[Egypt Independent] The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political arm of the Moslem Brüderbund, is preparing a set of amendments to the parliamentary election law that would deprive the army and coppers of voting for five years, a leading figure in the party told Al-Masry Al-Youm on Saturday.
The Supreme Constitutional Court ruled several articles of the electoral law unconstitutional, sending the message that a law forbidding army and coppers from voting is wrong. Egyptian military personnel and coppers have never enjoyed this right in the past.
Mokhtar El-Ashry, head of the FJP's Legal Committee, said that, in order to end the crisis, the party is considering adding an article to the electoral law which will prevent those in the army and police from voting for the next 5 years.
The party is also considering the alternative of holding a referendum on the court's decision, said Ashry.
Ashry told al-Masry Al-Youm that adding an article preventing the military and the police from voting in the next election would end the crisis until elections are held for the House of Representatives, a legislative body that could then amend the constitution to permanently forbid their participation in the voting process.
If the court refuses this proposal, President Morsy, according to article 150 of the Constitution, could call for a referendum to decide this controversial issue.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/03/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
This actually IS the obooboo misadministration's idea of democracy.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/03/2013 6:39 Comments ||
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#2
Similar, more subtle outcomes can be achieved by limiting the soldier's access to voting ballets, voter assistance, or by delayed mailings.
[CSMONITOR] Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court today ruled that the law governing the election of the upper house of parliament, which is currently endowed with legislative power, was unconstitutional, deepening the legal confusion that has plagued the transition to democracy in Egypt.
But the court said the Shura Council should not be dissolved until new parliamentary elections are held, preventing a re-run of last summer's scenario. Then, a court ruling dissolved the lower house of parliament, which normally holds legislative powers.
The court also said the body that wrote Egypt's new constitution was illegally formed. The constituent assembly was led by Islamists, and opposition members withdrew from the body in protest. But the document was approved by national referendum in December, which experts say makes it unlikely to face a challenge.
Experts say the ruling deals a blow to President Mohamed Morsi and the constitution, though it is unlikely to cause any major changes on the ground. "Despite the fact that practically the rulings of the court do not change much, I think politically they undermine the legitimacy of the constituent assembly and the Shura Council," says Mustapha Kamel Al Sayyid, a political science professor at the American University in Cairo. "The practical implication is to provide more ammunition to the opposition and civil society groups which are unhappy with the rule of President Mohamed Morsi."
The ruling comes amid an escalating confrontation between the Moslem Brüderbund and the judiciary. The Brotherhood has called for a "purging" of the judiciary, which the group says contains many judges sympathetic to the old regime who have sought to thwart the success of the democratic transition. In addition to declaring the parliament invalid last year, courts have this year twice rejected a law to oversee new elections, delaying the vote.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/03/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
If they didn't ban the gun, truncheon, and tear gas canister, it won't do any good.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
06/03/2013 20:06 Comments ||
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CAIRO -- Egypt's Antiquities' Ministry has criticized a U.S. Embassy message to American citizens in the country, urging them to be extra cautious because of recent incidents near the pyramids in Giza. A ministry statement on Saturday says the warning is "baseless."
An embassy message earlier this week urged Americans to "elevate their situational awareness" when visiting the pyramids because of a "lack of visible security or police" presence there. It noted incidents of "angry groups of individuals surrounding and pounding" on cars with visitors, sometimes trying to open car doors.
The ministry insists the pyramids' area in Giza, Cairo's twin city, is "totally secure" and that the overall situation for tourists has improved.
Why, they haven't had a female tourist molested in over a week...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/03/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Anyone else think that the mid-East would be a better place if the Pharohs were still in charge in 'gypt?
If nothing else the art would be a lot more interesting.
[Egypt Independent] Al-Qaeda's military chief in Yemen warned Americans in an audio message posted online Sunday that the Boston bombings revealed a fragile security as he urged Musselmens to defend their religion.
Qassim al-Rimi, the military chief of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, said making bombs such as the ones used in the twin blasts in Boston in April, is within "everyone's reach".
"The Boston events... and the poisoned letters (sent to the White House), regardless of who is behind them, show that your security is no longer under control, and that attacks on you have taken off and cannot be stopped," he said, in the message entitled: "A letter to the American people."
"Every day you will be hit by the unexpected and your leaders will not be able to defend you," warned the man whose organization is considered by Washington the world's most dangerous Al-Qaeda branch.
