A number of Kunduz provincial council members and residents on Friday said they are concerned about government's inattention to security in the province and that they fear a comeback by the Taliban if the situation prevails.
They said that one year after retaking the control of Kunduz city, government has failed to maintain law-and-order in the area and ensure the residents' safety.
"I mentioned this in the past that 70 percent of Kunduz is under the control of militants, but now the percentage has increased after another district fallen to insurgents – including most parts of Dasth-e-Archi district. We are concerned about the situation and so are the residents," said Mohammad Yusuf Ayubi, head of Kunduz Provincial Council.
"Government has only control over four roads. Now Qala-e-Zal district has collapsed, and in addition to that, parts of Imam Sahib and Dasht-e-Archi [districts] have fallen to militants. Nearly 80 to 90 percent of the district is out of government's control, and this is concerning for us," said Zargul Alemi, deputy head of the council.
Meanwhile, a number of Kunduz residents said they cannot travel to the outskirts of the Kunduz city due to the presence of the Taliban.
"We cannot go to our relatives' houses that are 10 kilometers far from the city. We always live in fear. The situation will worsen if government does not pay attention to the issue," said Akmal, a resident of Kunduz city.
"Taliban has complete control over 80 percent of Kunduz. This is serious. This can create another tragedy like the last year. We are not interested to witness the fall of Kunduz city once again," said Shahbaz Saberi, a civil society activist in Kunduz.
Kunduz security officials meanwhile said they will launch a large-scale military operation in Kunduz in the near future.
"Our military operations are advancing slowly because we to protect the civilians," said Sher Aziz Kamawal, a police commander in Kunduz.
The Pamir 20 Division commander Gen. Ekramuddin Samay meanwhile said that nearly 52 Taliban fighters were killed in recent conflicts in the province.
"Check posts are not under the control of the Taliban. Parts of the province are insecure. The enemy is hidden among people's houses and gardens, therefore we are advancing slowly in order to protect civilians' lives," he said.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A prominent Pak politician and religious scholar Maulana Samiul Haq ...the Godfather of the Taliban, leader of his own faction of the JUI. Known as Mullah Sandwich for his habit of having two young boys at a time... has said the communists would have occupied Pakistain had the Afghans not stopped them.
Samiul Haq who is considered as the father of the Taliban group made the remarks as the Pak authorities have stepped up crackdown on the Afghan refugees which he called a bad policy.
He was speaking at a meeting with elders of the Afghan refugees here, insisting that the act would render the sacrifices of Paks meaningless.
"The forced repatriation and the law-enforcement agencies personnel’s harsh treatment of Afghan refugees would spoil the sacrifices Paks rendered by hosting the Afghans during the last more than 30 years," he was quoted as saying in a report by The News Internaitonal.
Samiul Haq further added that the Afghans laid down their lives to stop the invading forces of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan from intruding into and occupying other Islamic countries of the region.He said the communists would have occupied Pakistain had the Afghans not stopped them in Afghanistan.
He also claimed that the anti-Moslem powers wanted to pitch the Afghans and Paks against each other.
Assuring the Afghan elders to taCommunists would have occupied Pakistain had the Afghans not stopped them: Samiul Haqke up the issue with the civil and military leadership in Pakistain, Samiul Haq asked the Ulema across the country to inform the people about the consequences of the policy of unfriendly attitude towards the Afghan refugees for peace in Pakistain and the region.
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08/20/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
A review of history: The Afghan Muslim Brothers were responsible for moving President Daud to effect a rapprochement with Pakistan, and initiate an effort to end their territorial dispute. The move was made in 1975 when Daud met privately with Pak PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The meet was arranged in 1975 by King Khaled of Saudi Arabia at the Funeral of King Faisal. The suppression of the Communist movement in Afghanistan was the demand of Middle Eastern monarchies for their aid to both nations. Following the Soviet invasion in December 1979, the anti-Soviet movement was funded by Saudi Arabia. Thus, Haq is self-serving and, in effect -- the Communists would have occupied [western] Pakistan had the Saudis (and American arms supplies) not stopped them.
