Two RAF jets were scrambled from their base in Cyprus to urgently investigate Syrian planes that had crossed into international airspace, it has emerged.
The Ministry of Defense confirmed that unidentified planes legally crossed into Cypriot skies from the east of the country last Monday.
But it is understood the behaviour of the aircraft raised suspicions at RAF Akrotiri, less than 200 miles from Syria, prompting the rapid response.
The Syrian bombers refused to respond to repeated attempts by the control tower at the UK's Akrotiri air base to contact them.
The aircraft retreated before any action was taken by the two RAF air-defence Typhoons.
A pair of Turkish F-16s are also believed to have been launched in support of the investigation from their base in Incirlik, Turkey.
The Syrian planes are believed to have been Russian-made Sukhoi Su-24s, a heavily-armed fighter bomber that can reach Cyprus, 200 miles from Syria, in just 15 minutes.
A spokesman for the MoD said: 'The MoD can confirm that Typhoon Air Defence Aircraft operated from RAF Akrotiri on Monday to investigate unidentified aircraft to the east of Cyprus; the aircraft were flying legally in international airspace and no intercept was required.'
#1
A non-story, except maybe the part about not responding to radio calls.
If on what appeared to be a hostile profile it would have ended badly and probably pre-empted "Bozo and JF'nK's Big Summer Vacation."
One almost feels sorry for Secretary of State Kerry, so neatly is he being hoisted with his own petard. But then, he was pronounced The Second Smartest Man In The Room upon his nomination, as you'll recall, a neater damning with faint praise of which does not exist.
[Debka] In an unexpected turn of events along the road to a US military strike on Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday afternoon, Sept. 9 that he had urged Syria to hand over its nuclear arsenal to international control if that would stop an American attack. Moscow had lost no time in picking up the gauntlet thrown down by US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... in London a short time before.
Asked if there were steps the Syrian president could take to avert an American-led attack, Kerry replied: "Sure, he could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week -- turn it over, all of it, without delay and allow the full and total accounting."
The B.O. regime had in this way given Bashir al-Assad a week to turn in his chemical weapons to an international team that would no doubt be put together by the US, Russia and the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, who arrived in Moscow earlier Monday, was informed that the Kremlin expected a positive and expeditious answer from President Assad. Within the hour, he came back with a welcome for the Russian "proposal" to place his country's chemical weapons under international control. But he said nothing about letting the arsenal be moved out of the country and destroyed , as both Lavrov and Kerry specified.
Sunday, debkafile reported that a secret US proposal had been presented to Assad and that negotiations were in progress on a deal for a way out of the crisis generated by the chemical attack east of Damascus on Aug. 21. The transfer of Syria's entire chemical stockpile to international control was a part of that proposition.
Our military sources add that Assad was in no position to flatly rebuff the Russian ultimatum; only to try and maneuver and haggle to buy time. If Moscow stops the air corridor lifting military supplies to Damascus, the Syrian army will quickly run out of ordnance for fighting the rebels.
Normally we recommend anything coming from Debka be heavily salted, as a matter of principle. Normally, however, we do not see The Times of Israel and USA Today coming out with substantially the same story simultaneously. Also Der Spiegel, for those who prefer the German perspective on the matter.
This is a brilliant counter by Vlad. A week? It'll take a week just to get the U.N. inspectors to agree on airplane flights. It'll be three months to get them to 'inspect' everything and six months minimum before any of the weapons, assuming they are found, to be shipped out or destroyed. Assad can play the same game Saddam played with hiding the weapons; if not the weapons themselves then at least the machinery and facilities to make the weapons. Oh that? That's a pesticide factory for our farmers. Prove us wrong.
#3
1. Russians weren't going to be targeted by any cruise missiles [unless someone forgot to check the phone book - see Chinese Embassy Belgrade]. It was all going to be locals taking the hits anyway.
2. Internet flood of civilian casualty pictures already prepped.
3. Billy Boy shot off missiles at Saddam for non-compliance, didn't result in anything afterwards. No boots on the ground, no way of insuring what you used as an excuse to shoot has been accomplished. Missiles do not occupy terrain.
#4
Maybe Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka will come to the rescue and save the day.
Posted by: Lampedusa Lover of the Boskonians8212 ||
09/09/2013 14:01
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday afternoon, Sept. 9 that he had urged Syria to hand over its nuclear arsenal to international control if that would stop an American attack.
Is that a typo? Sloppy reporting? A Russian joke? I hadn't thought anybody believed Syria had a nuclear arsenal.
#8
This is a brilliant counter by Vlad. A week? It'll take a week just to get the U.N. inspectors to agree on airplane flights. It'll be three months to get them to 'inspect' everything and six months minimum before any of the weapons, assuming they are found, to be shipped out or destroyed. Assad can play the same game Saddam played with hiding the weapons; if not the weapons themselves then at least the machinery and facilities to make the weapons. Oh that? That's a pesticide factory for our farmers. Prove us wrong.
Brilliant. Kerry is a fool.
Based on his past record, he's at minimum a fool, and probably evil to boot. Do I have to go through the numbers again, here of all places?
#9
Or it could be this is the last thing Zero and company want. Zero, McCain, Graham, etc. have been itching for a fight with Syria ever since this little war started. Clearly the object is not Assad's chemical weapons. They are a red herring. But if the chemicals are removed, and it's all verified, there is no more excuse for attacking Syria on behalf of the Soddies.
