VINELAND -- Planning is everything. Just ask the southern New Jersey man whose alleged knocking-over of a bank was foiled when his getaway car ran out of gas. "Just try and catch me now, losers! Just... Hey, why's the needle pointing at 'E'? Move, you **** car. MOVE!"
Vineland police said 32-year-old Steven Mercado entered a city bank Thursday afternoon and handed a teller a note demanding money. The Vineland man, who indicated he carried the means to expel someone from their body by shutting it down, police said, then fled to his car with an undisclosed amount of cash as bank employees contacted authorities.
Mercado, who had parked at a nearby business, tried to drive away but didn't get far before the fuel supply that he had apparently forgotten to replenish ran out, according to authorities. He then called a cab company for a ride, police said, but was captured just moments after he got out of his vehicle. "Yes, send a cab ASAP. I'll be carrying luggage, just so you-"
"Police! Freeze"
"****. Never mind; I've got other travel arrangements now."
Mercado was jailed in lieu of four hundred thousand pictures of our first president. Police said the alleged means he supposedly had of sending people to the afterlife was a garden hose spray nozzle.
Dumb on two accounts then - in parts of NJ pretending you have a gun could get you shot really dead.
I have a 6:30 minute interview today from Philadelphia Local Talk Show host Dom Giordano WPHT1210am with the next President of the United States, Mitt Romney. I tried to put this info up on Professor Jacobson's "TIP Line" prior to the 09:25am appointment time. However, Mr Giordano provided a PODCAST of the brief interview:
Iran said it has begun preparations to produce a nuclear-powered submarine, providing an argument for producing weapons-grade fuel, ahead of its next round of international nuclear negotiations.
The U.S., Israel and the United Nations nuclear agency have long worried that Iran would seek such a justification to enrich uranium above the weapons-grade level of 90% purity. Officials have pointed to Iran's deliberations about beginning research and development for nuclear-fueled submarines.
On Tuesday, a senior Iranian naval official told state media that his country had already begun the process.
"Right now, we are in the initial phases of manufacturing atomic submarines," the deputy commander of the Iranian navy for technical affairs, Rear Adm. Abbas Zamini, told Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency.
Adm. Zamini "further reminded that using nuclear power to fuel submarines is among the civilian uses of the nuclear technology and all countries are, thus, entitled to the right to make such a use," the report said.
The Fars News Agency is associated with Iran's elite military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the U.S. believes is a driving force behind Iran's nuclear program. Tehran says its nuclear program is peaceful and solely focused on civilian applications.
Iran is seen to be far from capable of building a nuclear-powered submarine. The State Department said it was aware of the report and remains worried about Tehran's intentions.
#2
Iranian nuclear sub? Definitely a voyage to the bottom of the sea.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/12/2012 22:08
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#3
RELATED DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Wired.com] IRAN SWEARS ITS BUILDING NUCLEAR NUCLEAR SUBMARINES!
D *** NG IT, well there ya go - ITS FORESWORN, ERGO IT MUST BE!
versus
* SAME > IRANIAN REGIME INSIDER DECLARES: "ISLAMIC WORLD MUST HAVE NUCLEAR WEAPONS".
* SAME [old] > IRAN NAVY CHIEF: IRAN CAN BUILD AIRCRAFT CARRIERS.
* SAME > SAUDIS EXECUTE 18 IRANIANS, of 25 Iranian Fishing Boat Sailors jailed in Dammam Prison for drug possession/trafficking.
IRANIAN PRISONER = claims 8 of his Crewmates were executed this past April 10th, another 10 very recently widin last few days, last 6 waiting to be executed including himself.
In January, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia accused the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of high-handedness during oral arguments in a property rights case. In March he mocked the administrations legal reasoning in defending President Barack Obamas health-care law, calling it extraordinary. In an April case challenging Arizonas controversial immigration law, Scalia belittled the administrations claim that the law might make Mexican leaders less willing to cooperate with the U.S. So, Scalia said, we have to enforce our laws in a manner that will please Mexico? Yow. Third degree burns. I wonder if Obean will learn anything at all.
Scalia, a Ronald Reagan appointee now in his 26th year on the court, has never kept his thoughts to himself. Lawyers expect to be interrupted with queries and criticism from the other justices during oral argumentsbut they gird themselves for the 76-year-old Scalias rapid-fire interrogations. His barbed commentary and putdowns rattle attorneys and often draw laughter from spectators in the gallery. In one case this year, he bombarded a government lawyer with 12 questions in 15 minutes.
Yet Scalias exclamations from the bench have become more frequent and more opinionated, particularly in cases involving Obama administration policies. That has some lawyers who argue before the court, as well as academics, questioning whether the brilliant, temperamental justice sometimes crosses the line between skeptical scrutiny and advocacy. His questions have been increasingly confrontational, says Charles Fried, a Harvard Law School professor who served as U.S. Solicitor General under Reagan. In the health-care case, he came across much more like an advocate. (Scalia declined to be interviewed for this article.) That's because Obean is trying to get them to reconsider that which is already cut and dried. Any justice that even entertains the idea that this 2700 page monstrosity is constitutionally sound is the one who is doing the advocating. The Constitution is short and simple for a reason.
In the January EPA case, Scalia directed his fire at Justice Department lawyer Malcolm Stewart, who was defending the agencys use of administrative compliance orders to stop landowners from violating environmental laws. Some of the orders require property to be restored to its previous state. When Stewart argued that people and companies could seek to change any infeasible EPA requirements, Scalia made his contempt clear. Well, thats very nice, he said. Thats very nice when youve received something called a compliance order which says youre subject to penalties. The court unanimously ruled against the agency in March, giving property owners more power to challenge the compliance orders in court. I'd sure like to be one of those folks with the spare time and money to challenge an EPA compliance order. And for those wondering why the scornful comment, look no further than the word "unanimous". It's not often SCOTUS will hand someone their @$$ like that.
At one point during the three days of oral arguments in March over Obamas health-care law, Justice Dept. lawyer Edwin Kneedler said the justices should look at the structure and the text of the statute in considering whether the entire law must be struck down if the requirement to buy insurance was declared unconstitutional. Scalia pounced. Being forced to read the phone book-size law would be a violation of the Eighth Amendments ban on cruel and unusual punishment, he cracked, You really want us to go through these 2,700 pages? Scalia all but declared hed vote to invalidate the whole law, not just the insurance mandate. My approach would say, if you take the heart out of the statute, the statutes gone, he said. Amen. And I also kind of wonder if the lawyer had read and memorized the whole thing himself. Any bets?
Scalias admirers say he plays a critical role as one of the courts strongest defenders of individual liberties. He goes right to the heart of the weakness of the advocate whos in front of him, says Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington, which advocates smaller government. By staking out a forceful position on health care, Shapiro says, Scalia was trying to express his exasperation with the governments assertion of power. More likely the arrogance, contempt, presumption, stupidity and ignorance behind those assertions.
Doug Kendall, president of the liberal Constitutional Accountability Center in Washington, which supports the administration on health care and immigration, takes a less generous view. Scalia has become a partisan cheerleader, he says. I cant think of a serious question that he posed in either argument suggesting that he was open to have his mind changed. And you won't, either. Because you wouldn't recognize unconstitutional if it fell in your lunch. Liberal Constitutional Accountability Center indeed.
The bottom line: Scalias escalating attacks on Obama policies are raising questions about whether his political views are affecting his legal opinions. Irritating, isn't it? Say hi to Ginsburg for me next time you see her.
Tunisia has declared an overnight curfew on eight regions, including the capital, an interior ministry official says, in the wake of serious rioting.
The eight-hour curfew was introduced after several violent attacks in protest at an art exhibition.
The government has blamed ultra-conservative Islamists known as Salafists for the violence, in which police stations were set on fire.
But the Salafists have denied being involved in the rampage.
The curfew will be in place in the suburbs of Ben Arouss, Ariana and Manouba as well as the cities of Sousse, Monastir, Jendouba and Ben Guerdane.
Monday's overnight series of attacks targeted police stations, a court and an art gallery.
In one northern suburb, La Marsa, rioters tried to force their way into an art gallery where several paintings deemed "blasphemous" had been slashed a day earlier by Islamists.
The exhibition included paintings that caricatured Mecca, portrayed a nude woman, and showed the word "Allah" spelled out with strings of ants.
Burger King wants to lure customers this summer with a barbecue party and a bacon sundae.
The worlds second biggest hamburger chain on Thursday is launching several pork, beef and chicken sandwiches as limited time offers. And for a sweet ending, the company is also offering a bacon sundae vanilla soft serve with fudge, caramel, bacon crumbles and a piece of bacon that started in Nashville, Tenn. earlier this year.
The salty-sweet dessert clocks in at 510 calories, 18 grams of fat and 61 grams of sugar.
