[MAGHAREBIA] Two recent sermons delivered by religious leaders in Mali are highlighting how beturbanned goons fighting in the country fail to understand the true teachings of Islam.
In the first document, published February 25th by the group president Mahmud Fode Cisse, the Malian League of Imams and Scholars for Islamic Solidarity (LIMAMA), criticise the radical terrorist groups' interpretation of jihad.
"We all know the calamities that have befallen our country for more than one year through groups that carried weapons and occupied a part of our country, killing people, destroying properties, and displacing thousands both to neighbouring countries and within our country".
"The thing that has further complicated the severity of this sedition is the claim of some of these groups that they have come to apply the Islamic Sharia and that what they are doing is jihad for the cause of God. This claim has appealed to some of the people, while some Moslems in the Islamic world were confused and thought that these groups were right while in fact they were wrong," the statement said.
The document, which was issued by Mali's scholars under the umbrella of the High Islamic Council following a long examination based on proofs from Qur'an and Islamic Sunnah, came out with a clear fatwa saying that these radical groups' acts have harmed Islam.
The document, which was issued by Mali's scholars under the umbrella of the High Islamic Council following a long examination based on proofs from Qur'an and Islamic Sunnah, came out with a clear fatwa saying that these radical groups' acts have harmed Islam.
"The country is no longer secure, and people live under constant fear; where is this mentioned in Islamic law? How can this be considered Jihad? Those actions are attacks against Moslems, their lives are threatened and their belongings are no longer secure."
The second document was a sermon delivered by Imam Camara, the secretary-general of the league on March 9th. Imam Camara said that all Moslems should realise the mistakes of these radical groups, that what they were doing had nothing to do with jihad in Islam, that they exploited religion to serve their own radical ideology and that their behaviour was simply that of aggressors and corrupters.
Vast sections of the elite in the Islamic world agree, according to Mohamed Ould Ahmedu, a specialist in terrorism and radical groups' ideology.
"What these groups have done doesn't serve Moslems' interests and doesn't conform to the essence and spirit of Islam", he added.
"Islam never spread by sword, contrary to the opinion of those who believe it is a religion of violence and killing," Ould Ahmedu told Magharebia. "Rather, it is a religion of mercy and justice."
"In addition, the pattern of jihad used by al-Qaeda and its allies in northern Mali is not the jihad that was stipulated for under the Islamic Sharia; it's not the defensive and offensive jihad in which Moslems must be mobilised because it doesn't serve Islam," he said.
"In addition, the pattern of jihad used by al-Qaeda and its allies in northern Mali is not the jihad that was stipulated for under the Islamic Sharia; it's not the defensive and offensive jihad in which Moslems must be mobilised because it doesn't serve Islam," he said.
Similarly, Mauritanian political activist Ibrahim Ould Ali said that the document issued by Malian Moslem scholars reflected "the viewpoint of the Malian society and its position from correct Islam. They are right in this."
"It's not logical that groups that were rejected by their own people come to a Moslem country and impose their own agenda and bully boy understanding of religion on them," he added.
"If al-Qaeda and its allies had been right about their understanding of Islam, it would have been adopted by all Moslem scholars and their peoples," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
How can this be considered Jihad? Those actions are attacks against Muslims, their lives are threatened and their belongings are no longer secure.
IOW, save your savage wrath for the Infidels. How umm moderate.
[Al Ahram] Judge Ashraf Nada claims multiple fires at court building since revolution were planned to destroy evidence in trials of Mubarak-era figures
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] A speedboat carrying weapons in the Red Sea was neither Israeli nor Iranian, an army spokesperson has confirmed. The speedboat, which was stopped on Thursday near Ras Mohamed, was carrying a Togo flag and was in the area to protect ships in the area from Somali pirates, Colonel Ahmed Ali said via Facebook.
"International private security companies have formed units of ex-coppers to secure fat merchantmen in the Red Sea using speedboats. Some of these speedboats enter Egyptian waters by mistake," Ali added.
The speedboat contained 64 M6 assault rifles, 28 pistols and security guards from America, Ukraine, Russia and Greece.
Sounds like a cover for that great cruise ship / pirate-hunting idea of a couple years back...
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Almost a replica of the incident off West Africa when an "oil field armory ship" was seized (likely due to failure to pay off officials.)
[An Nahar] Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi said during his first visit to Sudan on Friday that cooperation between the Islamist regimes in Cairo and Khartoum does not pose any threat and yet they both face "enemies".
"We in Egypt and Sudan are integrated, and you will find enemies for this integration," Morsi stressed before thousands of people, including his Sudanese counterpart President Omar al-Bashir Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. , at al-Noor mosque in Khartoum North.
It was not clear to which "enemies" he was referring.
"This cooperation is not against anyone," Morsi said, adding the that two countries "don't seek a war or aggression" against others.
Morsi, a former Moslem Brüderbund leader, was elected last June after a popular uprising toppled long-time president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... in 2011 as part of the region's Arab Spring revolts.