#13
Face it - Obumbles, John F'kin Kerry, and their associates are simply poor beginners (if that) in the international-relations game. Putin is like a gamemaster - he has played them every single step of the way.
The really sad part is - everyone knows it but them and their supporters. They actually think that they are the masters of the game. Heck even I see it.
It's truly pathetic. they honestly believe they can 'community organize' their way.
#14
This way Obama gets a get out clause. Lucky him again!
Posted by: Paul D ||
09/09/2013 19:17
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#15
The Circus continues. The Hildbeast today was "All excited" about John Kerry's proposal for Syria to turn over it's chemical weapons to International control. Jeebus, does she not listen to anything but personal accolades? As someone said, "If yo go to war you have to go to war with the clowns you have".
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/09/2013 19:28
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#16
Well, I don't know why I came here tonight
I got the feeling that something ain't right
I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair
And I'm wondering how I'll get down those stairs
Clowns to left of me
Jokers to the right
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you
Yes, I'm stuck in the middle with you
And I'm wondering what it is I should do
It's so hard to keep this smile from my face
Losing control, yeah I'm all over the place
Clowns to left of me
Jokers to the right
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/09/2013 20:57
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#17
uh oh, AP. Someone's gonna lose an ear
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/09/2013 21:16
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#18
Assad is highly unlikely to give up ruling power, nor to agree to turn over his chemical weapons, etc. WMDS unless Russia + Iran [China?] agree to increase their level of arms supply + $$$ to his Regime.
Its obvious he's still counting on Russia + Iran at least to continue to support him.
* FYI DAILY STAR LEBANON > KERRY TELLS RUSSIA HIS SYRIA COMMENTS WERE NOT MEANT TO BE [formal = diplomatic] PROPOSAL.
Jaaawhn was just "floating it out there" to see what would happen???
["APRIL FOOL" IN NOT-APRIL SEPTEMBER here].
* RELATED WAFF > RUSSIA: KERRY'S WEAPONS TRANFER [Offer] FROM SYRIA WAS "RHETORICAL".
[Washington Post] The push by 50 western Virginia counties to secede in 1863, forming West Virginia at the height of the Civil War, was led by a charismatic store-clerk-turned-lawyer who famously urged his supporters: "Cut the knot now! Cut it now! Apply the knife."
West Virginia was the last state to break off from another. Now, 150 years later, a 49-year-old information technology consultant wants to apply the knife to Maryland's five western counties. "The people are the sovereign," says Scott Strzelczyk, leader of the fledgling Western Maryland Initiative, and the western sovereigns are fed up with Annapolis's liberal majority, elected by the state's other sovereigns.
"If you think you have a long list of grievances and it's been going on for decades, and you can't get it resolved, ultimately this is what you have to do," says Strzelczyk, who lives in New Windsor, a historic town of 1,400 people in Carroll County. "Otherwise you are trapped."
Strzelczyk's effort is one of several across the country to separate significant portions of states from, as he puts it, "the dominant ruling class." Nearly a dozen northern Colorado counties are the furthest along, with nonbinding referendums set for November ballots. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is making a move to join with parts of Wisconsin. Northern California counties want to form a state called Jefferson.
Historians, political scientists and the leaders of the movements say secession efforts are being fueled by irreconcilable differences on issues such as gun control, taxes, energy policy, gay marriage and immigration -- all subjects of recent legislative efforts at state and federal levels. The notion of compromise is a non-starter. With secessionists, the term "final straw" comes up a lot.
"You don't have to be a student of the details to know that people are just disgusted with what goes on these days," says Kit Wellman, a political philosopher who studies secession at Washington University in St. Louis. "These people figure they are better off on their own if they could just be with like-minded folks."
Secession is a difficult political fight to win. The U.S. Constitution allows regions to separate only with the approval of the state legislature and Congress, and over the years there have been hundreds of quixotic and unsuccessful efforts, according to Michael J. Trinklein, the author of "Lost States: True Stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania, and Other States that Never Made It."
In the 1950s, Northern California tried to form the state of Shasta, to protect its fresh water. The builders of Mount Rushmore also wanted it to sit in a new state: Absaroka, a reference to a subrange of the Rocky Mountains. Eastern Shore residents pushed for the state of Chesapeake in the 1970s to retain tourist tax dollars.
What's different now is how the secession efforts illuminate a hard truth about the country: The rural-urban divide is increasingly a point of political conflict. The population boom in urban areas such as Baltimore and the Maryland suburbs near the District, the Boulder-Denver areas in Colorado, and in Detroit have filled state legislatures with liberal policymakers pushing progressive agendas out of sync with rural residents, who feel increasingly isolated and marginalized.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2013
10:42 ||
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#1
The basics in most of this is urban vs everyone else. It doesn't matter if your metropolis is actually a positive creator of wealth via resources. If you have enough votes you can pillage the countryside and impose your 'culture' on the sharecroppers masses while living off of the product of their labors (food, energy, etc).
the WaPo is one of the big drivers of the leftist culture in the MD and VA suburbs of DC
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/09/2013 11:43
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#3
PK2 - Exactly. Voter ID is so noxious to the left because if most of your urban voting center consists of not-eligible-to-vote types who moved to the city for the welfare bennies, well, that's just no fun, is it?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/09/2013 12:22
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#4
The libs will start doing what other Socialist states do. Take over the farms.
#5
Parts of Colorado are actually voting on a seccession measure this November. And if it makes sense to form a new state, then why not create a new country? Texas -- I'm looking at you.