Rimi said the killing of Al-Qaeda's founder the late Osama bin Laden ... who doesn't live anywhere anymore... in May 2011 and top Yemeni-American holy manAnwar al-Awlaki ... Born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, zapped in Yemen, al-Awlaki was a dual citizen of the U.S. and Yemen. He was an Islamic holy man who was a trainer for al-Qaeda and its franchises. His sermons were attended by three of the 9/11 hijackers, by Fort Hood murderer Nidal Malik Hussein, and Undieboomer Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. He was the first U.S. citizen ever placed on a CIA target list... in September 2011, had not ended the struggle.
"Have you eliminated the jihadist groups that have spread everywhere after they had only been in Afghanistan? Today, they are in your land or close to it," he warned.
To the Musselmens in the United States, he said: "We encourage you to carry on with this way, be steadfast in your religion.
"Carry out your obligations, defend your religion and follow in the footsteps of those who supported their religion and Ummah (Musselmen nation) while they are in their enemy's den," he said.
Two brothers, 19-year-old Dzhokhar and 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, are accused of being behind the April 15 attack near the finish line of the Boston Marathon that killed three people and maimed more than 260.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with police, and Dzhokhar was captured and taken into custody after an extensive manhunt.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/03/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
See also RELATED DEFENCE.PK/FORUM > QASSEM AL-RIMI, COMMANDER OF AQAP [aka AQIY], WARNS AMERICA ON SECURITY. US is NOT safe.
* SAME > [CBC News] YEMENI AL-QAEDA LEADER TO US: "MIND YOUR OWN INTERNAL AFFAIRS [or else]", iff you America know whats good for you.
* Also from DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Memri TV] VIDEO: HIZBULLAH-IN-IRAQ SECRETARY-GENERAL THREATENS TO INVADE + LIBERATE SAUDI ARABIA WID HIDDEN IMAM, ANNIHILATE SAUDI ROYAL FAMILY.
-------------
"...Your leaders will be unable to defend you" > oh boy, this is giving me those bad vibes again as per the Bammer + China-vs-Debt/Sequester-ridden-USA in East Asia.
Moreso given ...
* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > CHINA NAVY [ + other PLA] TO VISIT US EEZ.
ARTIC = Unlike the US-Allies/West China does NOT believe that foreign military warships have a right to pass through a country's 200-mile EEZ.
The above being said, iff USN warships can travel through China's EEZ then China + PLAN can travel thru the US' EEZ in similar.
* REALTED BHARAT RAKSHAK > TWITTER: CHINESE NAVY TO BEGIN US EEZ PATROLS.
* TOPIX > [KCNA] US MILITARY PRESSURE TO CONTAIN CHINA INCREASING: NEWS ANALYST.
* SAME > [Forbes] CHINA + BIGGEST TERRITORY GRAB SINCE WW2.
#2
"Every day you will be hit by the unexpected and your leaders will not be able to defend you," warned the man whose organization is considered by Washington the world's most dangerous Al-Qaeda branch.
Yeah, part of the reason for our 2nd Amendment. Right, commander in chief?
[Bangla Daily Star] Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... leader Selim Uddin yesterday sought unconditional apology to International Crimes Tribunal-2 for his provocative and derogatory remarks about trial proceedings and the tribunal.
"Please don't hurt me!"
Two other Jamaat leaders Rafiqul Islam Khan and Hamidur Rahman Azad, MP, however, did not appear before the court, even after its order and did not give explanation over their comments.
On April 21, the tribunal initiated contempt proceedings against the Jamaat leaders for their "provocative and derogatory remarks".
Yesterday, the court, after holding the hearing on a written reply of Selim Uddin, fixed June 9 for passing order in this regard.
Selim Uddin's lawyer Tajul Islam yesterday said he was not "justifying" his client's comments, rather seeking "unconditional apology" for the comments.
The February 4 video footages of RTV and ATN News of a Jamaat rally were screened in the tribunal and Selim Uddin, who was produced before the court, himself sought apology.
"I had no intention to disrespect the court. Even though, if it hurts the court, I apologise for my comments," said Selim Uddin.
On February 7, the tribunal asked the trio to explain as to why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against them for their comments about trial proceeding and the tribunal at the rally on February 4.
On March 6, the court ordered the police to arrest the Jamaat leaders and produce them before the court for "deliberately avoiding" appearance before the tribunal in connection with a contempt of court ruling.
Of them, Selim Uddin, Dhaka city unit assistant secretary general of Jamaat, was placed in durance vile Please don't kill me! following a warrant for arrest issued by the tribunal, while acting secretary general Rafiqul Islam Khan, and central executive council member Hamidur Rahman Azad, are on the run.
The court, on its own, issued the notice for contempt of court on the basis of reports published in The Daily Star and Bangla daily Prothom Alo on February 5.
