were arrested in the central city of Sargodha, home to one of Pakistan's biggest air bases, 190 km (120 miles) southeast of the Pakistani capital Islamabad, not long after arriving in Pakistan. Two of them are of Pakistani ancestry, one of Egyptian, one of Yemeni and one of Eritrean.
Police officials said emails showed the suspects had contacted the Taliban, and that the militant group had planned to use them for attacks in Pakistan. Police also had told court the five men had been in contact with an al Qaeda operative identified as just Saifullah.
The suspects told the court in their last hearing on Jan. 4 that they had no plans to carry out attacks in Pakistan and they had only wanted to give fellow Muslims in Afghanistan financial and medical aid. They also denied that they had contacts with al Qaeda or any other militant group, according to their lawyer.
A police investigation report showed pictures of a clip of a suicide attack on a US convoy in Kabul posted on the YouTube website.
Police said one of the suspects, Ahmed Abdullah Minni, regularly visited the site and used to praise such videos. Shortly after Minni became a registered YouTube user, he was contacted by Saifullah, police said in the report.
This article starring:
Ahmed Abdullah Minni
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
YouTube takes them down. Fitting, these goons probably thought the whole adventure was going to be like the "bestest" FPS computer game ever. Now that they've tasted the real world, bet they wish they'd stuck to Grand Theft Auto.
TEHRAN - Iranian and Iraqi commanders expressed hope after a meeting on Monday the two neigbours would resolve misunderstandings' over their joint border, Iranian media reported.
Earlier this month the two countries' foreign ministers said Tehran and Baghdad had begun talks, after a small contingent of Iranian troops moved into an oilfield inside Iraqi territory in December and Iraq vowed it would not give up an inch of land. The dispute is over an inactive oil well in a sensitive area along the nearly 1,500-km (900-mile) joint border.
The seizure of the well, which Iraq claims as part of its Fakka oilfield in southeastern Maysan province, triggered protests from Baghdad and jitters on world oil markets. Tehran called the incident a misunderstanding'.
Iranian state broadcaster IRIB said Brigadier-General Hossein Zolfaqari, who headed Iran's delegation at Monday's meeting of senior border guard officials, said it was important to have close cooperation between the two countries. After talks in the Iranian border town of Qasr-e Shirin, he expressed hope that existing misunderstandings' would be resolved through the implementation of border agreements dating back to 1975, IRIB said, without giving details.
Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency quoted the head of Iraq's delegation as saying problems and misunderstandings in the marine and land sections' of the border must be resolved quickly. It gave his name as Brigadier General Mohsen Abdolhossein. The resolution of border issues would help bring the expansion of ties into a new phase', he said, according to Fars.
The Iranian media reports did not say whether the two sides reached any concrete agreements at Monday's meeting.
Iraqi officials said in December a dozen Iranian soldiers had moved 100 metres into Iraqi territory and raised the Iranian flag over the disputed well. Iraq later said the Iranians had moved away from the well but were still on Iraqi soil. The well was drilled in 1979 and provided about 3,000 barrels a day at the time, but has been inactive since 1980 due to the war between the two countries in the 1980s.
Fakka is part of the Maysan oilfield complex, which has reserves of about 2.5 billion barrels. Iraq tried unsuccessfully to auction it off to foreign oil firms last year.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/19/2010 00:00 ||
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BASRA / Aswat al-Iraq: U.S. troops handed over the runway of the Basra airport to the Iraqi authorities, the airport's director said on Monday.
U.S. troops handed over the runway to the Iraqi authorities, which is the last part of transferring the entire airport to the Iraqi civilian authorities,' Abulamir Mattar told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. Receiving the runway comes within the security agreement signed with the U.S.,' he added.
Basra is 590 km south of Baghdad.
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01/19/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Amnesty International on Monday accused Israel of "collectively punishing" the population of the Gaza Strip with border closures tightened after the Islamist Hamas movement's bloody 2007 takeover.
They're just punishing the 99% of Gazooks who partake in the attacks on Israel. Real shame about the other 1% though ...
"The blockade constitutes collective punishment under international law and must be lifted immediately," Amnesty said.
The British-based rights group said the firing of rockets by Palestinians -- which the Israeli military says has dropped by about 90 percent since its offensive in Gaza last year -- did not justify the sanctions.
"The blockade does not target armed groups but rather punishes Gaza's entire population by restricting the entry of food, medical supplies, educational equipment and building materials," said Malcolm Smart, the group's Middle East and North Africa director, in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
TOPIX > ISRAEL TO HOLD HUGE MILITARY EXERCISE NEAR LEBANON BORDER.
and
FREEREPUBLIC > US OFFICIAL: ARMING OF HEZBOLLAH
COULD SPARK ISRAEL-SYRIA WAR.
[Ma'an] Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi, chief Islamic judge for the Palestinian Authority, warned that the Al-Aqsa Mosque suffers from cracks and fissures in the walls, a sign of its impending collapse, as a result of Israeli excavations below it, he said on Monday.