[BUZZFEED] One of President B.O.'s most prominent critics on the black left said Sunday that a strike on Syria in the face of Congressional disapproval would be "dictatorial" -- and grounds for impeachment. Dictators aren't constrained by any silly legislatures.
"It doesn't make sense to commit more war crimes," Cornel West said Sunday on the syndicated radio show Smiley and West, to an approving response from host Tavis Smiley, who has also been consistently critical of Obama. Gassing civilians, for that matter gassing anyone, is in fact considered a war crime.
The two men, leading black public intellectuals, have emerged as controversial figures in a community whose support for the first black president is overwhelming. West, in response, has recently attacked other black leaders for what he views as their reflexive support for Obama.
"It would be an illegal war. It would be an immoral war for the United States to begin bombing and sending missiles to Syria and killing more innocent people," said West, who is a professor of philosophy at Princeton University. You have to chug a beer. It's a standing rule at the 'Burg, every time somebody burps out "immoral, illegal war." That was true five years ago. We still gotta do that?
Later in the discussion of Syria, Smiley said: "If the President doesn't get the vote that he wants... then I hope he has more sense then to go ahead anyway. But you used the phrase 'dictatorial' -- and that's exactly what it would be."
"You would think in some ways grounds for impeachment," replied West.
That's nice. How will you get Senator Reid (D-bully) to execute your bright idea, Professor?
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2013
10:28 ||
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#1
I wonder what would happen if Obama ordered a strike and the military refused to carry it out on the grounds it's an unlawful order.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/09/2013 12:29
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#2
I'll order more popcorn, Deacon. :-D
Posted by: Barbara ||
09/09/2013 13:39
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#3
I'm agreeing with Cornell West on things.
It kinda hurts.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
09/09/2013 14:22
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#4
I believe West is doing two clever things here (1) making it appear as if the left and blacks are not in lockstep with Obama (2) laying the bait for Republicans to start impeachment which will easily be manipulated by the media into racist attacks which will build Obamas poll numbers again.
#6
At last check, the Bammer is repor prepping a covert deal which requires Baby Assad to leave power [unlikely].
Will he the Bammer still attack Assad iff Congress fails to authorize a milstrike, i.e. NO CONGRESSIONAL MANDATE; andor will he still strike Assad even iff the UNO determines that Assad didn't commit the chemical attack, i.e. ATTACK EVEN IFF ASSAD IS N-O-T THE PERPETRATOR - FYI ANY US CONGRESSIONAL OR UNO MANDATE TO ATTACK ASSAD IN SYRIA IS BY DEFINITION NOT A MANDATE TO ATTACK IRAN???
AFAIK he's still NOT armed the Rebels, nor has placed key conditions on US aid to them, + NO ONE IN wASHINGTON OR THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY WANTS RADICAL ISLAMIST-JIHADI/MILTERR GROUPS TO GET THEIR HANDS ON ASSAD'S WMDS + MILTECHS.
[THEGLOBEANDMAIL] U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... said the United States is considering only an "unbelievably, small, limited" strike on Syria as punishment for allegedly using chemical weapons and he insisted military action will not end that country's civil war. "Really, we're just going to slap him on the wrist. He'll hardly notice."
"We're not going to war," Mr. Kerry told reporters Monday after meeting with British Foreign Secretary William Hague in London. "We will be able to hold [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad accountable without engaging troops on the ground or any other prolonged kind of effort, in a very limited, very targeted, very short-term effort that degrades his capacity to deliver chemical weapons without assuming responsibility for Syria's civil war. That is exactly what we are talking about doing; an unbelievably small, limited kind of effort."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2013
10:23 ||
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#1
an unbelievably small, limited kind of effort
just like everything else they've done up til now
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/09/2013 11:51
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#2
Are they finished yet?
Wanna see it again?
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/09/2013 12:15
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#3
Kerry is an un-believably small man for one so tall. Bugwit.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/09/2013 12:17
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#4
Kerry outlines 'unbelievably small' strike drive by on Syria
So why even bother?
Ya know, Jawny, considering the past history of what you and your boss have said about anything, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and call you and your boss a couple of fuckin liars...
#9
* RELATED FREEREPUBLIC > [Hot AiR] FEARSOME NEW WHITE HOUSE TALKING POINT ON SYRIA : OUR ATTACK WILL BE "UNBELIEVABLY SMALL".
versus
* WAFF > AMERICANS DISLIKE OF MILITARY STRIKE ON SYRIA GROWING = REUTERS/IPSOS POLL | WHY IS THE SUPPORTING AL-QAEDA? ... ... ...
Ditto the majority of ordinary Frenchies + Brits.
* DAILY STAR LEBANON > ASSAD FORCES FEAR REBEL RAMPAGE [violent = bloody retaliation] AFTER US STRIKE.
* SAME > US SENATORS SET WEDNESDAY FOR SYRIA VOTE.
RELATED BUSINESS INSIDER = [Lindsey Graham + John Mc Cain] GOP SENATORS: NEW SYRIA
"BREAKTHROUGH" [Kerry proposal] MEANS CONGRESS SHOULD PASS AIRSTRIKE AUTHORIZATION.
IIUC, to give teeth = support to SecState Kerry's proposed solution while also rducing the number of Sequester-affected USDOD Mil Assets for Syria strike.
WILL ASSAD ACCEPT?
FYI conversely the Syrian Rebels + foreign Militants are not going to accept Assad staying in power nor any turnover of Chem Weaps by him being offsetted by massive new non-WMD replacement arms + $$$ flows to him by Russia + Iran, etc.