[Libya Herald] The head of the Libyan National Army, General Khalifa Hafter, has replaced the head and several members of the Omar Mukhtar Operations Room, set up last year to oversee the recapture of Derna. It follows two successful attacks in the area by the mujahideen a fortnight ago in which 12 LNA soldiers died.
In addition to removing Brigadier Kamal Al-Jabali and replacing him with Brigadier Yusef Al-Mabrouk Al Mansuri, three other top brass commanders have been appointed to the Operations Room.
The LNA finally managed to replace Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... forces south east of Derna last April, but this was more down to an IS withdrawal than an LNA victory. It has, however, made little headway against the local mujahideen forces who ejected IS in June last year, despite repeated air strikes and a blockade of the town.
Confirming that the specific reason from Jabali’s dismissal had been the two mujahideen attacks on 5 August, a member of the operations room said that the former commander had not been popular with his men, nor effective as a leader. He had been too willing to accept ceasefires rather than pursing military action, the source told the Libya Herald.
Mansuri, he also explained, had been one of Qadaffy’s political prisoners but when released in 1986 had not been allowed to return to the army and had to take a civilian job. From Ain Mara, he then worked in Derna until the revolution when he rejoined the military. His most recent post was military adviser to the president of the House of Representatives, Ageela Saleh.
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08/20/2016 00:00 ||
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[Libya Observer] Khalifa Haftar ... served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... has left the US and other countries that support him no choice but to break free from him over being adamant in his refusal to support a fragile UN-proposed government, the Washington Post reported Thursday, adding that Haftar, who is a CIA asset and US-trained military figure has jeopardized hopes for stability in Libya.
Renegade General, Haftar has for long styled himself as an opponent to gunnies while in fact, he was building his own power base, which finally made him so obstinate to approve the political agreement brokered by the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... , the American newspaper indicated.
"Haftar is threatening many of the Western-backed initiatives in Libya and the establishment of a recognized political power," Barak Barfi, a scholar at New America, a Washington think tank told the Washington Post.
Barafi added that Haftar is not strong enough on the battlefield to keep his promises to the US and defeat what they described as gunnies or whom he calls "Islamists" because he can act as a spoiler.
Haftar has been launching continuous attacks and air strikes on Benghazi and Derna in a bid to control the eastern region. He has formed his own militias and kicked off the so-called Dignity Operation in Benghazi back in 2014. Since then, Haftar militias have destroyed almost the whole city of Benghazi in their aspiration for power.
Moreover, Haftar's militias have also attacked Derna city as often as they did in Benghazi only after the IS snuffies were kicked out of the city by the Derna Shura Council revolutionaries to make his alleged war on terrorism and extremism sound far-fetched, laying a siege on the city and the residents and depriving them from the basic living needs like foods and medicines.
"A former senior U.S. official said that Haftar’s connections across the Middle East and beyond have made it difficult for the B.O. regime to develop a unified strategy to confront or co-opt him." Reported the newspaper.
These comments come as Haftar's militias are launching an offensive on the oil terminal of Zueitina in a bid to control it and to lay hands on the oil production and exportation in Libya in the oil crescent region.
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08/20/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
"Haftar is threatening many of the Western-backed initiatives in Libya and the establishment of a recognized political power," Barak Barfi, a scholar at New America, a Washington think tank told the Washington Post.
FYI: The New America Foundation is a George Soros funded operation that reports on "global governance."
[Dhaka Tribune] Al-Qaeda-inspired JMB, an outlawed Lion of Islam group responsible for carrying out series kabooms in 63 districts on this day in 2005, has lost much of its strength in the recent years, detectives say.
But, the recently-emerged Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) faction has appeared on the scene as a deadlier Lion of Islam group than the mainstream one, founded in 1998 by Shayakh Abdur Rahman.
Law enforcers blame the New JMB members for most of the recent assassination'>assassinations including the Gulshan and Sholakia attacks, while some of the attacks were claimed by another Lion of Islam group Ansarullah Bangla Team. Ansarullah was declared banned in May last year.
The New JMB is believed to be inspired by international terrorist group Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... and local Ahle Hadith group. It is operated by eight to ten coordinators under the leadership of a yet unidentified spiritual leader from a northern district, detectives say.