The Prothom Alo quoted Selim Uddin as saying; "There is no scope for the controversial tribunal to deliver any verdict if the country is to be saved from a civil war."
The daily quoted Azad as saying at the same programme, "This tribunal cannot exist any more."
The Daily Star, in a report headlined "Jamaat warns of civil war", quoted Rafiqul Islam as saying, "Don't push the country into a civil war by delivering one-sided verdicts against our leaders. If anything happens to Quader Mollah, every house will be on fire."
If found guilty, the tribunal, as per section 11 (4) of the act, may award the Jamaat leaders simple imprisonment which may extend to one year or with fine which may extend to Tk 5,000 or with both.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/03/2013 00:00 ||
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The Prime Minister told MPs he would do more to tackle the conveyor belt to radicalisation which is poisoning the minds of young Muslims.
Mr Cameron also confirmed a Telegraph report that he is looking at finding ways to allow spies to monitor people over the internet without the need for Commons vote.
In his first Commons statement since the brutal murder in Woolwich, south London last month of Drummer Lee Rigby, Mr Cameron said it was important to learn the lessons from the attack.
He told MPs: it is not simply enough to target and go after violent extremists after they've become violent. We have to drain the swamp in which they inhabit.
This meant stopping young Muslims becoming radicalised on university campuses and preventing extremists from taking over Islamic centres. He said: It means going through all of these elements of the conveyor belt to radicalisation and making sure we deal with them.
What a pity he could not have said this years ago, when he was the prime minister and could do something about it.
He couldn't have done anything about it then and remained PM...
Problem is, Soddy Arabia's Salafistan. If it was Chad, there wouldn't be a problem talking about it.
Tony Blair today makes his most powerful political intervention since leaving Downing Street by launching an outspoken attack on 'the problem within Islam'.
The former Prime Minister addresses the shocking killing of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich by going further than he -- or any front-rank British politician -- has gone before over the issue of Moslem radicalism.
Writing in today's Mail on Sunday, he departs from the usual argument that Islam is a peaceful religion that should not be tainted by the actions of a few krazed killers.
Instead, Mr Blair urges governments to 'be honest' and admit that the problem is more widespread.
'There is a problem within Islam -- from the adherents of an ideology which is a strain within Islam,' he writes.
'We have to put it on the table and be honest about it. Of course there are Christian faceless myrmidons and Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu ones. But I am afraid this strain is not the province of a few krazed killers. It has at its heart a view about religion and about the interaction between religion and politics that is not compatible with pluralistic, liberal, open-minded societies.'
He adds: 'At the extreme end of the spectrum are terrorists, but the world view goes deeper and wider than it is comfortable for us to admit. So by and large we don't admit it.'
Mr Blair's comments are likely to be seized on by critics who will argue that by leading us into the Iraq War he has helped to swell support for radical Islam around the globe.
The former PM's remarks come as David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... prepares to make a Commons statement about the Woolwich murder tomorrow afternoon.
The statement will come just hours after the first meeting of the Prime Minister's Tackling Extremism and Radicalisation Task Force (TERFOR) -- made up of senior Ministers, MI5, police and moderate religious leaders -- tomorrow morning.
Whitehall sources said that it would be a 'preliminary meeting' to draw up the agenda for a full meeting within days. The group, which the Moslem Foreign Office Minister Baroness Warsi, will examine new powers to muzzle hate preachers.
Mr Cameron's Commons speech is also expected to address the situation in Syria.
In his article, Mr Blair, who is trying to establish a Paleostinian state through his work as a peace envoy, also addresses the Syrian situation, warning: 'We are at the beginning of this tragedy . . . Syria is in a state of accelerating disintegration.
'President Assad is brutally pulverising communities hostile to his regime.' Mr Blair says that 'the overwhelming desire of the West is to stay out of it', which he goes on to describe as 'completely understandable'.
He suggests that 'the problem within Islam' can start to be tackled by 'educating children about faith here and abroad'.
Sir Malcolm Rifkind, a former Foreign Secretary and chairman of the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee, said: 'Much of what Tony Blair says is sensible.
'The Islamic snuffies who kill people have the silent support of many more in their community who share their ideology, if not their methods.
'But even combined, they represent only a small minority of British Moslems, and we must never forget that.
'However, the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach... he appears to be still trying to justify the Iraq War rather than acknowledging that that war provided an unprecedented opportunity for the Sunni and Shia faceless myrmidons to slaughter so many of their co-religionists.'
