Has to be a disinformation exercise. Cover for a real source? Or turning on the light to see where the roaches run?
US and South Korean special forces have been parachuting into North Korea to gather intelligence about underground military installations, a US officer has said in comments carried in US media.
Army Brigadier General Neil Tolley, commander of US special forces in South Korea, told a conference held in Florida last week that Pyongyang had built thousands of tunnels since the Korean war, The Diplomat reported.
"The entire tunnel infrastructure is hidden from our satellites," Tolley said, according to The Diplomat, a current affairs magazine. "So we send (South Korean) soldiers and US soldiers to the North to do special reconnaissance."
"After 50 years, we still don't know much about the capability and full extent" of the underground facilities," he said, in comments reported by the National Defense Industrial Association's magazine on its website.
Tolley said the commandos were sent in with minimal equipment to facilitate their movements and minimize the risk of detection by North Korean forces.
#1
That makes no sense. South Korean troops will be a head taller than the locals, the Americans taller yet -- not to mention clearly not Asian -- it would be a highly risky exercise, surely.
#2
I once had a cousin who was nearly full-blooded native American. After he joined the Army (decades ago), he somehow learned to speak fluent Korean. He did mention parachuting out of a C-47 during his service, but it was on fire. He was a bit on the tall side for his time. Another cousin's wife, this one 100% Korean, said he could have passed.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2012
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#1
"It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."
#2
A lot of good men and women died in a lot of hell holes all over the world to protect us. They never had children, or they never saw their children and families again. We need to think about them and their sacrifices.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/28/2012 18:14
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#3
Thank you, Paul.
Posted by: Barbara ||
05/28/2012 18:50
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#4
Amen, Paul
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/28/2012 20:14
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SANTA FE -- Misdemeanor charges of simple battery have been filed against two employees of the Eldorado Hotel in Santa Fe over a confrontation in January between Occupy movement protesters and attendees at a banquet for legislators. No protesters or lawmakers were charged in the fracas, which took place at a dinner sponsored by the conservative American Legislative Exchange (ALEC) during the legislative session. A local photographer involved in the incident said lamented that only hotel employees, "working stiffs" who were "just trying to protect the diners" and their business, are now facing charges.
"If that's Santa Fe justice, then Santa Fe is really screwed up," she said. Well, Santa Fe does call itself "the city different."
The hotel's general manager, and a hotel hostess have entered not guilty pleas to the battery charges in Santa Fe Municipal Court.
"I'm surprised," the manager said Thursday. "I mean, ... a group invaded our restaurant and physically attacked our patrons, and I'm the one that's getting charged."
#4
It's pretty clear that many of our public officials have completely lost any sense of justice or morality. The Professor sometimes mentions tar & feathers. These public officials are abusing those they were hired or elected to protect. The return of "vigilance committees" may not be far off.
#5
No, g(r)om. I've made it my home, but its not perfect. No place is perfect. It's all a trade off. I've found far more to appreciate than not to. Please don't tell the Californistas abandoning the Golden State. Fortunately, there was no big housing boom here and some of the locals got smart and prohibited 'development' unless the people could come up with 'new' water to accommodate their designs.
Call'm as I see them. Santa Fe is to NM what Austin is to Texas and I don't mean as in 'the state capital'.
#6
A local photographer involved in the incident said lamented that only hotel employees, "working stiffs" who were "just trying to protect the diners" and their business, are now facing charges.
More pinheaded devotion to the letter of the law instead of the spirit. The system is broken all the way from the police to the judges. I would love to see if any of these folks could even make it out of the house in the morning without breaking some kind of law.
[Yemen Post] The army retook control of all areas west of Jaar, one of the most notorious strongholds of Al-Qaeda in south Yemen, after fierce battles which left more than 27 gunnies dead and others injured, Alsahwa reported on Saturday, quoting military sources.
The forces stationed in the Haroor front regained all strategic positions on the western edge of Jaar including those in the Jabalain and Jabal Lahboush areas and they are now so close to retake control of the whole city of Jaar, the sources said.
Eight soldiers were killed when a landmine went kaboom! while the forces were clearing the gunnies from their positions in the Lahboush area, the sources said, according to the website.
Earlier today, the army and popular committees retook all turban positions east of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... province, and killed about 62 turbans. On Friday, about 65 gunnies were killed as the army is trying to recapture Zinjibar and Jaar.
President Hadi has ordered to further step up the offensive to clear Al-Qaeda gunnies and its offshoot, the Sharia Supporters, from Jaar.
Hundreds of gunnies have been killed and injured including big shots since the army stepped up the military operations to recapture the towns seized last year more than one month ago.
So far, some areas have been retaken including the Lawder city.
The US and tribal fighters are directly supporting the forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2012
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[Magharebia] Touareg rebels and Islamist group Ansar al-Din announced in a statement Saturday (May 26th) they were joining forces and creating a body to rule northern Mali as an independent Islamic state, AFP reported.
In the northern city of Gao, leaders of the two movements sealed the deal, which was greeted by the sound of gun sex, local residents said.
"The Ansar al-Din movement and the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (Touareg MNLA) proclaim their dissolution in Azawad (northern Mali). The two movements have created the transitional council of the Islamic state of Azawad," the statement reads.
Mali's embattled transitional government on Sunday rejected the declaration of an independent Islamic Touareg state.
"The government of Mali categorically rejects the idea of the creation of an Azawad state, even more so of an Islamic state," transitional information minister Hamadoun Toure told AFP.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2012
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#1
You knew they would - however, the Militants, etc. do proclaim their Sharia will be more akin to "moderate", N-O-T the ultra-brand???
[Dawn] Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability... (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ... said on Sunday that their party will not allow Pakistain's slavery to the United States. Kashmire and Afghanistan issues are denting the country, DawnNews reported.
The JUI-F chief said that Pakistain's military will have to distance itself from politics and governance of the country.
Addressing a public meeting in Kalat, Fazl said that Pakistain will have to cut down its defence budget.
He said 'In the illusion of a free society, our youth is being led towards moral degradation. But we will not allow Pakistain's submission towards the west, he added.
Reiterating the JUI-F's stance, he said "those in government will have to make sure that Sharia laws are followed in the country."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2012
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[Magharebia] Some 500 Salafists ...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them... on Saturday (May 26th) set fire to bars and the cop shoppe in Tunisia's north-western town of Jendouba, Tunisia-Live reported. The National Guard officers had to use tear gas and warning shots to disperse attackers, who tried to set fire to a Ghardimaou National Guard station, TAP reported.
Fifteen people have been placed in durance vile Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! and police are searching for others, AP quotes Interior Minister Ali Laarayedh as saying on Radio Mosaique.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2012
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#1
new graphix!
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/28/2012 8:32
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Up to 200,000 prisoners are being held "in horrific conditions" in six concentration camps in North Korea, Amnesty International said at a press conference in Seoul Thursday to publicize its annual report.
Almost certainly an under-estimate both in numbers and in the conditions...
The report said men, women and children are tortured, ill-treated, and forced to work in dangerous conditions in the camps. "The combination of hazardous forced labor, inadequate food, beatings, totally inadequate medical care and unhygienic living conditions, resulted in prisoners falling ill, and a large number died in custody or soon after release," it adds.
Amnesty made even gloomier forecasts for the human rights situation in the North after the transfer of power to new leader Fat Boy Kim Jong-un. "In apparent preparation for a succession of power, unconfirmed reports suggested that, in January, the State Security Agency detained over 200 officials, some of whom were feared executed, while others were sent to political prison camps," the report says.
"Thousands were imprisoned in at least 180 other detention facilities. Most were imprisoned without trial or following grossly unfair trials and on the basis of forced confessions."
According to the report, 30 officials who had led or participated in dialogue with South Korea were either executed or killed in masked traffic accidents, and 37 officials were executed between 2007 and 2010 on economy-related charges.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/28/2012
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[Dawn] In a clash between gun-hung tough guys and security forces, at least four gun-hung tough guys were killed in Orakzai agency on Sunday, DawnNews reported. The clash took place when the security forces advanced in to Gandital area of Orakzai agency, government sources said. A key thug commander was also among four casualties.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2012
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[Al Ahram] Greece's once-thriving sex industry has become the latest victim of the country's debt crisis as Greeks spend less on erotic toys, pornography and titillating underwear.
About 50 people, almost all young men, lined up on Friday as the Athens Erotic Dream - Greece's biggest sex fair - opened its gates in a nondescript building squeezed against a highway on the outskirts of the capital.
The annual show attracted big crowds when it opened in 2008, at the height of Greece's debt-fuelled economic bubble. But interest has wilted alongside the Greek economy, mired in its fifth consecutive year of recession.
The austerity measures Greece adopted as part of the country's international bailout deal have led to record unemployment, while wage cuts and tax hikes have throttled consumer spending.
The sex industry is feeling the hit. The number of exhibitors has fallen by half since 2008 to about a dozen, said the fair's organiser George Chrysospathis - a grey-bearded, corpulent man whose jovial manner changes quickly if he spots anyone who has failed to pay the 15-euro entry fee.
"We used to get 20,000-30,000 visitors, but this year I don't know, we'll just have to see," Chrysospathis said.
Only a quarter of the 300 to 400 sex shops that once existed in Athens have survived the crisis, and business looked bleak for those who brought their wares to the sex fair.
"Things look really bad, buddy," said stall holder Donatos Passaris, 38, standing in front of a long bench of vibrators, lotions and other items.
Shoppers at the stands were few and Passaris brushed off questions quickly for fear of losing a rare customer.
"We're making just 20 euros ($25) a day, if at all," said Marianna Lemnarou, another retailer. "Some customers just don't feel like having sex - others can't afford to buy our stuff in the crisis."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2012
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#3
An alternative theory would be that as the economy declines; women are searching for a partner more and "putting out" more so there's less demand for transactional sex.
Security chief of Aden Sadeq Haid has revealed that Aden is infiltrated by gang connected to Ansar Al-Sharia, an al-Qaeda-linked group, the Southern Movement and the Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is "God is Great, Death to America™", Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews" ... group.
In remarks to Xinhua News Agency, he cautioned against the delay of sending security and military reinforcement to the strategic port city, pointing out that commander of Southern Military Region requested President Abdurabu Mansour Hadi ...the second and possibly the last president of Yemen, successor to former President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh... to swiftly send reinforcements.
He pointed out that a report was posted in the state-run media outlets clarified the reasons behind insecurity in Aden and named individuals responsible for that.
He said the report disclosed that senior military officials support gangs and spark sabotage acts, stressing that they some times sustain the Southern Movement and Ansar Al-Sharia in other time.
He said that the report that was presented to Hadi, the Interior Minister and the Defense Minister, and called them to shoulder their responsibilities towards insecurity in Aden.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Alamo, Davy was counting their remaining cannon balls and not liking the results... security services of Aden cooled for a few years ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... 3 Al-Qaeda suspects in Al-Mansoura and Noqtat Al-Ribat in Aden during the two past days.
According to the online website of the Interior Minister, one suspect admitted of his connection to Ansar Al-Sharia.
Governor of Aden Waheed Rasheed said that conflicts that Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... are currently witnessing badly reflected on Aden's security, referring that most security officials and soldiers do not present to their jobs in the city.