He arrived on Thursday evening in Sudan, which Egypt jointly ruled with Britannia until 1956, and was to leave later Friday.
On Wednesday, Egypt summoned the United Arab Emirates charge d'affaires to urge a quick conclusion to an investigation into Egyptians tossed in the slammer Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! in the Gulf state on suspicion of links to the Moslem Brüderbund.
The detained Egyptians are suspected of leading a Brotherhood cell that collected sensitive information and had links to Emiratis in jug on suspicion of national security offences.
Both Egypt and Sudan also face internal turmoil.
More than 30 Brotherhood offices in Egypt have been attacked in protests against the president in recent weeks. Critics accuse both it and Morsi of mirroring tactics used by Mubarak against the opposition.
At least 11 people were killed in festivities outside the presidential palace in December after Morsi adopted sweeping powers, which he later rescinded.
Bashir, an army officer who seized power in a 1989 coup, was elected in 2010 but foreign observers said the vote failed to reach international standards.
Opposition parties and armed rebels have been seeking an end to his regime.
One leading opposition member, Sudan's veteran Islamist Hassan al-Turabi, was among a group of political figures who met Morsi on Friday at a luxury hotel.
He later told AFP the "revolutionary" Egyptian regime should foster tighter ties between its people and those of Sudan.
Turabi said grassroots links must be developed because Morsi's regime "is a popular government elected by the people."
"The people should be linked with the people. It's more lasting than a government with a government, especially one which is revolutionary and one which is a dictatorship," he said, using the latter term to describe Bashir's government.
He said both opposition and government parties were given about 10 minutes each for brief talks with Morsi.
Turabi was a key figure behind the coup which brought Bashir's regime to power but later broke with him and formed the Popular Congress opposition party.
Turabi now says Bashir's government should not be associated with Islam.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Egyptian Islamist protesters threw stones at the house of Iran's envoy in Cairo on Friday and tried to scale the villa's walls but were blocked by police, a police official said.
The Islamists, who object to a thaw in relations between Egypt and Iran, were also prevented by police from raising the flag adopted by Syrian rebels against Tehran's close ally Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... over the envoy's house.
They threw stones at the building as some held banners calling for the envoy's expulsion and opposing the "spread of Shiite Islam" practiced by most Iranians.
Hardline Sunni Islamists consider Shiites to be heretics and have opposed the detente between Cairo and Tehran after Islamist President Mohamed Morsi's election in Egypt last June.
Last month, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding to promote mutual tourism.
Morsi is a strong backer of the mostly Sunni Syrian rebels but has insisted that Iran could help find a political solution to the civil war raging in Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2013 00:00 ||
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Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has set up a panel to look into the possibility of granting an amnesty to the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
The move came after religious and political leaders said the military approach did not solve the violence.
Mr Jonathan previously rejected any amnesty offer, saying the rebels were "ghosts" whose demands were not known.
Hundreds of people have been killed since Boko Haram fighters stepped up their campaign in recent years.
The new panel will include senior military representatives and has two weeks to come up with its recommendations, according to unnamed presidential sources.
The board is tasked with considering the feasibility of granting an amnesty to Boko Haram members, and recommending modalities for implementing such a step.
Because sitting down for tea always works with murderous revolutionaries. Another bout of cleverness from The Second Smartest Man In The Room.
[An Nahar] The United States urged Bahrain's Sunni-led government on Thursday to promote dialogue with the Shiite opposition after two years of political upheaval in the country.
U.S. Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Rashad Hussain met senior Bahraini government officials, politicians, civil society activists and religious leaders in Manama earlier this week.
"He underscored U.S. encouragement for all segments of Bahraini society to promote unity and reform through the ongoing National Dialogue," the State Department said in a statement.
"He discussed the importance of rejecting the use of violence and promoting human rights ...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you... , including religious freedom, for all Bahrainis."
Bahrain has witnessed two years of political unrest linked to opposition demands for a constitutional monarchy, with the unrest claiming at least 80 lives, according to international rights groups.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2013 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Salafists yesterday kept marching towards Dhaka from different parts of the country, defying blockades and hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... amid a tense situation.
Infuriated by what they say is obstructions by the government, Hefajat-e Islam, organiser of today's long march, is set to announce the next course of action to realise its 13-point demand.
As part of their programme, Hefajat followers coming from outside the capital by bus, minibus and trucks will gather at Motijheel this morning to join a rally.
Those staying in Dhaka will head to the venue soon after Fajr prayers. A large number of Hefajat activists have already arrived in the capital from different districts.
In Chittagong, activists of the Hefajat held a rally at Wasa Intersection after the Juma prayers as they failed to get transports to take part in the long march.
However, the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits... those who managed to get transport were on their way to the capital. Vehicles carrying several hundred Hefajat activists from Chittagong reached Comilla in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wrecked scow, a single surviver held tightly to the smashed prow... Gonojagoron Mancha and 23 pro-liberation organizations were enforcing hartal and blockade.
The Shahbagh youths took position last night at five entry points of the capital and will remain there until 4:00pm today.