#2
IMO the greater prob lies wid JudeoChristians, as once upon a time "Secularism" broadly meant Govt. can't tell a Person what God or Religion to believe - SECULARISM TODAY IS MORE IN LINE WID MANDATORY/TOTALITARIAN ATHEISM + TOTE ATHEISM-BASED SCIENTIFISM, INTELLECTUALISM, ETC. THAN ANYTHING ELSE.
#8
"Mr Blair's comments are likely to be seized on by critics who will argue that by leading us into the Iraq War he has helped to swell support for radical Islam around the globe."
The criticals will also call him a racist and say that is why he willingly followed Bush into Iraq. Thus ensuring folks don't listen to anything he says, ever.
ISTANBUL Thousands of anti-government protesters continued demonstrations Sunday in Istanbul and several major cities across Turkey, speaking against rising authoritarianism and calling for the government to resign after police used violence against demonstrators marching against plans to demolish a local park.
Demonstrators say they are alarmed with the rising power of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party has won plaudits for its democratic and economic reforms but has recently become more restrictive on social issues.
How is that more 'democratic'?
A bill creating far-reaching restrictions on alcohol was hastily passed last month, and Erdogan has also publicly stated women should have at least three children.
That's alarmed secular Turks such as Filiz Polat who, along with more than 100,000 demonstrators, have defied the prime minister and marched on the city center since last week.
"The government interferes with what we need to eat, what we need to drink, how we should sleep with our partner, how many kids that we should have," Polat said. "This is getting beyond reasonable."
It's getting almost as bad as Manhattan...
Spontaneous demonstrations rocked Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir over the weekend with clashes between protesters and police that Amnesty International said resulted in at least two deaths and more than 1,000 injured.
Interior Minister Muammer Guler announced on Turkish state TV on Saturday that 939 people in 90 separate protests across Turkey had been arrested in connection with the demonstrations, but some of them have already been released.
Heavy rains early Sunday appeared to dampen spirits but by afternoon, crowds paraded up Istiklal Avenue a major pedestrian shopping street that's been the scene of vandalism and clashes chanting "Tayyip resign!" as throngs of shoppers returned to the battered city center. Meanwhile, groups of protesters arrived with trash bags to help clean up litter and debris from the demonstrations.
Outside Erdogan's office in the upscale district of Besiktas, the number of protesters swelled by Sunday evening, and cars honked non-stop down the main road that links Taksim square with the district. By nightfall, the crowd had grown to 10,000 to 20,000 people, with more approaching in both directions along the main street. Nearly 1,000 police officers blocked off side streets in the area and attempted to disperse protesters with tear gas and water cannons.
Oya Ozdemir, a 35-year-old real estate appraiser, was on her way home to Besiktas when she was forced to duck into a cafe because of the gas.
"Of course Erdogan must resign," she said, her eyes red from the gas. "There will be elections, but I don't trust the elections."
Ozdemir said she is confident the Turkish people are united behind a common goal of ousting Erdogan, but she is concerned for the future of the protest movement, saying "We cannot become too radical."
Erdogan has so far been unrepentant in face of the protests. On Sunday, the prime minister addressed a group representing migrants from the Balkans saying, "If they call someone who has served the people a 'dictator,' I have nothing to say. My only concern has been to serve my country."
In another speech delivered an hour later, Erdogan said: "I am not the master of the people. Dictatorship does not run in my blood or in my character. I am the servant of the people."
Mubarak thought he was a servant too...
On Saturday, he delivered an ominous warning to opposition leaders saying he could call on his own supporters to take to the streets.
"If you use provocative words, our people will never forgive you," Erdogan said. "If you gather 100,000 people, I can gather a million."
But he's a servant, you see...
The mass movement began Friday morning when police forcibly evicted a peaceful sit-in against a redevelopment project that would replace leafy Gezi Park next to Taksim Square with an Ottoman era-themed shopping mall. Reacting to images of police using tear gas against the peaceful group, crowds swelled to tens of thousands with groups in other cities taking to the streets in solidarity to confront riot police armed with tear gas and water cannons.
Erdogan has also said that a mosque would be built at the square, stirring more controversy. The mosque plans have long been contentious because it would further shrink the green spaces in Istanbul's city center. Some argue that there are already plenty of mosques around Taksim.
"I am not going to seek the permission of the (the opposition) or a handful of plunderers," Erdogan said Sunday.
Erdogan and his party allies have pledged to investigate claims of excessive force that drew a rebuke from the United States and European Union.
"We are concerned about the number of people who were injured when police dispersed protesters in Istanbul's Gezi Park," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Saturday. "We believe that Turkey's long-term stability, security and prosperity is best guaranteed by upholding the fundamental freedoms of expression, assembly and association, which is what it seems these individuals were doing."