Police say they have incarcerated I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! around 150 New JMB members in the last two years.
The main JMB in June this year issued a statement describing the attacks they have conducted since 1998 and denied having involved in other attacks. It said former majlish-e-sura member Salahuddin alias Salehin alias Sajeeb became their chief after he was snatched from a prison van in February 2014.
In another statement released on July 31, the JMB claimed they had no connection with the Gulshan attack when 23 people mostly foreigners were killed in a restaurant on July 1.
The previous chief, 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 Maulana Saidur Rahman, has been in jail since 2010 while its founder was hanged in 2007 along with several other policymakers including Siddiqur Rahman alias Bangla Bhai.
The group was banned on February 23, 2005.
After the August 17 blasts carried out in 511 places, the JMB carried out several suicide kabooms killing at least 33 people before its top leaders were arrested in early 2006. The notorious group came to light by establishing a reign of terror in Rajshahi and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... re in 2004 by killing and torturing dozens of people, in the name of operations against forces of Evil linked to leftist parties and under the patronisation of some BNP-Jamaat leaders, and the attack on Prof Humayun Azad.
Around 160 cases were filed against the JMB leaders and patrons across the country regarding these incidents. But verdicts have been given in only 88 of the cases in the last 11 years.
At least 51 cases are still waiting for disposal in different district courts.
In the 88 cases, 35 bully boyz were given death penalty, and of them, only six have been executed so far. The other cases are pending with the top court. The courts sentenced 131 bully boyz to life-term imprisonment in these cases.
Four out of the 18 cases filed over 33 blasts in Dhaka city on this day in 2005 have been quashed by the courts.
According to the Police Headquarters data, police gave final report in 17 out of 160 cases clearing the accused. The number of people sued in the 143 other cases was 242 but charges were pressed against 1,157 people. Investigators say 960 of the accused have been arrested so far. However, ars longa, vita brevis... the number of bully boyz who secured bail could not be known.
In the recent years, the main JMB members were responsible for several assassination'>assassinations that include Mohammad Shahidullah at Tanore in Rajshahi on May 6, retired sergeant instructor of Kashimpur jail Rustom Hawlader in Gazipur on April 25, Pir Khijir Khan in Badda area of Dhaka on October 5 last year, popular preacher Sheikh Nurul Islam Faruqi in Dhaka on August 27, 2014, and self-proclaimed Pir Lutfar Rahman, his son and four disciples at Gopibagh in Dhaka on December 21, 2013.
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08/20/2016 00:00 ||
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[Dhaka Tribune]Shafiqul Islam Uzzal, one of the five murderous Moslems who killed 23 people ‐ mostly foreigners ‐ at a Gulshan eatery on July 1, was a criminal mastermind behind the murder of a Hindu priest in Panchagarh in February
Identified by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... as its member Abu Moslem al-Bangali, Uzzal was a master’s student at Bogra Azizul Huq College, and later took a job in a kindergarten at Ashulia. He remained missing for around six months, family members said.
On February 21, murderous Moslems killed priest Joggeshwar Roy of Sonto Gaurio Temple in Debiganj of Panchagarh. International terrorist group Islamic State took credit for the murder, but the government brands them as New JMB.
Uzzal is not named in the case. But on February 24, he published a statement on a website named justpaste.it describing the murder of the Hindu priest as legitimised in Islamic State’s norms.
According to the charge sheet pressed in the case on June 28, at least 10 murderous Moslems were involved in the attack. Of them, two murderous Moslems slaughtered the priest while another was waiting outside the temple on a cycle of violence.
Six of the accused are now in jail while two key accused ‐ Nazmul Islam alias Bike Hassan and Shafiul Islam Sohan alias Shariful alias Don alias Abu Muktadil ‐ have been killed in alleged shootouts with the law enforcers. Police claim Bike Hassan was wanted in 11 cases while Muktadil ‐ held after the July 7 Sholakia attack ‐ took part in two other murders claimed by IS.
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08/20/2016 00:00 ||
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[Iraq Sun] A senior Moslemholy man in Russia has prompted controversy by urging universal female genital mutilation after a rights group released a report on the practice in the country's North Caucasus region.