Rashid had warned against the infiltration of Al-Qaeda operatives to Aden, accusing political sides of standing behind the deterioration of security inside the city.
In a meeting with officials in Aden last week, he urged officials to cooperate to open blocked roads and ease tensions inside the city.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2012
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[Tolo News] Top Pak government officials said the 33-year prison sentence for the doctor who helped the CIA track down the late Osama bin Laden ... who knows that it's like to live in the belly of a whale only he's not living... is payback for how the US went about getting the Al Qaeda leader, and they shrugged off criticism of the verdict by telling America to stop "over-reacting" and "take a deep breath". "You got Osama bin Laden. We're happy he got killed. But the way it was done we're not happy with. We didn't like that," a Pak official told FOX News Channel on Friday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to what he described as the fragile state of US-Pak relations.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2012
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[Asharq al-Awsat] Informed Paleostinian sources have revealed that major disputes between officials in the Fatah movement's armed divisions in Gazoo are preventing the unification of these factions under a single name and leadership. The sources stress that these disputes have developed lately, and have led to splits within Fatah gangs, and the formation of other groups that receive financial support and guidance from Iran and Hezbollah.
The sources asserted to Asharq Al-Awsat that, "major efforts were exerted in the past few months to unify these various gangs under the banner of the Fatah leadership; however, these efforts have failed."
The sources also stated that the disagreements have escalated to the degree that splits have taken place within some of the better-known and stronger Fatah armed factions.
"One of the officials of the well-known Ayman Judah groups, has split from them, and formed new groups under the name of "Abdul-Qadir al-Husseini Battalions," and now he is trying to attract dozens of gunnies from the other formations." The sources added.
According to the sources, this official recently met with leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - IRGC] and from Hezbollah in Leb, and then he returned to the Gazoo Strip and announced his split from the groups to which he belonged, and which also were supported in the past by Hezbollah. After that he formed his new group, and is now doing his utmost to expand its base.
The sources went on to say that the same official has held meetings with current and former leaders of Fatah formations, including the Al-Ansar Battalions, Al-Mujahidin, Imad Mughniyah Groups (Imad Mughniyah is the Hezbollah military commander who was assassinated in Syria some years ago), Ahmad Abu-al-Rish Groups, and the formations of Jihad Al-Imarayn Brigade, and is trying to reach an agreement with them, but the picture is not yet clear.
Fatah officials have confronted such attempts in the past, specifically in the Ayman Judah Groups. These officials want to unify the gunnies of the movement under the banner of the Fatah movement's central command following promises by Fatah to sponsor these groups. However, ars longa, vita brevis... this seems extremely difficult in the light of what the sources describe as "IRGC ambitions and support, and Hezbollah, both of which are supporting financially, in a big way, the formation of groups that are loyal to them."
According to these sources, the situation has reached the level of festivities in the streets between elements of Ayman Judah Groups and elements of the new Abdul-Qadir al-Husseini Battalions in front of hundreds of citizens. This took place more than a week ago after sharp arguments, and the police of the dismissed Gazoo Government nabbed Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! large numbers from both sides, and then released them later on.
Fatah in Gazoo suffers from the lack of a military framework, contrary to Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, that is represented militarily by Izzaldin al-Qassam Brigades, and Jihad Movement that is represented militarily by Al-Quds Battalions.
Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the, "Late President Yasser Arafat had been sponsoring Al-Aqsa Battalions in Fatah, but at the end of his era cracks started to emerge after the former leading member Muhammad Dahlan tried to sponsor some of these groups. After the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... (Abu-Mazin) assumed the presidency in 2005, the splits increased, and the situation became worse when Fatah dismantled Al-Aqsa Battalions, and hence its members started to look for sources of funding."
Now, Fatah does not officially sponsor any gangs, and it even worked to dismantle officially the Al-Aqsa Battalions years ago, and referred its members in the West Bank to the Paleostinian security organizations. Fatah has tried to do the same in the Gazoo Strip. Fatah military officials in Gazoo have confirmed previously to Asharq Al-Awsat that they were receiving support from Hezbollah and Iran, and they were not receiving any support from Fatah leadership in the West Bank or Gazoo.
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05/28/2012
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[Tolo News] The Taliban lashed out at suggestions they are behind the rash of recent school poisonings in Afghanistan, as officials reported the fourth such incident in as many weeks.
At least 40 school girls from Bibi Hajera school in the northern Takhar province's capital city Taluqan were poisoned and hospitalised on Sunday, local officials said.
The all-female school already had a poisoning last week which saw as many as 100 schoolgirls hospitalised.
The Taliban released a statement Sunday rejecting allegations that they were responsible for the incidents, saying it was the work of pro-Westerners and enemies of Islam in the country.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid blamed Afghan media for tying the cases to them and said that the Americans together with their Afghan colleagues have started media propaganda against them.
"Our aim is clear - our purpose is to fight the invaders and their fellow Afghan supporters. The comments made by these stooges and the pro-invader media are baseless and not true," he said.
The statement carried a warning that the Taliban - which calls itself the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan - will punish anyone found poisoning students.
"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan strongly condemns these actions and if anyone committing such actions is captured by Taliban, they will be severely punished."
On May 9, local officials in northern Balkh province told TOLOnews that as many as 100 schoolgirls and eight school teachers were taken to hospital after a suspected poisoning of the school's water source.
While in mid April, as many as 150 schoolgirls, also in Takhar, fell ill from a suspected water-source contamination at their school.
Deputy Minister of Education Asef Nang told TOLOnews on Thursday that the Afghan government had not blamed the cases on anyone. "We can't specifically pin this on either the Taliban or Hezb-e-Islami unless they claim the responsibility, but I say it's the job of the enemies of Afghanistan and education," he said.
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05/28/2012
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Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Winning hearts and minds. Or killing them with poison
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/28/2012 11:24
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(Sh. M. Network)- Somali and AMISOM troops have today secured a road leading to Balad town in middle Shabelle region, a road that strategically located 30km from the capital, Mogadishu, and governing routes to the picturesque provincial capital of Al shabab controlled Jowhar, reports said on sunday.
According to TFG officials who spoke with Shabelle Media by phone,In an advance early on Sunday hours, both allied Somali and AU troops backed by tanks took over the full control of Basra street, a main route that the Death Eaters have been using as military camps and control centre for Lower and Midlle Shabelle region of southern Somalia.
On Saturday, Somali national army and AMISOM launched a joint military operation code-named 'Operation Free Shabelle'with the objective of securing the Afgoye corridor, home to the world's largest concentration of internally displaced people (IDPs), securing Elasha Biyaha. Arabisca, a trading centre located 26km from Mogadishu, former Al shabab strongholds.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2012
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[Dawn] A remote-controlled bomb targeting a police van killed three passers-by and maimed six other people in Pakistain's troubled southwest on Sunday, police said.
The bomb was planted underneath a donkey cart on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of the oil-and-gas-rich Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.
"The bomb targeting a police van went kaboom! seconds after it passed by the cart, killing three passers-by and wounding six others including a policeman,"local police official Sikandar Tareen told AFP.
Another local police official, Saleem Shawani, confirmed the incident and casualties. There was no claim of responsibility, but Balochistan suffers from militancy, sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia Mohammedans and a separatist insurgency.
Gunmen riding a cycle of violencerubbed out the chief warden of the district prison on May 19.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... grabbed credit and said "the slain warden was a cruel person and used to subject our imprisoned leaders and workers to torture".
Hundreds of civilians have been killed since Baloch rebels rose up in 2004 against the federal Pak government, demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the resources in the region.
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05/28/2012
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[Bangla Daily Star] BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman ...the elder son of former President of Bangladesh Ziaur Rahman Bir Uttam, and Khaleda Zia, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh. He is the Senior Vice Chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). His nickname is Pino. There are allegations that Pino took a rakeoff from every foreign investment into the country while Mom was in office... assured HuJI Founded in 1984 by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Aktar. The Bangla branch was established in 1992 with assistance from Osama bin Laden. Recruits come mostly from Deobandi madrassahs. HuJI and Fazlur Rehman Khalil are signators of bin Laden's declaration of war on the west. chief Mufti Abdul Hannan and his associates that he would arrange a safe passage out of the scene once they carried out the grenade attack on an Awami League rally in 2004, a witness told a Dhaka court yesterday.
Abu Hena Md Yusuf, inspector of Criminal Investigation Department, said this in his deposition to the Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 as a prosecution witness in the August 21 grenade attack cases.
He claimed that Hannan, while on remand in Ramna Batamul blast cases, told him about Tarique's assurance.
After recording Abu Hena's deposition, Judge Shahed Nuruddin fixed June 3 for the next hearing. Defence lawyers will cross-examine the witness on that day.
Twenty-four AL leaders and workers, including Ivy Rahman, were killed and 300 others were maimed in the grenade attack on the AL rally at Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital on August 21, 2004.
The attack was aimed at assassinating AL President Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide... , then leader of the opposition. Hasina narrowly escaped death.
Two cases -- one under the explosive substances act and the other for murder -- were filed after the incident.
Abu Hena told the court that he had earlier investigated the Ramna Batamul blast cases and submitted charge sheets against HuJI chief Hannan and 13 others on November 29, 2008.
During investigation of the Ramna Batamul blast cases in 2005, Abu Hena interrogated Hannan about the grenade and kabooms that took place at different places in the country.
Hannan admitted that he along with his accomplices in 2000 had planted a 76-kg bomb at Kotalipara where Hasina was to address a rally.
They also carried out attacks on Hazrat Shahjalal's shrine in Sylhet, the then Sylhet City Corporation Mayor Badaruddin Kamran, AL leader Suranjit Sengupta and former British High Commissioner Anwar Hossain Choudhury.
The HuJI chief told the CID official that he along with Moulana Tajuddin, brother of former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu, held a meeting at Pintu's Dhanmondi residence to plot the August 21 grenade attack.
Hannan told his accomplices that during a meeting at Hawa Bhaban, Tarique assured him that all the attackers would be provided safe passage out of the scene after the attack, and that Tarique communicated the matter to the then state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar.
On assurance from Tarique, elder son of the then prime minister Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... , Hannan collected grenades from Tajuddin and gave those to his accomplices to stage the attack.
The CID official recorded Hannan's statements in writing during the investigation.
Abu Hena submitted the written statement to his superiors -- the then additional Inspector General of Police Khoda Baksh Chowdhury, CID Special Superintendent of Police Ruhul Amin and ASP Munshi Atiqur Rahman.
He also told them that Hannan would make a confessional statement before a Dhaka court.
The high-ups got upset with the CID official, as he included information on the August 21 grenade attack in his written statement. They directed him to drop the information and record a confessional statement only on the Ramna blasts.
The CID official complied with the instructions of his superiors.
Hannan later made a confessional statement to the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court but he did not mention anything about the August 21 grenade attack, Hena said.
Of the 52 accused in the grenade attack cases, Babar, 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... Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and 24 others, who are now in jug, were produced before the court yesterday.
Seven other accused, including former Dhaka City Corporation ward councillor Ariful Islam Arif, now out on bail, were present at the court.
Tarique and 18 other accused have been shown absconding in the cases.