This afternoon, they will also hold a public rally at Shahbagh, now called Projonmo Chattar, around two kilometres from Hefajat's rally venue.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2013 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Steve White ||
04/06/2013 11:05 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Article said a flock of 7, Steve.
Btw also mentioned 2 doomsday control planes deployed somewhere overseas.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
04/06/2013 11:24 Comments ||
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#8
Great Pics, SW.
Somewhere in the great internet is a video, about 10 minutes long, featuring the A/O in flight, with some form flying w/ a B-25. Don't remember the Mitchell's name, but it was in SoCal somewhere. I think the Planes of Fame museum was invloved, but don't sue me if I gooned that part. The videe of those birds in flight is probably one of the handful that makes me want to give up sex (well, maybe not)
#9
We had the current Memphis Belle flying overhead a couple weekends ago - static and rides from Gillespie Field in El Cajon. They low-buzzed my place a couple times. Majestic
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/06/2013 16:47 Comments ||
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#12
tipper, its more macho than limpy building a brick house on what is supposed to be his own court; a tweet war is so pre-teen.
Its like that scene in Braveheart where the prince is practicing archer from 5 yards out and half the arrows are not even on the target square. "thsummen my war cownsil!"
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The White House said Friday it "would not be surprised" if North Korean carries out another missile test, after reports that Pyongyang had moved two mid-range rockets to its eastern coast.
"We've obviously seen the reports that North Korea may be making preparations to launch a missile, and we're monitoring this situation closely," White House front man Jay Carney told news hounds.
"We would not be surprised to see them take such an action. We have seen them launch missiles in the past ... And it would fit their current pattern of bellicose, unhelpful and unconstructive rhetoric and actions," he said.
"We urge them to stop with the provocations and to focus instead on meeting their international obligations and feeding their own people. They are only making themselves more and more isolated from the rest of the world."
The Pentagon declined to confirm reports about the missiles from South Korea's Yonhap news agency, but warned North Korea that "further provocative action would be regrettable."
"Missile tests outside their international obligations would be a provocative act. They need to follow international norms and abide by their commitments," Pentagon front man George Little told news hounds.
Several U.N. Security Council resolutions require North Korea to abstain from all nuclear and ballistic missile activities.
Yonhap reported that two intermediate Musudan missiles had been transported by train earlier in the week and loaded on vehicles equipped with launch pads.
The Musudan has never been tested, but is believed to have a range of around 3,000 kilometers (1,860 miles), which could theoretically be pushed to 4,000 if they were to be given a light payload.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
See also TOPIX > US, SOUTH KOREA TO COUNTERATTACK IFF NORTH STRIKES.
* PACIFICNEWSCNETER > THAAD DEPLOYMENT [to Guam] SEENS AS EVIDENCE THAT US PENTAGON BELIEVES NORTH KOREA THREAT MAY LAST FOR AWHILE.
Yuuuuppp, espec iff China refuses to delay or alter its desire to take over from the "weak/
declining" US as "inevitable" Global #1.
* BIG NEWS NETWORK > GENERAL LEADING GUAM DEPLOYMENT [THAAD] SAYS US COULD TAKE OUT NORTH KOREAN MISSLE "FAIRLY QUICKLY".
MGEN Dana Pittard, US Army.
* SAME > [Wired News] EX-CIA ANALYSTS EXPECTS NORTH KOREA TO ATTACK SOUTH KOREA BEFORE TENSIONS END.
* MARIANAS VARIETY > CNMI MAKES CONTINGENCY PLAN FOR NORTH KOREA THREATS.
Wid what - AFAIK the CNMI has no BMD. As things stand, the best the CNMI can do is Cold war-style "duck-n-cover" or stock up on supermarket goodies like it was Typhoon season???
The US should send BMD assets to the CNMI + Iwo JIma in addition to Guam, as these have large airfields, harbors, + locales that the "DPRK" = SSSSHHHHH China + PLA could use.
Iff China truly fears the USN's NIMITZ-class CVNS, then it should desire to confront same OTH in WESTPAC + CENTPAC AFAP AMAP ALAP, not to wait until US CVBGS, etc. arrive in or near the East China Sea -that means confronting the USN vee the Northern PHIL + Guam-CNMI + peripheral areas.
#3
The White House said Friday it "would not be surprised"
Clearly a Public Relations CYA release.
Eliminating "strategic surprise" reduces the Benghazi factor, but it fails to solve the larger problem. Following a failed "surprise" attack will surely come an administration... "measured response".
#4
...It would be nice if the 'measured response' was the following:
1. Immediately upon launch detection, the BMD-equipped destroyers McCain and Fitzgerald shot the damned things down.
2. The administration releases a statement saying that since the Kim regime has, for the last few weeks, stated that it is at war with the US and its allies and has approved nuclear strikes against them, we had no choice other than to believe them and assume that these missiles were carrying nuclear weapons and act accordingly.
A nice variation on this would be if we had already passed 2) on to the Chinese, but quite honestly I don't think we have the stones to do any of the above anyways. Ronaldus Magnus, where art thou in thy nation's hour of peril?
