What is being dubbed as Egypt's "first sex-slave marriage" took place mere days after the Muslim Brotherhood's Muhammad Morsi was made president.
Last Monday, on the Egyptian TV show Al Haqiqa ("the Truth"), journalist Wael al-Ibrashi began the program by airing a video-clip of a man, Abd al-Rauf Awn, "marrying" his "slave." Before making the woman, who had a non-Egyptian accent, repeat the Koran's Surat al-Ikhlas after him, instead of saying the customary "I marry myself to you," the woman said "I enslave myself to you," and kissed him in front of an applauding audience.
Then, even though she was wearing a hijab, her owner-husband declared her forbidden from such trappings, commanding her to be stripped of them, so as "not to break Allah's laws." She took her veil and abaya off, revealing, certainly by Muslim standards, a promiscuous red dress (all the other women present were veiled). The man claps for her as the video-clip (which can be viewed here) ends.
The owner-husband, Abd al-Rauf Awn, then appeared on the show, identifying himself as an Islamic scholar and expert at Islamic jurisprudence who studied at Al Azhar. He gave several Islamic explanations to justify his "marriage," from Islamic prophet Muhammad's "sunna" or practice of "marrying" enslaved captive women, to Koran 4:3, which commands Muslim men to "Marry such women as seem good to you, two and three and four... or what your right hands possess."
For all practical purposes, and to avoid euphemisms, "what your right hands possess"--also known in Arabic as a melk al-yamin--is, according to Islamic doctrine and history, simply a sex-slave. Linguistic evidence further suggests that she is seen more as a possession than a human.
Even stripping the sex-slave of her hijab, the way Awn commanded his concubine-wife, has precedent. According to Islamic jurisprudence, whereas the free (Muslim) woman is mandated to be veiled behind a hijab, sex-slaves are mandated only to be covered from the navel to the knees--with everything else exposed. During the program Awn even explained how Caliph Omar, one of the first "righteous caliphs," used to strip sex-slaves of their garments, whenever he saw them overly dressed in the marketplace.
Awn further explained that sex-slave marriage is ideal for today's Egyptian society. He based his position on ijtihad, a recognized form of jurisprudence, whereby a Muslim scholar comes up with a new idea--one that is still rooted in the Koran and example of Muhammad--yet one that better fits the circumstances of contemporary society.
He argued that, when it comes to marriage, "we Muslims have overly complicated things," so that men are often forced to be single throughout their prime, finally getting married between the ages of 30-40 (when they might be expected to have a sufficient income to open a household). Similarly, many Egyptian women do not want to wear the hijab in public.
The solution, according to Awn, is to reinstitute sex-slavery--allowing men to marry and copulate much earlier in life, and women who want to dress freely to do so, as technically they are sex-slaves and mandated to go about loosely attired, anyway.
The other guest on the show, Dr. Abdullah al-Naggar, a professor of Islamic jurisprudence at Al Azhar, fiercely attacked Awn for reviving this practice, calling on him and his slave-wife to "repent" and stop dishonoring Islam, arguing that "there is no longer sex-slavery"--to which Awn responded by sarcastically asking, "Who said sex-slavery is over? What--because the UN said so?"
In many ways, this exchange between Awn, who advocates sex-slave marriage, and the Al Azhar professor symbolizes the clash between today's "Islamists" and "moderate Muslims." For long, Al Azhar has been primarily engaged in the delicate balancing act of affirming Islam while still advocating modernity according to Western standards, whereas the Islamists--from the Muslim Brotherhood to the Salafis--bred with contempt and disrespect for the West, are only too eager to revive distinctly Islamic practices that defy Western sensibilities.
While this may be the first sex-slave marriage to take place in Egypt's recent history, it is certainly not the first call to revive the practice. Earlier, Egyptian Sheikh Huwaini, lamenting that the "good old days" of Islam are over, declared that, in an ideal Muslim society, "when I want a sex-slave [I should be able to go] to the market and pick whichever female I desire and buy her." Likewise, a Kuwaiti female politician advocated for reviving the institute of sex-slavery, suggesting that Muslims should bring female captives of war--specifically Russian women from the Chechnya war--and sell them to Muslim men in the markets of Kuwait.
And so the "Arab Spring" continues to blossom. Enjoy your arab spring gents. Cut off all funding, support and aid NOW. Let them enjoy their 7th century lifestyle.
Ron Burgundy would've had a field day with this story. I sense a coverup already. Iran already has the bomb, gave one to Al Qaeda, and they tested it over San Diego.
A Fourth of July fireworks show in San Diego lasted just 15 seconds on Wednesday, when what organizers called "a technical glitch" caused all of the fireworks to go off at the same time.
According to Garden State Fireworks, a signal that was sent to the barges to "set the timing" of the fireworks caused "the entire show to be launched in about 15 seconds."
The "Big Bay Boom," as it was billed, quickly became a Big Bay Bust.
"Anyone know if that was on purpose?" Josh Damigo wrote on Twitter. "It sure seems like something went wrong!"
"Was that it?" Jennifer Boyd tweeted.
Adding to the confusion, music that was supposed to be synchronized with the display played on in the darkness.
"There was "Proud to be an American," "Born in the USA," some Taylor Swift songs and lots of music with "America" in them," Teagan Hamblin told CNN.
"We sincerely apologize for the technical glitch that affected the #BigBayBoom," the Port of San Diego told to its Twitter followers. "Event producers are currently investigating the cause."
The premature explosion occurred shortly before 9 p.m., according to NBC San Diego. Twenty minutes later, the thousands of people gathered in Glorietta Bay were told via a radio broadcast that the show had been canceled.
"This is very uncommon," August Santore, a spokesman for Garden State Fireworks, told CNN. "There was nothing in the pyrotechnics that went wrongit was the electronics."
#2
yeah. That's what you get when you hire a NJ firm...
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/05/2012 14:29
Comments ||
Top||
#3
And the lowest bidder, no doubt.
For the record, I was in no way implying, hinting, or suggesting a conspiracy, plot, or scheme involving Frank and/or the many, often secretive, divisions of Haliburton. Sometimes an explosion is just an explosion. (nudge, nudge. wink,wink)
#4
As a public services the Fireworks Program was compressed into less than a 1 minute time frame. This allowed the spectators time to take care of more important things like Facebook, Twitter, Tweet, Chirp, etc.
#5
We had something like that happen at Wiesbaden AB one 4th of July. One of the fireworks started a grass fire that quickly set off the rest of the fireworks. It was about 2/3 of the way through the show, so it wasn't a complete disaster, but it was unusual.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/05/2012 15:22
Comments ||
Top||
#6
A friend of mine that I worked with in the early 1970s was on Guadalcanal when the Japanese guns hit an oxygen and acetylene cylinder dump of ours. He said that it was quite a show. Only problem was that the cylinders were launching themselves many hundreds of yards all around, which made watching quite dangerous.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/05/2012 15:33
Comments ||
Top||
#7
Any implication that Halliburton Employees like fire or find it amusing to make things blow up is completely true. utterly false.
The fact that I now work for Schlumberger has no bearing on this either:p
Posted by: Silentbrick - Halliburton Lost Drill Bit Division ||
07/05/2012 15:48
Comments ||
Top||
#16
Silentbrick In my experience, there's not a rig on the planet that doesn't need new frigging mud pumps.
That's my experience too. New ones, bigger ones, or both.
Posted by: Barbara ||
07/05/2012 20:41
Comments ||
Top||
#20
It's probably permanent. The Brick has been lured to Houston by a dastardly female who is bent upon entrapment.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
07/05/2012 21:35
Comments ||
Top||
#21
True true, but then they also offered a schedule which is something the EVIL Empire doesn't. It's working the well and so you're gone from a month or two at a time. It sucks.
A Brevard County man told police that he robbed a convenience store because he was upset with his fiancé for refusing to mate with him and because he needed money to buy car insurance. "Thanks to my fiancée's refusal, I won't need a life insurance policy for a kid just yet."
James Seehaus, 25, of Palm Bay, was arrested June 28 on suspicion of robbing a 7-Eleven. He also told police that he would probably have committed more robberies if he had not been caught. "Remorse? Never heard of her, but she's welcome to sleep with me too."
Palm Bay police said Seehaus robbed the gas station with a BB gun wrapped in white cloth to disguise it as something more dangerous. "I have a .45 here. It's not a BB gun, really."
Seehaus, who faces charges of armed robbery and theft, pointed the lead launcher at the clerk of the 7-Eleven at 1925 Palm Bay Road and demanded all of the money in the cash register, police said. "So gimme the dough if you don't feel ready to kick the bucket."
A Palm Bay lawman spotted Seehaus leaving the area and stopped his car in a parking lot about a half a mile from the gas station. He found a BB gun in the back seat, police said. "Forty-five shmorty-shmive."
The clerk and another witness identified Seehaus as the person who knocked over the gas station. That's him, there.
In an interview, Seehaus acknowledged that he done it and said all the money that was in his wallet belonged to the business, according to police.
KABUL, Afghanistan An Afghan soldier opened fire on a group of American troops, wounding five of them, Western and Afghan military officials said Wednesday.
The attack, which took place Tuesday in Wardak province in eastern Afghanistan, was the second incident of its kind in three days. On Sunday, an Afghan policeman shot and killed three British soldiers.