The Obama administration said Tuesday that Russia is sending attack helicopters to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime and warned that the Arab country's 15-month conflict could become even deadlier.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the U.S. was "concerned about the latest information we have that there are attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria."
She said the shipment "will escalate the conflict quite dramatically."
So escalate it: send Stingers to the rebels.
Clinton's comments at a public appearance with Israeli President Shimon Peres augured poorly for a peaceful solution to Syria's conflict. Officials from around the world are warning that the violence risks becoming an all-out civil war, with Middle East power brokers from Iran to Turkey possibly being drawn into the fighting.
Diplomatic hopes have rested on Washington and Moscow agreeing on a transition plan that would end the 4-decade-long Assad regime.
But Moscow has consistently rejected outside forces to end the conflict or any international plan to force regime change in Damascus. Despite withering criticism from the West, it insists that any arms it supplies to Syria are not being used to quell anti-government dissent.
But Kristof at the NYT thinks we should bargain with the Russians...
With diplomacy at a standstill, the reported shipment of helicopters suggests a dangerous new turn for Syria after more than a year of harsh government crackdowns on mainly peaceful protests and the emergence of an increasingly organized armed insurgency.
Russia and Syria have a longstanding military relationship and Syria hosts Russia's only naval base on the Mediterranean Sea. But in light of the brutal violence, the U.S. has repeatedly demanded that any further deliveries of weaponry be halted. Russian military support in the form of materiel as advanced as attack helicopters would deal a serious blow to efforts to starve the Syrian army of supplies.
Some 13,000 people have died, according to opposition groups, but the U.S. and its allies have been hoping that sanctions on Assad's government and its increased isolation would make it increasingly difficult to carry out military campaigns..
On Monday, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland decried what she called "horrific new tactics" by Syrian forces, including the use of helicopters to fire on civilians from the air. She called the attacks a "very serious escalation" and said Syrian commanders would be held responsible for any crimes against humanity.
Clinton, as well, warned about a massing of Syrian forces near Aleppo over the last two days, saying such a deployment could be a "red line" for Syria's northern neighbor Turkey "in terms of their strategic and national interests."
#2
IMO this move is Moscow using the Assad Regime to break the Caucasus insurgencies "over there", i.e. the flow of $$$, arms, + fighters = support to Caucasus Militants from the Middle East proper. DITTO ALSO FOR PREVENTING ANY ESCALATION IN THE SYRIAN CRISIS VEE DE FACTO IRANIAN MIL INTERVENTION TO PROTECT ITS SYRIAN ALLY + [overland]STRATEGIC ACCESS TO THE MED.
IIUC, in MOSCOW'S MIND, any Iranian intervention in Syria will undoubtedly extend to the CAUCASUS + EX-SSRS in CENTASIA [CAR]. There is also WEST ASIA = Iran BFF Nuclear-armed Pakistan to consider.
NEO-OTTOMANISM [Turkey], vs. NEO-PERSIANISM [Iran], wid lots of overlapping ex-Territories, Ethno-similar Peoples claimed by One or Both.
#3
FYI RENSE > TRAPLEY - RUSSIA READIES SPECIAL FORCES FOR SYRIA DUTY | [Tarpley.Net] RUSSIA REPORTEDLY PREPARING TWO DIVISIONS, SPETZNATZ BRIGADE FOR DEPLOYMENT TO SYRIA.
* SAME > [WSWS = World Socialist Web Site] RUSSIA PREPARES ARMY FOR SYRIAN DEPLOYMENT.
Putin has allgeedly ordered Russia's military to prep for various international missions outside of Russia, including [but not limited to] SYRIA.
#5
OTOH FM Lavrov claimed that a Bus carrying Russian Soldiers = "Specialists/Peacekeepers" was recently attacked in western Damascus, + had been attacked times previously???
#6
DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV HAS MADE IT CLEAR IRAN SHOULD NOT BE EXCLUDED FROM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SYRIA -PUTTING IT [Russia] ON A COLLISION COURSE WID THE US ON THE STALLED PEACE PROCESS | [RT.com] RUSSIA INSISTS ON IRAN ROLE OVER SYRIA.
versus
* TOPIX > [USA] BRINGING AL-QAEDA TO SOUTHEAST MEDITERRANEAN [Syria + Lebanon] A GRAVER THREAT TO EUROPE THAN [Iranain?]NUCLEAR WEAPONS: IRANIAN GENERAL.
Iran JCS Chair MGEN Hassan Fairouzabodi.
ARTIC > IRAN = US + ARAB ALLIES CREATED AL-QAEDA + TALIBAN, thus are directly responsible for the on-going chaos in the Middle East + Muslim World + Globe in general.
* SAME > IRAN PLANS TO BECOME [Electrical]POWER TRANSIT HUB [Exports] TO EUROPE + MIDDLE EAST: OFFICIAL.
versus
* TOPIX > TURKEY'S PRESIDENT ABDULLAH GUL INVOKES INSHALLAH, SAYS ALL TERRITORIES OF AZERBAIJAN OCCUPIED BY ARMENIA WILL BE LIBERATED.
* SAME > PRESIDENT: TURKEY IS MAKING EVERY EFFORT TO LIBERATE AZERI LANDS.
* WAFF > ARMENIAN EXPERT RICHARD GIRAGOSIAN: AZERBAIJAN WILL DECLARE WAR [agz Armenia] IN 2014.
* WAFF > GREECE'S "FUHRER" WANTS INSTANBUL [+ other ancient Greek-Hellenic-Macedon] BACK,
as in TURKO-MUSLIM INSTANBUL FKA GRECO-ROMAN CONSTANTINOPLE/BYZANTIUM, preferably under
"sole" Greek sovereignty, but may be willing accept a more realistic Greco-Turkic national "sharing" of common heritage places???
"Golden Dawn" ultra-Right Party Leader NIKOS MIHALOLIAKOS.
Lest we fergit, 1990's NET > rise of the "YELLOW/YELLOW-RED DAWN" Group-Movement in Asia.
Sen. John Cornyn lambasted Attorney General Eric Holder and called for his resignation Tuesday morning during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
Holder appeared before the committee to address questions about Operation Fast and Furious and alleged politically-motivated national security intelligence leaks.
Cornyn called for Holder to resign over the attorney generals handling of Fast and Furious, making him now the fourth U.S. senator to do so.
The Texas Republican joins Sens. Jim DeMint, Johnny Isakson and James Inhofe in demanding Holder resign over the scandal.
Cornyn is the closest U.S. senator to the investigation who has called for Holder to resign and now hes the only one who has done so to Holders face.
Cornyn started talking about Holders track record when Holder interrupted prompting Cornyn to accuse Holder of filibustering his time.
When Cornyn retook control, he started out saying Holders track record includes how he misled Congress in February 2011 and claimed that there never had been a gun walking program. You had to retract that in November 2011.
"You misled Rep. Issa in May 2011 by saying you did not learn about the Fast and Furious program until the Spring of 2011, Cornyn continued. And then, you had to admit to Sen. Grassley that you learned about those tactics in January of 2011.
You claimed at a press conference in September 2011 that you had no knowledge of the gunwalking program, while its clear that your inner-circle, your high-ranking Department of Justice employees, received briefings and memos on gunwalking in Fast and Furious, including Deputy AG Grindler and others in early 2010.
You claim that Fast and Furious wiretap applications did not detail gun walking tactics, Cornyn went on. Sen. Sessions has read them. Ive read them. And, Sen. Grassley has obviously read them. They do raise plenty of details or raise a red flag about this tactic.
You have defied the lawful and legitimate oversight responsibilities of the House of Representatives and of the Senate, Cornyn added. You have resisted producing documents, youve produced about 7,600 documents out of a pool of at least 80,000 documents and youve failed to respond to my letter of August 2011 where Ive asked you about gunwalking tactics that occurred in my state.
So sixteen months after Fast and Furious has been uncovered when Brian Terry lost his life at the hands of a drug cartel member who shot him using a weapon that was allowed to walk, theres been zero accountability at the Department of Justice. You wont appoint a special prosecutor in the case of a potential conflict of interest. You wont tell the truth about what you knew and when you knew it when it comes to Fast and Furious. You wont cooperate with a legitimate congressional investigation. You wont answer my questions about gun walking in Texas. You wont take any responsibility for failures of your inner circle. And, you wont acknowledge what your top aides knowingly misled Congress about and you wont hold anyone accountable.
Cornyn said he thinks this has come to an impasse.
The leaking of classified information represents a threat to national security, and your office faces a clear conflict of interest and you wont appoint a special counsel, Cornyn said. You wont support a truly independent investigation and you wont take this threat seriously. Meanwhile, you still resist coming clean about what you knew and when you knew it with regard to Operation Fast and Furious. You wont cooperate with a legitimate congressional investigation and you wont hold anyone, including yourself, accountable.
