[Tolo News] Dr. Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002, Ahmadzai was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. Ahmadzai, a Presidential candidate and former Minister of Finance, spoke to TOLOnews in an exclusive interview and identified some of things he thinks are most important for good governance in Afghanistan and how they would inform his service if elected President.
Two of the things Dr. Ghani stressed most in the interview were equality under rule of law and the separation of powers with checks-and-balances between the three branches of the Afghan government. Until he takes power...
"The legislative power, the executive and the judiciary should have their own responsibilities and the President should exemplify the rule of law," said Dr. Ghani. "The best day of my life as president would be the day when the Supreme Court tells me 'one of your commands is illegal' and I would immediately obey the law."
Under the trilateral form of government in Afghanistan, where authority is divided between the three branches, overstretch and abuse of Presidential power has been a hot-topic under the administration of President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
Back during the Presidential election in 2009, Dr. Ghani accused Karzai of having public officials in provinces around the country campaign for him.
More recently, members of the National Assembly called Karzai's decision to hold a Loya Jirga to decide the fate of the Kabul-Washington Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) unconstitutional.
In response to recent talk about potentially altering the structure of the Afghan government to make power more dispersed amongst the provinces instead of centralized in Kabul, Dr. Ghani said now was not the time to focus on that, but ultimately it would be the decision of the Afghan people.
"I am not interested in a federal system at this stage, and this decision is up to the Afghan people," said Dr. Ghani. "The Loya Jirga is mentioned in the Constitution, and it should be held to differentiate the forms and advantages of the political system."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2013 00:00 ||
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[Shabelle] Somali interior minsiter, who ordered the police storm into the headquarters of Shabelle Media Network in Mogadishu came and took some Shabelle owned equipments into a truck, according to reliable sources who witnessed when the the interior minister accompanied by Abdi Aziz Africa, ajournalist working for the state radio came to the besieged of Shabelle last night.
The sources confirm us during the dismantling and looting of Shabelle equipments by interior minsiter Abdikarin Hussein Guled and his accomplice Abdi Aziz Africa that one of the security guards of the minister was electrocuted after unprofessionally tried to cut one of the electric wires connected to the media equipments in the station.
The looted equipments were loaded into one of the interior minsiter's trucks.
Abdi Aziz Africa, the journalist with the state media, Radio Mogadishu also took equipments mainly laptops and cameras from the building, according to the same relaible sources.
Unconfirmed reports say that soem of the equipments were taken to Radio Mogadishu.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2013 00:00 ||
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[The Telegraph] A British security contractor said he repeatedly warned US officials that their diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, was inadequately protected before it suffered a deadly attack last year.
He also described fighting off armed attackers during the al-Qaeda-linked assault, in an attempt to help rescue guards he had trained to man the gates of the compound.
Speaking publicly about the attack for the first time, the contractor, a former British soldier using the pseudonym Morgan Jones "for his own safety", described the experience as "sheer hell".
He claimed that having been employed to train the unarmed guards for the mission's entrance, he told US officials that a team of armed Libyan militiamen hired separately by the State Department to defend the mission in the event of an attack were not up to the task. The UK's Blue Mountain Security had the training contract. Could we finally be hearing from one their people ?
[FoxNews] The first Western eyewitness to the deadly Benghazi terror attacks has given an account of the seven-hour assault on the U.S. outpost in Libya and says Americans knew such an incident was inevitable.
The witness -- a former British soldier who for decades helped protect U.S. diplomats and military leaders -- told CBS' "60 Minutes" that Al Qaeda forces first attacked the U.S. Special Mission Compound in which Ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed. Then they launched a second attack on a secret CIA annex about a mile across the city.
"They knew what they were doing," the security guard told CBS. "That was a well-executed attack."
The guard's most dramatic account of the hours-long ordeal is when a team from the annex rushed to help fellow Americans under siege at the compound.
"About 30 minutes into the attack, a Quick Reaction Force from the CIA annex ignored orders to wait and raced to the compound, at times running and shooting their way through the streets just to get there.