The CID on July 3, 2011, included Abu Hena as a prosecution witness in the charge sheets of the cases since he was present at the AL rally during the grenade attack.
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05/28/2012
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[Dawn] Pakistain's federal and provincial governments should bring to justice those responsible for the May 2010 attacks on Ahmadiyya places of worship that killed 94 people, Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... said today.
On May 28, 2010, faceless myrmidons attacked two Ahmadiyya places of worship in the city of Lahore with guns, grenades, and suicide bombs, killing 94 people and wounding well over 100. The Punjabi Taliban, a local affiliate of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (the Pak Taliban or TTP), grabbed credit. Two men were captured during the attack, but the government has failed to make progress on their trial, seeking repeated adjournments from the court as has the defense.
"It's obscene that two years after the worst massacre in Lahore since the partition of India, the government has still not brought the suspects apprehended at the scene to trial," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "By pandering to Islamic fascistiwho foment violence against the Ahmadis, the government emboldens faceless myrmidons who target the beleaguered community, and reinforces fear and insecurity for all religious minorities."
The May 2010 attacks killed 27 people in Lahore's Model Town area and 67 people in the suburb of Garhi Shahu. Worshipers overpowered two attackers, Asmatullah, alias Muaaz and Abdullah Muhammad, and turned them over to police. Each was charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act and remains in jug, but there has been no progress in the case and proceedings have been repeatedly adjourned.
Since the May 2010 attacks, there has been an intensification of the hate campaign against Ahmadis, Human Rights Watch said. In June 2011, a pamphlet named some 50 prominent Ahmadis in the city of Faisalabad in Punjab province and declared them "liable to be killed" under Islamic law, along with all members of the community. No action has been taken by the government against those who disseminated the pamphlet. In September 2011, one of those named in the pamphlet, Naseem Butt, was rubbed out. At least another five Ahmadis were killed during 2011, apparently because of their religious beliefs. In December, unknown assailants vandalized 29 graves in an Ahmadiyya graveyard in the Punjab town of Lodhran.
During 2012, Death Eater groups in Lahore have used discriminatory provisions of Pak law that target Ahmadis and prevent them from "posing as Mohammedans" to force the demolition of sections of an Ahmadiyya place of worship on the grounds that its dome made it look like a mosque. In the garrison city of Rawalpindi, the authorities barred Ahmadis from using their place of worship at the insistence of local Death Eater groups. In both instances, Punjab provincial administration and police officials supported the Death Eaters' demands instead of protecting the Ahmadis.
"The Punjab provincial government should be providing extra security to Ahmadiyya places of worship instead of siding with those terrorizing worshipers and attacking their places of worship," Adams said. "Pakistain's anti-Ahmadi laws need to be repealed, not enforced."
Human Rights Watch urged the government of Punjab province, controlled by former 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... 's Pakistain Mohammedan League (Nawaz) party, to investigate and prosecute those responsible for intimidation, threats, and violence against the Ahmadiyya community.
Militant groups that have publicly been involved in such efforts include the Sunni Tehrik ...formed in Karachi in 1992 under by Muhammad Saleem Qadri. It quickly fell to trading fisticuffs and liquidations with the MQM and the Sipah-e-Sahaba, with at least a half dozen of its major leaders rubbed out. Sunni Tehreek arose to become the primary opposition to the Deobandi Binori Mosque, headed by Nizamuddin Shamzai, who was eventually bumped off by person or persons unknown. ST's current leadership has heavily criticized the Deobandi Jihadi leaders, accusing them of being sponsored by Indian Intelligence agencies as well as involvement in terrorist activities... , Tehrik-e-Tahafaz-e-Naomoos-e-Risalat, Khatm-e-Nabuwat, Difa-e-Pakistain Council, and others acting under the Pak Taliban's umbrella. Leaders of these groups have frequently threatened to kill Ahmadis and attack the places of worship where killings have taken place as well as other Ahmadi places of worship.
Ahmadi community leaders told Human Rights Watch that they had repeatedly brought threats against them to the notice of the Punjab chief minister, Shahbaz Sharif, the provincial government, and the police controlled by the provincial authorities, and that they had asked for enhanced security for vulnerable Ahmadiyya places of worship. However, the hip bone's connected to the leg bone... the provincial government failed to act on the evidence or to ensure meaningful security.
Human Rights Watch called on Pakistain's government to introduce legislation in parliament without delay to repeal laws that discriminate against Ahmadis and other religious minorities, including sections 295 (blasphemy) and 298 (Ahmadi specific law that prevents them from "posing" as Mohammedans) of the Pakistain Penal Code.
Human Rights Watch also urged concerned governments and inter-governmental bodies to press the Pak government to:
Repeal sections 295 and 298 of the Pakistain Penal Code;
Prosecute those responsible for planning and executing attacks and committing other offenses against the Ahmadiyya and other religious minorities; and
Take steps to encourage religious tolerance within Pak society.
"The government's continued use of discriminatory criminal laws against Ahmadis and other religious minorities is indefensible," Adams said. "As long as such laws remain on the books, the Pak state will be seen as a persecutor of minorities and an enabler of abuses."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2012
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
attacks on Ahmadiyya places of worship that killed 94 people
[Yemen Post] Yemen President Abdurabu Mansour Hadi ...the second and possibly the last president of Yemen, successor to former President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh... said that there are obstacles in the way of the transitional process based on the GCC-brokered accord which was signed in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. However, women are made to be loved, not understood... Hadi did not mention who is responsible for these obstacles, the official Saba news agency reported on Sunday.
His comments came in his meeting with the German ambassador to Sana'a Hollinger Green.
Hadi showed his determination and resolve to go on with the GCC-deal until it's completely implemented in the reality.
Hadi reviewed with Green the ongoing developments in the process of implementing the power transfer deal and its timed mechanism, and how to translate the terms of the deal into the ground.
They also discussed the German's and the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... 's efforts to help Yemen achieve a successful transition.
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05/28/2012
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Sunday Times quotes Taliban sources as saying al-Qaeda leader was moved between safehouses in box hidden under cargoes of cement, flour, rice or livestock
The late Osama bin Laden ... who was laid out deader than a mackerel, right next to the mackerel... managed to dodge American security forces by moving undetected between safe houses around Pakistain in a large box hidden in a brightly colored truck filled with chickens, the Sunday Times reported, citing Taliban sources.
According to the British newspaper's report, the box was designed by Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, bin Laden's trusted aide, who also set up the house in Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... where the al-Qaeda leader lived for five years until he was killed last May by US Navy Seals.
Kuwaiti moved bin Laden by fitting the box to the floor of one of the elaborately decorated trucks that are a common sight on Pakistain's roads, the report said. The box would be hidden under cargoes of cement, flour or rice -- or even beneath livestock such as goats, sheep or chickens.
According to Newsweek magazine, the scam was disclosed at a meeting held near Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... , the Taliban heart of Pakistain's North Wazoo region, in the autumn. During the meeting, al-Qaeda and Taliban beturbanned goons discussed ways to protect Ayman al-Zawahiri ... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is... , bin Laden's successor.
Despite Kuwaiti's ingenious method of transport, they blamed his carelessness for bin Laden's death, the Sunday Times said. According to the report, an Al-Qaeda investigation concluded that Kuwaiti made basic security mistakes which led the CIA to Bin Laden: he drove the same car every time he visited the Abbottabad compound and used a mobile phone that could be monitored.
To protect Zawahiri from a similar fate, the beturbanned goons suggested, his handlers had advised him to "move to a new place" and stop using any electronic devices.
"We are hoping he can avoid being captured by the US for at least 10 more years," a Taliban source was quoted by Newsweek as saying. One of the beturbanned goons at the meeting asked a member of the Afghan Taliban if they would consider harboring Zawahiri. The answer was noncommittal.
The Sunday Times further reported that Pak officials strongly denied No, no! Certainly not! claims this month by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as The Woman to Call at 3 a.m. and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another William Jennings Bryan ... that Zawahiri had found refuge on their soil.
#3
As for OBL hiding in trucks among cargoes of chickens + goats, cement, etc. I doubt it - the man I remember from the anti-Soviet War deeply believed his faith would protect him, + liked to ride openly.
I'll believe it iff Ayman or Mullah Omar, + certain others, say its true, i.e. that OBL changed + grew cautious in his age or his ways.
#4
the man I remember from the anti-Soviet War deeply believed his faith would protect him, + liked to ride openly.
In those days the Americans weren't hunting him, JosephM. Remember that when he was caught he'd stayed inside and away from windows for years, not even allowing his children to leave the compound to go to school, or his wives to go it to go shopping.
[Al Ahram] Cairo's criminal court has sentenced ousted President Hosni Mubarak's ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... former chief of staff to 7 years in jail on corruption charges.
Zakaria Azmy was fined LE36.5 million ($6.05m) after being found guilty of making illicit profits of some LE44 million, Ahram's Arabic-language portal said on Sunday.
A pivotal figure in Mubarak's inner circle, Azmy was jugged You have the right to remain silent... in April 2011 on charges of abusing his political power to accumulate profits.
The court imposed the same fine on Azmy's wife, Bahia Halawa, found guilty on the same charges. His brother-in-law, Gamal Halawa, was sentenced in absentia to a year in prison.
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[An Nahar] Syrian opposition head Burhan Ghalioun called on Sunday for a "battle of liberation" against the regime until the United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... takes action under Chapter Seven which allows military intervention.
"I call on the Syrian people to lead a battle of liberation and dignity, relying on its own forces, on the rebels deployed across the country and the Free Syrian Army brigades and friends," he told a news conference in Istanbul.
Ghalioun, outgoing leader of the Syrian National Council (SNC), said such action would be taken "unless the international community assumes its responsibilities under Chapter Seven" of the U.N. charter.
A Chapter Seven resolution, which can be imposed by the U.N. Security Council, authorizes foreign powers to take measures including military options.
Ghalioun, in a meeting earlier with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, said the anti-regime uprising in Syria had reached a "turning point" after the killings on Friday and Saturday of more than 90 people in a central town.
"The SNC calls on the international community and in particular (U.N.-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) Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... to act immediately to halt the killings," an unnamed Turkish source quoted him as telling Davutoglu.
After an international outcry over what activists branded a massacre, the Syrian government on Sunday denied its forces were responsible for the killing of at least 92 people, a third of them children, in the town of Houla.
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[Al Ahram] Iran rejects the International Atomic Energy Agency's request to visit its Parchin military complex, says no evidence was presented to justify inspection
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"You should have called ahead so we could clean up. The place is an embarrassing mess. There's dishes in the sink, clothes on the floor, wash isn't done and the guest towels are dirty. Come back later"
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/28/2012 9:05
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#2
Iran rejects the International Atomic Energy Agency's request to visit its Parchin military complex, says no evidence was presented to justify inspection
That's not the point, but you knew that. Time to pull the inspectors. The investigation has been concluded with this action.
Thirty officials of the North Korean regime who were involved in talks with South Korea have been executed or died in "staged traffic accidents," according to a human rights report.
This isn't the Nork version of 'Operation Lemony Snickett', but the outcome is much the same...