Your Department blocks states from implementing attempts to combat voter fraud, Cornyn continued. In short, youve violated the public trust in my view by failing and refusing to perform the duties of your office.
So, Mr. Attorney General, it is more with sorrow than regret and anger that I would say you leave me no alternative but to join those who have called upon you to resign your office, Cornyn said. Americans deserve an Attorney General wholl be honest with them. They deserve an Attorney General wholl uphold the basic standards of political independence and accountability. Youve proven time and time again that, sadly, youre unwilling to do so.
It is my sincere hope that President Obama will replace you with someone who is up to that challenge, Cornyn added.
Holder called Cornyns call for his resignation breathtaking in its inaccuracy, before reiterating his claim that hes cooperated with the congressional investigation.
#1
Both Barack Hussein Obama and Joe Biden when they were Senators called for an "independent" special prosecutor during President Bush's administration. AG Holder is opposed to an independent special prosecutor. Of course, he would rather appoint them himself; he is running interference for his buddy Obama. He needs to go.
How a Pfizer CEO and Big Pharma colluded with the White House at the public's expense.
On Friday House Republicans released more documents that expose the collusion between the health-care industry and the White House that produced ObamaCare, and what a story of crony capitalism it is. If the trove of emails proves anything, it's that the Tea Party isn't angry enough.
Over the last year, the Energy and Commerce Committee has taken Nancy Pelosi's advice to see what's in the Affordable Care Act and how it passed. The White House refused to cooperate beyond printing out old press releases, but a dozen trade groups turned over thousands of emails and other files. A particular focus is the drug lobby, President Obama's most loyal corporate ally in 2009 and 2010.
The business refrain in those days was that if you're not at the table, you're on the menu. But it turns out Big Pharma was also serving as head chef, maître d'hotel and dishwasher. Though some parts of the story have been reported before, the emails make clear that ObamaCare might never have passed without the drug companies. Thank you, Pfizer.
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- The highest ranking U.S. official to visit Somalia's capital in years landed in Mogadishu on Sunday in another sign of improving security in the Horn of Africa's most chaotic nation.
Johnnie Carson, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs, arrived at the seaside airport Sunday morning, said Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda, the spokesman for the African Union military force in Somalia.
No one on whether he was joined by Ed and Doc...
Carson is scheduled to speak at a news conference in Nairobi -- Kenya's capital -- later Sunday.
The U.S. does not have an embassy in Somalia, though embassy officials from neighboring Kenya have visited Somalia in recent months and years. The last senior U.S. government official to visit Mogadishu appears to have been a visit by Gen. Anthony Zinni in 1997.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/12/2012
08:01 ||
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Just as the Kenyans take on Shabaab. How interesting...
NAIROBI - Kenyan military and police are at risk of losing United States government funding. A bill in the U.S. Senate Foreign Appropriations Committee says Kenya's history of human rights abuse is alarming and must be addressed.
A sponsor is not named, so we may safely assume him/her to be a Democrat...
After hearing allegations of human rights abuses by Kenyan soldiers, U.S. lawmakers are seeking to end funding for the East African country's military and police, and also have asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to ensure that no training, equipment or any other assistance is provided for Kenyan defense forces and police who are alleged to have violated human rights.
The committee's proposal follows a May 4 report from Human Rights Watch, "Criminal Reprisals: Kenyan Police and Military Abuses against Ethnic Somalis," which says government troops joined guerrilla forces in Mt. Elgon committing murder, torture and rape in 2008. It is estimated that around 750 people were killed and hundreds of others are still missing.
The bill also cites multiple violations between November 2011 to January 2012 in the northeastern province towns of Garissa, Wajir and Mandera, and inside the Dadaab refugee camps.
HRW's East Africa researcher Neela Ghoshal hopes Senate action will be a turning point for the Kenyan military.
"Despite the fact that, for months, we've been bringing these abuses to the attention of the Kenyan security forces and local organizations ... the reaction has essentially been to do nothing," she says. "We're hoping that perhaps the indication that the U.S. Senate is looking at the funding is going to motivate the Kenyan authorities to act, to investigate what has happened and to hold accountable the particular military and police officers who are responsible."
Wonder if HRW supports defunding Shabaab. The latter is getting money from somewhere [cough] Iran [cough]. Where's the outrage for that?
Kenyan military officials will not comment on the actual bill, but Colonel Cyrus Oguna, spokesperson for the Kenyan Defense Forces, calls Nairobi's relationship with Washington cordial, historical and important.
The committee is now asking Secretary Clinton to submit a report on any steps taken by the Kenyan government to conduct thorough, credible investigations of the human rights violations to identify any military units involved.
The bill, which sets the United States' budget for next year's foreign military funding and assistance, needs to pass through the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives later this year before any actions can be taken.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/12/2012
07:59 ||
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Two police and four villagers, three of them children, were injured in a grenade attack on a police checkpoint in Pattani province on Sunday night.
Six policemen were operating the checkpoint outside Yarang district police station when terrorists attackers fired a grenade at it using an M79 launcher. Police think the grenade was launched from a public health station opposite the police station.
On Sunday evening, a village leader and his wife were gunned down in Thung Yang Daeng district. Ahwae Lunae, 45, and his wife, Boonruen, 45, were riding home on a motorcycle when a terrorist gunman opened fire on them.
Looks like Kenya isn't taking any lip from Al-Shabaab. Kenyan ships are shelling the coastal city of Kismayo while artillery and aircraft soften up the city from the land and air.
Looks like Kenya isn't fooling around and has decided to kick butt and take names.
Great article with lots of links at the target.
The writer also makes a point about the involvement of Iran and Turkey that is well worth pondering. A useful round up.
[An Nahar] Radovan Karadzic and his lawyers on Monday asked the Yugoslav war crimes court to acquit the former Bosnian Serb leader on all counts, arguing that no genocide took place in Bosnia in 1992.
"Dr. Karadzic requests a judgment of acquittal pursuant to rule 98bis for counts one to 11," said his lawyer Peter Robinson at a public hearing at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.
"There was no genocide in the municipalities in Bosnia in 1992... there is no way the trial can conclude that Dr. Karadzic is guilty of genocide," he added.
Once the most powerful leader among Bosnian Serbs, Karadzic, 66, faces 11 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for his role in the conflict which left some 100,000 people dead and 2.2 million homeless.
He is particularly wanted for masterminding the killings that followed the Serbs' capture of the eastern Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica in July 1995.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Dawn] At least two men, including a commander for a religious krazed killer group, were killed while two children were maimed as remote-controlled car booms destroyed the Tirah valley in Khyber tribal region on Monday, DawnNews reported.
According to security sources, the bomb targeted a pickup truck on the borders of Khyber's Landi Kotal and Bara districts. The truck kaboom completely destroyed the truck while the driver lost his life.
As the locals gathered around the destroyed vehicles debris following the blast, government sources say a second bomb was remotely detonated, killing krazed killer commander Umer Afridi and wounding two children.
The injured children were transported to Landi Kotal Hospital where doctors said they were out of danger.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2012
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From TFA:
United States officials have been careful not to publicly weigh in on the race or the prospect of a changed strategy, for fear of being accused of meddling. One senior Obama administration official said on Friday that Mr. Peña Nieto's demand that the United States respect Mexican priorities "is a sound bite he is using for obvious political purposes." In private meetings, the official said, "what we basically get is that he fully appreciates and understands that if/when he wins, he is going to keep working with us."
That bunch demonstrate once again exactly how smart The Smartest Man in the Room and his gang really, truly are.
#3
Well, now that they have upgraded their firepower capacity, yeah, may need to change tactics a bit.
This would be teh O gang, who insists the health care bill has nothing to do with a 35% increase in my insurance and tells me the number crunching with my employees is wrong, and all is fine. Forgive me if I blink a couple times, weighing the evidence.
Accused of the most barbaric massacres since the start of the revolt in Syria, the shabiha are feared Death Eaters and tools of a regime seeking to dissociate itself from atrocities, experts and activists say.
While there is no hard evidence of the involvement of these gunnies in the repression, United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... officials have expressed "strong suspicions" about their role, notably in the Houla massacre that left 108 dead on May 25 and 26.
The regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad has denied any connection with the carnage, which it blames on "armed terrorist groups."
"The shabiha are those who carry out the regime's dirty work. The government can say 'this is not me, I am not responsible'," said Fabrice Balanche, director of the French Research Center Gremmo.
"They provide cover for the regime when massacres are committed," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The word "shabiha" alone is enough to make people tremble. These men, often in plain clothes, are also accused of arbitrary arrests, summary executions and torture.