"Inside the compound, they repelled a force of as many as 60 armed hard boyz and managed to save five American lives and recover the body of Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith. They were forced to fight their way out before they could find the Ambassador" Stevens.
More at the link.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
10/28/2013 03:24 ||
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#1
The entire episode is a frightening reminder of how poor the entire administration has performed. They tried to spin the old "it's our fault, we made them kill us" and when that blew up in their faces, they then gave these peculiar explanations.
Of course, the bigger question is why Stevens was in Benghazi that night and for what reason?
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
10/28/2013 10:34 Comments ||
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#2
The Telegraph ran this. Perhaps the British contractor was an employee of the UK's Blue Mountain Security, the firm that held the training contract. Blue Mountain pulled out of Benghazi and the contract for some reason. What was it ?
#3
It would seem that he was in some capacity, since Blue Mountain had the contract:
[Jones] claimed that having been employed to train the unarmed guards for the mission's entrance, he told US officials that a team of armed Libyan militiamen hired separately by the State Department to defend the mission in the event of an attack were not up to the task.
It's safe to state that he wasn't management, since it's been reported that Blue Mountain had pulled had that individual flown out of Libya shortly prior to the attack.
#4
I've always believe Blue Mountain Security held the keys to this cock-up. The BMS pull-out of Benghazi may have not been a total withdrawal. It could have been a phased extraction. Bringing the program manager home would have terminated the contract and sent a message. Discretely having someone remain on the ground to monitor developments, just good business from a indications and warnings standpoint.
Mr 'Morgan's (scant little new here revelations) could be a very British way of #10 telling the regime to curb their NSA dog. Or am I boxing at shadows once again?
#5
Mr 'Morgan's (scant little new here revelations) could be a very British way of #10 telling the regime to curb their NSA dog. Or am I boxing at shadows once again?
Perhaps. Or perhaps more of an indication of displeasure with the White House, State, and the US IC, not just the NSA.
Notice there is no mention whether "Mr. Jones" was self-employed, sub-contracted, or a contract employee. Also no mention of who the contracting company is. Interesting.
[An Nahar] Jihadists have released a video of a suicide kaboom in which an ex-army major reveals himself as the attacker who tried to kill Egypt's interior minister in September.
A senior interior ministry official confirmed the bomber, Walid Badr, was a major in the military before his expulsion in 2005 for "extremist" views.
In the video posted on YouTube on Saturday by the Sinai-based Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, Badr can be seen explaining his motives before detonating a boom-mobile close to a convoy carrying Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim.
The revelation of Badr's army past comes at a time of heightened conflict between Islamists and the military, which overthrew Islamist president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... in July after mass protests demanding his resignation.
More than 1,000 people, mostly Islamists, have been killed and 2,000 locked away You have the right to remain silent... in an ensuing crackdown.
The al-Qaeda-inspired group had previously grabbed credit for the September 5 attack outside Ibrahim's home, which killed one person but did not harm the minister, who was traveling in an armored car.
The attack was seen as a precedent by Sinai myrmidon groups that had previously limited their operations to the restive peninsula.
The army has sent tanks and aircraft to north Sinai to battle Islamist bully boyz who have killed more than 100 coppers and soldiers since Morsi's overthrow in July.
"The Egyptian military has declared war on our religion," said Badr in the video, in uniform and reading from a prepared speech.
The bombing took place less than a month after police dispersed two pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo, setting off festivities that killed hundreds, mostly Islamists.
In the 31-minute video, Badr lambasts Morsi's Moslem Brüderbund and other Islamist political groups for taking part in the "farce of democratic Islam."
He chides Morsi's supporters for not responding to the president's ouster with armed attacks.
Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi "had thought you would avenge your religion, so he beefed up army and police units in anticipation of your reaction," Badr said.
"Instead all he got was slogans and screams and bare chests, making you easy prey," said Badr of the Islamists' mainly peaceful protests.
"Why do you shy away from armed confrontation," he asked.
In the video, Badr is introduced as an ex-army major who left the military to fight in Afghanistan and Syria, and spent a year in detention in Iran.
Several Egyptian military officers are known to have joined jihadist groups in the past.