After early Saturday morning clashes throughout the city center, riot police withdrew from Istanbul's central Taksim Square, allowing more than 100,000 to peacefully demonstrate throughout the afternoon.
It was a watershed moment with leftists, rightists, nationalists, minorities and even rival football fans marching and singing alongside as the crowds swelled on Taksim Square.
One group of young men raised beer cans chanting "Cheers, Tayyip!" referring to the recent alcohol law which drew giggles from three middle-aged women in Islamic headscarves.
Celebrating Saturday in Gezi Park still slated for demolition Turhan Duru said most Turks are law-abiding citizens but every society has a collective breaking point and that the government had touched a nerve.
"We have respect for the government and even the police," he said. "But we had to react."
The mass euphoria that's spread across Turkey is seen as a milestone in the decade-long rule of Erdogan, who has capitalized on a disorganized and divided opposition to consolidate power.
But veteran journalist and columnist Cengiz Candar says the weekend's events prove Turkish society is pushing back against the prime minister's heavy-handed rule and says the government has been put on notice.
"In his more than 10 years of rule of getting more and more authoritarian, he's been publicly defeated for the first time," Candar said. "Despite whatever he says in defiance or however unrepentant he may seem, he is a very pragmatic person and he's picked up several lessons over what has happened."
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/03/2013 00:00 ||
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#2
LOL - reminds me of "STAR TREK:INTO DARKNESS" scene on Youtube where Doc McCoy reanimates a dead Jim Kirk wid blood from his Spock-captured, genetically engineered super-human nemesis Khan, asking [paraph]"Do you feel any sudden urge(s) to be despotic, violent, or genocidal".
The Army psychiatrist charged in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting rampage will represent himself at his upcoming murder trial, meaning he will question the more than two dozen soldiers he's accused of wounding, a military judge ruled Monday.
Maj. Nidal Hasan's attorneys will remain on the case but only if he asks for their help, the judge said. Hasan, 42, faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.
After questioning Hasan for about an hour, the judge, Col. Tara Osborn, ruled that Hasan was mentally competent to represent himself and understands "the disadvantage of self-representation." She repeatedly urged him to reconsider his request, noting that the lead prosecutor has more than 20 years of experience and that Hasan will be held to the same standards as all attorneys regarding courtroom rules and military law.
"You've made that quite clear," Hasan said after the judge asked if he understood that representing himself was not "a good idea."
At Osborn's request, a doctor testified Monday about Hasan's physical condition. The doctor said Hasan's paralysis won't have a significant impact during proceedings but that Hasan can only sit for four consecutive hours and has limitations writing. He was paralyzed from the waist down after being shot by police the day of the attack on the Texas Army post.
Hasan asked the judge to kick one of his attorneys off the case completely, but she instead said that two of his lawyers would sit at his defense table while the third sits in the courtroom. All will assist him if he asks.
American woman killed in Syria 'was converted to Islam by her Saudi Arabian husband who hated the West'
From a British newspaper, of course. They do the reporting Americans won't do...
The Muslim ex-husband of American woman Nicole Lynn Mansfield, shot dead in Syria for supposedly fighting with rebel forces, is a religious hardliner who may have indoctrinated her into his beliefs. Ayman Mohammed Bafil, from Saudi Arabia, hates the freedoms that people have in the U.S. and thinks anyone who does not believe in Islam is 'going to hell'.
Bafil has been married three times in his quest to find the perfect housewife.
Bafil, 32, wed his first wife in Saudi Arabia in 2002 under an arranged marriage to a Saudi woman. Both were from strict Sunni Muslim families.
They moved to Eugene, Oregon in 2006 so he could study English and then engineering with a grant from the Saudi government which covered his tuition fees, accommodation and living expenses.
However his wife soon grew unhappy and rebelled at how she was treated. In 2007 they split up and later divorced.
So she's not Ms. Perfect...
Bafil and his first wife have two children, a girl aged nine and a five-year-old boy. They went through a bitter court battle which ended with her being granted custody but he is allowed visitation rights when he returns to the U.S. He does so once or twice a year.
I'm really surprised he didn't just yank the children back to Saudi-controlled Arabia...
In July 2010, Bafil married Nicole in Flint having met her on the Internet but their marriage lasted just over a year. They divorced in August 2011. Her relatives have told MailOnline that it was a 'deal' under which he would get a green card and paid her cash and gave her a van in exchange.
Oh quelle surprise...