"I do not think the Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... regime actually says 'now is the time to commit massacres'," said one analyst in Damascus on condition of anonymity.
"But for 15 months, the authorities have not only tolerated, but exploit the phenomenon of the shabiha, contributing greatly to the deterioration of the crisis."
According to experts, this phenomenon is not unique to Syria, but has thrived in countries dominated by totalitarian regimes or experiencing unrest.
"It's like death squads in Latin America. It is also a way to terrorize people," said Balanche.
The word shabiha dates to the 1980s when it referred to narcos who sped through the port of Latakia in Mercedes cars and who, activists say, worked for the Assad clan's personal circle.
They reappeared when the anti-regime revolt broke out in mid-March 2011, this time to quell protests.
Members of the militia are mostly "young, unemployed men from the suburbs who, given money and a Kalashnikov, feel they are all-powerful," said Balanche.
According to Dany Hamwi, an activist in the central city of Hama, the regime uses the shabiha to spare the army from direct involvement in crimes and thus reduce the chance of mass desertions.
"An officer or soldier might refuse orders to kill, but a 'shabih' is loyal to the end," he said.
A number of activist videos show men in civilian clothes, armed with sticks or Kalashnikov assault rifles, attacking protesters and chanting: "Shabiha forever, for your eyes, Bashar!"
According to the Syrian Observatory, the number of shabiha is estimated at nearly 6,000, some of whom have been integrated into the security services.
By fighting for the regime, they are also battling for their own survival, in part because they are predominantly Alawites -- the confession of the Assad clan -- facing Sunni opponents, the majority religious community in the country.
Activists have accused Alawite shabiha from neighboring villages of committing last month's massacre in the small central Syrian Sunni farming community of Houla.
"These are the biggest supporters of the regime," said Balanche. "And the Alawites are terrified of Sunni vengeance" if the regime falls.
According to activists, a Mafia mentality now prevails.
"The regime used to pay them wages. But with the economic crisis, it has given them the green light to plunder neighborhoods," said Omar Shakir, an activist in Homs.
Kidnappings and robberies have become commonplace in increasingly beturbanned goonAleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... , Syria's second city.
"The 'contract' was: 'You make sure there are no demonstrations, and in return, you do as you please'," said the Damascus-based analyst, adding that "this has been a large factor in turning Aleppo against the regime."
The risk, he said, is that the regime can no longer control "the Frankenstein that it alone has created."
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#1
Activists have accused Alawite shabiha from neighboring villages of committing last month's massacre in the small central Syrian Sunni farming community of Houla.
Meanwhile, the majority Sunni Arab inhabitants of Houla are still there, celebrating (1) the deaths of the Alawites they slaughtered in the Koranic manner and (2) their success in pinning the murders they committed on the Alawites themselves. It's like 9/11 all over - on the one hand Sunni Arabs get to kill thousands of infidels, and on the other, Sunni Arabs like Thierry Meyssan (described as "French" in every media article you might read) get to convince half of the world that the atrocity wasn't planned and carried out by Sunni Arabs. And every rebel fighter killed by the government is described as a demonstrator or a civilian. The Communists were amateurs at propaganda, compared to Sunni Arabs.
(Sh. M. Network)-The prime minister of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG),Abdiweli Mohammed Ali, announced plans to eliminate the Al Qaeda-allied Al shabab Death Eaters from the whole country before August 20, the deadline to implement a roadmap for a new government of Somalia.
Speaking with a state run Radio,Somalia PM Abdiweli Mohammed Ali said: "Somali government troops with the help of African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... peacekeepers are committed to finish the reign of Al shabab control in Somalia."
Mr. Ali stated that Somali and AU forces have previously secured several key areas in south and central Somalia and now pursuing the Islamist Death Eaters in many fronts in the country as he put it.
"Al shabab lost most of its territory during 18-month offensives involving African Union forces, the hapless Somali government,Æthiopia and Kenya," Somali Abdiweli Mohammed Ali added.
This comment came as Somali and AU forces made a significant progress in the recent battle took the control of many key areas located on the outskirts of Mogadishu, after driving Al shabab Death Eaters at the end of last month.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2012
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Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
[Al Ahram] A gang of robbers invaded two villages in northern Nigeria on Monday in an apparent revenge attack, slitting some residents' throats and shooting others, leaving 23 dead, a police source said.
"They went door-to-door shooting villagers and in some cases slitting their throats with knives," the police source said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak pubicly. "They killed 21 residents. They also moved to the next village ... where they shot dead two other people. So far 23 villagers were killed in the attack." The attacks occurred in Zamfara state.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2012
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[Yemen Post] The Defense Ministry on Monday said Abdul Rahman Al-Halily started his post as the new commander of the third elite republican guard brigade in the capital Sanaa after two months of the rebellion of the former commander against a presidential decree replacing him.
The ministry said the Military Committee visited the brigade under presidential orders and the new commander has already started his job.
The takeover of this brigade came a day before the UN Security Council meets to issue a resolution, which might include sanctions against the obstructers of the democratic transition in Yemen.
The UN earlier said it would send a strongly-worded letter to the Yemeni officials behind attempts to affect the power-transfer deal, which was brokered by the GCC and backed by the West after the 2011 unrest, hinting at sanctions.
President Abdrabu Mansour Hadi on April 6 issued the decree replacing the former commander, Tariq Saleh, a nephew of the ex-president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... , but Saleh, who already accepted to give up the post, but continued to maneuver until officers in the brigade revolted against the acting commander.
Relatives of the ex-leader, holding senior army posts, backed the rebellion of the commander.
On Sunday, officers in the brigade revolted against the acting commander, who was appointed by the elder son of the ex-leader, Ahmed, the commander of the elite republican guard, and forced him to leave the brigade.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2012
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(Sh. M. Network)-Two dead bodies with their heads ripped off by Al shabab fighters were found lying in a rebel-held town in central Somalia, witnesses and officials said.
According to El Bur residents who spoke with Shabelle Media via phone under anonymity, said two headless bodies of young boys were seen in early hours on Monday in the heart of the city that are believed to been killed by the Islamist militants.
The executions have shocked the people of El Bur town, which fell to Al-Shabab insurgents yesterday, following the pull-out of Ethiopian and ASWJ troops from the city under unidentified circumstance.
Al shabab officials charged the victims to have been to spying for Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a ASWJ, a pro-Transitional Federal Government militia in central Somalia.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2012
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Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
#1
This type of thing is why Islam gained its sterling reputation as religion of peace.
Posted by: American Delight ||
06/12/2012 6:14
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#2
It's actually a time-honored, African tradition.
[An Nahar] The father of al-Qaeda-inspired gunman Mohamed Merah, who was rubbed out by French police in March after going on a killing spree, has filed a murder suit in Gay Paree, his lawyers said Monday.
"This is a suit against unnamed persons for murder with aggravating circumstances concerning those who gave the orders at the top of the police" during the assault on Merah's flat in Toulouse ...lies on the banks of the River Garonne, half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The Toulouse metropolitan area is the fourth-largest in La Belle France... , said lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre.
Mohamed Benalel Merah said in March that he wanted to sue the RAID elite police unit that rubbed out his son on March 22 during a shootout at the end of a 32-hour siege at his flat in the southern French city.
The 23-year-old had rubbed out three soldiers, and three children and a teacher at a Jewish school, in a wave of killings that shocked the country.
He filmed himself carrying out the attacks and reportedly confessed to police before he was rubbed out.
"You've got 300 to 400 heavily armed people and a guy shut up all alone in his apartment. That alone is enough to raise questions," said Coutant-Peyre, who is part of Merah's legal team headed by Algerian lawyer Zahia Mokhtari.
She said the family had video evidence that would be handed over to the authorities when they requested it.
Mokhtari said in April that she had proof that Merah was "liquidated", including two 20-minute videos probably filmed by Merah himself before he was rubbed out.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2012
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#1
"You've got 300 to 400 heavily armed people"
Spectators. They didn't all shoot him, did they?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/12/2012 5:56
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#2
Suing the bug spray factory for the death of one particular bug...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/12/2012 12:29
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#3
Yes, it was the cops. It had nothing to do with him charging out the window shooting. Nothing at all.
Posted by: Charles ||
06/12/2012 13:55
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#4
Boy - ya shoot a couple of 7 year-olds in the head and the cops go CRAZY!...
[Al Ahram] Only days before Egypt's presidential runoff, candidates are pelting each other with allegations. One of the most remarkable of these is the claim by Ahmed Shafiq, presidential finalist and Mubarak's last prime minister, that the Moslem Brüderbund had killed and injured anti-regime protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square during the infamous "Battle of the Camel," which took place at the height of the popular uprising that led to the ouster of president Hosni Mubarak. ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... Shafiq claimed that Moslem Brüderbund members had been seen atop buildings overlooking the square, from where they hurled Molotov cocktails on protesters below.