President Anwar Sadat's assassin in 1981 was an army officer, and a top al-Qaeda military commander known as Seif al-Adel was also in the armed forces.
Interior ministry front man Hany Abdel Latif told Agence La Belle France Presse that the military expelled Badr in 2005 because "he embraced Death Eater tendencies."
Abdel Latif said Badr returned to Egypt under Morsi, blamed for pardoning convicted bully boyz or allowing them to return to the country during his turbulent one-year rule.
Many Islamists convicted on terror charges were released after finishing their sentences following the ouster of veteran president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... in early 2011.
The releases took place during the interim military rule that followed Mubarak's ouster and during Morsi's term in office.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Egypt's 50-member committee tasked with amending the suspended 2012 constitution adopted on Sunday a transitional article that will cancel existing restrictions regulating the building of new churches. According to Ahram Arabic news website, the committee also initially adopted an article [47] which stipulates "absolute freedom of belief" for Egyptian citizens and endows the state with the responsibility to ensure free practice of religion.
However, it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... under pressure from representatives of Egypt's highest Sunni authority Al-Azhar, which has demanded that freedom of religion be restricted to the three monotheistic beliefs, the committee opted to postpone its vote on article 47 until Monday.
Sources at the meeting told Ahram that representatives of the church, who have until now strongly supported complete freedom of religion, sided with Al-Azhar's objection.
Christians, who make up 10 to15 percent of Egypt's 85 million, need special presidential permits in order to build or renovate churches in Egypt.
Supporters of equal rights for all citizens have long demanded the freedom to build and renovate churches without restraint in order to ensure parity between Egypt's religions.
Islamic gunnies have attacked tens of churches, destroying many, in the past 15 years.
Following the police's bloody dispersal of two sit-ins supporting ousted president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... , churches and Christian homes and businesses have been attacked nationwide.
Amnesia Amnesty International, a London-based rights group, says that upwards of 200 Christian-owned properties have been attacked and 43 churches torched or seriously damaged across the country since Morsi's ouster.
None of Egypt's previous constitutions included a law to regulate the building of mosques.
Cairo, the country's capital, is known as the "City of a thousand minarets" for its extensive ancient Islamic architecture.
Articles regarding religion have been especially contentious during the committee's drafting session.
Article 47, allowing for complete freedom of religion, is controversial because it could be extended to other Egyptian minorities, such as Egypt's Baha'is and Shia Mohammedans.
Shias and Baha'is are not allowed to practice their beliefs in public and have suffered sectarian attacks by Sunni gunnies over the years.
In June, shortly before Morsi's ouster, an angry mob led by Salafist sheikhs torched and attacked houses of Shias in the small village of Zawyat Abu Musalam in Giza governorate, killing four citizens, including a prominent Shia figure.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
They can build 'em, but they'll just be burned down again.
#3
Of course they can build 'em, assuming the local government issues permits and the local police keep away those who would wander off with the building materials...
[Al Ahram] Judges at a court in Cairo have withdrawn from an appeal by an Islamic preacher found guilty of burning a Bible.
Ahmed Abdullah, known as Abu Islam, appealed against an 11-year jail sentence and a LE3,000 ($425) fine for insulting religion.
Abu Islam burned copies of the Bible during a rally against an anti-Islam film outside the US embassy in Cairo on 11 September 2012. He told the crowd he would send his grandson to urinate on the Bible.
The judges cited a conflict of interest as their reason for stepping down without giving further details.
The court was expected to issue its verdict on Sunday.
In June, a court sentenced Abu Islam to 11 years in jail and a LE3,000 fine, and his son to eight years in jail and a LE2,000 fine.
In separate case in July 2013, a court sentenced Abu Islam to three years in jail for offending Christianity, with bail set at LE10,000 ($1,425).
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2013 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Dick Cheney expressed skepticism [Sunday] that the Obama administration would be able to force Iran to comply with demands that it show its nuclear program is peaceful. Asked if military action against Iran was "inevitable," Cheney said he had "trouble seeing how we're going to achieve our objective short of that."