In its annual study, Amnesty International claimed that in addition to the 30 who died in purges last year, a further 200 were rounded up in January this year by the State Security Agency as Pyongyang carried out the transfer of power from Kim Jong-il, who died of an apparent heart attack in December, and his 29-year-old son, Suet Face Kim Jong-un.
Of those 200, Amnesty said, some were apparently executed and the remainder were sent to political prison camps. The 30 men executed for failing to improve Pyongyang's ties with Seoul are considered scapegoats for the new low point in inter-Korean ties. Their task would have been made immeasurably more difficult given North Korea's insistence with pushing ahead with its development of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
North Korea has a habit of executing bureaucrats who are perceived to have failed the regime, even though they are often merely carrying out the orders of higher-ranking officials or members of the ruling family. In 2010, Pak Nam-gi, the former head of the finance department of the Workers' Party, was reportedly executed by firing squad for the catastrophic attempt to reform the impoverished nation's currency. The result was rampant inflation and food shortages became even more acute.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/28/2012
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#1
As if they care about the food. They're probably more concerned about concrete and money. Good luck finding anyone to put them in a position to help in the future.
[VOA News] BAMAKO - Tuareg rebels and Islamist cut-throats have joined forces in northern Mali and say they will create an independent Islamist state. The groups took advantage of a military coup in Bamako to seize control of the territory in early April. Did I miss something? I thought the coup was in response to the turbans taking control of Timbuktoo and installing a member of AQIM as governor?
Resistance is growing in the north to the efforts to introduce Islamic law. Islamic law sez that if you resist they have to chop your head off, so I doubt much will come of it...
In the northern Malian town of Gao, court is in session. Commissioner Abdoulaye Maiga begins by reading from the Koran in the roadside courtyard outside the former cop shoppe. Once an area businessman, Maiga is a member of the jihad boy Islamist sect Ansar Dine that residents say dominates the town. This morning, Maiga hears the case of a man accused of letting his animals graze in his neighbors' fields. The accused confesses, says he has settled previous infractions by bribing authorities. This time, he promises to compensate his neighbors for damages to their crops. The deal is accepted.
The commissioner hears other cases, including those of two men, one accused of adultery and the other of drunkenness. No witnesses were called. A VOA news hound watched as the sentences, 80 lashes each, were carried out on the spot.
Gao is one of three northern strongholds that fell to Tuareg separatists and Islamist cut-throats during the chaos that followed a March 22 military coup in Bamako. The two groups joined forces in late May and say they will create an independent Islamic state in what is now nearly two-thirds of Mali's national territory. Ansar Dine is already imposing its brand of Islamic law in the north.
A jihad boy who identified himself as Ibrahim says they do not force anyone to practice Islam. He says it is Allah that has ordered Islam be practiced and that cannot be done without Sharia and an army to defend it.
Although Islam has long been practiced in the north, residents of Gao are finding the hardline approach tough to accept. Women must be veiled in public. Persons of opposite sexes cannot walk together or touch in public. Militants have closed the city's once lively bars and nightclubs.
Violent protests erupted in Gao in mid-May, as frustrated youth tore down jihad boys' flags and marched on the groups' separate headquarters. Youth leader Idrissa Seydou Toure says they grabbed rocks and hunks of wood and marched. He says the occupiers are squeezing them tighter and tighter. He says now they cannot even have any fun. They cannot watch TV or listen to music in the street like before. He says the south has abandoned them and it is up to northerners to push out the occupiers.
Ansar Dine has ties to al-Qaeda's North Africa franchise, al-Qaeda of the Islamic Magreb, known as AQIM, whose cut-throats and leaders have been spotted in Gao and other towns since the occupation.
In Gao, Ansar Dine is trying to win over the population. Militants have given out their phone numbers and come to the aid of residents against attacks by bandidos and other gangs.
Ansar Dine has posted guards outside the reopened hospital in Gao. Midwife Zemila Isiyaku says they work in difficult conditions, but the people need them. Everyday, she says, they hear gunshots. She says it is thanks to Ansar Dine that they are able to work, it keeps them safe.
International human-rights groups say Ansar Dine's crackdown in the north has included summary executions and amputations. In Gao, town leaders formed an elders' committee to serve as intermediary between the population and occupying forces. Committee member and teacher Mohammed Ikeratane says they have reached a certain level of stability by taking up problems with jihad boy leaders. But he says daily conditions are difficult. He says the town water pump is not working properly. He also says they only have electricity for five hours a day, and there is not enough gas for the generator.
The United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... says more than 200,000 Malians have fled the north this year.
In mid-May, Ansar Dine escorted the first convoy of humanitarian aid to reach the occupied territory. The cut-throats manned machine guns mounted on pickup trucks. The sect's black flag flapped in the wind as the convoy rolled north. "Embark on jihad for the sake of God," one jihad boy said in Arabic.
Ansar Dine set the following conditions: all aid must come from Malian Mohammedans and no international products or agencies are allowed.
Mali's High Islamic Council organized the convoy. The High Islamic Council's regional secretary in Gao, Ibrahim Ag Mohamed, says aid is reassuring, but the real problem of insecurity remains. West African bloc ECOWAS has offered to deploy regional peacekeepers to Mali. The nation's military, unable to halt the rebellion in the north earlier this year, is in shambles following the coup. Analysts say the situation in the north is unlikely to change in the near future.
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Top|| File under: Ansar Dine
#1
A jihad boy who identified himself as Ibrahim says they do not force anyone to practice Islam. He says it is Allah that has ordered Islam be practiced and that cannot be done without Sharia and an army to defend it
It wasn't us, it's Allan that's beheading you
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/28/2012 9:08
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FROM the violent stirrings over the 'Mohajir province' to Friday's barbaric bus ambush, Sindh's fragile ethnic balance is being severely rocked. The attack, in which several men ambushed a bus near Qazi Ahmed in Nawabshah district killing at least seven people, is the latest in a disturbing trend witnessed earlier in the Mastung and Kohistan ...a backwoods district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa distinguished by being even more rustic than is the norm among the local Pashtuns.... incidents. But while the victims in those attacks were Shia, the passengers in Friday's atrocity were apparently targeted due to their ethnicity as the victims hailed from Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... . Some reports indicate that pamphlets of the Sindhu Desh Liberation Army were found near the scene of the crime. This is the same outfit that grabbed credit for the recent low-intensity blasts outside bank branches and attacks on railway tracks. There are also reports that the assailants claimed the attack was 'Dire Revenge™' for the killing of Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz leader Muzaffar Bhutto -- allegedly by intelligence agencies -- whose group is not known for violent tactics.
Ethnic tension in Sindh is nothing new. Along with Sindhi-Mohajir friction, anti-Punjab feelings have existed in the province since at least the 1960s, when migrants from Punjab settled in Sindh to cultivate fertile land after new barrages were built on the Indus. Though there have been sporadic attacks targeting non-Sindhis, the bus ambush is the first of its kind. And while the attack on the Awami Tehrik rally in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... was a dangerous portent as far as communal harmony is concerned, the Qazi Ahmed incident is even more alarming. Both attacks were clearly designed to stoke communal violence among the different ethnic groups that reside in Sindh. As for the impression some fringe political groups are trying to create comparing Sindh's situation to the deprivation in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... , this is far from true. Unlike Balochistan, the political process has roots in Sindh and -- despite the hiccups -- is working. Also, we would not like to believe this is Dire Revenge™ for Muzaffar Bhutto's death. If it is, targeting innocent people is a despicable and cowardly reaction.
The Sindh administration has a lot to answer for as not only has it failed to prevent acts of terrorism and sabotage, it has also failed to promote ethnic harmony in the province. Those who rule Sindh -- the PPP and MQM -- must realise that if the situation degrades into ethnic conflict, they will be the biggest losers. All parties, both from the mainstream and the nationalists, must condemn such acts of violence and shun the politics of parochialism, and instead work for the rights of Sindh within the democratic framework.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Yemen Post] Ansar Al-Sharia, an al-Qaeda linked group, in Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... has offered to release hostages including a Swiss woman in return for stopping the military offensive against its strongholds in Zinjibar and Jaar of Abyan, military sources have revealed.
The sources said the military leadership refused the offer, and warned Al-Qaeda gunnies against the life of the Saudi diplomat, Abdullah Al-Khalidi, and the Swiss teacher, Sylvia Abrahat.
It asked the gunnies to unconditionally release all civilians and troops held by the group, the sources added.
They said that delay of victory in Zinjibar and Jaar is attributed to difficulties on the ground, pointing out thon the lam numbers of al-Qaeda snipers deployed in difficult terrain.
They anticipated that Zinjibar and Jaar will be completely cleansed from the gunnies within three days as a maximum.
Military sources said that the army killed dozens of gunnies on Saturday, indicating that most the killed were foreign nationals.
In a statement, the Defense Ministry said four soldiers were killed and four others were maimed, citing that some areas of Zinjibar become free of the gunnies ant thon the lam quantities of Al-Qaeda's weapons including gun machines and shells were taken over by the army.
Military sources said the army has advanced deep into Zinjibar, the town fell last year to al-Qaeda as it took advantage of political turmoil to extend their control over much of the south.
According to a tally compiled by AFP, 332 people have been killed, including 242 Al-Qaeda gunnies, 55 military personnel, 18 local faceless myrmidons and 17 civilians since the offensive began.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2012
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia
For a map, click here
One of the reasons I missed this is because of the Article 41 clamp on Mexican government propaganda during the run-up to national elections.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
The Mexican Secretaria de Defensa Nacional, the controlling agency for the Mexican Army and Mexican Air Force last month released guidelines governing the use of forces in its counternarcotics operations, according to data posted on the Mexican government's Diario de Federacion website.
The new guidelines are the completion of an order of Mexican President Felipe Calderon Hinjosa December, 2010 who ordered SEDENA to come up with written rules on the use of force in dealing with drug crime in Mexico.
The preamble of the entry states without equivocation, that the use of force guidelines are under the rubric of control by civilian authorities, presumably also local civilian authorities, and the Firearms and Explosives Act.
That federal law proscribes weapons of any kind outside an individual's domicile, and expressly forbids use of modern rifles such as the AR-15 and the AK-47, or weapons with a bore larger than .22 caliber, except for shotguns.
How much of a change in the relationship of the armed forces with civilian authorities the entry represents is unknown, in that the relationship is simply not talked about. From reading press reports and official reports in the past by SEDENA and the Secretaria de Marina (SEMAR) or Mexican Navy, which controls Mexican Naval Infantry, armed contact involving the nation's armed forces are supposed to be under civilian control. Human rights groups have publicly complained in the past that this relationship is not always in force, that military authorities have control of their forces, and of their mission as well.
The divergent view, however, probably comes from a deeply ingrained lack of understanding by human rights professionals of the general laws of war that military commanders train under, wherein a field commander is obligated to first command. It is therefore not surprising that when Mexican Army troops are sent out on patrol, and not necessarily responding the a civilian complaint or prior intelligence, field commanders' rules are in effect and civilian authority does not enter into army patrol operations unless an incident occurs.
The guidelines defines three increasingly hostile levels of observed behavior for criminal suspects along with differing conduct expected from soldiers and airmen in the conduct of their duties.