On a television talk show Sunday, activist-businessman Mamdouh Hamza and senior Brotherhood figure Mohamed El-Beltagi responded to the allegations.
According to Hamza, General Hassan El-Rewini, a member of Egypt's ruling military council, had told him he had seen "men with beards" atop buildings near the square. In response, El-Rewini had asked Salafist preacher Safwat Hegazy to order them down. Otherwise, El-Rewini warned, the men would be shot.
Although he is very close to the Brotherhood, Hegazy is not a member of the Islamist group.
Shafiq repeated the same story, but said the conversation had been between El-Rewini and El-Beltagi.
In July of last year, El-Rewini admitted in a televised phone interview to having "spread rumours" during the 18-day uprising.
Hamza explained that the so-called "Battle of the Camel" had happened in phases: a first phase in which knives and clubs were used; a second phase, in which thugs arrived in government cars and attacked protesters with ceramic and marble stones; and a third phase, in which Molotov cocktails and guns were used against demonstrators.
Meanwhile, ...back at the hoedown, Bob finally got to dance with Sally... El-Beltagi, secretary-general of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), described the allegations as "ludicrous," saying it was illogical to believe that the Moslem Brüderbund had been responsible for killing protesters during last year's uprising. "Shafiq acts as if Egyptians' memories can be deleted," he said during the interview.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2012
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#1
'Tis a sad day when murderers and brigands are accused of being... murderers and brigands.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/12/2012 12:27
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#2
This country is becoming more horrible by the day.
God help any decent person stuck there.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
06/12/2012 13:47
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#3
Saw Michelle on the tube, white eye liner and Gloss lipstick, looked like a mask, Ugh.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/12/2012 15:20
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#4
Dammit Sherry - now I'll never get that image out of my head! Eeeekkk! Brillo Pad!
Good that Bush is enjoying his retirement - looks like he's having a good relaxing time. I may disagree with him on some of his policies - but his heart was always in the right place.
[Dawn] Taliban took full control of Kukikhel ...a tribe of primitives inhabiting Khyber Agency. They are a branch of the Afridi tribe. Traditionally they have been migratory, tromping between Jamrud and the Rajgal valley with the seasons. The tribe has had mustache-cursing relationships with several other tribes, including the Zakkakhel and Kambarkhel, and with the Mullagori. They make welcome most anyone with a turban and automatic weapons, but every once in awhile they get together a tribal lashkar to mollify the government... -dominated areas of Tirah as more families left their homes and moved to Jamrud.
Sources said that besides fortifying their positions in the newly-occupied localities, Taliban had also torched houses of some Kukikhel elders in Bagh and Sra Vela. They said Taliban in announcements made on loudspeakers from local mosques had asked residents to hoist white flags atop their houses and volunteer one person from each family to join the Taliban.
"The entire Tirah valley, except Bazaar Zakhakhel, is now under effective control of three cut-thoat groups, Tehrik-e-Taliban
Pakistain (Tariq Afridi group), Mangal Bagh ...a former bus driver, now head of the Deobandi bandido group Lashkar-e-Islam and the Terror of Khyber Agency... -led Lashkar-e-Islam and Ansaarul Islam," confirmed Bakhtiar Mohmand, assistant political agent of Jamrud.
He said that while Taliban entrenched themselves in Kukikhel areas, Mangal Bagh was holding the fort in Sipah and Malikdinkhel areas, but the Zakhakhel tribe was in control of Bazaar Zakhakhel.
The official said that his administration had made arrangements to shift Kukikhel families to Jalozai camp, established for internally displaced families of Bara, but so far no-one had approached them.
"Most of the displaced families have opted to live with their relatives in different parts of Jamrud and only a few were without any abode but they too were reluctant to go to Jalozai and preferred rented houses," he said.
Muhammad Irfan, a resident of Jamrud, told Dawn that except for Puk Darra and Daman-e-Koh, all areas, including Sra Vela, Bagh, Pathai, Ghakhai, Baarhi Saporhi and Maniyakhel, had fallen to Taliban and residents had moved to Ali Masjid and Ghundi in Jamrud. He however, denied that any offer had been made by the political administration to any of the displaced families and said they had not received any assistance from local authorities.
He said residents of Puk Darra and Daman-e-Koh were also eager to leave their homes for fear of Taliban, but all routes leading to Jamrud and Bazaar Zakhakhel were either occupied by Taliban or activists of Lashkar-e-Islam. Muhammad Irfan conceded that the Kukikhel lashkar which was no match for the Taliban had to succumb to the Taliban pressure.
He said that except for two Kukikhel elders in Tirah, Malik Zabita Khan and Malik Zaboor, all other notables were against the formation of a lashkar or peace committee against Taliban in Tirah. "We were short of arms and ammunition and financial resources whereas Taliban were well-equipped and well-trained and, therefore, we would not be able to hold our ground for long against them," he acknowledged. He also said that while Malik Zabita Khan and his family had come to Jamrud, Malik Zaboor fled to Afghanistan.
Both the Kukikhel elders had in February this year convened a jirga of their tribe and ordered all cut-thoat groups including Taliban to leave their area or face resistance.
In 2010, Taliban of the Tariq Afridi group established some hideouts in Dwa Thoe and Mehraban Kali after they had been forced to flee from Darra Adam Khel by security forces. Clashes have been taking place since then with Taliban carrying out at least two suicide kabooms against Kukikhels in 2010 and 2011, killing more than a hundred rustics.
Khaistha Gul, another Kukikhel primitive, said they had lost their homes and agricultural land to Taliban. The Kukikhels were also forced to surrender their arms at the Nakai checkpost near Nari Bara established by Lashkar-e-Islam.
He thanked the Al Khidmat Foundation which, he said, had set up a relief camp at Ali Masjid where displaced families were getting food and water. It was also providing transport to those who wanted to move to other places.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2012
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[Dawn] At least five men said to be associated with a notorious gang of drug peddlers were rubbed out and their accomplice was maimed in a gun attack on Sunday in the Mauripur area, police said, linking the incident to gang warfare in Lyari.
The police believed that over a dozen men belonging to the Shiraz Comrade gang had arrived at the residence of Haji Salam alias Salamu, situated in Musharraf Colony, either to get his gang's support for the People's Amn Committee or to convince him to not forge a likely alliance with the Arshad Pappu group. Failing in their attempt, they opened fire on the Salamu gang and fled, according to senior coppers.
The dear departed persons were identified as Haji Salam alias Salamu, 57, his brother, Shehzad alias Charlie, 43, their nephew, Kamal Nasir, and their two associates, Waseem and Altaf, said Mauripur SHO Sub-inspector Mohammad Atif.
The official added that a son of Shehzad, Asghar, was maimed in the attack carried out after the gangs had an altercation during the daytime in the 500-Quarters area of Musharraf Colony, off Hawksbay Road.
During initial investigation, the SHO said, it emerged that the Shiraz Comrade group wanted Salamu group's allegiance for the outlawed Amn Committee to safeguard their interests in the Mauripur area. However, there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly... he said, the Salamu group was apparently reluctant to the proposition. Perhaps they were pre-empting a likely alliance between the Arshad Pappu and Salamu groups, he remarked.
Police Sherlocks said that several dozen spent bullet casings of 9mm pistols were collected from the scene of the crime.
They added that the dear departed and maimed persons were taken to the Civil Hospital 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... , where Salamu died during treatment. Hospital sources said three victims had been brought dead while two others died during treatment.
Salamu was a notorious drug peddler of Lyari, the officials said, adding that he along with his accomplices had relocated to the Mauripur area about 10 years back due to the gang warfare between Arshad Pappu and Rehman alias Dakait groups.
One of his brothers, Nasir, was killed in an alleged encounter with police in Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... in the 1990s, said the officials.Following the deadly attack, tension prevailed in Musharraf Colony where heavy contingents of the Rangers and police arrived to control the law and order situation.
Police were quick to describe both assailants and victims as criminals. They were wanted by police in cases related to narcotics, murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and extortion, the officials said.
A senior police officer of the area who didn't want to be named told Dawn that the Shiraz Comrade group was based in Mowach Goth and linked to the Amn Committee. The killing took place on the suspicion or information that the Salamu group and the Arshad Pappu group were about to join hands, the officer added.
No case was lodged at the Mauripur cop shoppe in connection with the killings till Sunday night.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2012
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] There is a risk of "terrorist" groups setting up in the deserts of northern Mali, French President Francois Hollande warned Monday after talks with Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou in Paris. Picked right up on that, didn't he? Not much gets by that boy...