By October 2011, Bafil moved onto wife number three and wed Muslim convert Theresa Rutgers, who was 33 at the time and living in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The pair are now living in Saudi Arabia where he works as an engineer for Saudi Airlines and she is a stay-at-home mother. She has told friends she is extremely happy and loves her new life.
During a phone conversation, Theresa, who was not aware that Nicole had died, said: 'That's awful news. I'm so sorry.
'Ayman never has a bad thing to say about her. I knew they were married but it was not a bitter divorce.'
Nicole's father Greg Mansfield revealed that he contacted the FBI five years ago when Nicole traveled to Dubai and asked them to take away her passport. He has said that he 'knew something wasn't right' and that if they had followed his instructions she would still be alive.
#1
Nicole's father Greg Mansfield revealed that he contacted the FBI five years ago when Nicole traveled to Dubai and asked them to take away her passport. He has said that he 'knew something wasn't right' and that if they had followed his instructions she would still be alive.
Yes of course, that would have stopped her. Nobody ever applies for, or is issued more than one passport. She could have also traveled through on an H-1B..... oh, wait.
* Was in a shopping mall in Bloomington, IL yesterday. Looked like Pakistan or India. Many work for the State Farm or Country Companies, even Cat Tractor Co, which has recently suffered some lay-offs. H-1B employees are not affected by the lay-offs at Cat however. Must be a government rule or something.
#2
Besoeker,
The "government rule" is called cheap salaries. Also they can claim to be "temporarily here" for training if the company is setting up a data center in their country. (That's what Target is doing in Minneapolis).
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
06/03/2013 10:49 Comments ||
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#3
Sometimes there is just no way to fix stupid. I've seen this kind of story oft-repeated in the U.S. as well--American women get hooked up with Muslim men who hate the West. These women give up their freedom too easily.
[Pak Daily Times] US State Department says TTP number two second-in-command Waliur Rehman may have been killed in on a tip off provided by an individual, but the US would not tell the name of that informer.
The US had announced a head money of $5 million to anyone who provided 'useful' information about the Taliban deputy.
According to foreign media reports, there is a split in the TTP. The two groups -- one of Hakimullah Mehsud and second of Waliur Rehman Mehsud -- are at loggerheads and this split is to gain hegemony in the organization.
The informer on whose tip Waliur Rehman was killed was from Hakimullah Mehsud group.
The split has not ended with the killing of Waliur Rehman. The man who has replaced Wali is known by name Khan Saeed alias Sajna. He hails from Mehsud Tribe of Shobikhel and is again from Waliur Rehman group.
Wali was virtually commanding the TTP due to the ailment of Hakimullah, and had a leaning for peace talks. Hakimullah group houses hardcore snuffies who believe in bloodshed.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/03/2013 00:00 ||
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MURREE: In a major move to honour his commitment and pacify the nationalist parties in Balochistan, PML-N President and prime minister-designate Nawaz Sharif has nominated Dr Abdul Malik of the National Party as provincial chief minister.
Nawaz has said that the next provincial governor will be a nominee of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP). Addressing a press conference on Sunday after a high-level meeting with PML-N, PkMAP and National Party leaders, Nawaz said a change would be brought in Balochistan through good governance and merit, and the wounds of the people will be healed.
That's that...
He said that despite having majority in the provincial assembly, the PML-N, in a bid to set a good tradition, has given the positions of the chief minister and governor to its coalition partners. He said there would be an incorrupt government in Balochistan and stated that had there been democracy there would have been no violence in the province. Nawaz said his party had always called for putting an end to violence, ensuring peace and development, and time has come to fulfil these commitments. He said a peaceful environment is the first step for progress and prosperity.
To a question about the role of FC in Balochistan, Nawaz said the elected government makes the policies and all other institutions are bound to implement them.
Speaking on the occasion, PkMAP chief Mahmud Khan Achakzai said Punjab has shown bigheartedness, as a result of which they were standing together today. He said Punjabs attitude is democratic, it has an agenda of democratic Pakistan, to fight against terrorism and corruption, and Pashtun and Baloch are with it today. If Punjab will take one step for friendship and reconciliation, Pashtuns and Baloch will respond by taking two steps, he declared.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/03/2013 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari ... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ... has ruled out seeking another presidential term after his present five-year tenure expires in September, saying he believed he had no right to participate in the next presidential election
President Zardari on Sunday said the credit of strong democracy and smooth transition of power following the May 11 election went to all the political forces who ensured that democracy remained the main driving force of the country. In an interview with a panel of journalists, the president said not only Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... but other political parties also supported the PPP for the sake of democracy and made the transition a success.