Mufti Ismail Berdiyev, who heads a Moslem association for the North Caucasus region, said on Wednesday that if FGM "could be applied to all women, that would be very good" in an interview with Interfax news agency.
The practice, which ranges from pricking of the clitoris to its complete removal, causes infections and loss of sensation.
The procedure has come under massive international scrutiny in recent years, with UN chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon in 2014 launching a global campaign to end it.
Berdiyev, who was decorated by President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... in March, said FGM does not stop women from fulfilling their ordained role of motherhood and if all women were mutilated, "there would be less fornication".
He later retracted his comments, claiming that he had been joking and Islam does not call for FGM.
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08/20/2016 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... on Friday detained dozens of academics suspected of backing Fethullah Gulen ... a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom the current govt of Turkey considers responsible for all the ills afflicting Turkey and possibly the entire world... , the alleged criminal mastermind of last month's failed coup, while pressing ahead with raids on businesses linked to the U.S.-based Moslem preacher.
Turkish prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for 84 academics nationwide, the private Dogan news agency reported, while the state-run Anadolu agency said Istanbul authorities were separately hunting 62 academics from the city's main university.
A total of 74 scholars were tossed into the calaboose so far in both operations, media said.
A large majority of the suspects in the nationwide raids were from Selcuk University in Konya, central Anatolia -- a conservative bastion of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) -- including the university's former rector, Professor Hakki Gokbel.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said this week that more than 40,000 state employees were tossed into the calaboose in the purge, with more than 20,000 remanded in jug.
More than 5,000 civil servants have been dismissed and almost 80,000 others suspended, he added.
- Crackdown on businesses -
Police on Friday widened their probe into alleged Gulen-linked businesses, issuing arrest warrants for 18 more suspects, bringing the total number of those being searched to 205, Dogan reported.
Police launched mass raids Thursday in the commercial hub Istanbul and 18 other provinces into companies with suspected ties to Gulen -- the biggest crackdown on business since the failed putsch, with prosecutors ordering their assets to be seized.
Dogan reported that Friday's fresh raids targeted the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (Tuskon), which has 55,000 members. Prosecutors were already seeking its president, Rizanur Meral.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/20/2016 00:00 ||
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Is there anyone else left to blame/arrest/imprison?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/20/2016 11:21 Comments ||
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[FIRSTPOST] Pakistain is investigating another Mumbai attack suspect, who has recently been locked away Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! , for allegedly providing financial assistance to the LeT men to carry out the deadly assault in 2008.
"The FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) has arrested Sufyan Zafar recently and is interrogating him for his role in providing financial assistance to the accused of the Mumbai attack - who are lodged in the Adiala Jail Rawalpindi," FIA special prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar told PTI on Friday.
He said Zafar was absconding after being declared proclaimed offender in the Mumbai case.
A resident of Gujrawala district of Punjab, some 80km from Lahore, Zafar is among 21 other absconding suspects wanted in this high-profile case.
"Zafar will be indicted in the Mumbai case after completion of the investigation," the FIA official said. A Pak anti-terrorism court has charged seven 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) activists - its operations commander Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum - with abetment to murder, attempted murder, planning and executing the Mumbai attack.
The case has been underway in the country for more than six years.
Lakhvi, the criminal mastermind of the Mumbai attack, is living at some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location after getting released from jail on bail over a year ago.
The other six suspects are in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
The trial proceedings have come to a halt as India is yet to send 24 witnesses to Pakistain for recording of their statements in the trial court. Pakistain says the trial cannot be concluded unless India sends its nationals for recording their statements in the case.
As many as 166 people were killed and over 250 injured in the attack carried out by 10 LeT men.
Nine assailants were killed while the lone survivor, Ajmal Kasab, was captured and later executed.
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08/20/2016 00:00 ||
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LAHORE - Two hardcore terrorists caught from the provincial capital on the night of August 13 were identified as members of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a deadly splinter of outlawed TTP, security officials told The Nation yesterday.
However, other identification details and profiles of the two have not been disclosed by the security officials to blow other sleeper cells of this group.
The two key terrorists of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) were caught in an intelligence-led operation on the night of August 13 by a counter-terror section of the main security agency of the military from Lahore’s Barkat Town in the limits of Shahdara Town after an extensive surveillance and tail operation.