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/06/2013 9:24 Comments ||
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#5
"measured response"
In the White House approved style book that means - deny, obscure, prevaricate while we find a scapegoat.
[DAILYMAIL.CO.UK] All government embassies have been instructed to evacuate staff from Pyongyang after dictator Kim Pudge Jong-un ...the hereditary potentate of North Korea... warned he could not 'guarantee the safety of foreigners.'
The rogue communist state issued a deadline of April 10 to every government that is represented in North Korea in a dramatic new escalation of the nuclear crisis.
As tensions escalate in the region, Pyongyang released footage of Kim Jong-un joining in with some target practice during a military drill. The Communist leader was seen brandishing a gun and looking at shots on a human-sized target mark as well as using his binoculars.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
The Russians are repor refusing to evacuate - IMO that's more good news for the DPRK than anyone else.
#2
No where in the calculations has anyone considered the possibility that the Chinese might nuke them and blame the Americans. Right place, right time, right people. It removes a very serious obviously out of control problem for them. They then rush in their forces, pushing aside the remaining cadre who are basically standing around waiting for 'mother may I' orders. Bumbles will be first keel hauling his own military trying to determine who pulled the trigger before he realizes that the Chinese had achieved a fait de accompli. Because of his handling of Benghazi, who'd believe him when he protested his innocence, other than the mindless minions of his Ministry of Truth.
SEOUL -- North Korea said Friday that the possession of nuclear weapons will help it better concentrate on economic growth.
The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the North's ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), said in its latest editorial that the country's atomic weapons capability has secured a viable means to counter all military threats, creating the space needed to concentrate on economic growth. It said based on the creation of such favorable conditions, efforts can now be centered on improving the economy and the livelihoods of the people.
In an Army-first way, of course...
The newspaper, which is the main mouthpiece propaganda tool for the North Korean government, added that building up its economy is the surest way to win the ongoing struggle with the United States and bring about national unification.
Which actually is true, but the South and the U.S. are safe with these clowns in charge...
The paper's stance reflects the communist country's schizophrenic two-pronged strategy that was announced at the general meeting of the Central Committee of Workers' Party of Korea on Sunday, calling for the strengthening of both the country's nuclear capability and its economy.
The Rodong Sinmun said the initial target of transforming the country into an economic powerhouse
...which has been promised before, as I recall...
will be done through concentrating on the agricultural and light industry sectors. It said by greatly increasing the production of consumer goods, the country can become globally competitive in these fields. In farming, the paper called on all forces to meet grain production targets set for this year.
No matter how unrealistic the targets...
It then called on WPK officials to show leadership and to fully support the government's endeavors to expand the economy.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/06/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
When your primary economic sector is a sophisticated form of Danegeldian banditry, then yes, nukes would be a natural investment in capital stock. Especially if "production of consumer goods" means "plunder".
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/06/2013 9:01 Comments ||
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#2
Yes, like a farmer upgrading from draft horse to john deere...except you know the exact opposite of Goals and Motives of Civilization and without food at-end.
Also makes for a profitable export if there is a market for rogue nukes/dirties out there and can be delivered. At the least, consulting fees.
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano has pardoned a US Air Force colonel convicted in absentia over the rendition of an Egyptian imam in 2003.
Joseph Romano was one of 23 Americans tried and sentenced by Italian courts over the CIA-led operation to abduct a cleric known as Abu Omar. The Egyptian said he was flown to his home country and tortured there.
Mr Napolitano's office cited what it said were changes to US security policy undertaken by President Barack Obama.
It said Mr Obama had "immediately after his election, put an end to an approach to the challenges to national security... considered by Italy and the European Union not compatible with fundamental principles of rule of law".
It added that the Italian president "hoped to provide a solution to an affair considered by the United States to be without precedent because of the conviction of a US military officer of Nato for deeds committed on Italian soil".
The statement said the decision to pardon Col Romano was inspired by the same principle that Italy hoped to see used in the case of two Italian marines facing murder charges in India over the shooting of two fishermen.
So it isn't charity and magnanimity that inspire them...
#1
The statement said the decision to pardon Col Romano was inspired by the same principle that Italy hoped to see used in the case of two Italian marines facing murder charges in India over the shooting of two fishermen.
That's filed under - Damn we set a precedent, how do we get out of it now that it comes back and bites our posterior?
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court will take up on Monday identical petitions seeking prosecution of former military dictator Pervez Musharraf under the High Treason (Punishment) Act 1973. The apex court admitted petitions for hearing. Pervez Musharraf returned to Pakistan on March 24 to contest the general elections after spending over four years in self-exile.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, will hear the identical constitutional petitions filed against the former president Pervez Musharraf.
On Friday last, another petition was filed in the Supreme Court by former president of the Lahore High Court Bar0 Association (LHCBA), Rawalpindi Bench, Ahsan-ud-Din Sheikh, praying for directing the Federation to prosecute former President Pervez Musharraf under sections 2 and 3 of the High Treason (Punishment) Act 1973.