Zardari said that if the Pakistain Peoples' Party (PPP) asked him to lead the party, he would do so, or else he would work as a party worker. Zardari termed the democratic transition of power a landmark achievement in the history of the country, adding that if the PPP gave him a leadership role he would work for its re-organization, otherwise would only work for party as an ordinary worker.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/03/2013 00:00 ||
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#2
Anymore I reckon Golda Meir had it right: that we will not see peace in the Middle East until Arabs decide they love their children more than they hate Jews.
I would offer an alternative precondition, "or until Arabic is spoken only in Hell".
Posted by: Dave D. ||
06/03/2013 6:59 Comments ||
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#3
Jahwan Kerry pusing anything makes me think of over-cooked spaghetti pushing the meat balls around.
The only thing wrong with that picture is that it is too flattering to his masculinity.
#6
The arab spring is metastasizing. Now spreading to Lebanon. A regional conflict among mooslims with Christians fleeing the AO, an added side benefit for the jihadii's.
* Arab spring - term no longer in vogue in political conversation or the MSM.
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Ineffectual Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas named British-educated political independent Rami Hamdallah as new prime minister on Sunday, a move that was immediately condemned by Gaza Strip rulers Hamas.
Fawzi Barhoum told Reuters Abbas should have implemented the reconciliation (deal) achieved in Cairo last month, rather than name his own independent candidate as prime minister. The group called Hamdallahs appointment illegal.
Did they threaten to kill him?
A little known figure outside the Palestinian territories, Hamdallah is a professor of linguistics who has been president of An Najah National University in the West Banks largest city since 1998.
As a professor of linguistics he can say one thing in English and another in Arabic. That'll be useful in Paleostine...
He will replace Western-favoured economist Salam Fayyad who quit in April and formally leaves office this month.
President Abbas has designated Rami Hamdallah to form a new cabinet, the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. Palestinian and Israeli media also reported the appointment.
Led by the secular Fatah party, Abbas Western-backed Palestinian Authority has pursued surveillance, firings, arrests and torture to bar its Islamist rivals from public life in the West Bank, since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip enclave in 2007.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/03/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Gulf states could take measures against Hizbullah in the near future, the head of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council said on Sunday.
The GCC "decided to look into taking measures against Hizbullah's interests in the member states," GCC chief Abdul Latif al-Zayani told news hounds at the end of a ministerial meeting in the Saudi city of Jeddah.
Zayani gave no other details on the nature of the measures or the interests to which he was referring.
Bahraini Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ghanim al-Buainain said that "nobody could cover up Hizbullah's actions in regional countries."
"It is a terrorist organization and this is how Gulf states see it," he added.
However, it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... placing Hizbullah on the GCC's "terror" list was "a technical and legal matter that needs to be further studied," the Bahraini minister said.
At the opening of the meeting, Buainain had called for "a serious stance and united action to end the attacks on the interests of the Syrian people and giving them the right to choose their political regime."
"We see this today as a clear and flagrant Iranian interference, alongside its ally Hizbullah, in the Syrian crisis using all sorts of weapons and turning Syria into a battle zone that has left thousands of Syrians dead," he said.
Bahrain, which currently holds the GCC's rotating presidency, has branded the movement a "terrorist organization."
Hizbullah's men are fighting alongside Syrian government troops in a fierce battle to retake the strategic Syrian town of Qusayr from mostly Sunni rebels.
Hizbullah chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... had previously justified the group's involvement in Syria by saying they were defending Lebanese-inhabited border villages inside Syria against rebel attacks and Shiite holy sites in Damascus province.
But the offensive on Qusayr forced the movement to change its argument.
"Syria is the rear guard of the resistance (Hizbullah's fight with Israel), its backbone, and the resistance cannot stay with its arms folded when its rear guard is exposed," Nasrallah said last month in a speech for the 13th anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from southern Leb.
"We are idiots if we do not act," he added.
Nasrallah stressed that Hizbullah will win the battle in Syria against the "United States, Israel and the Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... s just like it emerged victorious in previous wars."
The Gulf Cooperation Council is made up of six Sunni-ruled states: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and the United Arab Emirates.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/03/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster...
No, just a starving one.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/03/2013 20:43 Comments ||
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TEHRAN The eight candidates standing for president this month may differ on several issues, but when it comes to Irans nuclear drive they are united in pursuing what they see as its peaceful atomic ambitions.
Whoever is elected president on June 14 to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Islamic republic is unlikely to alter the course of its controversial programme of uranium enrichment. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei takes all the key decisions in Iran, including on the nuclear issue.
Definitely the result of the presidential election will not have any influence on the nuclear issue, the countrys atomic chief Fereydoun Abbasi Davani has said.