US CREDIBILITY IS N-O-T HELPED BY RAISING THE ANTI-ASSAD SYRIAN REBELS INSPIRATIONS WID MORE/NEW FALSE HOPES - ITS ONLY GONNA PISS 'EM OFF + MAKE NEW ENEMIES OF THE US, I.E. IFF POST-STRIKE IRAN DOESN'T ATTACK THE WHITE HOUSE, "KIDNAP + RAPE SASHA OBAMA" ETAL. THE SYRIAN REBELS WILL.
The grassroots response to the Million Muslim American March on Washington slated for the 11th. If you recall, the bikers were not able to get a permit.
#1
Sure, municipal gummints have a right to require parade permits, but I think in this case, "the right to assemble..." "freedom of association..." may take precedence.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/09/2013 10:29
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#2
Those terrorist veteran bikers. Big sis warned us about them!!!! Oh my god! With even half a million there the republican/tea part will triple in size. I'll bet the libs are afraid the biker might do something crazy like call for our government to act responsibily and be accountable for their actions....
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/09/2013 10:47
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#3
Oh damn I wish i was there...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/09/2013 10:49
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#4
The media will probably give a lot of close-up views of the Muslim 'OMG!-Million-Muslim-march!' to hide its pathetic size while showing three bikes at a gas station to represent the 2-million.
I may watch ABC or CBS just to see how they slant it. (Sorry don't have enough eye-bleach or brain-brillo to watch CNN or MSNBC...).
#5
Well, if the one doesn't believe he needs Congress' OK to do a drive by on Syria, why should 2 million bikers need a stinking piece of paper to drive through DC.
#6
I think what was denied was a no-stop ride. This would have a major impact on DC traffic - sort of like when Obama decided to go out for a hamburger. Of course, DC would never say no to the One.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
09/09/2013 17:37
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#7
The 'Million Muslims' want Sharia to be imposed on non-Muslims in the West. The '2 Million Bikers' are opposed to this demand.
Unfortunately the 'Million Muslims' are just articulating mainstream political consensus. The bikers are just the nutty fringe like 'fruity pastor Terry Jones.'
Ron Paul, Colin Powell, John McCain, David Petraeus, Lindsey Graham, Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama all agree with the 'Million Muslims' in principle. Romney feebly criticized the US' apology for anti-sharia speech, but he was told to shut up, and he did shut up.
I wouldn't be surprised if, after the next islamofascistic atrocity in the US, the government would just preemptively arrest the organizers of events like the bikers' demonstration. They'd just be following the British precedent.
[Jpost] Syrian government forces launched an offensive to wrest back control of an historic Christian town north of Damascus on Monday, activists said.
In the past six days, the town of Maaloula has already changed hands three times
In the past six days, the town of Maaloula has already changed hands three times between Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... 's forces and rebel groups, some of which are linked to al Qaeda.
Combatants say the intensity of fighting over the town is due to its strategic location near the road leading from Damascus to the central city of Homs.
But fighting in an area with such religious symbolism could increase anxieties among the Christian minority, who have watched sectarian violence between majority Sunni Mohammedans and the Alawite minority overshadow the revolt against Assad's rule.
#4
Hafez Assad paid got some big name mullah to call Alawites Shiites, back in the 1970's, but their core beliefs, (1) there is no God but Ali, (2) a pantheon of saints that includes Aristotle, Plato and the Virgin Mary, (3) the non-prohibition of alcohol consumption and (4) a belief in reincarnation, suggest that both Shiites and Sunnis on the street are right to consider them to be non-Muslims at best and apostates or pagans at worst. If Alawites are Muslims, then Bahais, Sikhs and Muslims are really Christians, because they all incorporate elements of Christianity, and all of the preceding are really Jews, because they all incorporate elements of Judaism.
#5
Assad, the Shiites, Alawites and Christians are in an unholy alliance against Saudi Arabia.
Al Qaeda might be seen as the bad guys, but in this war (like most) they are on our side, and we can count on them to do our work against the Alawite/Christian alliance with brutal efficiency, I've seen these guys in Jordan and they are the best of the best, trained by our best of the best. These guys need our air cover however, without that they don't stand a chance against Assad's forces. Make sure your congressman knows how important this is - we need to ensure a Saudi victory in Syria if we're to destroy Iran.
I have read/heard that the US/Saudi use sunni extremists for geo political reasons but when it comes to killing Christians in the middle east I and millions in the UK/US say no!
Posted by: Paul D ||
09/09/2013 19:11
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#9
Part of what President Agent Provocateur's job is making as many of the old communist lies true as possible. US Using Al Qaeda.... CHECK!
#10
This poor son-of-a-bitch in this thread thinks he's the Big Swinging Dick, getting the US to support AQ in spite of 9/11 etc., when all he's doing is serving to discredit the US and an anti-Assad revolution on the way to his untimely demise.
Hey, Freedom Fighter, got a short history lesson for ya: Jawn Fucking Kerry sold out millions of people a WHOLE LOT FUCKING BETTER THAN YOU to servitude to Putin's predecessors, or to death. What makes you think you're going to end up any different?
IB Times is not the Onion but I wonder about this one. It just may be that dry, dry British wit...
US secretary of state John Kerry has given an ultimatum to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to avoid a military strike by turning over his entire chemical weapons arsenal to the international community within the next week.
An ultimatum? How's that going to be enforced with Russia in the background?