The phenomenon of green-on-blue shootings, in which members of the Afghan security forces turn their weapons on Western troops, has become a serious concern in recent months. At least 26 NATO troops have been killed this year in such attacks.
Afghan officials said the shooter, a new recruit to the army, fled after the shooting, and authorities launched a search. NATOs International Security Assistance Force said the incident was under investigation.
The attack took place at a checkpoint in Wardaks Sayedabad district, said Afghan army Gen. Abdul Raziq, whose area of command includes Wardak. In August of last year, the district was the scene of the biggest one-time loss of U.S. lives in the war, when 31 American troops, most of them elite Navy SEALs, died after an insurgent managed to shoot down their Chinook helicopter.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/05/2012
08:51 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I've read several mentions that Afghan-on-Afghan violence is considerably worse than what this article calls green-on-blue, Afghan on Western. Has anyone seen solid numbers, for comparison purposes?
While America's debate over immigration has been dominated recently by crackdowns in states like Arizona and Alabama, California legislators are trying to turn that tide with a bill to protect illegal immigrants that they dub the "anti-Arizona." Either this is total madness, or it's a honey-trap for illegals that we're going to chop off and give back to Mexico after it has achieved its purpose.
Last week, the top U.S. court upheld the most controversial aspect of Arizona's immigration statute: a requirement that police officers check the immigration status of people they stop, even for minor offenses such as jay-walking.
Enter California, a border state that is home to the largest number of illegal immigrants, most of whom are Hispanic, and is considerably more liberal than its neighbor Arizona. Is there anywhere less liberal?
A bill currently working its way through the California legislature would block local law enforcement from referring a detainee to immigration officials for deportation unless that person has been convicted of a violent or serious felony. RACISTS!
"California cannot afford to become another Arizona," said California Assembly member Tom Ammiano, the bill's sponsor. One of the bill's sponsors, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, calls the effort the "anti-Arizona." California can't afford a lot of things, including more illegal aliens. But hey, sometimes it's best to just isolate an idiot who refuses to learn and let him figure out what he's doing wrong the hard way.
Critics have argued that Arizona's law could lead to illegal racial or ethnic profiling of Hispanics in Arizona. Hispanics are the largest U.S. minority group, representing 16 percent of the population.
Supporters of the Arizona law say it is needed because the federal government has failed to secure the border with Mexico.
The California bill, which has the support of over 100 immigrant rights groups, police chiefs and mayors, was drafted not only as a symbolic counter to legislation in neighboring Arizona, but also to push back against a federal program called Secure Communities that shares the same principles as Arizona's law, supporters say.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE, established the Secure Communities program in partnership with local law enforcement agencies and the FBI to deport unauthorized immigrants. I call them illegal aliens because they have little to do with immigration and everything to do with being somewhere they shouldn't be.
Local authorities send fingerprints of those arrested to ICE, which says it prioritizes deporting individuals with criminal convictions. The program was credited as a factor in that agency's highest-ever number of deportations, nearly 400,000 in 2011.
"(Secure Communities) has burdened our local governments and put even victims and witnesses of crime at risk of deportation, making us all less safe," Ammiano said in a statement. "It has even mistakenly trapped U.S. citizens in our local jails for immigration purposes."
The federal program has been responsible for deporting over 72,000 Californians, according to Ammiano, with 70 percent of those deported from the state having either no criminal conviction, or conviction for a minor offense. What about that "illegal alien" thingy hiding behind the curtain?
Critics have lambasted the program for placing victims of domestic violence in deportation proceedings and deterring immigrants from reporting crimes committed against them. So?
But the California State Sheriff's Association, which opposes the bill, said that state and local authorities cannot opt out of the Secure Communities program, and that ICE focuses on only the most serious cases, such as convicted criminals and repeat offenders. I wonder what Mexico's stance is on illegals in Mexico.
The bill, already passed by the state Assembly in a 47-26 vote, now awaits a decision by the state Senate. That vote could come as early as this Thursday, but may be delayed until after legislators take a one-month summer recess beginning next week. That should give pols time to figure out if Mexico is pleased with the new law as written.
#2
One of the 'problems' with the Federal law is that persons identified, by local law enforcement officials, as illegal immigrants are to be placed in custody until federal officials are notified.
California doesn't have space to keep people in custody.
Posted by: lord garth ||
07/05/2012 7:53
Comments ||
Top||
#3
I wonder what Mexico's stance is on illegals in Mexico
I believe they are deported immediately.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
07/05/2012 8:06
Comments ||
Top||
#4
Illegals are an untapped resource! Think about it, an illegal is caught, verified and saving who knows how many lives as an involuntary organ donor in less than 24 hours. Under such laws, we could encourage them to come!
/sarc
Though the mere announcement of this would cause massive voluntary deportation:p
Article 33. Foreigners are those who do not possess the qualifications set forth in Article 30. They are entitled to the guarantees granted by Chapter I, Title I, of the present Constitution; but the Federal Executive shall have the exclusive power to compel any foreigner whose remaining he may deem inexpedient to abandon the national territory immediately and without the necessity of previous legal action.
Foreigners may not in any way participate in the political affairs of the country.
#8
I'm afraid it's too late for my home state. We've passed the point of no return. The Mexicans here still tolerate us white folks, for the most part, for the time being. Maybe that's because we still pay our taxes. Oh, and we tip the waiters and busboys.
Racist? No, not really. I just thought California was supposed to be part of the United States and that the United States would defend its territorial integrity.
I blame Bush. No, I really do. He did nothing about it. But it wasn't just him. Clinton's the one who really let the invasion get going. Spit. And don't let anybody fool you. It is an invasion. Just because they come with women and children instead of tanks and war planes doesn't mean it's not an invasion. So is the United States willing to cede California to Mexico? Looks like it.
#9
Thought "derechos" translates into damaging windstorms. So union jobs at union wages are damaging (windstorms)?
If California passes the anti-Arizona immigration bill, they are going to have to live with it. Good luck to em. Look for California to look like Detroit in a few years. What happens when Californians try to escape this nightmare? Are they going to spread the taint to other states?
#13
OK. So much for blaming Californians. Let's talk about who is really "spreading the taint". Here's a little tidbit from that Wikipedia article about Tom Ammiano that I cited earlier:
Ammiano was born and grew up in Montclair, New Jersey. He attended Seton Hall University in 1963 and received a bachelor's degree in communication. He was an Easter Seals Camp counselor in the summers of 1962-3, later attending San Francisco State University in 1965 where he received a master's degree in special education. He taught English to children in South Vietnam as part of a Quaker program, but left shortly after the Tet Offensive in 1968.
Get it? The guy is from New Jersey. Didn't move here until the mid-1960's along with a couple of million of his friends from New Jersey, New York, Michigan and, yes, even Texas. Even your precious Colorado. So who is "spreading the taint"? Dunno about the rest of you but I'm thinking New Jersey. Californians are the victims.
But, as I said earlier, I'm thinking George W. Bush and Bill Clinton too. Federal problem, folks. This is a federal problem. This is a federal failure as in misfeasance on the part of people that you elected. Stop being so smug and wake the fuck up. I've said it before but you don't seem to get it. If it can happen here it can happen to you.
Question: What will Mitt Romney do about it? What is more important to you: Getting rid of Obamacare or preserving the territorial integrity of the United States of America, California included?
#15
If it's all about the votes then why did guys like John McCain and George Bush do nothing about it? Remember, I've said this before too, California used to be a red state. Remember Richard Nixon? Ronald Reagan? Does anybody remember that far back? Why did the Republicans let the Democrats have the state with more electoral college votes than any other state? Why did they let it go without a fight? Why???
#17
If it's all about the votes then why did guys like John McCain and George Bush do nothing about it?
Because they were classical liberals in the line of Truman-Kennedy, not conservatives at all. Just as the Socialist Left captured the Donk Party, the Liberals captured the Trunk Party. It stop being about the Constitution and about being 'loved*', particularly in the MSM [which has been and remains an arm of the other party]. *see Big Tent[tm].
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:39 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[18 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Eva Green aka Angelique Bouchard in "Dark Shadows (2012)" aka Susan in "Perfect Sense (2011)" aka Vesper Lynd in "Casino Royale (2006)" aka Isabelle in "The Dreamers (2003)" aka Serafina Pekkala in "The Golden Compass (2007)" aka Emilia/Sally in "Franklyn (2008)" aka Miss G in "Cracks (2009)" aka Rebecca in "Womb (2010)" (age 32)
A video uploaded to YouTube this week purports to show captured members of Syrian President Bashar Assads shabiha militia, with their mustaches half-shaven off, chanting Allah bless the Free [Syrian] Army.
The enforced shaving of the ostensible Assad loyalists, a mark of disgrace and humiliation in Arab culture, presumably took place after they were captured by Free Syrian Army forces. Yikes. They won't be able to show their faces in public for a couple of months at least.
It was not clear under what circumstances the pro-regime men were captured, nor could the authenticity of the videos contents be confirmed.
The incident would hardly be the first case of retaliatory humiliation by either side in the Syrian conflict. Numerous videos uploaded to YouTube over the 16-month uprising against Assad have purported to show one side or the other mutilating or defiling the bodies of their opponents. The next shot in this episode will be of three guys with half their pubic hair shaven off running around saying three women from the Syrian Army are running around with the other half of their pubic hair stuck to their face. That should cause aneurisms.