The observed behavior includes
Resistencia no Agresiva or nonaggressive resistance. According to the entry, Resistencia no Agresiva means passive, or non-violent resistance to authorities and their directives, which means ignoring, disregarding or attempting to flee authorities without attempting to exchange gunfire, or any other violent act.
Resistencia Agresiva or aggressive resistance. This means an individual who poses a threat of damage to persons or property either under the control of the individual or of another individual, or the threat of serious injury and death, but which does not involve serious threat of death or injury against established authorities.
Resistencia Agresiva Grave or grave aggressive resistance means the same as Resistencia Agresiva, except the threat of serious injury or death is posed to authorities by a suspect. That authority includes Mexico's armed forces.
The guidelines go on to define use of force as "strictly unavoidable or necessary for the fulfilment of the mission as assigned, in support of civil authorities under the Federal Firearms and Explosives," according to a translation of the entry. Use of force by military personnel, under the new guidelines, must be timely, proportional, rational and legal.
According to the entry, proportional use of force must be scaled in intensity and duration under the defined threat levels.
Under broad guidelines outlined in Article Seven, the directive defines five instances which may trigger use of force:
Fulfill a duty to act in support of civil authorities or the application of the Federal Firearms and Explosives Act.
Counteract all levels of resistance.
Prevent imminent or actual commission of crime.
Legally protect from aggression.
Legitimate or self defense.
Article Nine of the directive goes on to define four levels of use of force, including
Deterrence, which means the physical, visible presence of army units.
Persuasion, which means verbal warnings to desist from criminal conduct.
Use of non-lethal force: used to control a person or persons in cases of aggressive or nonaggressive resistance.
Lethal use of force: used only in cases of grave or aggressive resistance in which the offender threatens military personnel with a firearm or other life threatening object.
The directive adds that deterrence and persuasion are preferred means of use of forces over the other two, also adding that life-threatening circumstances for army personnel and for civilians are a legitimate means in escalating use of force.
Not surprisingly, the directive has been mischaracterized as guidelines which makes a very clear echelon of responses, which the guidelines do not.
A news story by the far left La Jornada said last month in its report on the new directive, the report ordered Mexican Army personnel that use of force is required only when all other means have failed. But in fact the report does not say that at all.
The report itself makes very clear that the number one priority in considering the use of force is support of civilian law enforcement and the mission.
The directive itself says, "Fulfill a duty to act in support of civil authorities or the application of the Federal Firearms and Explosives Act."
Under those conditions, when forces observe a suspect with a weapon, it is unlikely detail commanders beyond indicating their very presence will order anything other than to open fire on those individuals who are armed.
However, one specific instance in which use of lethal use of force is proscribed is firing into civilian vehicles. Several instances of that act have resulted in the deaths of civilians. One involved a passenger bus which had run an army checkpoint. Another involved a road pursuit and an attempt by the army detail commander to end the pursuit by shooting out the vehicles tires, which ended tragically.
The translation reads: [Soldiers] will not trigger firearms against persons when they try to evade, flee or to escape, unless they make serious aggressive acts of resistance, or the order to stop or prevent their escape, if they resist authority and represent an imminent danger death or serious injury, and less extreme means are insufficient to achieve these objectives.
The translation goes on: Only if the driver of a vehicle or crew of a vessel does not obey the indication to stop running or navigation, and this action involves a real and imminent threat that will cause grave harm, is use of force as provided in this Directive authorized.
Under those rules, a suspect either firing a weapon, or showing a weapon would be sufficient reason to open fire on a civilian vehicle.
One example is of a bus running an army checkpoint in Guerrero state in 2009. Versions of the shooting diverge. Human rights activists have said the victim, Bonfilio Rubio Villegas, was shot as he slept in the back of a bus that had just left a military checkpoint following a heated exchange between the driver and the checkpoint commander. The victim had been noted, according to human rights activists, by the site commander because he was wearing military boots, which is an indicator the suspect was involved with drug running or with radical armed groups which still operate in Guerrero.
SEDENA's version is that the bus attempted to flee the checkpoint and soldiers opened fired on the vehicle. Although as many as 40 other individuals were aboard the bus at the time, only Rubio Villegas was killed. Soldiers also found several packages of marijuana near where Rubio Villegas was killed. Human rights activists say the drugs were planted there to justify the shooting, a charge which SEDENA obviously denies.
Under the new rules, a passenger bus attempting to flee would not come under gunfire, but would pursued and ordered to a halt. If sufficient warning was disregarded and the detail or site commander determined the situation was at risk for further harm, soldiers would be ordered to open fire.
As matters stand, even though it was not strictly against the law to open fire on the bus, the order to fire on a passenger bus was questionable. The new rules will temper those orders for subsequent similar incidents. The good news for soldiers in the field is that the new rules will probably not further endanger them if their targets return fire.
The second incident took place in 2010 in Nuevo Leon. In that incident, a Mexican Army road patrol attempted pursuit of a family in a sedan speeding along a highway near Monterrey, refusing to halt after being signalled by the detail commander. In that incident, the detail commander ordered to driver to maneuver his truck to an angle where the commander could get a shot of the vehicle's tires.
When the commander opened fire on the vehicle, so did four other riflemen, killing two and wounding four others. The site commander subsequently attempted to falsify his report, claiming that the vehicle had run a military checkpoint, a fact which this writer originally reported.
Under the new rules, the detail commander has to make the call whether attempting to disable the vehicle by gunfire is a sufficient means of ending the pursuit. In this instance, opening fire on a vehicle in which no gunfire has originated, nor where any weapons were observed, would be a bad shoot and subject the commander and anyone else who fires on the vehicle to murder charges.
The final part of the directive deals with what commanders are expected to do in the event of a shooting. The orders are what commanders are under whenever they encounter violent suspects in the field. They must secure the scene and any evidence for civilian authorities as well as military prosecutors. The last item specifically says that military prosecutors, in the event they determine a bad shooting, must denounce the suspects to a competent authority. That final requirement fulfills a long standing demand that shootings involving civilians must be prosecuted by civilian authorities, even if they involve military personnel.
That may also change, if Mexican legislators change the Mexican Code of Military Justice, which would make murder one of the crimes against civilians solely prosecutable by military prosecutors.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Jewish community leaders condemn question for 'justifying' anti-semitism in schools
Education Secretary Michael Gove brands question 'bizarre' and 'insensitive'
One former examiner defends question as 'legitimate'
Britannia's leading examining board has been accused of 'justifying' antisemitism in schools after GCSE pupils were asked in an exam to explain 'why some people are prejudiced against Jews'.
More than a thousand religious studies students sat the test last Thursday, which was set by one of the three major English exam boards, AQA.
The bizarre question has sparked fury among teachers, parents, ministers and members of the Jewish community who have blamed the body for 'justifying' anti-semitism in schools.
The question has caused such outrage that it has been carried to the very top of Government.
Education Secretary Michael Gove said: 'To suggest that anti-semitism can ever be explained, rather than condemned, is insensitive and, frankly, bizarre. AQA needs to explain how and why this question was included in an exam paper.'
He said that it was 'the duty of politicians to fight prejudice, and with antisemitism on the rise we need to be especially vigilant'.
However, if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... one examiner leapt to the board's defence, saying it was a 'legitimate' question that pupils needed to be asked.
Educator Clive Lawton, formerly an A-level chief examiner for religious studies for another board, said: 'I do understand why people might react negatively to the question, but it is a legitimate one.
'Part of the syllabus is that children must study the causes and origins of prejudice against Jews.'
A spokesperson for AQA said that the question was part of a paper focusing on Judaism and the 'relevant part of the syllabus covers prejudice and discrimination with reference to race, religion and the Jewish experience of persecution.
'We would expect [students to refer] to the Holocaust to illustrate prejudice based on irrational fear, ignorance and scapegoating.'
She added: 'The board is obviously concerned that this question may have caused offence, as this was absolutely not our intention'.
'[The question] acknowledges that some people hold prejudices; it does not imply in any way that prejudice is justified'.
Ofqual, which regulates exams, said that it was in discussion with AQA: 'We will take appropriate follow-up action if necessary.'
Approximately six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust by the Nazi regime and its collaborators in the build up to and during the Second World War.
#3
Ummm, I don't, and I'm not Jewish either.
Episcopal,if anything.
Posted by: Recneck Jim ||
05/28/2012 10:42
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#4
"Why do people hate Jews?"
Because they're loser bigots who need someone else to blame for their own failures and shortcomings.
Guess what, bigots? If all the Jews in the world were to suddenly disappear, you'd still be losers. And you know it.
Posted by: Barbara ||
05/28/2012 12:37
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#5
They're convenient scapegoats for guys like Hitler and Achmadinejad.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/28/2012 14:25
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#6
Same reason they hate Mormons: nobody likes a sober, thrifty, and successful religeon that takes care of its own. It's a sure sign of the The Devil!
[Straits Times] Philippine police have locked away Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! an alleged Islamist thug suspected of involvement in a 2001 kidnapping that left two Americans dead, an official said on Friday.
Sahibul Sailani was jugged You have the right to remain silent... in the southern island of Basilan on Monday but police withheld the news until his interrogation was completed, said the provincial police chief, Senior Superintendent Alex Linesis.
Sailani is accused of taking part in the abduction of three Americans and several Filipinos from an upscale western Philippine resort in 2001, Mr Linesis said.
The hostages were taken by boat to Basilan where the gunnies later beheaded one of the Americans, Peru-born Guillermo Sobero
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05/28/2012
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(Sh.M.Network)-- At least 9,200 people have been displaced in a fierce battle raging between the coalition forces and the Death Eaters near the Somali capital, the UN refugee agency said here Saturday.
The fighting erupted in Afgooye, a stronghold of the Al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... beturbanned goon group, some 30 km from Mogadishu. People have fled to Mogadishu, Lower Shabelle and Lower Juba regions to avoid the fighting, the UNHCR said.
Africa Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia said that its forces and the Somali Army have secured all major roads leading in and out of Afgooye town,
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05/28/2012
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[Al Ahram] Gunmen rubbed out three card players in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, which has been rocked by deadly attacks blamed on Islamist group Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... in recent months, residents said Sunday.
Two cycle of violence-riding gunnies opened fire on a group of card players in the Gaida area of the city on Saturday evening, killing three of the players and seriously injuring another, residents said.
The gunnies then shot in the air for about 20 minutes before speeding away, said one witness.
"The attackers came around 6:00 pm and produced rifles that looked like AK-47s from under their robes and began shooting into the group playing cards under a tree," he said.
"The shooting caused a stampede, with everyone around running for cover, and by the time the attackers left three people from among the card players lay dead and one other player was badly injured."
It was the second attack on card players in two weeks in the city.
On 13 May, three people, including a prison guard, were killed and four others injured by gunnies on a cycle of violence in the Tukuntawa area of the city.
Although it was unclear who was behind the latest attack, Boko Haram has been blamed for a series of drive-by shootings in the city.
A suspect tossed in the slammer ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... last week allegedly confessed to belonging to a 20-man gang recruited by Boko Haram behind a series of killings, including an attack on church services at a university which killed 19 worshippers.
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[An Nahar] A Bahraini court on Sunday locked away Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! six Shiites for 15 years for plotting attacks in the Gulf kingdom, including an to attempt to blow up the causeway with 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 their national face... , lawyers said.