Earlier, President LHCBA, Rawalpindi Bench, Taufiq Asif, and Maulvi Iqbal Haider filed the petitions under Article 184(3) of the Constitution.
Both the lawyer leaders made former president Pervez Musharraf and the Federation of Pakistan through the Ministry of Law and Justice and Parliamentary Affairs as respondents.
The petitioners prayed to the apex court to direct the Federation to take Pervez Musharraf in custody. They contended that former president Pervez Musharraf by his acts, and orders of Nov 3, 2007 and later, had assaulted the judiciary and tried to destroy this vital organ of the state, adding that he undermined, curtailed and negated the independence of the judiciary.
The petitioners further submitted that Pervez Musharraf also blocked and obstructed access to justice by detaining the judges holding their offices constitutionally and by substituting them with those appointed unconstitutionally and invalidly. The petitioners recalled that it had been so held by the apex court in the judgment in the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) case.
The former military dictator has filed nomination papers to contest the general elections from four seats, including Karachi, Islamabad, Chitral and Kasur.
Pervez Musharraf, however, faced a setback when early Friday Muhammad Saleem, the Returning Officer in Kasur, rejected his nomination papers. A local lawyer Javed Kasuri raised objections to Musharrafs candidature for NA-139 constituency, arguing that the former military dictator did not qualify to contest the elections under articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution. The Returning Officer (RO), after upholding the objections, rejected Musharrafs nomination papers.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/06/2013 12:26 ||
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[GUARDIAN.CO.UK] Dozens of candidates, including the former military ruler Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... , have been excluded from some constituencies in the coming Pak elections after being subjected by officials to a rigorous test of their religious credentials and "moral character" under a rarely invoked constitutional clause.
Musharraf, who ruled Pakistain between 1999 and 2008, returned to the country last month after nearly four years in self-imposed exile in a bid to relaunch his political career.
The exact reasoning behind the election commission's decision to bar him from the polls in Kasur in Punjab province was unclear last night. However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... Musharraf remains a deeply divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... figure, detested by many conservatives and lawyers. The former commando also faces a variety of serious criminal charges against him, including murder, and could now face disqualification in the three other constituencies where he plans to run.
As well as those already blocked, hundreds more candidates face rejection as the verification process, run by judges appointed as electoral officials, continues. The test is being seen as a new clash between elected representatives and an activist judiciary, as well as a further contest between religious conservatives and relative moderates.
"It is creating a rift ... though there is some support for the judges there is growing anger," said Rasul Bakhsh Rais, Professor of Political Science at Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Articles 62 and 63 of the constitution demand that a candidate be a "good Moslem of integrity and honesty" who practises Islam and is knowledgeable about the religion.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
I think they should drop articles 62 and 63 of their constitution . The problem is right there . Crazy notion , I know ;)
#2
It appears that at least one candidate was disqualified because of inability to show circumcision in the proper Islamic fashion.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/06/2013 10:46 Comments ||
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#3
The journalist Ayaz Amir was disqualified for insufficient adherence to the ideology of Pakistan.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/06/2013 10:47 Comments ||
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#4
Writing stuff like this gets you banned from elections in Pakistan
But to recap the usual factors held responsible for the founding of Pakistan, Islam was not in danger in pre-1947 India. Indeed, considering the sectarian violence and religious bigotry we face today, it was in better health then. Nor was democracy the issue because even if partition had not happened, India was getting democracy once the British left. The Indian Independence Act promised that.
So what was the compelling reason for the Muslims to insist on a separate homeland especially when there was no going around the uncomfortable fact that, no matter how generously the frontiers of the new state were drawn, an uncomfortably large number of Muslims would remain in India?
The purpose of Pakistan, transcending anything to do with safeguarding Islam or promoting democracy, was to create conditions for the Muslims of India, or those who found themselves in the new state, to recreate the days of their lost glory.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/06/2013 10:50 Comments ||
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#5
a candidate be a "good Moslem of integrity and honesty"
I'd make a snide remark about the oxymoronity of that statement but substitute 'person' for Moslem and it would seem equally unlikely, even here.
[Dawn] Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability... (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ... has said that his party would resist any move of the US and local agencies to plant their men in the next government through coming general election.
"Our people are intelligent enough to understand the motives of media, which is supporting America and local agencies in planting their men in coming government. We would block their way and bring into power clean people through public support," claimed Mr Rehman while speaking at a public gathering here on Wednesday night.
The gathering was held in connection with the joining of JUI-F by former federal minister Syed Qasim Shah and allotment of ticket to him for NA-20. He alleged that media was projecting those people who were against the Islamic ideology and philosophy of co-existence.
"If we want to eradicate the menace of terrorism we must give equal rights to minorities and never reject point of view of even those who are not in majority," he said.
The JUI-F amir referred to the betrayal of Azam Khan Swati and Sardar Mohammad Yousuf without naming them.