Cheney faulted the Obama White House's handling of Middle East politics, saying the U.S. presence in the region had been "significantly diminished" in recent years. "I think our friends no longer count on us, no longer trust us and our adversaries don't fear us," he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/28/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
I would think he's got a Parker GHE 12 Gauge or two that probably needs cleaning. How about it Dick? Can't you just leave us alone ?
#2
Cheney is right. Our overseas status now horrible. Much worse than when W was in office.
The only thing that the NPR-listening pseudointellectuals and their footsoldiers in government employment care about is if their leftist counterparts in other countries like the US or not - not the general population. The welfare crowd, they don't care about anything as long as the EBT cards work.
For a few years the transnationals in other places did like the new, collectivist, leftist administration. Now that is likely over. The whole Merkel affair has publicly popped the bubble of illusion.
There comes a point when no amount of flowery rhetoric and ideology can cover up the fecal stink of hypocrisy and incompetence and intolerance.The regime's latest bungled attempt to smooth things over is to lie and say that Obama didn't know, which the regime really thought would placate, but of course makes them look even worse in terms of incompetence. It is a measure of how stupid and out of touch with basic human behavior the White House truly is that not a single person there could anticipate that such a response would make things worse and not better.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
10/28/2013 5:23 Comments ||
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#3
After the mess this war criminal left the US, why would anyone give two sh*ts about what he had to say about anything...oh, except for maybe Tea Party wannabes....
Mr. Cheney has done something you haven't done yet in your life -- he's very carefully thought through his ideology and how the real world works. When he speaks, it's clear that he knows what he is saying. His answers are (almost always) thoughtful and well considered
Whereas you well.
But more importantly, since you're just posting comments in your pajamas on your way to collect assistance, and we should (of course) focus on what matters: the current president and vice-president took whatever "mess" the previous administration left and made it worse. Much worse.
Which was Mr. Cheney's point.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/28/2013 7:26 Comments ||
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#5
this war criminal
If you are talking about Cheney's pyramid of skulls, or his habit of tooling across the White House lawn on a D-9 while brandishing a shotgun, well, I'm pretty much OK with that.
#6
What a wonderful picture you paint Steve, a brilliant yellow D-9 at full song the stack emitting a solid stream of black diesel, whilst the hardened steel blade scalps the earth; not unlike what Bambi has done to the economy and our stature in the world community.
#11
By suggesting that if there were a counterweight to the super administration, where one party controls both our Executive and Congress, of the Bush Administration which would have checked Republican activities and what you consider illegal military actions, you must also admit that the Tea Party is just that, as you have, and that it is a good thing.
I think that super administrations are bad, that a diversity in Congress better represents the people than the President, whoever is in charge because in general I don't trust groups with that much power. I do remember though a vote in Congress for action in Iraq and Afghanistan, where military action against Libya was bookended between samba lessons and a scrapped discussion about unilateral regional war in Syria. I say unilateral because upon correct reflection if France and the UK were serious they would have gone at it with or without the USA.
And if you are serious about social safety nets and retirement aids, then you must admit that they must be paid for and there are two ways to do that: fiscal conservatism or theft via increased taxes and account raiding. Obamacare is a chickenshit way of the latter, outsourcing the image of fat DC increasing mandatory citizen expenses onto the privately owned State regulated insurance sector.
And to be flat honest, your brand of salesmanship - ugly foreign opinionators of base language and substandard arguement lines - makes people like me identify with the Tea Party, and in a way that will eventually aid you, as you must agree that a stable and prosperous southern neighbor is much prefered to a bankrupt and drug laden criminally dynastic southern neighbor. In fact, if you predict corrrectly, the locusts will go where the best crops are, and if you think that some line on a map stops them you are ciminally incorrect badlander of history. It is in fact the norm; did the Chinese build that wall for shits and giggles, sitting around and thinking "Hey, someday people will say they can see it from space!" No, a Free Shit Army was screwing them big time, but one must admit that the Mongols had a style and pinache about them, and had to actually get down and dirty. You are the 91-0 loser on the football field of debate who spends their energy trying to legislate out of existence the abilities of the other team instead of learning to hike the ball. Gawdammit you are the clown wig of discussion. Get off the handle and put your supervisor on.