"There is a threat of terrorist groups setting up in northern Mali. There is outside intervention that is destabilising Mali and setting up groups whose vocation goes well beyond Mali, in Africa and perhaps beyond," Hollande said. That's the whole Islamic idea, isn't it?
Issoufou, whose country shares a long and porous desert border with Mali, warned last week that jihadi fighters from Afghanistan and Pakistan were training Islamist groups there as world powers mull armed intervention.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2012
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#1
At the beginning of 2007, the Algerian Islamicist network called Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat (Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat) announced that they were now Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, indicating that their ambitions now extended beyond bringing down the Algerian government to the larger goal of forming a caliphate across all of northern Africa.
Last December they published a photo on a Mauritanian news site showing two European men who had been captured by Tuaregs in Libya, taken to Mali and sold to AQIM. AQIM has been busy in other ways in the area, along with some sympatico/competing groups.
#2
See also TOPIX > NATO AID TO LIBYA REBELS CAUSED MALI CRISIS.
Successful fall of Uncle Muammar + Regime in Libyuh, vee " Libyan Spring", led to his Tuareg soldiers-for-hire returning back home + joining pro-Islamist,Al-Qaeda Militant-Separatist Groups [e.g. MLNA] to destabilize the country.
* RELATED SAME > ANALYSTS WARN NORTHERN MALI COULD BECOME JIHADISTS BASE.
[An Nahar] 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... is "gravely concerned" by a step up in fighting by Syrian government forces and the opposition, his front man said on Monday.
Annan "is gravely concerned by the latest reports of violence coming out of Syria and the escalation of fighting by both government and opposition forces," said Ahmad Fawzi in a statement.
Fawzi said Annan, who brokered the faltering six-point plan to end 15 months of bloodshed in Syria, cited recent shelling in Homs and the reported use of mortar, helicopter and tanks in the town of al-Haffa in Latakia.
"There are indications that a large number of civilians are trapped in these towns," said Fawzi.
"The Joint Special Envoy demands that the parties take all steps to ensure that civilians are not harmed, and further demands that entry of the U.N. Military Observers be allowed to the town of al-Haffa immediately."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2012
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[An Nahar] Helicopter gunships on Monday fired on rebels in central and northwestern Syria in a bid to snuff out armed opposition as violence killed 103 people across the country, a watchdog and activists said.
The Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said regime forces killed 89 people across the country, including women, children and rebels.
Thirty-five people were killed in Idlib, 15 in Hama, 14 in Deir Ezzor, eight in the countryside around Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... , five in Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... , five in Latakia, five in Homs and two in the capital Damascus, the LCC said.
The rebel positions were targeted from the air in al-Heffa, in the northwestern province of Latakia, and in Rastan, in the central region of Homs, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Government troops have been pounding al-Heffa daily for the past week to crush fighters of the Free Syrian Army deployed in the rugged countryside near the Turkish border, activists said.
Activists said Monday's assault was violent and described the situation in al-Heffa as "terrible," although there were no immediate reports of any casualties.
"Army tanks are deployed at the entrances of the town. They have never come this close before," activist Sema Nassar told Agence La Belle France Presse in Beirut via Skype, weeping as she spoke.
"There's only one doctor working to treat the maimed in the town," of 30,000 people, said Nassar, adding most of the residents have fled.
"Some civilians have stayed behind to help the rebel fighters defend the town," she added.
Regime forces also used helicopters to attack rebel positions in Rastan, a town which has faced intermittent army shelling "for months," the Britannia-based Observatory said.
Four civilians, including a young girl, were killed in the violence, it added.
Troops have trying to overrun Rastan since mid-May, after rebel fighters from the battered city of Homs regrouped in the town which straddles the main highway linking Damascus to the north.
In restive Qusayr, also in Homs province, another two non-combatants were killed, the Observatory said.
Activists in the central province of Hama told AFP that regime troops continued to target towns and villages in the region, where anti-regime sentiment was strong.
"We are worried about how much violence there might be there right now, because we have heard that regime forces are using residents as human shields," an activist who identified himself as Abu Ghazi al-Hamwi told AFP via Skype.
At least five people were killed across Hama on Monday, the Observatory said.
Elsewhere, at least nine people were killed in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, where rebels and regime forces clashed, while a blast in the northwestern city of Idlib killed a civilian and seven regime forces, it added.
Also in Idlib, 11 others were killed, including three rebels, six regime troops, two women and a teenager, according to the watchdog, while in the northern province of Aleppo, two people were killed as festivities intensified.
And after days of violence in the capital, a booby-trapped car went kaboom! in the central district of Barzeh killing one person, the Observatory added, while gunniesrubbed out a ruling Baath party official in the city suburbs.
The latest deaths took place after at least 63 people were killed nationwide on Sunday -- 38 civilians, 19 soldiers, and six rebel fighters -- the Observatory reported.
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[Bangla Daily Star] The International Crimes Tribunal-2 yesterday framed 17 specific charges of war crimes against former BNP politician Abdul Alim, which include genocide, murder of Bangalee civilians, and burning people alive during the Liberation War.
The eighty-one-year-old politician and former minister of Ziaur Rahman's cabinet was also charged with attempt, abetment and conspiracy to commit crimes against humanity during the war.
The three-member Tribunal-2, led by its Chairman Justice ATM Fazle Kabir and members Justice Obaidul Hassan and Judge Md Shahinur Islam, framed the charges and fixed July 9 for the trial to begin with opening statement from the prosecution.
Of the 17 charges, 15 were framed in connection with Alim's alleged involvement in the killing of at least 585 people in 15 incidents. The two other charges were in connection with looting, arson, deportation and detention of unarmed civilians.
Of the 15, three were for committing genocide, which claimed the lives of 406 people, mostly Hindus.
Born on November 1, 1930, in West Bengal of India, Alim with his family migrated to Joypurhat in 1950-51. In 1958, he joined the Moslem League. He was an influential leader of the Convention Moslem League and Vice-Chairman of Bogra District Council in 1971.
According to the charges, Alim allegedly committed all the crimes in Joypurhat.
After Ziaur Rahman took over the helm of the country, he made Alim a minister in 1978. Alim also joined Zia's then newly formed party the BNP, according to the information at the tribunal and defence documents. He was elected as a politician from Joypurhat in 1979, 1996 and 2001 elections.
"He [Alim] established an army camp, peace committee office [a collaborator force] and training centre for Razakars and accommodation for one Pak Major Afzal occupying the Gadi Ghar [trading office], business and homestead of one Shownlal Bajla, a jute trader of Joypurhat, after he was compelled to go to India leaving behind all his assets," said the tribunal.
Members of the peace committee and the Razakar force actively collaborated with the Pak forces to commit genocide and mass killings in the nine-month-long war during which 30 lakh Bangalees were killed and over two lakh women raped, historic documents say.
In one of the charges of genocide, the Tribunal-2 said: on April 26, 1971, local peace committee chairman Alim accompanied by other members of the committee and the Mighty Pak Army personnel launched a surprise attack on Hindu civilians in the Hindu-dominated villages of Koroi, Kadipur, Chawkpara, Sonarpara, Palpara, Munshipara in Joypurhat.
The attack was planned in consultation with Pakistain army Major Afzal.
"Entering their homes, [they] started damaging property, looting and arson and thereby created havoc and then you [Alim] and your accomplices brought the Hindu civilians out their homes and lined them up and 370 Hindu unarmed civilians of those villages of Koroi Kadipur locality were shot to death," said Tribunal-2.
"One 90-year-old Kanchira Mohan's throat was slit and he was killed, and one Aswini Kumar Debnath was buried alive. Then you [Abdul Alim] and your accomplices left the scene of the crime and afterwards the bodies were dumped in a mass grave," the charges read.
"Therefore, you Abdul Alim are hereby charged for substantially abetting and contributing to the commission of the offence of large-scale killing of the Hindu community as genocide with the intent to destroy the community either in whole or in part," the tribunal said.
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06/12/2012
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
...who knows what he's talking about, responding to this.
I recently gave a talk about the Arab Spring at a college in the Pacific Northwest and met a young female journalism student who said she was envious that I've been to Cairo. She considers herself something of an Egyptologist and can't wait to go there herself.
She was blissfully unaware of how badly women are treated in Egypt, including foreign women like herself. I've heard one extreme sexual harassment horror story after another from women I know who have visited Cairo. I don't personally know anyone who has been sexually assaulted in Egypt, but from my informal survey of female travelers there it appears the likelihood of a foreign woman experiencing extreme harassment approaches 100 percent.
I have no idea why this is such a huge problem in Egypt. It's not because Egypt is Arab or Muslim or Middle Eastern. Lebanon isn't like this. I understand Syria isn't either, though I'm less certain. My wife has been to Morocco, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Libya. She experienced minor sexual harassment in Tunisia and Libya, but it was the sort that was annoying rather than horrifying. She wants to revisit both countries despite it.