"Those who betrayed the JUI-F in fact committed betrayal with the cause of Islam," he said and added that a lobby wanted to promote vulgarity in the name of 'Roshan Khiali' to weaken people's faith. He said that people following such a path should be rejected.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
Hamas appears to be continuing its arrest campaign against Salafi jihadists in the Gaza Strip. According to a statement released yesterday by the Ibn Taymiyyah Media Center on jihadist forums and the Center's Facebook and Tumblr pages, a Salafi jihadist was detained by Hamas forces near Khan Yunis on the evening of April 3.
The jihadist had reportedly been arrested a number of times in the past by Hamas for his Salafi affiliation. Yesterday's arrest is part of an "extensive campaign" by Hamas to arrest Salafi jihadists, the statement charged. According to the statement, Hamas has intensified the campaign in the wake of recent rocket attacks by the al Qaeda-linked Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC).
On April 2, the MSC claimed to have fired five rockets from Gaza toward Israel. The following day, the group said it had fired six additional rockets toward Israeli territory. According to the MSC, the rocket fire was in response to the recent death of Maisara Abu Hamdiyeh, a Hamas operative. Hamdiyeh, whom Hamas praised for supplying "the Mujahideen with weapons and explosives," died of esophageal cancer at an Israeli hospital on April 2.
[IsraelTimes] Under the threat of what hackers swore would be "the largest Internet battle in the history of mankind," Israel has been preparing for the past week for what many expect to be a massive attempt to swamp Israel's Internet -- bringing websites to a crawl, or even bringing them down.
The attack is set for Sunday, April 7 -- coincidentally, or perhaps not, the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel. Computer system administrators and security experts have been shoring up network defenses, changing passwords, and ensuring that they have the Internet bandwidth to withstand an attack.
In their latest screed, the hackers behind the newest incarnation of #OpIsrael, the ongoing attempt to "wipe Israel off the map of the Internet," appealed for unity in the hacker community, which needed to come together to attack Israel. "We can't be consumed by our petty differences any more," said the message, posted on hacker-friendly websites. "We will be united in our common interest. We will once again be fighting for freedom." In a theatrical flourish (using a quote from the 1996 film "Independence Day," which portrayed mankind fighting off a Martian invasion), the hackers state: "'We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on, we're going to survive."
While the attacks are aimed at government, bank, academic, and business websites (the hackers have published extensive lists of their targets), ordinary Israelis should take precautions as well -- just in case, said the Israel Internet Association (ISOC), which is taking the threat so seriously that it will be operating a hotline for people to report attacks, and will update its website throughout the day with status reports about what is going on in cyberspace.
The most important thing Israelis can do, said Nir Kapelushnik, ISOC's CEO, is to shore up passwords -- get rid of simple ones (like "abc123") and choose complicated ones (at least 8 random letters/digits, mix capitals and small letters, no names or obvious terms, etc.); renew/update anti-virus software; upgrade and update to the latest versions of browsers; and stay away from suspicious links, attachments, documents, etc. "The upcoming hacking attack is liable to disrupt our day-to-day activities," Kapelushnik said. "We do a lot on the Internet today, including sending and receiving mail, shopping, searching for information, and interacting with social networks. The measures we are recommending will hopefully keep the damage to individual Israelis to a minimum." Those measures, he reminds us, will protect users from hackers, crackers, and cyber-thieves, even on "ordinary" days.
In truth, however, the real cyber-battle will be fought not on the computers of home -- or even office -- users, but on the servers that hold the websites of large companies, government agencies, financial institutions, and infrastructure, said Lior Tabansky, a fellow at the Yuval Ne'eman Workshop for Science, Technology, and Security of Tel Aviv University. The Workshop is headed by Prof. Yitzchak Ben-Yisrael, who also heads the National Cyber Directorate, which advises the government on matters of cyber-security and policy.
As such, the folks at the Workshop have a great deal of influence on how the government implements its cyber-security policy, albeit not in an official capacity. "We are advisers... and they usually take our advice," Tabansky explained.
Tabansky believes that the upcoming attacks, although serious, are another case of "business as usual" for the hackers, who try daily to hack into Israeli computer systems -- but almost always fail. "The really important sites are protected from the public Internet, and the chances that the hackers can penetrate them are next to nothing," he told The Times of Israel. "Over the past weeks, site administrators in government and the private sector have been shoring up their defenses, making it much harder to guess passwords and invade sites. So it's unlikely we'll see that type of activity," he said.
What the hackers will do, surmises Tabansky, is launch a massive denial of service (DDOS) attack, in the hope of grinding down servers to a slow crawl, and then halt them entirely. "Unless they have names and passwords, that is really their only attack strategy," continued Tabansky. "Unfortunately, there is little a company can do to stop it, but it is not the major cyber-threat many people, especially in the media, believe it to be. It's more of an annoyance, and if they do manage to intimidate sites into submission, the victory will be one of public relations."