#15
Pappy, I consider all the countries you named (Israel excepted) not allies, but countries that sometimes give limited assistance to the U.S., only to stab it in the back when they feel like it.
And Israel? What Rambler says. And somehow I don't consider Israel a "Mideast country". It just lacks the wacko factor.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
10/28/2013 17:10 Comments ||
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#16
Israel is the only real democracy in the Middle East.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
10/28/2013 18:19 Comments ||
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#17
I consider all the countries you named (Israel excepted) not allies, but countries that sometimes give limited assistance to the U.S., only to stab it in the back when they feel like it.
That can be said about many nations, EC. I suspect that the Israelis and the Arabs work together at times, though it'd never be mentioned by any of them.
The critical part is "limited assistance." If one cannot convince a country on the list that to provide assistance when it is needed, an option is lost. Alienate many, and many potential options are lost.
We were in Mombasa. One of the sailors from the ship had been born in Kenya and his parents immigrated to the US when he was a toddler. As he grew up, he decided to Africanize himself. He changed his name to "Khalif", boned up on Kenyan history, referred to himself as a 'Kenyan', etc.
We entered a local, rather upscale bar, whereupon we sat down. He greeted one of the other patron with "Hey Brother!"
The response was a clipped "Excuse me - I'm not your brother."
"But we're both Kenyan! I was born here!"
"You may have been born here, but your mannerisms and attitude tell me that you're an American. You're as much an African as I am a German because I lived in Berlin for a year. So bugger off."
So like it or not, Obama is considered an American. And also one currently not in high favor. Lucky us.
[Dawn] Majlis-e-Wahdatul Mohammedaneen (MWM) leader Allama Nasir Abbas said on Sunday that there should be no talks held with the Taliban.
Speaking at a conference in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... 's Nishtar Park, Abbas said that bully boyz are free to move about and that nobody is arresting them.
"There should be no talks with the Taliban... we will always support the oppressed," Abbas said.
The MWM leader said that the Pakistain Mohammedan League-Nawaz (PML-N) is scared to confront terrorists.
At the same time MWM leader Amin Shahidi said that having talks with the Taliban would be unconstitutional.
"Having talks with the Taliban means having talks with those who reject the constitution of this country," Shahidi said.
He further stated that the 180 million people of Pakistain are being fooled in the name of dialogue.
When speaking about the security situation in the month of Muharram, Shahidi said that there have always been dangers.
He said that attempts to stifle the Ulema and threats to stop processions during Muharram are being recieved by them.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Thousands of Kashmiri people observed a "black day" in Pak Kashmire on Sunday, rallying at an event organised by forces of Evil against Indian "brutalities" and occupation of the Himalayan region.
The rally was set up by the United Jihad Council (UJC), which consists of 16 groups, bad boy outfits and political parties, and was attended by jihadi groups including Hizb-ul-Mujahidin and Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... (LeT).
Both Washington and New Delhi blame LeT for the 2008 terror attacks on Mumbai, which left 166 people dead and derailed a grinding of the peace processor between India and Pakistain.
A crowd of around 3,000 people shouted "Al-Jihad", "Allahu Akbar" (God is great) and "We want Freedom" as they gathered in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pak Kashmire, said an AFP news hound at the scene.
"Diplomacy, talks and negotiations spanned over several decades have not worked," said Syed Salahuddin, chairman of the UJC.
"The only way to liberate Kashmire is jihad and armed struggle because India does not understand the language of dialogue," said Salahuddin, who also leads Hizbul Mujahedin, a bad boy group fighting Indian rule in Kashmire.
The protestors waved black flags and shouted: "Our struggle will continue till Kashmire is freed", and condemned Indian "brutalities", as Salahuddin appealed to the government and people of Pakistain to fully support Kashmiri independence.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2013 00:00 ||
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#2
From what I understand the population of Kashmir has been historically Muslim and the elites have been historically Hindu. So if put up to a vote they would probably jump to Pakistan.