At a joint press conference with UK foreign secretary William Hague, Kerry said that America was not going to war but would launch an "unbelievably small and limited effort" to punish the Assad regime for the 21 August chemical weapons attack in Ghouta and to deter it from doing it again.
An 'unbelievably small' effort will deter Assad. Right. Got it.
"If you want to send Assad a congratulatory message, you would support non-intervention," he said although he was sympathetic to fears of the American public who do not want to see troops coming home in body bags.
"But that's not what we are talking about," he stressed. "Military effort will be targeted and short-term."
Kerry added that the only thing Assad's government could do to stop an attack was to turn over all his chemical weapons to the international community within the next week.
"But he is not about to do it and it cannot be done," Kerry added.
He said that the evidence gathered about the chemical attack blaming the Assad regime was "real evidence I could take into a courtroom".
"I've personally tried people who have gone away for long prison sentences or for life for less evidence than we have for this," he said.
Okay little big man...
"[Assad offers only] words that are contradicted by facts."
Kerry also quoted the late British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in stressing that the UK and America were "real and true friends". The special relationship between the two countries was as relevant today as it has been in the past, he said.
Which is why we threw Brit observers out of the Central Command HQ in Tampa...
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/09/2013
07:41 ||
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#1
Or else...chin quivering? That could affect the climate, given the chin.
#2
this clown is going to demand we go to a "unbelievably small and limited effort" to back his mouth and Zero's credibility.
"No Blood for Zero Credibility!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/09/2013 7:58
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#3
"I've personally tried people who have gone away..."
Tried everyones patience perhaps, but Jawn F'n Kerry is rapidly overtaking Hillary Rotten Clinton as the worst Secretary of State in this nations history.
#7
...as we might say here, the jury is still awaiting evidence that proves the crime by the alleged perp beyond a reasonable doubt. IIRC Back in the Spring, the Turks picked up some rebels with sarin in their possession.
#8
JFKerry was an assistant DA for Middlesex county in MA back in the late seventies
on a separate matter Gaddafi cooperated with the US in giving up WMD
the US bombed him anyway as part of the R2P initiative which we only used once on Gaddafi
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/09/2013 11:52
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#9
Kerrys undergraduate degree, not his law degree, was from Yale. He graduated from Boston College law school because he couldnt get into Harvard or Yale.
#13
" IIRC Back in the Spring, the Turks picked up some rebels with sarin in their possession"
Naive.
In war bad things happen. Assad has the blame for this one, if he doesn't like that he should have got rid of all his WMDs like Saddam did.
Its quite possible that the rebels might have used such weapons. So what? They are in a fight, and its our fight. If they've sacrificed some of their own to give us an "in" to provide air cover for them then its outrageous of us not to provide that having encouraged them to do this with talk of the red line.
Don't let your congressman shoot down Kerry just because you disagree with his politics... this is bigger than that, McCain and the others understand this.
#14
Except we have no dog in this fight. We shouldn't provide Al-Qaeda (who are allied with the rebels) air cover. Pencilneck is not a nice person - but neither are the rebels.
And I wouldn't believe John "Winter Soldier" Kerry if he told me my own name. That one is a proven liar and has shown again and again that he has no problem lying even under oath to advance his political ambitions (as shown by his "reminisent of Genghis Khan" congressional testimony).
#18
"Unbelievably small + limited effort" > WTFH???
Iff true, words fail me - AGAIN! AFAIK there has never E-V-A-R! been any US Officio, top or subordinate, that has used those kinds of words for anything.
US Mainstream confusion + nervous twitchiness goes on.
#20
So if the chem weapons are secured, whatever that means, then Pencil Neck and al Q can go back into duking it out to exhaustion. Its a lose-lose/win-win. Perverted but better than alternatives.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/09/2013 20:53
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#21
DRUDGEREPORT > [Guardian.UK] RED LINE II: KERRY GIVES ASSAD ONE WEEK TO HAND OVER CHEMICAL WEAPONS OR FACE ATTACK.
versus
* SAME > [USA Today] PRESIDENT LOSING MOMENTUM IN CONGRESS FOR SYRIA STRIKE.
* MIDDLE EAST ONLINE > US CONGRESS DENIED SYRIA FACTS, TOO.
Bammer Admin. Report is only 12-pages long, + allegedly so broad as to be inconclusive or indeterminative on whether Baby Assad is truly guilty or not.
versus
* TOPIX, WORLD NEWS > OBAMA'S OBEJCTIVE IN SYRIA CRISIS IS WAR, NOT JUSTICE, or Truth.
IMO it strongly appears that it doesn't matter to the Bammer Admin = USA iff Baby Assad did it or not.
All things equal, by the above is the Bammer as POTUS truly for America's + Americans' interests [Nationalism = sovereignty], or as per Marxism/Leftism-Globalism [anti-Nationalism = anti-Sovereignty???
A weakened al-Qaida has the potential for resurgence in Syria, where the turmoil of civil war could help revive one of the group's close affiliates, a report by a US think tank said on Monday.
"It is too soon to predict the long-term threat posed by al-Qaida and allied groups as the movement is undergoing a transition that may end up proving to be its last gasp; but the right set of circumstances in the unstable Middle East could also revive the network," the Bipartisan Policy Center's Homeland Security Project said in the report called "Jihadist Terrorism: A Threat Assessment."
#1
IIRC FOX NEWS this AM > As per MEMRI.org, quoted Al-Qaeda affiliate leader in IRAQ as claiming that up to 23,000 fighters are ready to deploy to Syria + strike US interests iff the USA does "something stupid" like attack Assad.