Sheikh Tamimi further warned that houses in the surround neighborhood are at risk resulting from the Israeli Antiquities Authority working a night and removing dozens of bags with stones from the excavation site south of the mosque.
He further spoke of the rise in extremist Jewish, as well as military intrusion into the compound, including the entry of 50 students from various departments of archeology in Israeli universities to undertake research and of settlers while women prayed, he said.
The Sheikh held the Israeli government responsible for the collapses and deterioration around the Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surrounding environs and cautioned that Islamic and Christian sites are in jeopardy.
Sheikh Tamimi further called on Arabs and Muslims throughout the world to assist in halting the on-going Israeli excavations near the holy site.
His comments follow the another collapse in the Silwan neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem on Monday, creating a 12 meter square hole in the middle of Wadi Hilwah street.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2010 00:00 ||
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#4
Does Sheiky mean these excavations? Or is this an experiment to answer the age old question: is hypocrisy stronger than gravity?
Posted by: ed ||
01/19/2010 6:59 Comments ||
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#5
Ironic - excavation of a Jewish Temple UNDERNEATH a mosque in a land the Muslims say they, and not the Jews, have a right to. Seems like the Israelis could just bulldoze the mosque to get at the underlying temple ruins.
#6
I remember when the muslims were excavating the Jewish temple, Israeli archaeologists sifted through the hundreds of dump truck loads of dirt for artifacts. They found that muslims had gone through the fill first and smashed into tiny pieces all the pre-islamic artifacts in keeping with muslim ubermenschen lore that nothing worthwhile existed before Mo and his band of merry bandits.
Posted by: ed ||
01/19/2010 7:40 Comments ||
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#7
It was the mooselimbs trying to dig out and destroy the walls of the first temple that is under their upside down toilet bowl that will cause the thing to collapse.
[Ma'an] Fatah leader and Palestine Legislative Council deputy Muhammad Dahlan has refused to enter Gaza while it remains under Hamas' control, he said on Monday.
Dahlan accused the Islamist movement of exploiting his mother's death for political gains by inviting him to participate in her funeral.
He would have to make a formal request to enter Gaza with the de facto government and enter in the custody of Hamas.
"[I] do not want to provoke events or confrontations, or injury to members of Fatah who may be abused, as was the case during the commemoration ceremony for Yasser Arafat when more than 10 Palestinians were killed and a hundred injured," Dahlan's statement read.
"Despite this great sadness that arises from not participating in the funeral, I will not enter Gaza until Palestinian legitimacy is restored."
Dahlan thanked the people of Gaza for expressing their condolences for his loss and for those who participated in the funeral.
Siriya Dahlan passed away on Sunday in Khan Younis, diagnosed with renal failure six months prior.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2010 00:00 ||
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Former Palestinian Authority security commander Muhammad Dahlan has rejected an offer from Hamas to enter the Gaza Strip to attend the funeral of his mother, who died over the weekend. Dahlan's 80-year-old mother, Suraya, lived in his hometown of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. She and most members of Dahlan's clan did not flee the Gaza Strip after the Hamas takeover in the summer of 2007.
Dahlan, who has since been shuttling between Ramallah and Cairo, has not entered the Gaza Strip since the surrender of the PA security forces to Hamas. Hamas claimed then that Dahlan was involved in a US-led conspiracy to overthrow its government and that he had helped Israel assassinate some of the Islamist movement's top leaders.
Shortly after the death of his mother, the Hamas government announced that it would permit Dahlan to enter the Gaza Strip for "humanitarian reasons," provided that he would not exploit the visit for "factional or propaganda purposes."
Following the announcement, several Palestinians in the Gaza Strip whose sons were allegedly killed by Dahlan loyalists over the past few years called for the arrest of the former security chief. Others threatened to harm Dahlan physically if he entered the Gaza Strip.
They just want him to join his mother. For the funeral. They can do a double.
PA security sources in Ramallah said that Israel and the US had advised Dahlan against traveling to the Gaza Strip out of concern for his safety.
Dahlan said on Monday that he had rejected the offer to attend his mother's funeral because he didn't want to visit the Gaza Strip while it was still under the control of Hamas. He explained that he had decided not to go because he did not wish to spark "clashes and confrontations that would hurt Fatah members."
This article starring:
Muhammad Dahlan
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/19/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Herb Tarlick Moe's not stoopid, or sentimental. Ma would appreciate that
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/19/2010 8:48 Comments ||
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THE family of alleged Bali bombing mastermind Hambali said they were relieved by the news he may soon face trial in the United States.
Hambali, also known as Riduan Isamuddin, is accused of being the main linkman between al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiah, the terrorist group blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
He was captured in Thailand in 2003 and has been detained by the US at the Guantanamo Bay prison, in Cuba, since 2006.
The Obama administration is reportedly considering trying Hambali in Washington as it proceeds with plans to close the controversial prison.
Hambali's family in West Java have welcomed the end to years of uncertainty about his fate, despite their fears a US trial may lead to his execution.