A Syrian general and a number of soldiers defected and crossed into Turkey on Wednesday, the 15th such high-ranking officer to flee the conflict-wracked nation, a Turkish diplomat said.
A total of 66 people fled into Turkey from Syria on Wednesday, including the general and two colonels as well as soldiers and their families, the diplomat told Agence La Belle France Presse on condition of anonymity.
Turkey has become home to dozens of soldiers who have crossed the border. Defectors have formed the Free Syrian Army in opposition to the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes...
Around 35,000 displaced Syrians have sought refuge in Turkey since the start of a bloody uprising in March 2011.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[14 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[Bangla Daily Star] Prime Minister 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... yesterday blasted the World Bank for cancelling its credit agreement with the government to fund the Padma bridge project and said her government must build the bridge even if it had to be with its own money.
Speaking in parliament, she dismissed the World Bank's corruption allegations in the project. She said, "Their [World Bank's] blame is not acceptable at all."
Defending her government's actions taken following the World Bank's allegation, the premier said the moment the minister's involvement in the said corruption would be proved, the minister would be fired.
"All of a sudden the World Bank came up with allegations of corruption. But they could not provide any evidence. How could there be corruption when they had not released even a single penny for the project? "Therefore, I think it should be investigated and revealed who are behind it [cancellation of credit] and what are their objectives behind raising allegations of corruption," the premier said in reply to a question from independent MP Fazlul Azim.
She said she would speak more about it on June 8 during her winding up speech for the ongoing parliament session.
On Monday, Finance Minister AMA Muhith also made a statement in parliament about the issue.
The World Bank on Friday cancelled its funding for the project. It noted that it had "credible evidence corroborated by a variety of sources which points to a high-level corruption conspiracy among Bangladeshi government officials, SNC-Lavalin executives and private individuals in connection with the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project".
Speaking about alternative funding sources for the project, Hasina said that Malaysia had submitted a proposal relating to the construction of the bridge. Her government, she added, would seek proposals from others too.
"Whatever the proposal is, it must be in line with the interest of our country and our people."
She said her government was not taking a loan from Malaysia. "They will construct the bridge with their money under BOOT [Built, Operate, Own and Transfer]. And they will take back their money within a certain period. We will not need to spend a single penny."
Hasina said the bridge could be built by other means as well, including Public Private Partnership.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
[Yemen Post] The defense ministry on Tuesday said the security authorities have nabbed Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! 14 Al-Qaeda suspects including 9 foreigners while planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Yemen.
The nabbed Stick 'em up, Greasy Thumb! , including four Egyptians, two Jordanians, a Somali, a Tunisian and two Caucasians, had planned to attack senior military and civil leaders as well as foreign interests in the country, it said.
"They were working under three terrorist cells and the largest was part of the gunnies who fought the army over the past few months in the south," it added. The ministry, however, did not give names or details about the arrest places and measures.
When the army launched a US-backed offensive against Al-Qaeda thugs, who seized key towns and declared them as Islamic emirates in the south last year, international reports and observers argued the latest developments have already been in favor of militancy in Yemen.
The army said foreigners were among those who were killed, injured and nabbed You have the right to remain silent... during the offensive.
The army drove Al-Qaeda gunnies out of their strongholds 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... and Shabwa and has killed hundreds including big shots.
With support from the US and tribal fighters, the national forces are pursuing gunnies who beat feet from Abyan in nearby provinces, with many so far reported dead and nabbed You have the right to remain silent... in the past few weeks.
Last month, the authorities nabbed You have the right to remain silent... more than a dozen terrorist cells including the one behind the deadly suicide kaboom attack targeting a military parade rehearsal in the capital Sanaa in May.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[18 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia
[Yemen Post] Yemen's Air Force carried several Arclight airstrikes targeting suspected Al-Qaeda positions and forces of Evil 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... province on Wednesday, weeks after the army drive forces of Evil out of this province, local security sources said.
"Four Arclight airstrikes were carried out on suspected places and hideouts to where Al-Qaeda members sought shelter after the offensive which killed hundreds of them including big shots in the past few months," the sources said.
"About twenty forces of Evil were killed and injured amid the ongoing hunt to clear 'every single cut-thoat of Al-Qaeda' from Abyan and nearby provinces," they continued.
In the past few months, the army with direct support from the US and tribal fighters launched an offensive driving Al-Qaeda forces of Evil out of their strongholds, seized last year, including the capital Zinjibar and killing hundreds.
On Tuesday, Arclight airstrikes targeted forces of Evil and their cars in nearby province of Shabwa, where the forces continued to pursue the cut-thoats, who fled Abyan, killing many of them and regaining control of their key stronghold of Azzan.
Separately, the defense ministry said three soldiers and five civilians including two children were killed in a kaboom in the Amain district in the Lawder town of Abyan on Wednesday.
The bomb was believed to be one of the remnants of the war between the army and Al-Qaeda.
Dozens of civilians have been killed in landmine kabooms in the past few weeks when many displaced families started to return to their homes and villages.
The authorities, however, have warned the families not to rush coming back to Zinjibar until all landmines, which were planted by cut-thoats, are completely removed. More recently, the authorities sought help from the GCC countries to remove landmines to return the situation to normal in Abyan, saying the return of the displaced is a top priority.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia
[Al Ahram] Spokesman for Egypt's Islamist president says there are no organised 'morality police' operating in Egypt, vows to 'bring law to bear' against 'moral' vigilantism
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#1
Let's start at ending the gang rape of journalists,shall we?
TRIPOLI: Fresh faces on thousands of campaign posters have flooded the streets of the Libyan capital where the portrait of slain dictator Muammar Qaddafi once reigned supreme.
Campaigning to elect a national assembly opened on June 18 with a modest trickle of posters slapped on walls and pamphlets distributed in coffee-houses. Now massive bill boards dominate the main arteries of the capital.
A tsunami of advertising has washed over Tripoli and other cities, leaving its mark on schools, supermarkets, bridges and highways in a bid to seduce voters ahead of Saturdays election.
The 200-member assembly will lead the the oil-rich nation over a short transition period roughly 12 months if all milestones are met with the main goal of delivering a constitution to govern future elections. The legislative body replaces the ruling National Transitional Council, which took power after a popular uprising toppled Qaddafi last year, and will appoint a new interim government as well as a constituent authority.
Libyans have had only a brief opportunity 18 days to familiarise themselves with party candidates and independents who are vying for 80 and 120 seats, respectively, in the General National Congress.
Posters of party and individual candidates the majority of them newcomers in a budding political scene compete for space and attention on busy street corners. The rich palette of colors that replaced the old regimes uniform green on the streets has infused the Mediterranean capital with all the magic of a summer carnival.
Campaigning closes on Thursday.
The electoral commission deemed 2,501 independents and 1,206 political association candidates eligible to run after vetting. A total of 142 political entities are fielding candidates.
The push to become a household name has seen increasingly larger ads take over public spaces, including residential fronts and phone lines, once the exclusive prerogative of the only master on board, Qaddafi. Reflecting high hopes, more than 2.7 million Libyans, or around 80 percent of the eligible electorate, have registered for the election. But many are still fuzzy on the details of how to vote and havent decided whom to support.
Campaigning and advertising in the run-up to elections have partly helped to close [the] knowledge gap, and the electoral commission has admonished media on several occasions for not playing a larger role in voter education. One channel, Libya Elects, presents candidates and their curriculums in monotonous slide show fashion, in an apparent bid to respect guidelines allocating candidates equal air time.
The electoral commission capped campaign spending at 70,000 Libyan dinars ($55,188/44,000 euros) for independent and 150,000 dinars for party candidates but there are no verification mechanisms in place. Foreign funding is prohibited.
Libyans and their international partners are keen to hold the historic vote, the first national poll after four decades of iron-fisted rule under Qaddafi, who dismissed political parties and elections as a construct of the West.
Despite fierce clashes in the nearby Nafusa mountains and further afield in the desert city of Kufra in the east, the interim authorities have reiterated their commitment to hold the vote on Saturday as promised.
The United Nations Support Mission to Libya has been assisting the electoral commission and the interim authorities to that end. The EU, meanwhile, has already dispatched a team of 21 observers across the country.
Libyans and international observers seem to agree that the first-time vote doesnt have to be perfect and hope that it will unfold peacefully despite threats of boycott and sabotage by some parties in the east.
This vote in many ways is a rehearsal, said one Western diplomat.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
[Al Ahram] British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Wednesday that there could be no political transition in Syria with Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... and urged Russia to stop backing its traditional ally.
His comments came after world powers agreed in Geneva on Saturday on a plan for transition in Syria, which did not make an explicit call for Assad to quit but which the West said made clear there was no role for him in a unity government.
"Russia must understand that the situation in Syria is heading towards collapse," Hague said at a joint news conference in Gay Paree with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius.
"Even if President Assad had a free hand in committing as many crimes, he will not be ble to control the situation in Syria," Hague said.
"There is no point in anyone standing by the Assad regime, this is a failed and doomed regime."
Hague's comments came ahead of a third "Friends of Syria" meeting to be held in Gay Paree on Friday that aims to coordinate Western and Arab efforts to stop 16 months of deadly violence.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday accused some in the West of starting "to distort the agreements that were reached" in Geneva by saying that it left no future role for Assad.