The six men locked away You have the right to remain silent... in November chanted in defiance: "victory is close," after the verdict was announced, according to one of the lawyers attending the hearing in Manama.
They are part of a group of eight, including two who remain on the lam.
Four were locked away You have the right to remain silent... in Qatar in possession of documents and a computer containing information about vital installations in Bahrain, in addition to flight tickets to Syria and cash in U.S. dollars.
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Former Shin Bet officer whose gumption saved lives of 154 passengers gets token of gratitude -- 42 years later
Yoel Lavi doesn't immediately strike you as a hero. But the 92-year-old grandpa certainly deserves the title: In 1970, he saved the lives of 154 El Al passengers when he prevented a bomb from being loaded on a Tel Aviv-bound flight from Frankfurt.
Only a handful of security officers knew of Lavi's laudable act. And only now -- 42 years after the fact -- did he finally receive the thank you he deserves in the form of a plaque of appreciation from El Al and the Shin Bet.
Lavi immigrated to Israel as a teen, alone, in 1935, as part of the Youth Aliyah, a movement that saved numerous kids from the Nazis. His entire family later died in the Holocaust. He soon enlisted with the Haganah, the army organization that turned into the Israel Defense Forces after the State of Israel was founded. He was one of the first officials to join the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security agency, in 1949.
In the late '60s, prompted by a wave of terror attacks involving planes, the Shin Bet deployed officers to large airports worldwide. After a brief training session, where he was taught to identify fake passports, Lavi was stationed in Franfurt due to his fluency in German.
Unlike today's harsh cargo security regulations, back then the policy was simple: Packages were delayed at the airport for three days to make sure that they didn't contain a bomb that might go off midair.
'My whole body was shaking'
On February 20, 1970, the head of El Al's cargo department turned to Lavi with a request. A package that was on its way to Israel had a time sensitivity that required the three-day rule to be broken.
"He said that it was present for an important man that had to arrive in Jerusalem on Saturday night," Lavi recalled. "But I said it was out of the question."
Lavi did not relent even when the district postmaster called him and tried to pressure him.
"My whole body was shaking when he called me on Friday afternoon at my home," he said. "You have to realize that the postal service in Germany is a powerful institution. But I refused to give in."
Finally, he advised the postmaster to send the packages with another airline. That night he could not fall asleep, and in the morning he reported the incident to the police at the airport.
'I didn't feel a hero'
Four hours later, the police commander stormed into his office and asked Lavi to accompany him. The two drove onto the airport's runway, where they saw an Austrian Airways plane -- with a "huge gaping hole" in its underside. The urgent package that Lavi refused to accept was then transferred to the Austrian aircraft, and went kaboom! shortly after takeoff. Miraculously, the pilot managed to land the plane safely; none of the passengers were hurt.
"Back then, I didn't feel like a hero," Lavi said.
The El Al flight arrived in Tel Aviv as planned, but a different flight that left at the same time from Zurich made for a painful reminder to the catastrophe that Lavi prevented. Nine minutes after taking off, a bomb that was planted on the plane went off, killing 38 passengers, including 15 Israelis.
Today, Lavi lives in Haifa; he has two sons and seven grandchildren.
"The public didn't know about the thwarted attack, but we knew that dad prevented a big incident," one of his sons, Udi, said. "I think that my dad is a great hero; there are many other wonderful things he did for the State's security, but we cannot discuss them."
SEOUL -- North Korea's western coast region is experiencing severe drought that could seriously affect food production this year, a report by the communist country's state-run media said Saturday.
Fresh appeals from the usual do-gooder western agencies will begin shortly...
The (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), picked up in Seoul, said that if there is no rainfall by the end of the month, the drought will be recorded as the worst since 1962.
It said from April 26 onwards, the capital city of Pyongyang received 2 millimeters of rain, while 5 millimeters fell in Haeju of South Hwanghae Province. The KCNA added that Sinuiju, just across from the Chinese border city of Dandong, reported getting just 1 millimeter of rain in the past month.
The wire service said advanced weather forecasts indicate that little rainfall is expected in June, which can pose challenges for farmers in the region.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/28/2012
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#1
As per TOPIX, looks like the region's farmers are acknowledging the severe drought, but also aren't optimistic about their country getting food aid from the US-Allies in the wake of NOKOR's recent failed "space rocket" test???
[Al Ahram] A roadside kaboom in Iraq's Anbar province maimed 19 Pak Shiite pilgrims on Sunday, police and a doctor said, in the second attack against pilgrims in the Sunni province in days.
"A bus carrying Pak pilgrims was targeted by a roadside kaboom at around 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) on the highway to Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... " from Fallujah, ... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperity or a really nice place to raise your kids... Anbar police front man Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Taher Kitab told AFP.
The attack maimed the driver of the bus and 18 passengers, including three children who were at death's door, he said.
Assem al-Hadithi, a doctor at Fallujah Hospital, confirmed the toll, and said that the pilgrims were going to visit the Al-Askari Shiite shrine in Samarra, north of Storied Baghdad.
The attack comes after a roadside kaboomwent kaboom! on Wednesday near a bus carrying Lebanese Shiite pilgrims west of Anbar's scenic provincial capital Ramadi, killing three and wounding at least 10.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2012
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#1
You stay classy, Sunni terrorists.
Posted by: American Delight ||
05/28/2012 9:09
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[Asharq al-Awsat] Iran's President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad urged the country's newly-elected parliament on Sunday to stand with him against "evil ones" who he says have encircled the nation.
The president's address to the opening session of the parliament was seen as an appeal to conservative opponents who crushed Ahmadinejad's allies in voting that ended earlier this month.
"Today, evils have been mobilized from all directions to put the Medes and the Persians under pressure. Removing and resisting the pressures, and cooperation, are the main priority today," Ahmadinejad told politicians without elaboration. State TV broadcast the speech live.
Iran faces sanctions from Western nations who accuse it of trying to developing nuclear weapons technology. Iran denies the charges.
Long-stalled negotiations between Tehran and six world powers on Iran's nuclear program have recently revived, with the countries agreeing to talks in Moscow in June after earlier discussions last week in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... Ahmadinejad and the conservatives share similar views on foreign policy, but disagree on economic issues. The president lost their support when he was perceived to challenge the supremacy of the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last year.
Ahmadinejad also asked politicians not to intervene in his areas of authority. "Any effort to intervene in other's affairs will not serve the country. This is only devastating," said Ahmadinejad.
Over the past months, both the president and the parliament have blamed each other for exceeding their respective mandates.
Lawmakers say the president ignores bills passed by the parliament. Ahmadinejad says the parliament totally changes government-proposed bills.
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05/28/2012
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#1
For once, I sort of agree with Ahmadinnerjacket. I think we should unite against evil.
Of course, his definition of evil and my definition of evil are radically different.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
05/28/2012 15:50
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] French smokers have formed a lobby to "defend their rights" against what they perceive as unfair curbs imposed by the state, the group's leaders has said.
The Union for the Rights of Adult Smokers (UDFA) says it represents a potential 12.5 million voters and intends to fight against the spread of no-smoking zones or rising cigarette prices.
Chairperson Nathalie Masseron said: "We are being barred from cafe terraces, some want to ban us from parks with children, some hotels are non-smoking, soon a smoker won't be able to rent a flat and there's even talk of banning smoking while you drive," she said.
With the first round of France's legislative election on June 10, the new group is hoping to catch the attention of politicians.
Masseron said there were an average of 21,600 smokers in every constituency -- "which is a lot when you know that most MPs are elected by a margin smaller than 500 votes".
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2012
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A system of Government (in this case, French Governemnt) where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing and where members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed are rewarded with goods and services are paid for by the confiscated wealth of the diminishing number of producers.
#3
Are you sure you're just talking about France, B?
Posted by: Barbara ||
05/28/2012 15:03
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#4
Californians are being asked (Prop 29)to squeeze another $1 per pack from smokers to fund some 15-year bureaucratic plan "to cure cancer". Fucking proles will probably fall for it.
NB: I am NOT a cig smoker
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/28/2012 15:33
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#5
It's just a clever plan to turn syndicates from drug smuggling to tobacco smuggling, Frank.
[VOA News] The Syrian government has denied its troops massacred at least 92 people, about one-third of them children, Friday in the town of Houla.
Foreign Ministry front man Jihad Makdissi called accusations against the Syrian government a "tsunami of lies." Instead, he blamed heavily armed "terrorists" who he claimed attacked soldiers.
U.N. observers said artillery and tanks were used to pound Houla, located northwest of the central city of Homs.
Makdissi said Syrian soldiers retaliated to defend their positions, but he denied they had used artillery and tanks.
The Houla massacre marked the deadliest single attack since Syria's anti-government uprising began about 15 months ago.
Arab and western governments have issued statements expressing outrage and hinting that Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... government is to blame.
The latest violence has further raised questions about the effectiveness of an April cease-fire agreement between anti-government rebels and the Syrian government.
The rebel Free Syrian Army warned that it will not adhere to the U.N.-mediated peace plan if the international community does not take concrete actions to protect citizens.
Makdissi called the Houla assault "brutal" and said the Syrian government has launched an investigation.
Syrian troops shelled residential areas Sunday in the central city of Hama, and the rebel-held town of Rastan.
The Syrian government says U.N.-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 Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... , who mediated the peace plan, is expected in Syria on Monday.
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#1
Facts: Bashir al-Assad is Alawite,the Syrian army is run by Alawites, al-Houla municipality (in western Syria) is inhabited by ... Alawites.
In such clannish society it is rather impossible to kill their own.
Looks like the carnage was all staged by political and religious opponents...
Tribalism or ethnocentrism, was the first of man's attempts at socialization. Some hold that tribalism is a form of early communism, but few would deny it is the source of a great deal of social conflict. Our United States of America is one of the only functioning and successful counter-theses of ethnocentrism. As urbanization continues to alter politics and power, how long we will continue to function as a non-ethonocentric free society is anyone's guess.
#5
In such clannish society it is rather impossible to kill their own
I would never go with "impossible". Too many variables.
What's "odd" is how the media so easily forwards these unlikely allegations without doubts....
Blame it on too few (and reliable) reporting assets on scene, too little time to verify and too much pressure to "get it to press", and the intent of the media to establish a narrative rather than simply report.
"Blame it on too few (and reliable) reporting assets on scene, too little time to verify and too much pressure to "get it to press", and the intent of the media to establish a narrative rather than simply report."
Posted by: Barbara ||
05/28/2012 15:01
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#7
"layers of editors and fact checkers" overridden by a lastline editor with an agenda
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/28/2012 15:31
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#8
They don't teach non-Aristotelian logic in journalist schools?
#10
PRO-ASSAD RUSSIA is not a happy camper this AM, but is refusing to alter or change its stance toward the Regime.
OTOH IIRC TOPIX > EXPERT: RUSSIA HAS MUDDLED THE CAUCASUS SITUATION SO BADLY THAT IT CAN'T GET ANY WORSE?
Yokay, I'll say it - OR CAN IT???
* SAME > UNCLEAR IFF NATO IS READY TO TRUST UNSTABLE SOUTH CAUCASUS TO TURKEY, in 2022? or shortly thereafter. See below.