India should have arranged for the place to become indepednent long ago, setting an example that would have caused the Punjab to leave (or at least agitate to leave) Pakistan and creating a nice wall of neutrals between India and Pakistan.
[Dawn] In a sign that the government is finally getting down to opening talks with the Taliban, it has decided to take all political parties on board, with a view to making their leaders part of the dialogue process.
The decision was taken during a meeting between Prime Minister 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... and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan at the Prime Minister's House on Saturday.
What apparently prompted the prime minister to issue the directive was a letter written to him by the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah, asking the government to immediately inform the nation and parliament about progress on the direction unanimously set by an all-party conference on Sept 9.
The opposition leader said the APC had unanimously passed a resolution authorising the government to initiate dialogue with Taliban or to take steps to eliminate extremism and terrorism. "Forty-five days have passed and the government as of today has failed to take parliament and the nation into confidence on steps taken in either of the two directions specified by the resolution," the letter said.
The prime minister said all parties should be consulted on the matter. "All political parties had mandated the government through the APC to hold dialogue with the Taliban and representatives of different parties should feel to be part of the process." He said peace and security were pivotal to economic development and prosperity.
Before the APC passed the resolution, briefings had been arranged for politicians by the prime minister, the interior minister, chief of the army staff and the director general of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) on the internal and regional security situation.
Through the resolution the leadership had authorised the federal government to initiate dialogue with all stakeholders forthwith and for this purpose authorised it to take steps as it might deem fit, including development of an appropriate mechanism and identification of interlocutors. "Needless to say, the process should be as inclusive as possible, with full participation of the government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... and other stakeholders. The guiding principles should include respect for local customs and traditions, values and religious beliefs and the creation of an environment which brings peace and tranquillity to the region," the resolution said.
A day after passage of the resolution, the interior minister said at a press briefing that a framework for talks with Taliban was ready. But even today, not only the general public but also the leaders and the parliament have no idea about the status of the talks.
Some believe that informal contacts have been established by the government with Taliban, but formal talks have yet to begin.
Leaders including PTI chief Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... and 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 ... have been criticising the government for the delay in initiation of the dialogue.
It was only on Friday that Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz clearly indicated that talks with snuffies might begin in the next few days.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2013 00:00 ||
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[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... 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 the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... government should not pressurise the federal government for holding peace talks with Taliban.
Talking to journalists before attending the party's provincial Shura meeting here at the JUI-F central secretariat on Saturday, he also said that Taliban were sincere in meaningful dialogue with the government to end violence in the region.
He reiterated that tribal jirga was the proper forum to facilitate negotiations between the government and Taliban. Referring to the statements of the provincial ministers in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa Assembly who criticised the centre for delay in starting talks with Taliban, Mr Rehman said that the coalition government should not exert unnecessary pressure on the federal government.
He said that people running the government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had no political experience and they should let responsible quarters to work out a strategy for negotiations with Taliban. KP Senior Minister Sirajul Haq had told the provincial assembly on Friday that if the federal government failed to negotiate peace with Taliban, then the provincial government would assume the responsibility.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... Governor Engineer Shaukatullah has said the government would hold dialogue with the Taliban despite recent acts of terrorism in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, especially in the capital city of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. .
"The federal government had declared the policy to initiate the process of dialogue with Taliban groups operating in Fata after the all parties conference gave it the mandate for it but the acts of terrorism carried out by either a third force or faceless myrmidons themselves in the days ahead caused a serious setback to the process. Such acts have created misunderstandings between the government and Taliban and could also damage the mutual confidence," he told Dawn.
The governor, however, said that despite the fresh acts of terrorism, nobody from the government had publicly declared suspension of the proposed peace dialogue.
"Efforts will be made to proceed with the mandate, which APC had unanimously given to the federal government," he said.
When asked about the Taliban's conditions for peace dialogue, the governor said whenever negotiations began between two opponents, each side set conditions but things improved as the dialogue process progressed.
"It is not unusual in tribal areas that conflicting parties hold negotiations while they are entrenched in their bunkers and even the fighting, too, continues," he said.