But Hague insisted there was no place for the embattled leader in a transition and that the Geneva accord made that clear to all.
"I think we achieved a step forward... worth having which was the joint statement with Russia and China about the need for a transitional government in Syria which will include members of the opposition and other groups and crucially a government will be formed by mutual consent.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[14 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[Al Ahram] A Yemeni police chief in the capital narrowly escaped an liquidation attempt on Wednesday as explosives planted in his car blew up just minutes after he exited the vehicle, he told AFP.
Saleh al-Mustafa, police chief for Sanaa's western Mathbah neighbourhood, said he suspects Al-Qaeda faceless myrmidons were behind the attack.
"Thank God I wasn't there (in the car) or I would have been a victim just like our colleague," said Mustafa, referring to the liquidation of intelligence officer Mohammed al-Qudami who was killed by a car boom on Monday.
"Of course, this (type of attack) bears the hallmark of Al-Qaeda," he said, adding that the faceless myrmidons were "targeting security officials across the board."
According to Mustafa, Al-Qaeda faceless myrmidons "have a presence" in Sanaa's Mathbah neighbourhood and security forces have "been trailing them ... but they targeted us before we were able to capture them."
On Monday, Qudami was killed when a bomb strapped under the driver's seat of his car went kaboom!.
He died in hospital from wounds sustained in the blast which according to a security official took place "just a few metres from President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi's house" in the capital.
No group has grabbed credit for either bombing, but the defence ministry late Tuesday announced it had made an arrest for Qudami's liquidation.
In a statement on their 26 September website, the ministry said the suspect was cooled for a few years Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! after being found wearing "black glasses mounted with a video camera that filmed the liquidation of the officer."
Last month, Yemeni troops recaptured a string of Al-Qaeda strongholds across the troubled south and east of the country where the faceless myrmidons had seized control last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia
[Al Ahram] The bodies of the two pilots of a Turkish jet that was downed by Syria on June 22 have been recovered at the bottom of the eastern Mediterranean sea, Turkish military announced Wesnesday. "The bodies (of the two pilots) have been recovered in seabed and work is underway to bring them to surface," the general staff said on a statement posted on its website.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[16 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
A US Salvage ship (EV Nautilus)located the bodies.
Several Turkish officials were in the control room so Turkey claimed credit.
Posted by: lord garth ||
07/05/2012 7:26
Comments ||
Top||
#2
OK, because I was really wondering if it was a modified-to-drone looking for their reason.
#3
Salvage ship or deep-sea oil field robot sub diverted/borrowed/side-contracted from the Israeli gas field work? It's not far away and they have to have such available there.
NEW DELHI: Top Indian and Pakistani foreign ministry officials met Wednesday to bolster a fragile peace dialogue undermined by fresh tensions over the 2008 Mumbai attacks and political flux in Pakistan.
New Delhi suspended a four-year peace process with Islamabad after the attacks on India's financial capital by 10 Islamist gunmen that left 166 people dead. The full peace dialogue only resumed in February last year.
A senior Indian government official said Wednesday's meeting between Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai and his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani had the sole aim of keeping the "dialogue process on track."
Both men are the top civil servants in their respective ministries.
The talks' atmosphere has been soured by India's recent arrest of Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari, suspected of being a key handler for the Mumbai attackers who were members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group.
Why would that sour things? The Paks claim they're against terrorist attacks too. Just ask them...
Returning Tuesday from a visit to Tajikistan, Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna said the information extracted from Ansari would have to be corroborated with other sources.
"That is when we will have to make a value judgment whether Pakistan can be trusted or not," Krishna told reporters.
Some of us can answer that one today...
He also said it was a "matter of great regret" that Lashkar founder Hafiz Saeed -- accused of masterminding the 2008 attacks -- was still "moving freely in Pakistan."
Pakistan has indicted seven people for their alleged role in the Mumbai attacks but their trial, which began in 2009, has been beset by delays.
The kind of delays that would make Carla del Ponte proud...
Since resuming their dialogue, they have sought to make progress on less contentious issues like bilateral trade, and have agreed to enhance cooperation on terrorism, human trafficking, narcotics and cyber crime. But analysts say the recent political upheaval in Pakistan has drained some of the momentum from the process.
The foreign secretaries' meeting was to have taken place at the end of last month, but was postponed in the uncertainty that followed the Pakistani Supreme Court's dismissal of Yousuf Raza Gilani as prime minister.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
They just got their way with the USA why not India..
Should have terminated the whole place after 911.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
07/05/2012 2:10
Comments ||
Top||
Baghdad: A car bombing at a market in central Iraq killed eight people on Wednesday and three others were assassinated in Baghdad, the latest in a spike in nationwide unrest ahead of Shiite rituals.
The violence struck a day after a series of attacks across Iraq killed 38 amid preparations for ceremonies on Friday to commemorate the birth of a key figure in Shiite Islam.
In Wednesdays deadliest attack, a car bombing in the town of Zubaidiyah at 9:15 a.m. (0615 GMT) killed eight people and wounded 22 others, a security official and a medic at a hospital in nearby Aziziyah said. The medical official said a child was among the dead, and women and children were among the wounded.
In Baghdad, a series of morning assassinations with silenced pistols left three people dead two police officers and a parliament official. In one shooting, a policewoman was killed by gunshots to the head in the east of the capital, an interior ministry official and a medic at Al-Kindi hospital said.
In west Baghdad, an off-duty police first lieutenant, who was wearing civilian clothes, was killed, the interior ministry official and a doctor at Yarmuk hospital said. And an employee working at Iraqs parliament was gunned down in the north of the capital, the interior ministry official and a medic at Medical City hospital said.
A spate of violence across Iraq on Tuesday killed 38 people, including 26 who died when a truck packed with explosives detonated in a market in the central city of Diwaniyah.
The unrest comes just days before the culmination of Shiite commemorations to mark the birth of a central figure known as the 12th imam, with pilgrims who visit the shrine city of Karbala frequent targets of Sunni insurgents.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
[An Nahar] Protesters from northern Mali demonstrated in the capital Wednesday against Islamists who have enforced strict sharia law, destroyed ancient shrines and trapped residents with landmines.
Some 2,000 people braved pouring rain to join the sit-in protest at Banako's Independence Square monument, chanting: "We want weapons to liberate the north."
"If the army doesn't want to go to war, then give us the means to liberate our territory!" said Oumar Maiga, leader of a northern citizens' collective.
Tuareg politician Nock Ag Attia said the tribes present in the north -- the Tuareg, Fulani, Songhai -- did not "share the foolishness" of the Tuareg rebels and al-Qaeda-linked Islamists.
The protest came as the international community mulled ways to help Mali's embattled interim government save its vast desert north, a territory larger than La Belle France or Texas, from the armed Islamists.
The presence of the rebel Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith), which is openly allied with Al-Qaeda's north African franchise, has sparked concern that the region may become a new haven for terrorism.
Mali is being ruled by a 12-month interim government set up after a March 22 coup and which has proved powerless to deal with the partition of the country since the Islamists and Tuareg rebels captured key northern cities.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will hold a mini-summit in Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and may be in the process of being chased out now... Saturday to discuss the formation of a unity government that could request military intervention from its neighbors.
Mali's interim president Dioncounda Traore, who has not returned to his country since being attacked in his office in May, will travel from La Belle France to attend the summit, Burkinabe Foreign Minister Djibrill Bassole told Agence La Belle France Presse.
The 70-year-old Traore was attacked by a mob opposed to him taking over from the junta inside his office on May 21.
Mali has continued its descent into chaos since then and is de facto split in two, with Islamist groups linked to al-Qaeda controlling the north.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Wednesday denounced an "accumulation of horrors" in rebel-held northern Mali, saying women were raped, men beheaded and ancient treasures destroyed.
He repeated earlier comments that he was "confident" the U.N. Security Council would soon pass a resolution authorizing the force to assist Mali win back its territory.
"The aim is firstly to re-establish constitutional order in the south and to ensure and affirm Mali's integrity," Fabius said. Following that, the goal would be "to regain lost territory."
The former colonial power's Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said La Belle France is determined to prevent the setting up of "international terror bases that threaten the peace and prosperity of the whole region and our security too."
ECOWAS says it has 3,300 troops ready to deploy in Mali.
The ramped up diplomatic efforts came after Islamists in the fabled city of Timbuktu set about wrecking U.N. world heritage-listed ancient shrines, which they consider idolatrous.
Ansar Dine has already enforced strict sharia law in Timbuktu in recent months, as well as in other key cities, and at the weekend began their rampage against the tombs they consider "haram", or forbidden.
They smashed seven tombs of ancient Moslem saints as well as the "sacred door" to a 15th century mosque.
And in the key northern city of Gao, Ansar Dine's al-Qaeda allies have planted landmines around the city to prevent a counter-offensive by the Tuareg fighters they violently expelled last week.
The Tuareg -- descendants of those who founded Timbuktu in the 5th century -- spearheaded the initial takeover of the north as part of a decades-old rebellion to reclaim what they consider to be their homeland.