* SAME > ABDULLAH GUL MAY BECOME NEXT NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > ABDULAH GUL MAY REPLACE RASMUSSEN AS HEAD OF NATO { NATO THINKTANK PROPOSES APPOINTMENT OF TURK TO POSITION OF SECRETARY-GENERAL OF NATO IN TEN YEARS [circa Year 2022?].
[Magharebia] Mauritania held extensive military exercises last week outside the city of Bassiknou, located along the Malian border.
The operations were part of efforts to step up border surveillance and prevent the infiltration of beturbanned goons and smugglers, Mauritania's Aray al-Mostenir reported May 22nd, noting that the country's security forces were placed on high alert.
The website stated that a heavy artillery bombardment could be heard outside Bassiknou for two days. Meanwhile, ...back at the abandoned silver mine, the water was up to Jack's neck and still rising... military aircraft carried out sorties over the area and bombed virtual moving targets as part of a training drill supervised by French experts.
The Mauritanian army conducted reconnaissance sorties over the Wagadou Forest and the area where most of the past armed confrontations with al-Qaeda and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa took place.
Bassiknou resident Abdallah Ould Sidi confirmed the news of the border drills an interview with Magharebia, saying that "heavy artillery bombardment sounds were heard two days ago at about 8:30 PM coming from the headquarters of the Mauritanian military barracks, which are based a few kilometres away from the city."
"It was said around the city that the goal of this bombardment was just to test the range and power of a new group of artillery that the military units have recently obtained," Ould Sidi said.
"It might have been actually related to military drills conducted in anticipation of a possible danger in that area which over the past two years has become liable for infiltrations by terrorist groups that have a strong presence in Azawad following the months-long absence of Mali's army," he added.
In his turn, journalist Rajel Ould Oumar, who is present in the border area between Nema and Bassiknou, told Magharebia that he heard gunfire outside Bassiknou that scared residents. "However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... such sounds were just tests of new military equipment, especially some missiles that anti-terrorist units in the region received," he said.
"This operation coincided with some military drills and exercises by the military forces that are based in the city of Nema; something that imparted more of a security and military dimension to these events not known in previous days," Ould Oumar added.
The military manoeuvres were part of a heightened alert against possible moves by al-Qaeda snuffies in search of a new safe haven after Touareg groups reached an agreement to expel the Death Eaters from the Azawad region, according to Ould Oumar.
"This is in addition to fears about the infiltration of smuggling gangs and silent terrorist cells among Azawad refugees in camps on Mauritanian soil," he said.
Ould Oumar said the stepped up border security began two months ago, with increased co-ordination among the gendarme, police, customs and military units.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2012
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Top|| File under: Ansar Dine
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2012
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#1
A Good Memorial Day to all the 'Burgers. Say prayers and thanks to all our fallen heroes
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/28/2012 8:26
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#2
What Frank said.
Posted by: Barbara ||
05/28/2012 12:29
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The parade this morning was wonderful, the speeches at the memorial service in the cemetery even more so. My thanks to all those who stepped forward over the years to keep us free.
[Al Ahram] Tens of thousands of Moroccans erupted into the streets of Casablanca on Sunday in the largest opposition protest since an Islamist-led government took office in January. The protest was organised by trade unions which accuse Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane of failing to deliver on the pledges of social justice that brought his party to power in the wake of the Arab Spring.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Dawn] US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993.... vowed Sunday not to let the United States be "gouged" by Pakistain on the price it charges for overland deliveries of American military supplies to Afghanistan.
Pakistain closed the land route to US supplies in November as punishment for a botched US air strike that mistakenly killed 24 Pak soldiers, but have been in negotiations to reopen the border crossing.
US defense officials have said the Paks are demanding several thousand dollars for every truck crossing its border with the supplies, up from $250 per truck before the closure.
"We're not about to get gouged in the price. We want a fair price," Panetta said on ABC's "This Week."Without the Pak supply lines, the United States has had to rely on a much longer, more expensive northern route to resupply its forces in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2012
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#1
It is so difficult to understand and its so disturbing that they would sentence this doctor to 33 years for helping in the search for the most notorious terrorist in our times, Panetta said.
Difficult for some possibly. A very effective strategy actually. The more attention the US places on the release of Dr. Afridi, the more likely it is the Pakistani masses (aka feckless little people who vote and sometimes riot), will divert their attention from their own Pakistani government's complicity in the Bid Laden affair. Obviously the money strapped Taliban who were not part of the original scheme, now want their cut...via the ISAF transport system. It's the way business is done in that part of the world.
Let's end the theater shall we? Source operations can be very difficult and comlex. US Intelligence paid for access and source reporting. They did not pay for source protection.
Next time, let's not use high profile medical professionals and Doctors with placement and access like Dr. Alfidi and MAJ Nidal Hasan as intelligence sources. A pattern is being developed and things can obviously go dreadfully wrong.
#2
Ask yourself once the Afghan war ends how will Pakistan survive financially?Their main income post war will be drugs via Afghanistan and International extortion via home grown jihadi terrorism.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Hardline Islamists, who have been running rampage in Tunisian towns, torching cop shoppes and attacking bars, have sparked an outcry against the authorities for their lax attitude in stemming the violence.
The ultra-conservative Salafists ...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them... , some armed with clubs and swords, have been intensifying their attacks in the last 10 days, even burning down shops of alcohol vendors who refuse to close.
On Sunday, the interior ministry said it had tossed in the calaboose You have the right to remain silent... about 15 people who torched cop shoppes and attacked bars in the northwestern towns of Jendouba and Ghardimaou a day ago.
The TAP news agency said national army units had been deployed after the violence to protect public buildings.
"The law will be applied. These incidents are dangerous and will be dealt with in the appropriate manner," secretary of state for the interior Said Mechichi told TAP.
Last week Tunisia's Justice Minister Noureddine Bhiri threatened to punish those who use violence to impose their views on others after Salafists forced a number of bars to close.
But the violence has sparked criticism against the Islamist authorities elected after the revolution that toppled president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, with complaints they have done too little to stop the Salafists.
"Will the government be disarmed by the Salafists?" asked Le Temps, pointing to the "yawning gap between the speeches and the actions."
Another newspaper, La Presse, headlined its Sunday edition "the state challenged", referring to the "laxness of the authorities."
More moderate Tunisians have also voiced deep concern over the rising power of the Salafists. "Violent groups which are outside the law propagate terror," said the head of the Tunisian League of Human Rights, Abdessatar Ben Moussa.
They "physically and morally attack women, intellectuals, journalists, designers, unionists, politicians as well as human rights ...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state... activists," he said.
Tourism Minister Elies Fakhfakh meanwhile warned last week of the "wrong and aggressive image" generated by the Salafists. Salafism as an organised political movement emerged in Tunisia in the late 1980s.
But with just over 10,000 followers, the Islamists remain a minority in the north African state of over 10 million inhabitants. Only a few thousand showed up for their annual meeting last Sunday.
However, it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... their ability to wreak havoc, as well as the jihadist past of some of their leaders, are sources of concern.
Among them is Seif Allah Ben Hassine, who fought in Afghanistan and was in 2002 added to a UN list of people linked to Al-Qaeda.
Sentenced to over 60 years in prison by the Ben Ali regime, the man who also goes by the alias Abu Yiadh has benefited from amnesty after the revolution that toppled the former president.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2012
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The US Department of State annual Human Rights report for 2011 on Mexico criticizes Mexican security forces for human right abuses in several areas, but also points out improvements made by those forces regarding human rights, according to the reported published on the agency's website late last week. Did the report mention the terrible human rights abuses committed by the drug cartels? No? Didn't think so...
The report refers to three high profile deaths at the hand of Mexican security forces, one of which occurred this year in Veracruz state, where Joaquin Figueroa Vasquez was killed in a high speed pursuit. The Mexican government said that Figueroa Vasquez was a drug trafficking suspect who was killed in the course of events, while the victim's family and their human rights activists said he was executed.
The second case, the April 2010 deaths of two children ages five and nine in Nuevo Leon, remains under investigation. The Mexican Comision Nacional Derecha Humanos (CNDH) or human rights commission claims the children were killed by army troops, while the Secretaria de Defensa Nacional (SEDENA), the controlling agency for the Mexican Army, maintains they were killed by grenade shrapnel from drug cartel operatives. The last case, involving Monterrey university students killed by Mexican Army troops, also remains unresolved.
The report does make mention of security forces' positive activities in the realm of human rights. SEDENA reported that since 2006, 16 soldiers have been convicted of human rights crimes, while 168 soldiers were under active investigation and another 65 were undergoing military trials for their alleged crimes.
According to the report, the CNDH provided human rights training to 30,108 military personnel during the year. Additionally, SEDENA reported that during the year 207,829 soldiers participated in courses dedicated to human rights.
A bit of an error took place in compiling the document. The report refers to an order issued by Mexican President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa in December, 2010 for SEDENA to write down rules on the use of force in the conduct their duties in the drug war.
SEDENA compiled those rules and published them just last month. You can read the Rantburg report on those newly published guidelines in the next story below, entitled: SEDENA outlines Mexican Army use of force guidelines
Another concern in the report was how the Mexican Army treats its detainees. In the section concerning detentions, SEDENA was accused of needlessly detaining suspects for too long without the involvement of federal or state authorities.
How this represents a problem in the report is unclear. SEDENA apparently does send out patrols and those patrol sometimes encounter armed suspects with connections to the drug cartels. The issue in the report appears to be delay between detentions or shootings, and the subsequent and legally required reporting of the incident to the Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR) or attorney general, but it may be a tacit criticism of how army patrols are ordered and executed which lead to those encounters.
Another problem detailed in the report is the Mexican legal system's use of a process colloquially known as "rooting", or arraignment. Under the process a suspect can be detained incommunicado without charge or trial for up to 80 days with the approval of a judge. In practice, in fighting drug cartels prosecutors generally request 40 days to investigate a criminal. Rooting requests are for suspects who represent an extreme danger of more violence and when detention is the only way to prevent outside influences being involved in the investigation.
The rooting is a tool which helps prosecutors investigate serious crimes. For example, it was used in the case of the multiple murder perpetrated by prison inmates in Durango's Centro Readaptacion Social Number 2 (CERESO), where prison administrators as well as guards commissioned hits against Los Zetas facilities such as bars in the La Laguna region of Mexico in the summer of 2010.
The issue in the report is that rooting invites torture. While the anecdotal evidence suggests that torture may have occurred in some cases, the practice of torture while in preventative detention does not appear to be widespread..
Perhaps one of the most startling sections in the report was the reference to the case of disgraced Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) president Humberto Moreira Valdes, who suffered weeks of negative press last year because of the huge run-up of Coahuila state public debt and the subsequent crimes committed to hide the debt and steal the proceeds. That sorry case has taken down at least 12 former Coahuila state officials, but oddly not Moreira, who presided over the debt run-up as governor of Coahuila.
According to the report of Mexican Secretaria de Hacienda y Credito Publico de Mexico or Finance Ministry filed a criminal charge against the state for failing to properly disclose the tremendous amount of debt, the highest per capita in Mexico. The matter is still under investigation.