#2
You know, I try to avoid looking at this thread when the wife is around. I don't think she'd shoot me but why take the risk. It's safe to look at it out here on the rig though.
I do suspect GolfBravo has a thing for Spanish descent women. :D
#8
"It's not important where you get your appetite, only where you dine."
However, taking a Ferrari for a test drive when you have a perfectly adequate ( insert favorite domestic or foreign mass market make here) doesn't translate quite as well.
[An Nahar] A bomb destroyed a car moments after it was parked by its owner in Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... 's al-Qobbeh area on Sunday, state-run National News Agency reported.
"The blast targeted the Jeep of Sheikh Saadeddine Ghiyyeh, leaving him lightly maimed," NNA said.
"A military expert who arrived on the scene estimated the bomb to weigh around 200 grams," the agency added.
Citing preliminary security reports, MTV said the bomb was likely planted inside the car. But an army statement issued later on Sunday confirmed that the bomb weighed 200 grams, noting that it was placed under the vehicle and set to detonate with a timer.
LBCI television said Ghiyyeh was maimed in the leg and rushed to al-Shamal Hospital for treatment.
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[Al Ahram] Israel deployed its Iron Dome missile defence system near Jerusalem Sunday, an AFP correspondent said, as the United States lobbied for domestic and international support for military strikes against Syria.
The correspondent said the battery was set up west of the city.
A military spokeswoman would not comment on the deployment, saying only that "defence systems are deployed in accordance with situation assessments".
Late last month a battery of the mobile system was set up in the greater Tel Aviv area, pointing northwards towards Syria. Israeli media have reported that six or seven such batteries are currently in use.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Israel "an island of tranquillity, quiet and security" amidst "the storm raging around us", without explicitly mentioning Syria or its ally Iran.
In previous weeks Netanyahu has repeatedly said Israel was not involved in the war in Syria, but would "respond with force" if anyone attacked it.
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[Al Ahram] A group of men in a stolen car shot 29 people on the main street of a poor indigenous town in the mountains outside Guatemala City, killing 11 in an incident that some residents blamed on corrupt coppers.
Officials blamed the attack on gang violence but that was greeted with skepticism by some residents of San Jose Nacahuil. Residents expelled the national police six years ago and set up a community police force that patrols with sticks and machetes, and officials said the community had low crime rates in recent years.
Eight of the dead were shot in a just-opened cantina, a one-story cinderblock building where a group of men were drinking beer and liquor around plastic tables. The majority of the maimed were shot in the street between the cantina and a second, older establishment owned by the same local businessman. Two of those shot in the street died, along with a man shot in the second cantina.
Continued on Page 49
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[An Nahar] An al-Qaeda group claimed a series of boom-mobiles targeting Shiites in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... last week as renewed violence killed seven people on Sunday amid a nationwide surge in bloodshed.
The latest attacks and claims came as authorities carried out wide-ranging operations targeting forces of Evil and implemented tight restrictions on vehicle movement in the capital in a bid to combat Iraq's worst violence since 2008.
In a statement posted on jihadi forums, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed a spate of evening bombings targeting Shiite neighborhoods of Storied Baghdad on Tuesday, which it said were in retaliation for operations carried out by soldiers and police against Sunni parts of the country.
Sunni forces of Evil linked to the group frequently attack members of Iraq's Shiite Mohammedan majority, whom they regard as apostates.
The dozen boom-mobiles on Tuesday killed 50 people and maimed more than 100 in the capital, security and medical officials said.
Several other attacks in Storied Baghdad and elsewhere the same day killed 11 others.
The violence showed no signs of abating on Sunday, with seven killed in shootings and bombings.
North of Storied Baghdad in the ethnically mixed town of Jalawla, a gunman opened fire on a cop shoppe inside a government compound, giving cover for a jacket wallah to blow himself up.
Two people were killed, including a policeman, and seven others were maimed, officials said.
Also north of the capital in Samarra, three anti-al-Qaeda Sunni militiamen, known as the Sahwa, were rubbed out.
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A Russian plane landed in the Syrian port city of Latakia on Sunday, the government said, as it seeks to evacuate its citizens from the escalating conflict. The plane would collect citizens of Russia and other ex-Soviet states who have expressed a desire to leave the zone of conflict, Russian emergencies ministry spokeswoman Irina Rossius said in a statement.
It was not clear how many people would be evacuated on the flight but Russian news agencies said those who wanted to leave were already waiting at Latakia airport.
The flights come as expectations grow of Western military action against President Bashar Al Assads regime over claims it used chemical weapons in an attack outside the Syrian capital in August.
Russia has evacuated hundreds of citizens on similar flights since the conflict began. It took 116 Russian citizens and nationals of other ex-Soviet states out of Syria on two flights in late August.
Russia has insisted it was not engaged in a full-scale evacuation of the many thousands of Russian passport-holders still believed to be in Syria. However, Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Ivanov said on Thursday Russian warships currently in the Mediterranean could be used for the evacuation of Russian citizens.
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#1
"we'll have to offload these 'empty' cargo crates to make room for the evacuees, of course"
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/09/2013 10:00
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[Al Ahram] El-Nour Party announced Sunday it will participate in the 50-member committee responsible for producing a final draft of Egypt's new constitution.
A statement released on the party's official Facebook page confirmed the majority of its members had agreed to take part in process of amending the 2012 constitution.