However, a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth... the previously unknown Ansar Dine, who had been fighting on their flanks, swiftly took the upper hand and pushed the Tuareg rebels from all positions of power, most recently in bloody festivities in Gao.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Ansar Dine
#1
Hmm, we intervened in Afghanistan to reverse an Islamist coup d'etat, we intervened in Libya to create one, and we'll never go into Mali to stop one.
Posted by: American Delight ||
07/05/2012 6:18
Comments ||
Top||
The impending release of a highly critical report by the State Department's Inspector General's office prompted the sudden resignation Friday of U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Scott Gration, according to administration and congressional sources. The report was described to The Cable by multiple people briefed on its contents as one of the worst reviews of an ambassador's performance written by the IG's staff in several years. The bulk of the criticisms focused on Gration's terrible relationship with embassy staff since he took over as ambassador in February 2011 following a controversial two-year stint as President Barack Obama's special envoy for Sudan. The report is complete, but Gration still has the opportunity to write a formal response before the report is publicly released.
Gration, a retired Air Force general, was always a contentious figure inside the Obama administration. After becoming one of the first senior military figures to openly support and actively campaign for Obama in 2007, he was embraced by the team that would eventually form the president's closest national security inner circle. As Sudan envoy, he took a stance widely seen among activists as too solicitous to the Khartoum regime, focusing more on incentives than pressures -- or, as he infelicitously once described them, "cookies" and "gold stars." By mid-2010, Gration's relationships with various groups working on Sudan had also deteriorated, and by late in the year, Gration was lobbying internally to be appointed to the Kenya post, arguing that his years of ties to that country would serve him well. Following the reasonably successful January 2011 referendum that ratified Sudan's split into two countries, Gration got his wish.
But Gration's independent streak and insistence on doing things his own way, outside of the interagency policy process, ran afoul of the embassy staff in Nairobi almost immediately. Multiple sources familiar with the disputes confirmed reports Friday that Gration preferred to use his Gmail account for official business and set up private offices in his residence -- and an embassy bathroom -- to conduct business outside the purview of the embassy staff. Gration often bragged about his close ties to the White House and to the president himself, although the White House stopped returning his phone calls after the IG's investigation results became known inside the administration. Gration was twice disciplined by the State Department for making public statements that did not comport with administration policy, although the exact details of those statements is unclear.
For the community in Washington that follows U.S.-Kenya relations, the focus going forward should be on finding a new envoy who can hit the ground running, as Kenya's political system faces severe risks in the wake of an explosion of ethnic and tribal violence following the December 2007 election. Kenya is also in the front lines of the battle to stabilize Somalia, as the Kenyan military's campaign to oust that country's al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militants from their southern stronghold has been met with fierce resistance and threats of terrorist retaliation.
"In light of the potential for violence in Kenya during the run-up to the 2013 national elections, and the challenges of sustaining full implementation of constitutional reform, we urge President Obama to immediately nominate a senior individual with deep conflict prevention expertise to replace Ambassador Scott Gration," read a statement Friday by the Kenya Working Group, a team of experts organized by the Center for Strategic Studies and the Center for American Progress. "The President's nominee should understand Kenya's complex history and the current political landscape - as well as that of the surrounding region. Given the crucial but delicate transition underway in Kenya, the nominee must also understand the critical role the U.S. government can play supporting Kenyan efforts to realize a successful democratic transition, and have the ability to work productively with all U.S. agencies and key international partners present in Kenya."
[Dawn] A Pak police official says thousands of people beat a man to death, and burned his corpse after he was accused of desecrating the holy Koran.
A senior police officer Mohammed Azhar Gujar said that in the incident on Tuesday in the Ahmedpur East area of Punjab's Bahawalpur district, attackers stormed a cop shoppe where the man was being interrogated.
He said the victim seemed to be mentally unstable. He was placed in long-term storage Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! after residents said he threw pages of the Koran into the street.
While the man was being questioned, some people started making announcements over mosque loudspeakers, urging residents to go to the cop shoppe and punish him.
Within hours, thousands gathered outside and demanded the man be handed over to them. Gujar said police tried to protect him, but the mob turned violent.
They burned several police vehicles and maimed seven officers before grabbing the man and dragging him into the street, where he was beaten to death and his body set on fire.
Gujar said the mob also attacked the house of an area police chief and burned his furniture and possessions.
It was unclear whether the man was Mohammedan, a member of Pakistain's Christian minority or belonged to another religion. His name was not released.
Pak Christians live in fear of being placed in long-term storage Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! under the blasphemy laws, which critics say are often misused to settle personal scores or family feuds.
Efforts to change the laws have made little headway. Last year, two prominent Pak political figures who spoke out against the blasphemy laws were killed in attacks that raised concerns about the rise of religious extremism in Pakistain.
On June 17, a crowd attempted to lynch a blasphemy suspect as they tried to storm into the cop shoppe where he was held. A group of lawyers attempted to attack the same suspect the next day following his production in court but coppers successfully foiled both attacks.
In Quetta last month, a man was killed as a mob attacked a cop shoppe holding a "mentally retarded" man also suspected of desecrating the holy book.
Former Punjab governor Salman Taseer was rubbed out in January last year by one of his police bodyguards for opposing the blasphemy law.
The incident highlighted the highly charged nature of the country's blasphemy laws, under which anyone found guilty of insulting the prophet or the Koran can be sentenced to death. Sometimes, however, people take the matter into their own hands.
During a visit to Pakistain in May, Gabriela Knaul, the UN's Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, said lawyers are often reluctant to defend clients accused under the blasphemy laws because of intimidation, and judges are often pressured to convict.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[13 views]
Top|| File under:
[Saudi Gazette] The chief UN observer in Syria Wednesday criticized the international community for talking too much in luxurious settings, and doing too little on the ground to stop the horrific violence.
"There is this feeling that it's too much talk in nice hotels, in nice meetings and too little action to move forward and stop the violence," Maj. Gen. Robert Mood told news hounds here.
The 300-strong UN Supervision Mission in Syria was suspended in mid-June because of intense violence across the country.
"The urgency of stopping the violence is maybe the most important issue for everyone involved" in the conflict, Mood said.
Maj. Gen. Mood returned to Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... from Geneva, after a meeting where world powers agreed on a plan for a transition in Syria, which did not make an explicit call for Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... to quit power.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[17 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#4
hey guys ... pizza delivery from Assad Express. Now who wants pepperoni??? man that killin' outside is awful, ain't it? glad we've got security guards.
[Dawn] Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Wednesday that reopening of supply route to the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... forces in Afghanistan was not a question of victory or defeat but the issue of our principled stance on Salala attack which has been accepted by the United States.
Replying to questions of media representatives during a briefing after the cabinet meeting here, the minister said that our stance was that Pakistain being a frontline state had suffered the most and thousands of its soldiers and citizens bit the dust in this war.
"Our demand was that NATO should accept their mistake and should tender apology which has been accepted", he said.
Kaira said that the United States has also changed its stated position and tendered apology over Salala incident and the unfortunate situation has been rectified now, which is in the interest of Pakistain, Afghanistan, NATO and International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF).
He said that Pakistain has reiterated it stance on drone attacks and has been assured that in future Pakistain's illusory sovereignty will be respected.
To a question he said that the government took guidelines from the Parliament on its foreign policy and time of six to eight months on restoration of supply to NATO was logical.
Replying to a question, Kaira said that the government was taking decisions in larger national interests and it was aware that elections will be due soon and some people will try to get advantage of the opening of NATO supplies to Afghanistan.
"But we believe that the people of Pakistain are mature and no one can instigate them. Pakistain has to play its role in withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan, and it will be in the interest of both Pakistain and Afghanistan," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[14 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Al Ahram] Nigeria's capital was on alert Wednesday after an kaboom went off outside a popular shopping centre, in the latest attack likely to be blamed on 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... Islamists.
The first kaboom happened at roughly 9:00 pm at a shopping plaza in the city's Wuse II district, front man for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Yushau A. Shuaib, said in a statement.
Rescue workers then rushed to the scene and cordoned off the area, where a unwent kaboom! bomb was later discovered, an official said.
"When we were trying to find out what is happening, the anti-bomb squad discovered another one. They just detonated it," the head of NEMA's Abuja office, Ishaya Chonoko, told journalists at the scene.
"The good thing is that there was no report of human casualty," he added.
The area was swarming with rescue workers overnight, as security forces kept journalists hundreds of metres (yards) away.
When the cordon had been cleared early Wednesday, an AFP news hound saw that the windows of shops adjacent to the Banex Plaza shopping mall had been shattered, but the main centre had not evidently been affected.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Boko Haram
President Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday warned North Korea on Tuesday against further provocations, saying that China is under increasing pressure from the international community to stop supporting Pyongyang's bellicose behavior.
China "is taking steps to promote stability and balance in Northeast Asia," Lee told an advisory group of prominent figures, according to presidential spokesman Park Jeong-ha. "We are making it clear that we will respond to whatever provocations North Korea makes several times over," Lee said. "We also asked China to relay this position to North Korea."
The comments came a week after the 10th anniversary of a naval skirmish with North Korea that left six South Korean sailors dead.
China has often effectively sided with North Korea after provocations like the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan and shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, urging dialogue rather than implementing sanctions against Pyongyang. But senior Chinese figures have recently indicated that Beijing's patience with the North is running out.
A high-ranking government source speculated that Lee has confirmed this change in China's position in talks with top leaders including Premier Wen Jiabao.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Believe it when the Chinese start massing troops on the border. Otherwise, just an attempt to claim plausible deniability.