Mr Shaukatullah said it was the job of interlocutors to first ease tensions and ascertain the viewpoints of both sides and then try to narrow down their differences, leaving aside the conflicting and contentious issues," he said.
When asked whether the government has authorised a tribal jirga to hold talks with Taliban on its behalf, he declined to acknowledge it but insisted the process would bear fruit in near future.
"We can not say that the dialogue would not be held or we are not willing to do so or no such process is going on but sometimes, somewhere the disclosure of some details about the dialogue process may have negative implications," he said.
The governor said he firmly believed that the country could rid of militancy if both the parties showed flexibility in their respective stands.
"Once the dialogue process begins, there is a greater likelihood that misunderstandings between the two sides will end," he said.
Mr Shaukatullah said he was confident that if given a chance, interlocutors would convince the Taliban to accept the government's conditions for peace.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Israel on Sunday approved the release of 26 Palestinian prisoners, the second batch to be freed since August under the terms of renewed US-brokered peace talks. "The release of 26 prisoners has been validated this evening," said a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.
It said all the prisoners had committed their offences before the signing of the 1993 Oslo accords and had served 19-28 years in prison, with 21 hailing from the occupied West Bank and the remainder from the Gaza Strip.
A list of the prisoners was to be posted on the website of the Israeli prison authority late Sunday or early Monday after families of Israelis killed in attacks blamed on the prisoners had been notified, the prime minister's statement said.
"The release of the prisoners will take place at least 48 hours after the publication of the list," the statement said.
Netanyahu had said he would free 104 Palestinians in stages following the start of negotiations on July 30, and released the first group of 26 prisoners in August.
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10/28/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
A sacrifice to the Gods if Transnational Progressivism.
[An Nahar] Israel will attend a U.N. human rights review Tuesday, a top official told Agence France Presse after media reported that Germany had warned of a diplomatic backlash if it stayed away.
"We will attend" the Universal Periodic Review held by the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council, the official, who declined to be named, said on Sunday.
Haaretz newspaper earlier reported that Germany warned Israel of "severe diplomatic damage" if it fails to attend the meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
People always ask me why I like Putin so much. Well, I don't like him at all. But, with him running Russia, there is a chance that Europeans will get what's coming to them.
[Al Ahram] A prominent Iranian politician said on Sunday Iran would never agree to shut down its Fordo underground nuclear enrichment facility as demanded by world powers, Mehr news agency reported.
"It is possible that they set some conditions such as shutting down Fordo, which definitely will not happen," Mehr quoted Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the parliament's foreign policy committee, as saying.
Fordo, with nearly 3,000 centrifuges and dug deep into a mountain near the holy city of Qom, some 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of Tehran, is at the heart of international concerns over Iran's nuclear drive.
The site, whose existence was revealed in 2009, began in late 2011 to enrich uranium to purities of 20 percent, a few technical steps away from the 90-percent level needed for a nuclear weapon.
Iran says it is enriching to this level to provide fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor, which produces medical isotopes, and denies seeking or ever having sought nuclear weapons.
Closing Fordo or limiting enrichment activities has been a key demand by six world powers -- permanent UN Security Council members Britannia, China, La Belle France, Russia and the United States plus Germany -- in negotiations with Iran over its controversial nuclear programme.
In return, the powers are offering to ease some sanctions against the Islamic republic, such as those imposed on trade in gold and on the petrochemical sector.
Iran and the P5+1 resumed talks mid-October in Geneva during which Tehran presented a new proposal that its chief nuclear negotiator Abbass Araqchi said could settle the dispute "within a year".
Experts from both sides are to meet at the end of this week in Vienna to prepare for the next round of talks, in Geneva on November 7-8.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Iff ISRAEL, not Iran's new BFF in SYria POTUS Bammer = USA, decides to take any direct action agz Iran's NucProgs, IMO it will mainly be vee MOSSAD = FULL-SPECTRUM COVERT/BLACK OPS, NOT ALA THE IDF.
[USATODAY] The Syrian government has submitted a formal declaration of the chemical weapons in its possession and a plan for their removal, a crucial step in an international agreement to destroy or remove its stockpiles and weapons.