"Thank God if there can be certainty for my brother," Hambali's younger brother Kankan Abdul Qadir told the Jakarta Globe newspaper.
"Our mother, Mariyani, also continues to pray for my brother."
Kankan said the family wanted the Indonesian Government to help them travel to Washington and get US approval to meet with Hambali.
Hambali has not seen his family for more than a decade but he has sent them letters since his detention at Guantanamo Bay.
Syria's foremost Muslim leader declared on Tuesday that Islam commands its followers to protect Judaism, according to Army Radio.
"If the Prophet Mohammed had asked me to deem Christians or Jews heretics, I would have deemed Mohammed himself a heretic," Sheikh Ahmed Hassoun, the Mufti of Syria, was quoted as telling a delegation of American academics visiting Damascus.
Ah. Said all this in English I bet. What does he say in Arabic?
Hassoun, the leader of Syria's majority Sunni Muslim community, also told the delegates that Islam was a religion of peace, adding: "If Mohammed had commanded us to kill people, I would have told him he was not a prophet."
Religious wars were the result of politics infiltrating systems of faith, he said, asking:
"Was Moses of Middle Eastern or European descent? Was Jesus a Protestant or a Catholic? Was Mohammed Shi'ite or Sunni?"
According to the Mufti, the conflict between Israel and its Arabs neighbors has nothing to do with an Islamic war against Judaism.
"Before you got American citizenship, and I got Syrian citizenship, we were all brothers under the dome of God," he said.
Jews had once lived in Syria peacefully and with fair treatment, he added, explaining that his own grandfather had a Jewish partner. "Jews lived in Syria for years and they still have a role in Syrian society," he said. Syria is ruled by Alawite Shiites. The vast majority of Syrians are Sunnis.
#1
As long as Jooooos stay in their proper place, pay the Jizya, bow to Muslims, are patients when Muslim boys throw stones at them and smile when a Muslim invites himself to have coofee at their house and just walks away with their daughter.
Jews had once lived in Syria peacefully and with fair treatment
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/19/2010 14:14 Comments ||
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#3
I will give him a little credit for saying something that surely takes some degree of moral courage in a hotbed of Arab nationalism like Syria. And on a purely theological basis, I think he is probably correct. Less than a thousand years ago many Jews were forced to flee Christian lands for protection in Muslim kingdoms.
While Western powers have looked to further sanctions against Iran over its rejection of a U.N. plan to rein in Tehran's nuclear ambitions, Russia and now especially China have resisted such steps and called for more negotiations.
Envoys from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China met in New York at the weekend to discuss the standoff. The Chinese delegate at those talks reiterated Beijing's position that it does not back further sanctions against Iran for now.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu reinforced that stance on Tuesday, avoiding even using the word "sanctions" in replying to reporters' questions about the meeting.
"Our consistent proposal has been to resolve the Iran nuclear issue appropriately through dialogue and consultation," Ma told a regular news briefing.
"We hope all sides will enhance dialogue and cooperation, and show a more flexible and pragmatic approach," he said.
Some Western diplomats said the New York meeting showed a shared commitment to a "dual track" of dialogue and sanctions in dealing with Iran.
But Ma's comments underscored Beijing's reluctance to contemplate fresh sanctions against Iran, which was China's third biggest source of imported crude oil in the first 11 months of 2009, behind Saudi Arabia and Angola.
China keeps other extensive trade and investment ties with Iran.
As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, China can veto any potential resolution to censure Iran or ratchet up sanctions.
Western powers fear Iran is developing the means to make nuclear weapons, which Iran denies.
"The urgent task now is for all sides to pay attention to the broader picture and step up diplomatic efforts," said Ma.
He said the New York "P5 plus 1" meeting "did not touch on specific next steps" over Iran.
China also dismayed other delegations by sending a mid-ranking diplomat from its U.N. mission to the New York meeting, which had been billed as a gathering of top-level diplomats known as "political directors."
China has said it could not send its Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei because of scheduling conflicts.
But diplomats from other countries read the move as a snub, speculating it might be to show Beijing's resistance to punishing Iran or ire at U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, which China claims sovereignty over since their split in 1949.
#3
Give up on Iran. Knock out its government and the nuke sites and let them start over. Rinse and repeat as necessary until they get a government who will work with the international community.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Corruption costs Afghans $2.5 billion a year, a United Nations agency said on Tuesday, with the scale of bribery matching Afghanistan's opium trade.
SEOUL, Jan. 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korea reaffirmed its stance Monday that it will not return to international negotiations on its nuclear arms programs unless sanctions on it are removed.
London - After nearly 30 years behind bars, the Turkish man who tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II walked out of a prison a free man Monday and promptly predicted the end of the world. Now a gray-haired 51-year-old, 
The architect of an Al Qaeda-inspired terror plot to cripple Canada's economy and unleash mass carnage by blowing up buildings in downtown Toronto has been sentenced to life in prison.
Former Palestinian Authority security commander 