The presidential hopefuls including the frontrunner, Irans nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili have all insisted that the nuclear project will proceed.
Regardless of who is elected president in June, uranium enrichment activities will be pursued without fear against the enemy, Jalili said.
The president must demonstrate this in a practical manner to the supreme leader, Jalili, who has been negotiating with world powers on the issue since October 2007, said on his campaign website.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/03/2013 00:00 ||
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JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia - Arab states of the Gulf could take measures against the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah, openly involved in the Syrian conflict, the head of their six-member bloc said on Sunday.
"What kind of measures?"
"Stern measures!"
The Gulf Cooperation Council had decided to look into taking measures against Hezbollahs interests in the member states, GCC chief Abdullatif al-Zayani told reporters at the end of a ministerial meeting in the Saudi city of Jeddah. Zayani gave no other details on the nature of the measures or the interests to which he was referring.
Since he didn't himself know...
Bahraini Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ghanim al-Buainain said that nobody could cover up Hezbollahs actions in regional countries.
But Hezbollah could try to kill them all...
It is a terrorist organisation and this is how Gulf states see it, he added.
However, placing Hezbollah on the GCCs terror list was a technical and legal matter that needs to be further studied.
At the opening of the meeting, Buainain had called for a serious stance and united action to end the attacks on the interests of the Syrian people and giving them the right to choose their political regime.
We see this today as a clear and flagrant Iranian interference, alongside its ally Hezbollah, in the Syrian crisis using all sorts of weapons and turning Syria into a battle zone that has left thousands of Syrians dead, he said.
Bahrain, which currently holds the GCCs rotating presidency, has branded the movement a terrorist organisation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/03/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Must have learned of Hizbullah-in-Iraq's threat to invade the KSA wid the Shia "Hidden/12th Imam" = "Mahdi", + kill or otherwise eliminate wid extreme prejudice the Saudi Royals???
* FYI DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > "MAHDI" HAS ARRIVED, SAYS IRAN.
Meanwhile, not to be outdone by Shia Iran + the Hezzies Huzzies Hizzies Hassies ...
* DRUDGEREPORT, FREEREPUBLIC > [Telegraph.UK]MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD CLERIC [Yusef al-Qaradawi] CALLS FOR JIHAD IN SYRIA.
ARTIC > QARADAWI = accuses Iran + Shia Muslims of malciously desiring or wanting to "eat" Sunni Muslims.
DUBAI -- Iranian authorities have arrested at least seven people who attended a campaign meeting for a reform-leaning presidential candidate, an exile-based Iranian opposition website reported Sunday. Kaleme.com says police made the arrests at a gathering to support candidate Hasan Rowhani in northern Tehran on Saturday.
It said the arrests were made after many participants chanted slogans calling for the release of Mir Hossein Mousavi, an opposition leader and candidate in Iran's disputed 2009 elections who has been under house arrest for more than two years.
Rowhani is one of eight candidates cleared by the Islamic Republic's constitutional watchdog, the Guardian Council, to run in this year's June 14 elections.
Most other approved candidates were hard-liners, while their most charismatic challengers were disqualified.
What a coincidence...
Meanwhile, a council of advisors to influential former reformist president Mohammad Khatami has urged Rowhani to unite with the other major reform-leaning candidate. The statement, carried on Khatami's personal website, expressed hope that Rowhani and Mohamed Reza Aref could form a "united front" to field a single nominee.
Aref's star has been rising since his performance in a Friday debate, restoring some energy to the movement after their main candidate, former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, was disqualified by the Guardian Council.
If you think Rafsanjani is a 'moderate'...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/03/2013 00:00 ||
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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.
[Egypt Independent] The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political arm of the 
CAIRO -- Egypt's Antiquities' Ministry has criticized a U.S. Embassy message to American citizens in the country, urging them to be extra cautious because of recent incidents near the pyramids in Giza. A ministry statement on Saturday says the warning is "baseless."
David Cameron
[Pak Daily Times] US State Department says TTP 
President Asif Ali 
Nawaz Sharif
[Pak Daily Times] * Syria, Israel-Palestine issue taking up most of Kerry's time 
TEHRAN The eight candidates standing for president this month may differ on several issues, but when it comes to Irans nuclear drive they are united in pursuing what they see as its peaceful atomic ambitions.
DUBAI -- Iranian authorities have arrested at least seven people who attended a campaign meeting for a reform-leaning presidential candidate, an exile-based Iranian opposition website reported Sunday. Kaleme.com says police made the arrests at a gathering to support candidate Hasan Rowhani in northern Tehran on Saturday.