Party Media Committee Coordinator Ibrahim Abaza told Al-Ahram Arabic website that the absence of Nour's representative in the opening session was due to indecisiveness on whether the party would take part in the committee.
The Salafist Nour Party, the only Islamist party represented in the committee (with one delegate), has expressed its worries about unequal representation favouring non-Islamists in the constitution drafting process.
Party head Younis Makhioun said in a statement Sunday that the party's decision to participate came "in accordance with the party's conviction that the country is going through sensitive times and for the sake of defending the achievemnts accomplished after the January 25 Revolution, on top of which lies the articles [of the constitution] related to identity."
Nour had earlier considered boycotting the 50-member committee after Article 219 was removed by a technical committee that amended the constitution before passing it to the broader body. The party later retreated, saying the issue could still be debated by the 50-member committee.
Article 219 of the 2012 constitution, added by the Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly, broadly defined Sharia (Islamic law), which, according to Article 2, represents the main source of legislation in Egypt.
It states: "The principles of Islamic Sharia include its commonly accepted interpretations, its fundamental and jurisprudential rules and its widely considered sources, as stated by the schools of Sunna and Gamaa."
Non-Islamist critics charge that 219 leaves the door open to discriminating against non-Sunni minorities and others.
The Salafist Nour Party warned that eliminating this article was an attempt to move Egyptians away from their "Islamic identity."
Nour delegates constituted the second largest bloc in the now-dissolved 2012 People's Assembly, and participated in the controversial Constituent Assembly, which drafted the 2012 constitution.
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[Dawn] President-elect Mamnoon Hussain will take oath of office on Monday as the 12th head of state. The oath will be administered by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry at a ceremony to be held at the Presidency.
It will be a rare event as former president Asif Ali Zardari, who stayed in the Presidency for five years till Sunday, will also attend the ceremony along with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... , members of the federal cabinet and heads of parliamentary parties.
Even though the PPP had boycotted the presidential election, Mr Mamnoon Hussain was felicitated by Mr Zardari who wished him well in the discharge of his responsibilities as the head of the federation.
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[Dawn] An orphan girl who was in illegal detention and faced 'death warrants' issued by a local jury (panchayat) for contracting love marriage was recovered by police on the orders of a court that later sent her to a local shelter home (Dar-ul-Aman) with directions for the safety of the couple.
Ammara Maqsood and Muhammad Salman of Bhaagowal village had contracted civil marriage in a local court on Sept 1 and since then she tossed in the calaboose Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! '>were tossed into the calaboose by her uncle and his family.
The husband, 22-year-old Salman and his family had moved the court against Ammara's detention.
The court appointed a bailiff and ordered the police concerned to recover the girl.
On Saturday, Ammara was produced in the court of Class-I Magistrate Imran Yaqub amid tight security that sent her to Daar-ul-Amaan, directing the Sadar police to provide security to her and her husband.
Ammara's uncle had also got registered an abduction case against Salman.
Ammara told the court that she contracted love marriage with Salman and denied she was kidnapped by him. She urged the court to provide them with security as they wanted to live a peaceful marital life.
She also told the court that their lives were in danger as a local jury had already issued 'death warrants' for the couple in case they refused to end their marriage by Saturday.
The court sent Ammara Maqsood to a local shelter home till tomorrow (Monday) there.
Sources said after the couple contracted love marriage, Ammara's uncle called a village punchayat (jury) over the issue. Headed by a local PML-N activist, Aman Ullah, the jury gave its verdict that if the couple did not end their marriage through divorce by Sept 7, they would be murdered.
The jury also ordered Salman and his family to leave the village while Ammara was detained by her caretakers, who kept her in chains and were torturing her.
Talking to newsmen by telephone from an unknown place, Salman said his and his wife's life was in danger as the deadline given by the jury ended on Saturday.
He alleged that Sialkot Sadar police were also obeying inhuman and illegal orders of the jury.
He appealed to Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary, prime minister, Punjab chief minister, police IG and the district police officer to take serious notice of the matter and sought security of his own and his wife's life.
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#1
What do you expect in this day and age, after all it is Ziqa'ad 2, 1434, in the Mohamadean Calendar.
Posted by: Au Auric ||
09/09/2013 7:05
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#2
contracting love marriage
Makes it sound like an STD.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/09/2013 12:19
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BAIDOA, Somalia -- Somali Federal Government troops backed by Ethiopians reportedly fought a fierce battle with Al Shabaab militants in Qansah-Omane vicinity of Bay region on Saturday afternoon, Garowe Online reports. Local sources say that the fighting lasted for an hour with witnesses reported that Al Shabaab fighters ran away fled Qansah-Omane.
Mohamed Aro As, the mayor of neighbouring Bay regional district of Bardaale said by telephone from an area close to the battlefield according to him, We disbanded them [Al Shabaab] forcefully ,also we seized ammunition and weapons.
On their side, Al Shabaab officials didnt provide details to Somali media.
Qansah-Omane 24 KMs away from Baidoa, the administrative capital of Bay region had been one of few places remaining under the control of Al Shabaab.
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Bradley Chelsea Manning is seeking a presidential pardon for handing U.S state secrets to the WikiLeaks website because it was done 'out of a love for my country'.
Golly.
According to documents released today, Manning's lawyer, David Coombs, has sent a Petition for Pardon to President Barack Obama. The White House said last month that if Manning requested a presidential pardon she would be considered the same as anyone else.
In the petition he she wrote that she had started questioning the morality of U.S. actions in Iraq and Afghanistan while reading secret military reports. He She said: 'When I chose to disclose classified information, I did so out of a love for my country and sense of duty to others.'