In fact, said Karen Elazari, another fellow at the Workshop, the best defense for many sites might be undertaken on their behalf -- by the hosting company that keeps their site online. "According to information we have gathered over the past month, the large majority of the hackers planning to attack Israeli sites are located in North Africa," Elazari explained to The Times of Israel. "In order to prevent DDOS attacks from these people, a hosting company could configure a site to reject all requests from IP addresses in specific countries like Tunisia and Morocco, or just close off Africa to the site for a week. Many of the sites targeted would probably not be affected too much by that kind of a cutoff, and it would probably go a long way to preventing a DDOS-based crash."
But there is more bark than bite in hacker threats, continued Elazari; the propaganda the hackers are spreading about "April 7 #OpIsrael Day" as a global phenomenon is just false. "They claim to be associated with the international hacker group Anonymous, but it is clear to us that the hackers organizing this are run-of-the-mill, anti-Israel hackers from Arab countries, who run attacks like these almost daily. The operation has a self-proclaimed leader who, we believe, is located in Mauritania. 'Leaders' are a very un-Anonymous phenomenon, but they are very closely associated with Arab hacking efforts, going all the way back to the Second Intifada.
"We in the security industry have known about this for a month, and we have been spreading the word to network administrators and security personnel around the country on what to expect," said Elazari. "So I imagine we are well prepared to handle these attacks. It's likely, though, that users will feel a slowdown in Internet speed, because ISPs may have a hard time handling all the traffic that comes through their servers." Unless, as she suggests, they cut off domains or IP address segments from where the attacks seem to be coming.
"Many of the organizations I have spoken with are looking at "attack day" as a challenge -- a way to test their defense strategies in real time, and figure out how to better shore up their systems," Elazari added. "The tactics the hackers are using are not new, and the strategy -- to claim victories by overloading sites -- is not new either. What's different this time is the alleged scope and size of the attack, and the concern over it in the media. We'll find out whether that concern was justified only sometime next week, when #OpIsrael hackers either manage to take down important Israeli sites, or the whole thing just fizzles."
Thousands of Israeli facebook users were infected by a virus Wednesday, days ahead of a planned cyber offensive against the Jewish State by international activists.
The purpose of the virus, which promulgates itself when a user clicks on certain notifications, is still not clear.
According to Mizbala, an agency specializing in specializing in guerrilla and experimental marketing, some 15% of users who clicked on the viral link were Israeli (14,500 as of Wednesday evening).
According to the Mizbala report (Hebrew) a user by the name of Bekir Yangeç was the source of the code. Mizbala offers its readers advice for action to be taken in the event they clicked on the link.
It isnt clear if the virus does anything more than replicate and continue tagging, awaiting a user to click the link it provides.
Irans Internet is anything but free, and a free Internet is what the international hacker group desires more than anything else. As a result, Anonymous has been conducting a long-term, if sporadic hacking campaign against the Islamic Republic, and last week the hacker group renewed its efforts to hack Iran.
The new Anonymous effort, called OpIranMenace, is targeting strategic sites, including banks, infrastructure, and government offices. In a message dated March 23, Anonymous said that it was targeting the most Islamist states of the Middle East, including Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, over their restrictions of Internet use by residents. So far, sites in Iran have been targeted, and the campaign, they say, will soon be extended to the other countries listed.
In the message, Anonymous claimed to have already hacked numerous Iranian sites, including the Arka Line gas pipeline; Aban Sanat Kara, a leading company in Irans irrigation and hydro-mechanical industry; the Export Development Bank of Iran, which is under U.S. sanctions; and NIOC, the Iranian Oil Company, which is ranked as the worlds third largest oil company. In addition, Anonymous boasts to have hacked the United Nations office in Tehran, saying we downed their intranet and also gained full access to the UN ATLAS system (not only in Iran).
The message includes a link to a site that contains 55 screenshots of the hacked sites. The hacks occurred between March 21-23, the message says. Among the many documents the hackers posted was the pay slip from the week before! of an Iranian government employee.
The militants of the Sulu Sultanate in Sabah, Malaysia claim they are back to fighting strength after being reinforced by about 100 more men from Sulu.
Sultanate spokesman Abraham Idjirani said Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, brother of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, had regrouped his forces, which had dwindled to around 135 men since the fighting broke out on March 1.
Idjirani said the new development was relayed to him by Agbimuddin by phone. He said, We can say our Royal Security Forces are back in fighting strength. They have joined forces and regrouped.
But Col. Rodrigo Gregorio, spokesman for the Philippine militarys Western Mindanao Command, on Friday said they had no reports to confirm the claim. He said, We have no confirmatory report about that. As far as our naval blockade is concerned, it is continuing in a daily and even nightly basis.
Still, Gregorio admitted he could not discount the possibility of the insertion happening. He said, We cannot really prevent their entry because of the porousness of the area. But were doing everything to prevent these reinforcements of the sultanate.
Idjirani said the Sultanate of Sulu expected more supporters from Sulu and Tawi-Tawi to sail to Sabah despite the naval cordon put up by the Philippine and Malaysian navies. He said, What they lack in Sabah is food. They do not have enough provisions because of the tight cordon of the Malaysian security forces.