According to the security officials, the terrorist pair was a ‘master sleeper unit’ which was running other sleeper cells in Punjab to launch terror operations.
They were planning to strike high-profile targets in major towns of the province, including the provincial metropolis, on Independence Day on the pattern of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park terror activity. Members of the same gang carried out a deadly terror act in April this year in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, killing many people, including children and women.
The JuA master sleeper unit had planned to target key sensitive government buildings and high-profile figures, said the security officials, divulging more details concerning initial investigations of the busted terrorists.
Following leads of the two hardcore terrorists, the key security agency of the military has caught more suspected sleeper units from parts of Punjab, which could be used to launch a major terror operation in the province.
However, extensive interrogation sessions of new busted cells would unveil more details with regard to the nature of assistance and facilitation to be provided by these cells, they added.
Security officials declined to share any piece of information about the towns and cities from where the new sleeper cells were caught because of the upcoming follow-up operations to be launched in the light of the information divulged by these cells.
An ISPR spokesman said on the night of Independence Day, 11 suspects, including two hardcore terrorists, were caught by security forces in a three-hour-long combing operation in Barkat Town near Shahdara. Cache of arms and ammunition was also recovered from the possession of the arrested.
A threat alert of Nacta was issued on August 9 that TTP head Mullah Fazlullah had planned to attack border parade at Wagah near Lahore and Ganda Singh Border in Kasur district on August 13, 14 and 15. The TTP which is operating from Afghan soil had dispatched two suicide bombers to the two border points.
Security officials, when asked about intelligence inputs, pointing towards Fazlullah gang terrorists targeting sensitive high-profile targets, said the command and control system of the terrorists has been destroyed as a result of the operation Zarb-e-Azb and Khyber 1 and 2. They added the terrorists operating from the Afghan soil were launching joint terror operations.
Common needs and targets can bring the foes at one platform to carry on their business, said the security officials when asked Omer Khalid Khorasani leading JuA was an arch rival of TTP head Fazlullah.
In September 2014, non-Mehusd chief of TTP, Mullah Fazlullah, expelled Mohmand Agency chief of TTP, Omar Khalid Khorasani, a member of defunct Ahrar-ul-Hind.
Ahrar-ul-Hind, headed by Maulana Umar Qasmi (former leader in Lashkar-e-Jhangvi), was formed after TTP opened peace talks with the government. It later merged with Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a second splinter group that broke away from TTP in September 2014 and named Omar Khalid Khorasani as its commander.
Both Qasmi and Khorasani were against the peace talks and believed the new TTP leadership under Mullah Fazlullah was not a true representative of Hakim Ullah Mehsud who was killed in a US drone strike in February 2014.
Ahrar had announced they would no longer recognise or obey Mullah Fazlullah as their ameer.
[DAWN] The Foreign Office on Friday invited the Indian Foreign Secretary to visit Islamabad for discussion on the Kashmire dispute and to find a fair and just solution as per United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... Security Council resolutions.
The message from Pakistain has been conveyed through a letter, which was received by the Indian High Commissioner, said a statement released by the FO.
The letter also mentioned finding a solution to the decades-old issue according to the "aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmire".
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[DAWN] The Foreign Office said on Thursday it would welcome any UN mission intending to visit Azad Jammu and Kashmire, but took strong exception to equating AJK with India-held Valley.
"While welcoming any UN team that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights may wish to send to AJK, we cannot accept equating the rampant human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... violations in IOK (India-Occupied Kashmire) with the situation in AJK. In fact, today the contrast between grim reality in IOK and the peaceful situation in AJK could not be more stark. It is, therefore, essential that the UN fact-finding team must visit IOK," the FO said in a statement.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein had in a statement on Wednesday askFO chides UN for equating AJK with held Valleyed for access to both India-held Kashmire and Azad Jammu and Kashmire for probing the allegations of human rights violations.
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[Mindanao Examiner] Maoist militants are set to free two policemen they seized in southern Philippines ahead of a scheduled peace talks with the Philippe government this month.