The stories I've heard from women in Egypt, however, involve harassment that is aggressive, physical, and sometimes terrifying. I will never take my wife to Egypt. Never.
Perhaps I should have visited Mr. Wife when he was doing that factory start-up in Egypt back in 1987, when such things were not supposed to happen. But then the company would have seriously pressured him to take the assignment in Saudi Arabia, and I was not nearly tactful enough to survive that experience -- and I'm pretty sure being presented with a headless wife would have upset my sensitive mate, impacting his work efficiency.
Plus it would have sucked to be us, TW
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/12/2012
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#1
Perhaps I should have visited Mr. Wife when he was doing that factory start-up in Egypt back in 1987, when such things were not supposed to happen.
Maybe, maybe not. I have a buddy who went there in 95 and got offered three camels for his underage daughter (who I understand thought it would be good to wear shorts that day). To his daughter's horror, he countered with ten. They took him seriously and walked away.
Knowing what a pain she usually is, I'd have countered with no more than five.
#2
"...blissfully unaware of how badly women are treated..."
so many, many others like her are blissfully unaware of Islamic reality
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/12/2012 7:58
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#3
Back in 74, I was in Spain with one of my tall long legged lady friends. We took the ferry from Barcelona to Algeciras. On the way, we met a couple that talked us into staying on the ferry and going across the straits to Tangier.
We got to Tangier and in the course of the first two hours we were there, I was offered $3,000 for my US Passport and $10,000 for the tall long legged lady friend, who like the teenaged daughter, had worn short shorts and a tank top.
I think we set a world record getting back to the dock and there I found a couple of kilos of Hashish taped to the underside of my Porsche.
Needless to say, Tangier is NOT on my list of places to visit EVER.
An American going anywhere in North Africa needs to watch their ass, even in the more civilized environs, it is dangerous.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
06/12/2012 9:53
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#4
I'd have countered with no more than five.
Five camels is a good price if she is appropriately plump and comely.
[Dawn] The terrorists were given a free hand by the previous government of Mutahidda Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) but Awami National Party-led provincial government forced them to flee, said Senator Afrasiab Khattak.
Addressing a party meeting at Hajiabad here on Sunday, he said that Pakhtuns were in trouble since they were pitted by the United States against the former USSR.
Mr Khattak said that MMA government had given full freedom to terrorists in the province while ANP government launched massive campaign against them.
"That's why we lost hundreds of devoted workers in the ongoing war against terrorism," he said, adding that despite strong opposition from the US and western world the government implemented Sharia Nizam-i-Adl Regulation in Malakand division.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2012
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] At least six Muslim youths were killed by angry Christian mobs after two churches in Nigeria were attacked at the weekend, local media reported on Monday.
A suicide bomber attacked a church in Jos, a main city which sits along the fault line between the Muslim and Christian parts of the country.
Separately, gunmen sprayed bullets at a church in Biu, in Borno state. The area serves as the headquarters for Islamist group Boko Haram, widely suspected of being behind a spate of recent attacks against the government and Christians.
Several people were killed in the church attacks while dozens were injured. Police have not yet made any arrests, the local Guardian newspaper reported.
The Anglican Archbishop of Jos, Ben Kwashi, told the BBC that he condemned the church attacks and the acts of revenge. He said such "terrorism" was ruining relations between the two largest religious groups in Africa's most populous nation.
The assaults were the latest in a series targeting churches in Africa's most populous nation and largest oil producer, with many of the previous attacks also claimed by the Islamist group, whose insurgency has killed more than 1,000 people since mid-2009.
A purported spokesman for Boko Haram claimed responsibility for Sunday's attacks and threatened further violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2012
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A Texas father caught a man sexually assaulting his 4-year-old daughter and punched him in the head repeatedly, killing him, authorities said.
He needed killing...
The father was casually acquainted with the alleged abuser, said Lavaca County Sheriff Micah Harmon. Neither has been publicly identified.
The girl was left inside the family's house during the social gathering, while other members of her family were tending to horses, the sheriff said. The alleged abuser was known for his horse-grooming abilities, Harmon said.
Should have stuck to horses...
The father returned to the house, caught the man in the act, and stopped him by striking him in the head several times, Harmon said.
This is Texas. The offender got off lightly...
The man was pronounced dead on the scene, while the daughter was taken to a local hospital in Victoria, Texas, for examinations before being released.
Harmon described the girl as "OK besides the obvious mental trauma."
Asked whether they would press charges against the father, the sheriff responded, "You have a right to defend your daughter. He acted in defense of his third person. Once the investigation is completed we will submit it to the district attorney who then submits it to the grand jury, who will decide if they will indict him."
Harmon described the dad as "very remorseful," adding that he didn't know the man was going to die.
I believe it. The man was defending his daughter.
Authorities were withholding the deceased man's name while they notified next of kin.
"We got a body for you. Come get it or it gets planted in Potter's Field."
Officials did not know immediately if he has a prior criminal history.
Oh, oh, let me guess...
Lavaca County Precinct Judge Alene Lyons, who is coordinating information in the case including autopsy results, said Monday that a preliminary autopsy report indicated the victim "died from blunt-force head and neck injuries."
The father must pack a mean right...
"It will take six weeks to get the full report back because they also did a toxicology report," Lyons said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/12/2012
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#1
Quote a Texas friend.
"Some folks just need Killin'".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/12/2012 0:17
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#2
I think I would use a mean right hand if I caught someone molesting my 4 YO Daughter. I may even use a curb stop.
#3
and punched him in the head repeatedly, killing him
Not easy to do. Often you break your hand and the guy just gets up again.
Harmon described the dad as "very remorseful," adding that he didn't know the man was going to die.
Why? He probably saved a bunch of girls that would have otherwise been his subsequent victims, and saved taxpayers the expense of trying, jailing, releasing, re-jailing, re-trying, and finally jailing him for life. Let alone a bunch of citizens that are often messed up for life.
#6
Read elsewhere that this took place in Shiner, and that the dead guy was from Gonzalez. Race may end up playing a role - Shiner is 85% white while Gonzalez is 90% black, per Wiki census data.
#8
I'm confident the local grand jury will do justice; I'm concerned that if the US Justice Department decides to claim racial hate crime and involve itself, justice will not be done.
#9
Good for the father. Both saved his daughter and saved us from having to house and feed the pervert until he is released to try again with someone's else's daughter.
#12
Swift Justice. These guys are usually the nicest guys in the world, until they turn the corner and see something happening like that to their child or loved one by anotheer grown man. Then instant rage kicks in on the spot.
I suspect the purpetrators head made hard contact with a wall or two as well.
#13
The man who was Horse Manure has returned home.
Posted by: Charles ||
06/12/2012 14:02
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#14
Local news in Houston reported from Lovaca County last night that the deceased's relatives were in Mexico, slowing the notification process. Would seem to leave out Sharpton, et al. if the report is true.
I'm an oldtimer and when I was young the oldtimers in my hometown defined a Texan as "one who defends family and home until he falls." Its just in our DNA.
#16
Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson will not be necessary. There are plenty of other Demons on the left already trying to "Travon Martin" the child's father.
James Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project, an Austin-based nonprofit group, questioned the fathers decision to summarily execute the alleged molester without due process.
Assuming its true that this guy was molesting the daughter, and we dont know what exactly happened at this point, he would then have the right to defend [her], and hit him enough to have him stop, Harrington told FoxNews.com. But you cannot summarily execute him, even though I can understand the anger he would have.
Without specific knowledge of the case, Harrington said he was surprised that the girls father had not been already charged. Foxnews.com
It is time for the child molesting and other criminal apologists to go rot in prison, too.
Anybody that knows Texas, understands that this says it all. Alligator tears from a bunch of stand-offish, elitist, do-gooders willing to point out all of YOUR faults without regard for the child.
Had to get that off my chest!
#26
Actually could this be brought up in Zimmermans case that he had good reason to fear for his life? A couple punches KILLED a guy, regardless of the reasons. Zimmerman was being hit like a Pinata.
Posted by: Charles ||
06/12/2012 22:55
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[Dawn] SAFE havens are back. For a while it seemed as if the Pakistain-US relationship was being defined by decidedly small-bore issues: apologies, transit fees and the release of monies. However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... as the relationship between the nominal allies has gone from awkward to virtually dysfunctional, US officials have turned once again to that perennial thorn in the American side -- safe havens along Pakistain's border with Afghanistan which allow the Afghan Taliban to regroup, avoid American fire and plan attacks inside Afghanistan. The North Wazoo Agency in particular is the source of much anger on the American side, there seemingly being a consensus that the Haqqani network is behind some of the most damaging attacks in Afghanistan. There appears, then, more than meets the eye in the latest stand-off between Pakistain and the US: are the interminable negotiations over the normalisation of ties really about the mechanics of an apology, transit fees and the like or is there a behind-the-scenes showdown over to what extent Pakistain should turn on the Afghan Taliban/ Haqqani network even as the international war effort in Afghanistan heads to a close?