The United States government has assured its citizens that, much like zombies, mermaids probably do not exist, saying in an official post: "No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found." Leprechauns, on the other hand...
"Mermaids -- those half-human, half-fish sirens of the sea -- are legendary sea creatures," read the online statement from the National Ocean Service (NOS).
The agency, charged with responding to natural hazards, received letters inquiring about the existence of the sea maidens after the Discovery Channel's Animal Planet network broadcast "Mermaids: The Body Found" in May.
The show "paints a wildly convincing picture of the existence of mermaids, what they may look like, and why they've stayed hidden... until now," a Discovery Channel blurb says.
Conversely, the US government declaration offered no conclusive proof to deny the existence of mermaids.
The statement comes after another government agency, this time the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), declared there was no conclusive evidence for the existence of zombies. The CDC had published instructional materials on how to survive a "zombie apocalypse," in what the agency now calls "a tongue in cheek campaign to engage new audiences with messages of preparedness messages."
The campaign was followed by a series of cannibalistic attacks in North America.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under:
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Eighty-three people have been tossed in the slammer Drop the rosco and step away witcher hands up! in a massive security swoop launched after Sunday's twin attacks in Garissa churches.
Garissa district commissioner M.M. Kangi said a combined team of the Kenya Police, Administration Police, National Security Intelligence Service and the paramilitary General Service Unit was conducting an "intensified operation to step up intelligence gathering, flush out Al-Shabaab ... the successor to the Islamic Courts... sympathisers and foil other potential terrorist plans".
As the crackdown continued, the multinational nature of the operation to combat terrorism in the region became apparent.
The Israeli intelligence service cooperated with their Kenyan counterparts in unmasking Iranian suspects and foiling planned attacks in Nairobi and Mombasa.
According to multiple sources, Kenyan security agents tossed in the slammer Drop the rosco and step away witcher hands up! two Iranians and circulated their photographs to Israeli, American, British and French intelligence services.
Mossad, the Israeli security service, returned a positive identification of the two, who have been arraigned in court for possessing explosives.
In Garissa, the massive security operation is unprecedented.
An unofficial curfew is in force and the town is in a state of virtual lockdown at sunset. Hundreds of coppers are on patrol in the town.
Reacting to claims made by Radio Andalus
...What we in the English-speaking world might refer to as Radio Free Spain, were we so silly as to think that appropriate for a local African station...
-- Al-Shabaab's propaganda station in Kismayu -- that the bully boy group was behind the church massacre, Mr Kangi said Kenya had suspected this all along.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
A military intelligence-sharing pact being pursued by Korea and Japan is a threat to China and must be stopped, an editorial in China's official Global Times said Tuesday. Which makes the pact an even better idea...
Headlined "South Korea Must Stick to Role of Balancer," the editorial said, "The military deal, if signed, could turn the U.S.-Japan and U.S.-South Korea alliances into a triangular one." It warned, "Signing the pact would hurt South Korea's relations with China, and this is a geopolitical role South Korea may not be willing to play."
The Global Times said strengthened military ties between Seoul and Tokyo would pose a potential threat to China and urged Beijing to take steps to pressure Korea to scrap the agreement.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
[An Nahar] Syria's Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... accused Turkey in an interview published Wednesday of giving logistical backing to Syrian "terrorists" and told Ankara to stop meddling in his country's affairs.
"Turkey's desire to interfere in Syria's internal affairs has put it in a position which unfortunately makes it a party to all the bloody activities" in Syria, he told the daily Cumhuriyet in an interview published Wednesday, the first part of which it published a day ago.
"Turkey has supplied all logistic support to the Death Eaters who have killed our people," said Assad, who has been waging a bloody crackdown since a popular uprising broke out in March last year.
More than 16,500 people, mostly civilians have been killed in the violence and Turkey, once a strong ally in the region, has severed ties with Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... and welcomed to its territory more than 35,000 Syrian refugees.
The uprising has increasingly turned into an armed conflict between the army and dissident soldiers who have notably joined the Free Syrian Army.
That force is being commanded from Turkey by Colonel Riad Assaad, who fled there with a large number of deserters.
Turkey has repeatedly denied that it allows attacks in Syria to be launched from its territory and insists it is not giving any support to the Free Syrian Army as alleged by Syria and reports in the foreign media.
The Syrian president further accused Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being motivated by "sectarian instincts."
Turkey, which shares a long border with Syria, is majority Sunni Moslem, like most Syrians, while the government in Damascus, the army and the ruling party are chiefly members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
In the first part of the interview with Cumhuriyet, Assad said he regretted that his country's defense forces shot down a Turkish fighter jet on June 22, but still insisted the plane was in Syrian airspace.
"I would have wished 100 percent that we had not attacked it," he said two weeks after the F-4 Phantom jet on a training mission was shot at and crashed into the Mediterranean off Syria.
But he said the plane was flying at low altitude and in an air corridor used in the past by the Israeli planes to attack Syria.
He also insisted the plane was in Syrian airspace, and not international airspace as maintained by Ankara.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[15 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[Dawn] Random and targeted armed attacks on Tuesday claimed the lives of four more people, including a policeman and two senior Pakistain People's Party workers, mostly in the city's district west as peace remains a distant dream for 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... ites amid unrelenting violence, said officials and party sources.
While police Sherlocks in each case believed that the victim's political and professional association cost them their lives, the deadly attacks sparked fear in densely-populated neighbourhoods where daily life came to a complete standstill with closure of shops and public transport remaining off the road.
Among the few volatile areas, Orangi Town again emerged as a hotspot where two people, including a senior PPP worker, were killed in a morning attack followed by firing incidents in the area.
Armed men riding a cycle of violence pulled up at a bakery in Sector 14 near Disco Morr and opened fire on the PPP worker, who had come there to buy breakfast, and the salesman. The attackers fled, leaving the two people dead.
"The dear departed were later identified as 37-year-old Shaheen Ahmad aka Shaheen Bihari and 55-year-old Mohammad Haroon," said an official at the Pakistain Bazaar cop shoppe.
He said it seemed that PPP worker Shaheen was the real target of attackers and bakery worker Haroon fell prey to intense firing.
The killings followed by random gunfire sparked panic and fear in the commercial area, as traders pulled down shutters and traffic on roads gradually turned thin. Sector 10, 11, 11 ½, 13, 14 and 16 wore a deserted look. While passing through the area, an auto-rickshaw driver sustained gunshot wounds in Sector 14-A near Fauji Hotel.
"He most probably came under fire that triggered after PPP worker's killing," said the official, adding that he was admitted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where his condition was said to be critical. The victim remains unidentified.
As the PPP leaders and workers were gathering outside Shaheen Ahmad's home to offer their condolences, another senior party worker was killed in a targeted attack in the neighbouring Site Town.
"Armed men attacked 39-year-old Shakil Awan minutes after he left home in Qaimkhani Colony in Baldia Town," said an official at the Mochko cop shoppe. "He sustained three gunshot wounds and was struck down in his prime. He was a resident of the same area and most probably going to Orangi Town to offer condolences on fellow worker's killing."
A large number of PPP activists then gathered in Orangi and Baldia towns, chanting slogans against 'frequent' killings of party workers.
Father of five, Mr Awan was district west PPP youth wing president and Shaheen Ahmad was active party worker of Orangi Town's PS-94 constituency under the PPP's organizational structure. He was married and father of three.Rana Gulzar Taj, an area leader of the PPP who escaped an attack on his life in April, described the fresh incidents as "part of a conspiracy against the party to weaken its roots in one of its strongholds".
"At a time when the PPP leadership both at the province and national level is making efforts to establish peace in Bloody Karachi, myrmidons are targeting PPP workers just to provoke the ruling party and exploit the volatile situation," he said.
A young man was rubbed out in Muscati Muhallah of Orangi Town on Tuesday evening, police said.
They said that armed riders targeted 22-year-old Aman Baloch in the Faqeer Colony area within the remit of the Mominabad cop shoppe.
"The victim was a resident of Orangi Town and had come here to see a friend. The motive for murder is not yet clear," said an official at the Mominabad cop shoppe.
In another armed attack said to be linked with the recent killings of coppers, a head constable was bumped off in Nazimabad No 2.
Officials said 45-year-old Gulzar Ahmad Alvi was going to a bus stop to get a bus to his workplace as a matter of his routine when he was targeted.
"Two men riding a motorbike fired at him and sped away," said DSP Shahid Abbas, the area's sub-divisional police officer.
"The victim was posted in the security zone of the city police and going to his office situated near Hasan Square," he said.
The officer added that head constable Alvi was a resident of a Gulbahar locality. He said the killing could be linked to his being a policeman.
Fifty personnel and officers of the Sindh police are reported to have bit the dust during the first six months of the current year.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[13 views]
Top|| File under:
[An Nahar] Libyans vote on Saturday for a constituent assembly, the first body elected since the ouster of dictator Muammar Qadaffy ... one of those little rainstorms from the Arab Spring... , tasked with steering the country through its critical transition.
"All fundamental questions have to be decided by this elected group of 200 people," Sami Zaptia, managing editor of Libya Herald, told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"It is very important. You don't write a constitution every day," he added.