Rebel spokesman Rubi Del Mundo said the National Democratic Front of the Philippines ordered Friday the release of 'prisoners of war' Arnold Ongachen and Michael Grande. Both cops were captured by the New People's Army in separate operations. He said the captives would be handed over to the government as soon as Manila suspend the ongoing security operations against the militants. He said the release is a gesture of goodwill for the formal resumption of the peace negotiations in Norway.
Del Mundo said, "The People's Democratic Government's judicial proceedings and investigations into POW Ongachen and POW Grande's possible war crimes and violation of people's rights have been effectively suspended in deference to appeals of their families and peace advocates. POW Ongachen and POW Grande have apologized for their violations against the people."
Del Mundo's statement coincided with the release Friday from prison of two top militant leaders – Benito and Wilma Tiamzon – who both face a series of criminal charges. They will join more than a dozen other rebel leaders released from jails who will take part in the peace talks.
Del Mundo accused the military and police of sabotaging the negotiations by filing false charges against the Tiamzon couple and the other rebel leaders. He said the Philippine government should immediately release all the remaining 540 political prisoners held in jails across the country.
[UPI] The Abu Sayyaf released an elementary school teacher it had taken hostage in the Philippines. Adrina Bongil, a local school teacher, was released unharmed Thursday in the village of Dunag in Sulu province, and returned to relatives,
Bongil was debriefed by Philippine troops of Joint Task Force Sulu at the home of Kabir Elias Hayuduni, mayor of neighboring Patikul. She had been taken captive by five Abu Sayyaf gunmen on Tuesday while riding in a vehicle on her way to work at an elementary school.
Military spokesman Filemon Tan did not mention if a ransom, the usual motivation for Abu Sayyaf abductions, was paid.
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08/20/2016 00:00 ||
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[Reuters] Police have identified a Thai man as a suspect in their investigation into attacks that killed four people and injured dozens in a series of bomb attacks in southern Thailand a week ago. Deputy national police spokesman Kissana Phatanacharoen identified the suspect as Ahama Lengha from Narathiwat province near the nation's border with Malaysia.
A Thai military court issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday for a then unidentified suspect for attempting to bomb a beach in the tourist island of Phuket.
Kissana said Ahama has not yet been taken into custody and it is not known if he was still in the country. He said, "We have only issued one arrest warrant in relation to the bomb attacks, and that is for Ahama. It's because it is clear that he is linked to what happened."
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombings, which came days after Thais voted to accept a military-backed constitution.
Police and the Thai government ruled out any link to foreign militants within hours of the attacks and insisted the perpetrators were home-grown. National police chief Jakthip Chaijinda said the attacks might be linked to the referendum but has not given further details.
0fficial suspicion has fallen on domestic political groups including supporters of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was forced from office in 2006. While Thaksin's supporters have not been blamed outright, police said last week the attacks were carried out simultaneously by one group on the orders of one person, but gave no further details. Thaksin's lawyers have been instructed to file complaints against those accusing him of orchestrating the bombings.
Thai Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said on Monday the attacks were "definitely not an extension" of the insurgency in the southern provinces that border Malaysia and where Malay-Muslim militants are fighting a bloody separatist war.
However, some security experts have noted that southern militant groups have a track record of carrying out coordinated attacks.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The Russian defense ministry has denied responsibility Nope. Nope. Wudn't us. for an attack on a neighborhood in the Syrian city of Aleppo which maimed a young boy whose rescue was filmed and shared widely on social media.
The image of the 5-year old stunned boy, sitting in an ambulance caked with dust and with blood on his face, captured the horror that has beset the war-torn city.
Meanwhile, ...back at the revival hall, the pastor had finally been wrestled from the pulpit. Y'got the wrong guy! he yelled just before Sergeant Malone's billy club landed... the United States Thursday expressed shock at a photo circulating worldwide on social media that shows a dazed Syrian boy covered in blood and dust, calling him "the real face" of the country’s war.
"That little boy has never had a day in his life where there hasn’t been war, death, destruction, poverty in his own country," State Department front man John Kirby told news hounds during his daily press briefing.
Departing from his usual diplomatic talking points, Kirby asked the news hounds how many among them had seen photos of the child.