Two points need to be made. One, American frustration with Pakistain on the issue of safe havens is more likely to be counterproductive than not. The more US officials go public with their anger and concerns, the more the security establishment here may have to dig in its heels. With anti-Americanism in the public and the army rank and file at a historic high, military action inside Pakistain at the behest of the US will be difficult to sell. The outgoing US ambassador to Pakistain Cameron Munter had the right approach: don't expect miracles; keep expectations and demands firmly in check; and work with Pakistain to find the spaces in which incremental progress can be made. Unfortunately, the Pakistain hawks in American policy circles appear to be winning the argument at the moment -- though they too are unlikely to win the argument with Pakistain through their approach.
Two, Pakistain needs to take a hard look at North Waziristan Agency for its own sake. Left to their own devices -- some in return for not attacking Pakistain proper; others because the state doesn't have the capacity or will to take them on -- the dozens of beturbanned goon groups and offshoots gathered in North Waziristan are a long-term threat to Pakistain. A policy of zero tolerance towards militancy -- something yet to become evident -- is the only way to Pakistain's long-term stabilisation and security. Moreover, tackling the North Waziristan threat would diminish the Americans' case for the much-maligned drone strikes.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2012
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#1
Reading their comments with rating (+-) is interesting. Seems like a lot of Dawn reading folks get it. Likely the ISI doesn't care and should be lumped in with Hak...
Posted by: Water Modem ||
06/12/2012 3:03
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#2
The Pak military wants an anti Nato/US/Indian Western border for their own security/paranoia hence supporting the Taliban and Haqqani clan.
#6
The outgoing US ambassador to Pakistain Cameron Munter had the right approach: don't expect miracles; keep expectations and demands firmly in check; and work with Pakistain to find the spaces in which incremental progress can be made
Such an approach is great for the striped-pants set or the Commerce Department.
Not such a good thing when one is trying to not lose a war.
#7
What makes you think Bambi's administration is trying not to lose, Pappy?
Posted by: Barbara ||
06/12/2012 18:18
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#8
There is a difference between trying to win and trying not to lose. The latter is generally a political maneuver where one disengages, while hopefully, or lately, supposedly leaving the political entity one had been supporting in a position to take care of itself.
It almost worked in Vietnam. It's a toss-up leaning toward failure in Iraq. It looks akin to failure in Afghanistan.
Another thing about trying not to lose: the fallout is generally years down the road; the culprits are politically safe by then.
[Bangla Daily Star] Bangladesh border and coastiess yesterday pushed back 11 boats carrying around 500 Myanmar nationals as they tried to enter Bangladesh through Cox's Bazar for refuge from sectarian violence in Rakhine state.
In the face of the deadly festivities between Mohammedans and Buddhists, the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... have also been evacuating their staff from its Maungdaw base in western Myanmar, reports AFP.
It evacuated the first batch of staff to the Myanmar capital on Sunday followed by the second batch on Monday, said Ashok Nigam, UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Yangon.
The Myanmar government on Sunday declared a state of emergency in Rakhine to deal with the violence.
Meanwhile, ...back at the alley, Slats Chumbaloni was staring into a hole that was just .45 inch in diameter and was less than three feet from his face ... the intruders, who were denied entrance to Bangladesh yesterday, were mostly of Mohammedan Rohingya families.
Out in the sea for the last few days, these panic-stricken people had very little food and water with them and were intensely unwilling to go back.
Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) intercepted three engine boats carrying at least 182 Myanmar nationals in the Naf River, about one kilometre from the BGB Shah Pori Dwip observatory post in Teknaf, around 7:30am and sent them back, said Maj Shafiqur Rahman, second-in-command of 42 battalion.
Most of the intruders were women and kiddies, he added.
Failing to cross the border the three boats headed towards the St Martin's Island later when another boat with refugees joined the fleet. But they faced resistance from the coastiess.
Station officer Lt Badroddoza of Coast Guard Teknaf Station told The Daily Star that they had pushed back the four boats around 12:30pm.
"We later came to know that the boats landed in Nakhunda area of Myanmar," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2012
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[Yemen Post] The Yemeni army managed to retake control of a key ammunition factory called 7 October located in the southern trouble-torn province 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... , leaving at least 25 faceless myrmidons killed, local sources told the local news website al-Masdar on Monday.
The troops assisted by the tribal militias, which were formed to help the army kick the faceless myrmidons out from Zinjubar and Ja'ar, regained control over the key ammunition factory after fierce festivities with the bad boys, the sources said.
The sources, according to al-Masdar, added that the calashes erupted in the early hours of Monday and lasted until 10 a.m. The army troops advanced towards Ja'ar and they are positioned at its entrances ready to storm the town. They noted that at least 4 soldiers were killed and two others maimed. War planes accompanied with heavy artillery shelling on the bad boys' hideouts helped the troops advance and achieve progress in the battles which forced thousands of families to evacuate their homes.
Two civilians were maimed as a result of the army air strikes, according to the sources. The army has stepped up its operations in Abyan with the aim of eliminating the al-Qaeda-linked faceless myrmidons in Abyan,
Being significantly hit by the intensive army attacks, al-Qaeda resorted to carrying out deadly suicide kabooms, which left hundreds of soldiers killed and others maimed. Last month,the terror network grabbed credit for a suicide attack in Sana'a. The deadly attack left more than 100 soldiers performing rehearsals for a parade killed and other 300 maimed.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2012
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#1
Yemen has an ammo factory?
Posted by: Water Modem ||
06/12/2012 2:52
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[Al Ahram] The regime continues to crack down on the leaders of the growing protest movement, threatening organisers of 'mass disturbances' with up to 10 years in prison
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06/12/2012
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Posted by: Fred ||
06/12/2012
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#1
Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Adriana Lima [Brazilian] aka Victoria's Secret Angel Fashion Model aka GUESS? girl in 2000 aka fifth highest paid supermodel in 2007 and 2008 aka Star in Super Bowl XLVI commercials for online flower service Teleflora and Kia Motors aka Mrs. Marko Jaric, [Serbian NBA Player] aka Wife in "The Follow (The Hire Series)(2001)" (age 31)
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.
VINELAND -- Planning is everything. Just ask the southern New Jersey man whose alleged 
In January, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia accused the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of high-handedness during oral arguments in a property rights case. In March he mocked the administrations legal reasoning in defending President Barack Obamas health-care law, calling it extraordinary. In an April case challenging Arizonas controversial immigration law, Scalia belittled the administrations claim that the law might make Mexican leaders less willing to cooperate with the U.S. So, Scalia said, we have to enforce our laws in a manner that will please Mexico?
Accused of the most barbaric massacres since the start of the revolt in Syria, the shabiha are feared 
(Sh. M. Network)-The prime minister of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG),Abdiweli Mohammed Ali, announced plans to eliminate the Al Qaeda-allied Al shabab 
(Sh. M. Network)-Two dead bodies with their heads ripped off by Al shabab fighters were found lying in a rebel-held town in central Somalia, witnesses and officials said.
[An Nahar] The father of al-Qaeda-inspired gunman Mohamed Merah, who was 
[Al Ahram] Only days before Egypt's presidential runoff, candidates are pelting each other with allegations. One of the most remarkable of these is the claim by Ahmed Shafiq, presidential finalist and Mubarak's last prime minister, that the 
At least five men said to be associated with a notorious gang of drug peddlers were 
There is a risk of "terrorist" groups setting up in the deserts of northern Mali, French President Francois Hollande warned Monday after talks with Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou in Paris.
...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...
Helicopter gunships on Monday fired on rebels in central and northwestern Syria in a bid to snuff out armed opposition as violence killed 103 people across the country, a watchdog and activists said.
[Bangla Daily Star] The International Crimes Tribunal-2 yesterday framed 17 specific charges of war crimes against former BNP 
The terrorists were given a free hand by the previous government of Mutahidda Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) but Awami National Party-led provincial government forced them to flee, said Senator Afrasiab Khattak.
At least six Muslim youths were killed by angry Christian mobs after two churches in Nigeria were attacked at the weekend, local media reported on Monday.
SAFE havens are back. For a while it seemed as if the Pakistain-US relationship was being defined by decidedly small-bore issues: apologies, transit fees and the release of monies. 
Wazoo
The Yemeni army managed to retake control of a key ammunition factory called 7 October located in the southern trouble-torn province of 
The regime continues to crack down on the leaders of the growing protest movement, threatening organisers of 'mass disturbances' with up to 10 years in prison