Based on the Malaysian estimates, at least 68 sultanate fighters have been killed in encounters with Malaysian security forces, although less than 50 bodies have been recovered. Nine Malaysian policemen and soldiers have also been killed.
Is Iran paying NK to carry on like lunatics to divert attention from from Iran while they make their final lurch to acquiring nuclear weapons?
Talks between world powers and Iran on its nuclear programme have ended without agreement, with the EU saying their positions "remain far apart".
Over two days of talks in Almaty, Iran was asked to give up work on its most sensitive nuclear activities in return for an easing of sanctions. Iran said it was up to the world powers to demonstrate willingness to take confidence-building steps.
They did, however, appreciate that they had another day's work done...
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton confirmed no deal was reached.
"It became clear that the positions... remain far apart on the substance," she told reporters on Saturday.
"We have therefore agreed that all sides will go back to [their] capitals to evaluate where we stand in the process," she added. "I think the first hurdle is take the proposal that we put on the table and get a real response to all of it... The challenge is to get real engagement so that we can move forward with this."
Did she actually say anything with that statement?
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov confirmed there had been a "lack of results".
"Unfortunately we were unable to achieve a breakthrough and are still on the threshold," he was quoted as saying by Russia's Interfax news agency.
According to AFP news agency, he also said no time or place for the next talks had yet been agreed.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... has warned that the fall of his regime or the breakup of Syria will unleash a wave of instability that will shake the Middle East for years to come.
Assad told the Turkish TV station Ulusal Kanal that "we are surrounded by countries that help faceless myrmidons and allow them to enter Syria."
He accused Turkey of knowingly supporting rebels but said it is not clear whether Jordan is intentionally backing his opponents.
Assad's interview was aired Friday evening, three days after it was shot in Syria.
He warned that if his government falls or if Syria is divided, it "will have a domino effect" across the region and create "a period of instability for long years and maybe decades."
Meanwhile, ...back at the barn, Bossy had come up with a new idea. All she needed was some kerosene.. Assad's close ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile... said the civil war in Syria has become "a massacre" that must be stopped through peace talks between the government and the opposition, and repeated Russia's firm rejection of calls for the Syrian leader's ouster.
Speaking to the German ARD television in remarks released by the Kremlin on Friday, he rejected the Western criticism of Russia for continuing to supply weapons to Assad's regime.
Putin said that such shipments don't violate international law, and he criticized those who send weapons to the Syrian opposition fighting a "legitimate government."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2013 00:00 ||
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The announcement of a more modest achievementlaunching a new line of indigenous tankershould register on the radar screens of Western policymakers and security officials for a number of reasons. Press reports describe the 178-meter-long, 32-meter-wide tanker as weighing 35,000 tons, with a five-story, 400-ton superstructure. Its engines reportedly have a propulsion power of 11,200 KW, making it bigger than the Aframax-class tankers which Iranian shipbuilders have constructed for Venezuela.
Both the United States and the European Union have already slapped unilateral sanctions upon the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) in order to leverage pressure upon Irans oil exports into Iranian concessions on the Islamic Republics nuclear program. Because sanctioning the NITC might hamper the company from purchasing new tankers, the Iranian government will likely claim as a victory the ability to build their own.
The European Unions ban on reflagging Iranian tankers to third countriesa strategy Iran has used to skirt sanctions may mean the Iranian government has switched tactics and now seeks to control all aspects of the oil industry, from drilling to delivery.
A larger issue for American and European policymakers may be the security challenge that Iranian-built, Iranian-operated tankers may pose to international shipping and port security. Iranian shipping remains largely under the aegis of Khatam al-Anbia, the economic and commercial wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iranian authorities have made clear that they recognize that they cannot defeat the United States head-on, and will therefore consider asymmetric naval strategies.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/06/2013 00:00 ||
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Wonder if this ship will also have the ability to do any underway refueling of the Iranian Blue Water navy, or if it will just be a bulk tcrude tanker.
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.
[Al Ahram] A speedboat carrying weapons in the Red Sea was neither Israeli nor Iranian, an army spokesperson has confirmed. The speedboat, which was stopped on Thursday near Ras Mohamed, was carrying a Togo flag and was in the area to protect ships in the area from Somali pirates
[An Nahar] Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi said during his first visit to Sudan on Friday that cooperation between the Islamist regimes in Cairo and Khartoum does not pose any threat and yet they both face "enemies".
at al-Noor mosque in Khartoum North.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
North Korea
North Korea
SEOUL -- North Korea said Friday that the possession of nuclear weapons will help it better concentrate on economic growth.
[GUARDIAN.CO.UK] Dozens of candidates, including the former military ruler 
Maulana Fazlur Rehman
[IsraelTimes] Under the threat of what hackers swore would be "the largest Internet battle in the history of mankind," Israel has been preparing for the past week for what many expect to be a massive attempt to swamp Israel's Internet -- bringing websites to a crawl, or even bringing them down.
The militants of the Sulu Sultanate in Sabah, Malaysia claim they are back to fighting strength after being reinforced by about 100 more men from Sulu.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile...