It is a pretty good bet that if PRI wins in July, that investigation will quietly go away.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has decided not to appeal his conviction by the Supreme Court on contempt charges against the backdrop of National Assembly speakers ruling that the conviction does not disqualify him as an MP and to become primer minister.
Gilani was found guilty by the Supreme Court last month over his refusal to ask Swiss authorities to re-open corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. The court briefly but symbolically held the prime minister in the courtroom for his sentence, which ended as soon as the judges arose for the day after announcing the verdict.
Under the constitution, anyone convicted of defaming or ridiculing the judiciary is barred from being an MP. The speaker has to refer any disqualification process to the election commission.
Gilani weighed the risk of possible confirmation and an adverse ruling further elaborating the original verdict of 7-member bench on April 26 and instead preferred to go down in history as the first ever prime minister to be convicted.
He may be a convicted premier but the speakers ruling has determined that his conviction does not entail disqualification, prime ministers lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan told reporters in Lahore after filing a statement in the Supreme Court that the premier has opted not to content his conviction.
Ahsan told the advocate on record of the court that he can go home as an appeal would not be filed. The decision was taken as the deadline for filing the plea was about to expire.
Later talking to reporters, Ahsan said the decision not to file an appeal was of political nature and taken by the premier and the PPP leadership who believe that the speakers ruling is final, has closed any further disqualification proceeding in the Election Commission and that the ruling cannot be challenged.
Ahsan said: The decision not to file the appeal (against conviction) has been taken after consultations by the party leadership.
Ahsan said that he had prepared the appeal and was ready to file it in the Supreme Court when Gilani called him late on Friday and told him not to do so after the speakers ruling a day before.
The prime minister has served his sentence, but he has not been disqualified, Ahsan said. Ahsan like many other leading jurists, however, said a writ petition can be filed in the high court against the speakers ruling.
Eminent jurist and former law minister Senator S. M. Zafar said that Prime Minister Gilani had committed contempt and brought the judiciary under ridicule according to courts verdict and had apparently been advised that this judgment has least possibility of reversal in an intra-court appeal before a larger bench of the Supreme Court.
He said the speaker had misinterpreted her authority to overrule the courts unambiguous judgment that he had put it under ridicule which entails disqualification from becoming an MP or the prime minister. He chose a safer course while continuing to cast doubts on whether the courts judgment means disqualifying him to hold the office,
Another leading jurist Salman Raja who is also counsel for Gilanis son in the drug scam has expressed surprise that the prime minister did not file appeal and accept to live with the stigma of being a convicted person. He said the speakers ruling can be challenged in either a high court or the Supreme Court.
A report from Karachi said a writ petition against the speakers ruling has already been filed in Sindh High Court.
Ahsan insisted that the courts reference to ridiculing the judiciary was illegal as this charge was not levelled during the contempt case. He said he had raised 146 objections against conviction on a charge which was not part of the indictment. He regretted that his hard work had gone waste as he had counted 146 flaws in the court judgment.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/28/2012
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SEOUL -- North Korea on Tuesday (May 21) ruled out an imminent nuclear weapon test, but vowed to expand and bolster its nuclear deterrence as well as its sovereign right to launch satellites, while slamming the Group of Eight nations' condemnation of its failed long-range rocket launch in April.
In a remark given to Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency, a spokesman for North Korea's Foreign Ministry said that the North didn't have a plan for a nuclear test from the beginning, because it sought to launch a scientific and technical satellite.
"From the beginning, we did not envisage such a military measure as a nuclear test as we planned to launch a scientific and technical satellite for peaceful purposes," said the official. "Several weeks ago, we informed the U.S. side of the fact that we are restraining ourselves in real actions though we are no longer bound to the February 29 DPRK-U.S. agreement, taking the concerns voiced by the U.S. into consideration for the purpose of ensuring the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula necessary for focusing every effort on the peaceful development."
There has been speculation that the communist country may carry out a nuclear test to try to compensate for last month's botched rocket launch. The North has a track record of carrying out a nuclear test following a long-range missile test. In 2006, the North conducted its first nuclear test, three months after the test-firing of its long-range Taepodong-2 rocket. The second nuclear test in 2009 came just one month after a long-range rocket launch.
The North Korean official went on to strongly hit back at a statement issued at a G8 summit in the U.S. last week. "Absolutely intolerable is G8's reckless political provocation to violate the sacred sovereignty of the DPRK (North Korea) steeped in the bad habit of supporting the U.S. hostile policy towards the DPRK in disregard of justice and truth. We will bravely frustrate all the obstructions of the hostile forces and continue legitimately exercising our sovereign right to launch satellites to meet the indispensable requirements for building an economic power," said the official.
"We had access to nuclear deterrence for self-defense because of the hostile policy of the U.S. to stifle the DPRK by force and we will expand and bolster it nonstop as long as this hostile policy goes on. If the U.S. persists in its moves to ratchet up sanctions and pressure upon us despite our peace-loving efforts, we will be left with no option but to take counter-measures for self-defense."
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/28/2012
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#1
Hmmm, no cash.
Posted by: Recneck Jim ||
05/28/2012 10:47
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Top||
#2
No $$$ is quite possible, but IMO the greater reason is Jong-un + Pyongyang Boyz want to see the outcome between China + PHIL ala Scarborough Shoal - at last check, in the aftermath of the Sino-PHIL mutual fishing ban China has begun flooding the Shoal wid Fishing Boats + more armed Fishery Cutters, which has caused/led the PHIL to protest anew.
A US-CHINA-PHIL MIL CONFRONTATION IS STILL POSSIBLE - IMO Jong-un = NOKOR wants to see how China will act agz his country NOKOR in defense of its East Asia security.
#3
TOPIX > CHINA CONFIRMS MORE SHIPS' DEPLOYED TO SHOAL.
* SAME > CHINA BLAMES PHILIPPINES FOR MORE SHIPS IN SOUTH CHINA SEA.
* SAME >PHILIPPINE GOVT: CHINESE SHIPS IN NAVAL STANDOFF OUTNUMBER US 100 TO 2.
* SAME > REPORT: CHINESE [Military] AIRSTRIP NEAR DISPUTED ISLANDS NEARLY COMPLETE. PLAAF can allegedly reach both Taiwan + South China Sea.
* REAL CLEAR POLITICS > CHINA'S EXPANDING "CORE" ["Core Interests"].
ARTIC = No longer just limited to TIBET + TAIWAN + XINJIANG only, but Beijing has now also expanded its definition to the Japanese Senkakus [ China = Daoyus/Daoyutai], + nearly all of South China Sea.
versus
* SAME > CHINA'S POWER RISES IN STANDOFF WID PHILIPPINES.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > TAIWAN: DAOYUS ISLANDS BELONGS TO JAPAN | TAIWANESE PRESIDENT REAFFIRMS DAOYUS iSLANDS IS JAPANESE TERRITORY.
* DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > VIETNAMESE INTELLECTUALS BACK PHILIPPINES' PANATAG CLAIM.
* SAME > BUGTLAT: CLAIMS THAT US WILL AID PHILIPPINES [militarily intervene] AGZ CHINA JUST [Philippines'] FANTASY | RELIANCE ON PAST TREATY OBLIGATIONS WID US HAS NOT HELPED PHILIPPINES IMPROVE ITS MILITARY CAPABILITIES, + SHOULD BE EXPECTED TO HELP IN ENGAGING CHINA'S MILITARY.
* TOPIX > CHINA HAILS UN REJECTION OF JAPAN SEA CLAIMS, as per Okinotori Reef-Atoll = "continental shelf", which would epxand Japan's geographical area by nearly twice,, + allow Japan to claim up to 740,000 kms of UW Seafloor around Okinotori.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Police have set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! four suspects in connection with the grenade attacks that rocked Wajir town and Dadaab refugee camp at the weekend.
Six people were maimed in the simultaneous attacks suspected to have been carried out by Al-Shabaab. ... the personification of Somali state failure... The blasts at Ifo 1 refugee camp in Garissa County and a hotel in Wajir town occurred in less than ten minutes of the other. (Click here to see a map of the two locations)
In the Ifo attack, assailants numbering five hurled a hand grenade into a building under construction at private primary school used by refugees.
North Eastern provincial police officer Leo Nyongesa confirmed that the attackers hurled two grenades into Horseed Primary School, injuring five labourers who were preparing supper in one of the classes.
He said the five casualties were rushed to Ifo main hospital for treatment. In the Wajir attack, suspected Al-Shabaab assailants hurled a hand grenade into a popular hotel, injuring a reveller.
Mr Nyongesa said that investigations had been launched into the two attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2012
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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 army retook control of all areas west of Jaar, one of the most notorious strongholds of Al-Qaeda in south Yemen, after fierce battles which left more than 27 
Maulana Fazlur Rehman
[Magharebia] Some 500 
[Dawn] In a clash between 
Greece's once-thriving sex industry has become the latest victim of the country's debt crisis as Greeks spend less on erotic toys, pornography and titillating underwear.
"We used to get 20,000-30,000 visitors, but this year I don't know, we'll just have to see," Chrysospathis said.
[Tolo News] Top Pak government officials said the 33-year prison sentence for the doctor who helped the CIA track down 
The Taliban lashed out at suggestions they are behind the rash of recent school poisonings in Afghanistan, as officials reported the fourth such incident in as many weeks.
(Sh. M. Network)- Somali and AMISOM troops have today secured a road leading to Balad town in middle Shabelle region, a road that strategically located 30km from the capital, Mogadishu, and governing routes to the 
A remote-controlled bomb targeting a police van killed three passers-by and 
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide...
Khaleda Zia
Nawaz Sharif
[Yemen Post] Yemen President 
Wazoo
Zawahiri
Cairo's criminal court has sentenced ousted President 
[An Nahar] Syrian opposition head Burhan Ghalioun called on Sunday for a "battle of liberation" against the regime until the 
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
Thirty officials of the North Korean regime who were involved in talks with South Korea have been executed or died in "staged traffic accidents," according to a human rights report.
FROM the violent stirrings over the 'Mohajir province' to Friday's barbaric bus ambush, Sindh's fragile ethnic balance is being severely rocked. The attack, in which several men ambushed a bus near Qazi Ahmed in Nawabshah district killing at least seven people, is the latest in a disturbing trend witnessed earlier in the Mastung and 
[Yemen Post] Ansar Al-Sharia, an al-Qaeda linked group, in 
[Straits Times] Philippine police have 
(Sh.M.Network)-- At least 9,200 people have been displaced in a fierce battle raging between the coalition forces and the 
[Al Ahram] Gunmen 
SEOUL -- North Korea's western coast region is experiencing severe drought that could seriously affect food production this year, a report by the communist country's state-run media said Saturday.
A 
Mahmoud 
French smokers have formed a lobby to "defend their rights" against what they perceive as unfair curbs imposed by the state, the group's leaders has said.
Tens of thousands of Moroccans 
[Dawn] US Defense Secretary 
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Hardline Islamists, who have been running rampage in Tunisian towns, torching 
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has decided not to appeal his conviction by the Supreme Court on contempt charges against the backdrop of National Assembly speakers ruling that the conviction does not disqualify him as an MP and to become primer minister.