The declaration was in line with the deadline set by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the international agency overseeing inspections of Syria's chemical weapons.
The organization made the announcement Sunday, saying Syria had submitted its declaration Thursday, three days before the Sunday deadline. The OPCW governing council will review Syria's plan by Nov. 15.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/28/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] The Tehran municipality has removed anti-American posters from the streets of the capital which questioned US honesty in nuclear talks with Iran, media reported on Sunday.
The move comes as President Hassan Rouhani, a reputed moderate, has made fresh overtures to the West, including direct talks between US and Iranian officials, and ahead of the 34th anniversary of the US embassy seizure in Tehran.
A municipal front man said the posters were put up across Tehran without any official authorisation.
"In an arbitrary act and without the knowledge and confirmation of the municipality, one of the advertising agencies had put up these posters," front man Hadi Ayyazi was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
AFP photographers said that some posters could still be seen across Tehran.
One of them, bearing the words "American honesty," shows US and Iranian negotiators sitting at a table and facing each other, the American wearing a jacket and tie but with army pants and boots underneath.
Ehsan Mohammad-Hassani, head of the Oj adverting agency, which produced the posters, told the Fars news agency they did not reflect hostility towards US-Iranian nuclear talks.
"The American Honesty posters do not have any objection against Iran-America negotiations," he was quoted as saying.
Rouhani, a moderate holy man who has pledged to improve ties with the West, held a historic 15-minute telephone conversation with US President Barack Obama Republicans can come along for the ride, but they've got to sit in the back... last month, the first direct contact between leaders of the two countries in more than three decades.
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10/28/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
"see? He's a moderate we can deal with!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/28/2013 9:47 Comments ||
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#2
One of them, bearing the words "American honesty," shows US and Iranian negotiators sitting at a table and facing each other, the American wearing a jacket and tie but with army pants and boots underneath.
"I come in peace. I didnt bring artillery. But Im pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you fuck with me, Ill kill you all." - James Mattis, USMC
[Al Ahram] Iran's diminutive President Hassan Rouhani told visiting UN-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy Lakhdar Brahimi Sunday that part of a solution to the Syria crisis is to expel "terrorist groups" from that country, a report said.
"Iran believes that by continuing humanitarian aid, preventing the entry (and) expelling terrorist groups from Syria and the complete destruction of chemical weapons will be first important steps for achieving stable peace in Syria," Rouhani said in comments reported by the official IRNA news agency.
Syria's regime refers to rebels fighting to topple Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... 's regime as "terrorist groups" taking orders from foreign states.
Brahimi is on a Middle East tour to garner support for a planned peace conference next month in Geneva between regime and rebel representatives.
Rouhani said a major obstacle to resolving the Syria crisis was lack of consensus among regional and international players.
"The first problem is division among the Syrian opposition, the presence of terrorist groups between them... and the lack of consensus among Syria's neighbouring countries and world's major powers," he was quoted as saying.
He added: "Iran is ready to play a positive role in any movement that would contribute to stability in Syria, and it makes no difference whether this effort is called Geneva II conference or anything else."
The so-called Geneva II conference has been repeatedly postponed amid wrangling among the Syrian opposition, and a dispute over which countries, including Iran, should participate.
Brahimi said in Tehran on Saturday that Iran's participation is "natural and necessary".
But he stressed that no invitations had yet been sent out for the proposed international peace conference which the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... hopes to organise for late November.
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10/28/2013 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.
[Tolo News] 
[Shabelle] Somali interior minsiter, who ordered the police storm into the headquarters of Shabelle Media Network in Mogadishu came and took some Shabelle owned equipments into a truck, according to reliable sources who witnessed when the the interior minister accompanied by Abdi Aziz Africa, ajournalist working for the state radio came to the besieged of Shabelle last night.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Dick Cheney expressed skepticism [Sunday] that the Obama administration would be able to force Iran to comply with demands that it show its nuclear program is peaceful. Asked if military action against Iran was "inevitable," Cheney said he had "trouble seeing how we're going to achieve our objective short of that."
Nawaz Sharif
Maulana Fazlur Rehman
[Dawn] 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