The shocked boy, a four-year-old named Omran, is pictured sitting in an ambulance covered in blood and dust after an air strike Wednesday in the rebel-held district of Qaterji in the southeast of Aleppo, which has been devastated by the five-year war.
"You don’t have to be a dad, but I am. You can’t but help look at that and see that that’s the real face of what’s going on in Syria," Kirby said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016 00:00 ||
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Russia denies link to Aleppo attack that wounded boy
..Well, they WOULD...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/20/2016 12:06 Comments ||
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[HUMANRIGHTSFIRST.ORG] Yesterday, Gitmo detainee Encep Nurjaman, better known by his alias, "Hambali," appeared before the Periodic Review Board (PRB) for the first time to advocate for his release. One of 15 remaining "high-value" detainees, Hambali has been consistently referred to in both national and international media as the "Bin Laden of Indonesia."
According to the Senate intelligence committee’s torture report, he was considered "the CIA's ’number one target’ in Southeast Asia" shortly after the 9/11 attacks. The Indonesian government recently stated it considers it too great a danger for Hambali to return to the country. However, a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth... his representatives describe him as a "respectful and energetic" man, who "wants nothing more than to move on with his life and be peaceful."
A mistranslation of the Arabic. He wishes submission, not peace... and that submission is to Islam, not to a secular government in opposition to it.
The U.S. government alleges that Hambali's involvement in terrorism dates back to the 1980s, when he first began training as a jihadist in Afghanistan. From there, he purportedly branched out to participate in violent jihad across Southeast Asia.
The U.S. government believes that Hambali was involved in the 2000 Christmas Eve attacks, a series of bombings in churches across eight cities in Indonesia carried out by al Qaeda and the Indonesian group Jemaah Islamiyah. He allegedly helped plan the Bali bombings in 2002, which killed 202 and injured 209 more.
The government also alleges that in 2003 Hambali facilitated al Qaeda’s financing for the bombing of the Jakarta Marriott Hotel, which killed 12 people and injured 150. It also believes Hambali was involved in planning post-9/11 attacks against U.S. interests and that he provided a microbiologist to al Qaeda to assist it in developing an anthrax program.
Hambali was captured in 2003 and arrived at Guantanamo Bay in 2005. Despite the serious allegations against him, he has never been charged with a crime.
That's because all those activities are acts of war by non-uniformed, non-state actors for the purpose of replacing existing governments around the world with Islamic rule, not criminal activities on American soil for the purpose of revenge or material gain.
Hambali is featured prominently in the Senate’s torture report, which notes he had been cooperative in response to "standard" interrogation techniques, but when subjected to so-called "enhanced interrogation" methods, Hambali "provided the false information in an attempt to reduce the pressure on himself ... and to give an account that was consistent with what [Hambali] assessed the questioners wanted to hear." The report also states that an interrogator said to Hambali: "We can never let the world know what I have done to you."
Although Hambali’s personal representatives said he "has no ill will toward the U.S.," and the government described him as "mostly compliant," it also asserted that Hambali "remains steadfast in his support for Death Eater causes and his hatred for the US," and "has been heard promoting violent jihad while leading daily prayers and lectures."
There are currently 61 detainees still at Guantanamo, with 20 cleared for release. Four detainees are still eligible for their first PRB hearing and nine are waiting on decisions. The Obama Administration has stated that it plans to complete all initial PRB hearings and transfer all cleared detainees by this fall.
What is the recidivism rate? How many of those released have looked up their old jihadi friends or found new ones?
Posted by: Fred ||
08/20/2016 00:00 ||
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[5 views]
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#1
With arms shipped to Al Nusra (Al Qaeda) in Syria under Hillary (when she was over the State Department) and Obama from Benghazi, Lybia, ahhhh, but the operators of that operation were conveniently snuffed out by the Al Qaeda branch in Benghazi (Huma Huma huma) I can assure you this Muslim murderer will be free to roam again.
Posted by: Unelet Protector of the Sith2424 ||
08/20/2016 18:20 Comments ||
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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.
the 
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
[Mindanao Examiner] Maoist militants are set to free two policemen they seized in southern Philippines ahead of a scheduled peace talks with the Philippe government this month.