To be chosen is the General National Congress, which will appoint a new interim government and a panel to draft a new constitution for the oil-rich North African nation.
Once the assembly holds its first session, the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC), which has run Libya since Qadaffy's ouster and death last year, must step down.
Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, head of a European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... observer mission, said the vote, which was postponed from June 19 for technical reasons, marks a historic opportunity.
"This election is the first opportunity for Libyans to choose their representatives in national polls after decades," he said.
"It marks a historic step for the country and its people. Given the vital role the General National Congress has in appointing the body to draft the constitution ... the election is crucial."
Libya has not seen elections since the era of late monarch King Idris, whom Qadaffy deposed in a bloodless coup in 1969, making this vote a new experience for many in a country with a mostly young population.
More than 2.7 million people, or around 80 percent of the eligible electorate, has registered to take part in the landmark poll.
More than 4,000 people sought to run as candidates. But the electoral commission only approved 2,501 independents and 1,206 party candidates after an intensive vetting process designed to keep out former regime remnants.
And dozens of political associations, the majority of them listing democracy and a respect for Islamic law as core values, have emerged in the Mohammedan country where parties were long banned as a construct of the West.
A total of 120 seats are reserved for independents, with the remaining 80 open to political entities. But some parties are said also to be fielding individual candidates in the hope of bagging more seats.
"Some political parties have joined forces with independent candidates in order to beef up their possible representation in the national assembly," said Claudia Gazzini, Libya analyst at the International Crisis Group.
But the outcome of the vote, she said, is likely to reflect local interests more than fixed ideologies, since the majority of seats are going to independent candidates pandering to the sensibilities of small districts.
The country has been divided into 72 constituencies. In some, voters will cast a vote for both party and individual candidates; in others, they will only have a choice of one or the other.
There are 629 women running. They are well represented on party lists, which alternate male and female candidates, but make up only 3.4 percent of the individual candidates.
Out of the 142 political entities in the mix, it is impossible to predict which ones will fare well, although some have been more visible than others in the 18-day campaign that ends on Thursday.
"The problem is that there is no track record or history of what they have done in the past so Libyans have had to acquaint themselves with them from zero. The vast majority are quite confused," Zaptia pointed out.
Many people, lacking familiarity with the democratic process and not always knowing who stands exactly for what, will ultimately vote for whom they recognize and trust, he said.
From the parties, the coalition of ex-war time prime minister Mahmud Jibril is seen as a key contender among liberals, facing stiff competition from two Islamist parties -- Justice and Development and Al-Wattan.
The make-up of the congress has been a matter of heated debates in the run-up to the vote, with political factions such as the federalist movement in the east and other such voices in the south calling for more seats.
The NTC says the distribution of seats in the assembly was determined according to regional and demographic considerations, with 100 seats going to the west, 60 to the east and 40 to the south.
But parties in the east want an equal split of the assembly's seats and have threatened to boycott and sabotage the process if their demands are not met. They've targeted polling centers in recent days.
Once appointed, the panel has 120 days to draft the national charter, which will require a two-thirds plus one vote to pass in the assembly, before being put to voters in a national referendum.
Some of the key issues to be determined by the constitution are the form of governance, the weight of Islam in state and society, the role of women and the rights of minorities.
After the constitution is approved, the assembly will have 30 days to issue a new election law, with elections for a government to be held 180 days after that, according to the NTC's constitutional declaration
If these benchmarks are met, the new authorities will be in power for a period of roughly 12 months, a short window of opportunity to draft a constitution and tackle key issues such as disarming militias and reviving the judiciary.
"They are going to be there for a short period. If they can keep the nation together, it should go smoothly," said Zaptia.
At stake, Gazzini says, is the "peaceful transition of Libya."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[15 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
So nice that they are acting on their principles. No doubt the result will be exactly what those principles deserve.
[Saudi Gazette] A Swedish immigration official says a former Egyptian terror suspect who had once been handed over to the CIA and brought to Egypt has been granted permanent residency in the Scandinavian country.
Acting Migration Board General Director Mikael Ribbenvik says the decision to grant Ahmed Agiza residency was made Wednesday.
Agiza and fellow Egyptian Muhammed Alzery were handed over to U.S. agents at Bromma Airport in Stockholm and taken to Egypt in 2001. Their capture was part of a much-criticized program during the Bush administration, which flew alleged faceless myrmidons to countries that allowed harsh interrogation techniques.
Alzery was released in 2003 while Agiza was freed last year. Agiza is currently in Egypt and has been informed of the decision.
This article starring:
Ahmed Agiza
Muhammed Alzery
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
[Dawn] "THE state is being run to the ground at the moment, and people are again running to the military to save the country. Should we save the country and do something unconstitutional, or uphold the constitution of the country and let the state go down?"
It is perhaps fortuitous that these deathless words were uttered last Saturday not by an incumbent general but by Pakistain's most recent coup-maker. It would have been more satisfying to say 'last' instead of 'most recent', but who can be entirely confident on that score?
Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... was speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival, where he also reiterated for the umpteenth time his resolve to return to the country whose fortunes he presided over for nearly a decade without a credible mandate.
His evident advocacy of a military takeover can hardly be expected to enhance his stature as a potential political player in a country that has declared him a proclaimed offender and asked Interpol to take him into custody.
That, too, is a political manoeuvre, and there's no evidence Interpol has taken it seriously. (It's perfectly possible the Swiss authorities would be equally dismissive of a missive from any given Pak prime minister.)
In Musharraf's quest for political intercession, his main problem is not the potential charges against him but the fact that the All-Pakistain Moslem League he founded a couple of years ago boasts little more than a disembodied head.
Musharraf's primary constituency -- certainly the only one that really mattered -- during his years in power was the army. The breakaway faction of the Pakistain Moslem League (PML-Q) that he nurtured disowned him long ago and now shares power (or at least office) with the PPP.
The retired general may not realise it, but his sporadic threats to return to Pakistain echo those of Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... -- who divided her time between London and Dubai, much as Musharraf does, and finally returned home only after he facilitated it under western pressure. With tragic consequences. And now there's a warrant out for him in connection with her liquidation.
Musharraf's chances of a political resurrection have anyhow been minimal, but his apparent support for a military should, in the public eye, completely disqualify him as a contender.
It may be entirely coincidental that Musharraf's wishful thinking about doing "something unconstitutional" to "save the country" came on the eve of the anniversary of Pakistain's darkest moment in this context: it was 35 years ago tomorrow that Gen Ziaul Haq violated the constitution by seizing power from an elected government. His stated intention, too, was to 'save the country'; he almost destroyed it instead. He certainly succeeded in ruining it for more than a generation.
The preponderance of faith-based initiatives, all too many of them wedded to violence, are but one of the Zia regime's odious legacies. It isn't one that Musharraf sought to reinforce, although the fact that Zia's undistinguished son was catapulted into the post of religious affairs minister suggests he felt obliged to appease some retrograde section of his military constituency. More generally, he was in many ways a considerably less unreasonable and more polished military dictator than his crude predecessor in the post.
His enlightenment did not, however, extend far enough for him to realise that there is really no scope for khaki-clad saviours in national politics.
It is true that varying proportions of the populace, including some political parties, have invariably greeted the advent of military rule with glee. Quite a few took Ayub Khan at his word when he declared he had assumed power, forestalling the first national elections, because the politicians were making a mess of things. One of his subsequent justifications for dictatorial rule was the novel claim that Pakistain's climate rendered it unsuitable for democracy.
Zia's 1977 coup followed months of rioting and state-sponsored retaliatory violence. It's pertinent to recall, though, that it came after the agitation had more or less petered out and an agreement had been reached in negotiations between Zulfikar Ali Bhutto ...9th PM of Pakistain from 1973 to 1977, and 4th President of Pakistain from 1971 to 1973. He was the founder of the Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP). His eldest daughter, Benazir Bhutto, would also serve as hereditary PM. In a coup led by General Zia-ul-Haq, Bhutto was removed from office and was executed in 1979 for authorizing the murder of a political opponent... 's government and the multi-party opposition. Zia initially acknowledged that the PPP would have won that year's elections even if there had been no rigging, and promised fresh polls within 90 days.
Less than two years later, Pakistain's first democratically elected prime minister had been consigned to his grave; the resurgence in his popularity following his overthrow had transmogrified him into a candidate for elimination.
Ironically, some of those who found cause for rejoicing in this profound travesty of justice today share common cause -- and power -- with those who rely on Z.A. Bhutto's 'martyrdom', as well as that of his elder daughter, as a source of political legitimacy.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wrecked scow, a single surviver held tightly to the smashed prow... those who periodically paid tribute to Zia -- notably Mian Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... and his cohorts -- seem to have suspended their public displays of devotion to the vilest of Pak tyrants.
Many of those who ought to have known better found cause for jubilation in Musharraf's 1999 cockpit coup. There were reasons aplenty to detest Nawaz Sharif's second government, but it ought to have been reasonably clear that the re-establishment of military rule was hardly likely to serve as a solution.
Much the same holds true today. The quality of governance is appalling, but elections are due within less than a year. It is perfectly possible that another incompetent administration will thereafter be sworn in. But what is the alternative? Pakistain's nearly 65 years of existence have been marred by around 33 years of military rule. Had that been a viable path to progress, it would have manifested itself as such long ago.
The democratic process, whatever its shortcomings -- and there are many -- at least holds out the prospect of meaningful change. That may seem like an audacious claim, given a narrow spectrum that stretches from Asif Ali Zardari to Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree... , but there is at least the prospect of other forces arising in due course to challenge, and perhaps ultimately transform, the untenable status quo.
A sine qua non of a sustainable Pakistain is the military's relegation to the subservient role it plays in most democracies. Musharraf's contrary inclinations ought not to debar him from the political process; the lessons he refuses to learn may become unavoidable were he to end up with the lowest tally of votes in a proper electoral contest.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[13 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[An Nahar] Syrian troops pounded several districts of the central city of Homs on Wednesday and clashed with rebels as at least 48 people were killed in violence across the country, activists and a watchdog said.
Regime forces killed 12 people in Daraa, nine in the countryside around Damascus ...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat... , eight in Idlib, seven 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 Deir Ezzor, three in Homs, two in Damscus, one in Latakia and one in Hama, the opposition Local Coordination Committees reported.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said regime troops rained shells on the besieged, rebel-held district of Khaldiyeh in Homs, killing two civilians and wounding seven others.
It said living conditions in Khaldiyeh were deteriorating.
Other areas of Homs also saw fierce violence, as regime forces pounded the districts of Sultaniyeh and Jobar, where families trapped by the fighting "are like the living dead," an activist from the central city told Agence La Belle France Presse via Skype.
"Regime forces shell the Sultaniyeh and Jobar districts daily," said the activist, who identified himself as Abu Bakr.
"Life is down to a bare minimum," in the impoverished neighborhoods of Sultaniyeh and Jobar and the districts have been without electrical power for days, said Abu Bakr.
Most of the residents have fled but "families that remain here are like the living dead," he added.
"Usually you have four or five families huddling in a ground-floor apartment ready to flee when the shelling starts," he said.
Rebels and troops also clashed on Wednesday around the neighborhood of Baba Amr -- once a rebel held district which was reclaimed by the Syrian army in March after a month-long campaign of relentless shelling, Abu Bakr said.
"Free Syrian Army battalions are fighting regime troops every day around Baba Amr, trying to retake the district," he said.
Syrian troops and rebels also clashed at dawn at Jaramana, a suburb south of the capital, Damascus, the Britannia-based Observatory reported.
The fighting erupted near a branch of the feared air force intelligence service, the watchdog said.
Elsewhere, six non-combatants were killed in the northwestern province of Idlib, including four who were ambushed and killed by soldiers in the village of Maaret al-Numan, the site of frequent violence, the Observatory added.
Of those killed on Wednesday, four were rebels and the rest civilians, the Observatory said.
The latest deaths came a day after violence killed 69 people -- 36 civilians, 25 troops and eight rebels, the Observatory said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[13 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
SEOUL, July 4 -- North Korean leader Fat Boy Kim Jong-un is unlikely to face any challenges to his power as there is no alternative to him in a country that has built a personality cult around his family, a presidential advisory body on unification said Wednesday.
Hosni thought the same thing...
"In a short-term perspective, it is believed that there will be no factor that could challenge for Kim Jong-un's succession to power," the National Unification Advisory Council said in a recent report to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
The advisory body made the assessment on grounds that North Korea has been ruled by Kim's family since its foundation in 1948 and that China supports the new leader, believed to be in his late 20s.
Qadaffi thought he was starting a dynasty too...
China's endorsement is widely seen crucial in keeping the Kim family dynasty as the impoverished North has long relied on diplomatic support and economic aid from its key ally.
Still, the advisory body cautioned that there could be friction among officials over a power reshuffle and distribution of resources in the future. It also said there could be a policy dispute over whether to keep the country's military-first, or "songun," policy.
Generals always want the military put first. Look how well that turned out for the Argentine generals...
Kim's late father championed the songun policy and channeled the country's scarce resources to the military, which had served as a key backbone of his totalitarian rule.
Suet Face Kim Jong-un has also made a series of inspection trips to military units in an apparent move to bolster his support from the military. Top North Korean military officials have repeatedly pledged loyalty to their new supreme commander.
Just like the Turkish generals did. See where it got them...
The council said Kim Jong-un appears likely to maintain the status quo in the country's domestic and foreign policy as he has vowed to uphold his father's dying wish.
Of course Kimmie's dead now so Pudgy can do as he likes...
It also said it is difficult to expect any change in the North's economic policy in a short period of time, despite Kim's reported comment on capitalistic economic reform.
Since the people are happy...
In December, North Korea said that "the South Korean puppets and foolish politicians around the world should not expect any change" from North Korea.
Separately, the council said that the North may fire a missile or conduct a third nuclear test to try to boost its bargaining leverage in preparations for possible talks with the United States after the U.S. presidential election in November. Many analysts had speculated that the North, which carried out two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, may conduct a third nuclear test to compensate for its botched rocket launch.
So that they can have a botched nuke test to go along with it...
Last month, North Korea said it has no immediate plan to conduct a nuclear test.
Listening to their Chinese masters, are they...
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
[An Nahar] Britannia and La Belle France Wednesday said there could be no political transition in Syria with Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... and urged Russia to stop backing its traditional ally.
The comments by British Foreign Secretary William Hague and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius came after world powers agreed in Geneva on Saturday on a plan for transition in Syria.
Although it did not make an explicit call for Assad to quit, the West said the plan made clear there was no role for him in a unity government.
"Russia must understand that the situation in Syria is heading towards collapse," Hague said at a joint news conference in Gay Paree with Fabius.
"Even if President Assad had a free hand in committing as many crimes, he will not be able to control the situation in Syria," Hague said.
"There is no point in anyone standing by the Assad regime, this is a failed and doomed regime."
Fabius underscored that "our Russian colleagues must understand that by backing a condemned regime... they risk losing the influence they have in this part of the world."
"We are working towards extending sanctions," Fabius said. "We know that we must extend all possible pressure on the bloody regime of Bashir al-Assad."
Their comments came ahead of a third "Friends of Syria" meeting to be held in Gay Paree on Friday that aims to coordinate Western and Arab efforts to stop 16 months of deadly violence.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday accused some in the West of starting "to distort the agreements that were reached" in Geneva by saying that it left no future role for Assad.
But Hague insisted there was no place for the embattled leader in a transition and that the Geneva accord made that clear to all.
"I think we achieved a step forward... worth having which was the joint statement with Russia and China about the need for a transitional government in Syria which will include members of the opposition and other groups and crucially a government will be formed by mutual consent.
"Now that's a very important phrase and I think its clear to everyone that consent of the opposition will not be forthcoming for President Assad to be part of such a government so it is significant," he said.
Hague said if the Geneva accord was not implemented soon "then it will be necessary for the UK, La Belle France and other countries to come back to the Security Council and seek stronger resolutions."
More than 16,500 people have been killed in Syria since an uprising against Assad broke out in March last year, according to the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, although the figures cannot be verified.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2012
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[15 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
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.
What is being dubbed as Egypt's "first sex-slave marriage" took place mere days after the Muslim Brotherhood's Muhammad Morsi was made president.
Ron Burgundy would've had a field day with this story.
or, Pathetic excuse of the day
While America's debate over immigration has been dominated recently by crackdowns in states like Arizona and Alabama, California legislators are trying to turn that tide with a bill to protect illegal immigrants that they dub the "anti-Arizona."
A video uploaded to YouTube this week purports to show captured members of Syrian President Bashar Assads shabiha militia, with their mustaches half-shaven off, chanting Allah bless the Free [Syrian] Army.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
...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...
The defense ministry on Tuesday said the security authorities have 
TRIPOLI: Fresh faces on thousands of campaign posters have flooded the streets of the Libyan capital where the portrait of slain dictator Muammar Qaddafi once reigned supreme.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
NEW DELHI: Top Indian and Pakistani foreign ministry officials met Wednesday to bolster a fragile peace dialogue undermined by fresh tensions over the 2008 Mumbai attacks and political flux in Pakistan.
Protesters from northern Mali demonstrated in the capital Wednesday against Islamists who have enforced strict sharia law, destroyed ancient shrines and trapped residents with landmines.
The impending release of a highly critical report by the State Department's Inspector General's office prompted the sudden resignation Friday of U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Scott Gration, according to administration and congressional sources. The report was described to The Cable by multiple people briefed on its contents as one of the worst reviews of an ambassador's performance written by the IG's staff in several years. The bulk of the criticisms focused on Gration's terrible relationship with embassy staff since he took over as ambassador in February 2011 following a controversial two-year stint as President Barack Obama's special envoy for Sudan. The report is complete, but Gration still has the opportunity to write a formal response before the report is publicly released.
The chief UN observer in Syria Wednesday criticized the international community for talking too much in luxurious settings, and doing too little on the ground to stop the horrific violence.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Wednesday that reopening of supply route to the 
Nigeria's capital was on alert Wednesday after an 
Random and targeted armed attacks on Tuesday claimed the lives of four more people, including a policeman and two senior Pakistain People's Party workers, mostly in the city's district west as peace remains a distant dream for 
cycle of violence
Pervez 
Nawaz Sharif
[An Nahar] Syrian troops pounded several districts of the central city of Homs on Wednesday and clashed with rebels as at least 48 people were killed in violence across the country, activists and a watchdog said.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