Manning acknowledged he she had broken the law, adding, 'I regret if
Not if, dear boy. When. Once you understand that, the rest will follow.
my actions hurt anyone or harmed the United States.'
Manning signed the petition 'Bradley Manning', not Chelsea, as her name has not legally been changed.
Nor has anything else...
Mark Osler, a law professor and founder of a commutation clinic at St. Thomas University in Minneapolis, gave Manning's petition a 'zero per cent' chance of success.
Brilliant, professor, what was your first clue?
Osler noted that the President has granted just 39 pardons and one commutation since taking office, while he has denied 1,333. Olser added that it is also very early in Manning's confinement for the White House to seriously consider such a request.
Manning is currently serving a 35-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for her conviction on July 30 on 20 counts of disclosing information while working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq. Since being convicted Manning has said she wants to live as a woman and two Army behavioral health specialists diagnosed her with gender dysphoria.
Manning now wants to start hormone replacement therapy inside jail, and though the courts have refused, he she is challenging the decision.
In another twist, he she is also asking the Army to pay for her treatment under their health insurance scheme.
Following his trial, Manning got the longest ever sentence for disclosing U.S. government secrets to others for publication. At his her trial government witnesses testified that some of the leaked information endangered information sources, forced ambassadors to be reassigned, were used as al-Qaida propaganda and even obtained directly by Osama bin Laden.
However, Coombs wrote in a cover letter to Manning's petition that none of Manning's disclosures caused any 'real damage' to the United States and that the documents were not sensitive information meriting protection.
The court saw it differently but who listens to them anymore?
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[Al Ahram] Iran's foreign minister slammed potential US-led Arclight airstrikes against Syria as "illegal" on a visit to Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... Sunday, while his Iraqi counterpart warned they would hinder efforts towards a political solution.
Mohammad Javed Zarif said military action was barred under the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... charter, but Washington is pressing for the strikes in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack the White House says was carried out by the regime of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... "Civilised countries, 65 years ago, took the options off the table when they rejected in the charter of the United Nations resort to force as an illegal practice," Zarif said, speaking in English at a joint presser with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.
"Why (do) they (countries supporting a strike) call themselves civilised nations and continue to insist on all options being on the table?" he said.
"All options have been removed from the table long, long, long time ago."
Zarif made the remarks during a one-day trip to Iraq, his first since being appointed foreign minister by President Hassan Rowhani in mid-August, and after meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki earlier on Sunday.
Zebari, meanwhile, warned that any strikes "would hinder political efforts" to help end the 30-month war in neighbouring Syria.
And in a rare cross-sectarian show of unity on the subject, Iraq's parliament speaker -- who is also the country's most senior Sunni Arab politician -- cautioned against military action.
"The military strike will not be beneficial towards Syria and will ignite a fire that will possibly extend to Iraq and nearby countries," Osama al-Nujaifi said in a separate news conference in Storied Baghdad.
Nujaifi's comments were a rare criticism of the potential strikes by a Sunni Arab leader.
Iran, a staunch supporter of the Assad regime, actively opposes plans by the US and La Belle France to launch a military strike against Damascus over its suspected use of chemical weapons in deadly attacks on August 21.
It also backs claims in Damascus that rebels, not the Assad regime, carried out the chemical attacks on Damascus suburbs, which killed hundreds of people. Assad's regime has denied any responsibility.
Before leaving for Storied Baghdad, Zarif was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying that Iran was "more worried" by the developments in Syria than other regional countries.
"The warmongering is happening in our neighbourhood, which is an important issue and has made my visit to Iraq necessary," he said.
Zarif seized on US President Barack Obama I am not a dictator!... 's failure to win support for military action against Syria from world leaders during the G20 summit in Saint Petersburg.
"This shows the US and pro-war groups are faced with definite isolation in their pursuit of using war and illegal means to push forward their own foreign policy agenda," he said in Tehran.
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#1
That seizing embassies is also rather 'illegal' didn't stop you.
[Dawn] Four people were killed on Sunday, including two coppers, in two seperate incidents of violence in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... , officials said.
In one incident, at least two people were killed and another ten injured in a powerful blast on Sariab road area of Quetta, police said.
Muhammad Riaz, a police official told Dawn.com unknown snuffies had planted an improvised bomb on a cycle, which was parked on the road side.
The strength of blast damaged shops and windows of nearby homes and moving vehicles on Sariab road.
"The loud and powerful sound of blast was heard far and wide", he said.
Riaz said that six to seven kilogram of explosives were planted in the cycle.
All ten injured were rushed to civil hospital Quetta for medical treatment. Emergency was imposed in civil hospital, doctors and para-medics were called to treat the injured.
"All dead and injured were civilians", Riaz said. He said it was yet to be confirmed as to the target of the blast. However, Switzerland makes more than cheese... frontier corps and coppers were quick at the scene.
They cordoned off the area and started investigation into the incident.
The blast resulted in blockade of Sariab road and long queues of vehicles were witnessed on the road.
Muhammad Idrees, a paramedic in civil hospital told Dawn.com that the condition of two injured people was serious.
Sariab road is one of the sensitive and troubled parts of Quetta city.
Militants continue to target security forces, railway tracks and other national installations in the area. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
In another incident, armed snuffies killed two coppers and injured another in Loralai, 260 km north of Quetta.
A police officer, who requested not to be named, told Dawn.com snuffies in a vehicle and a cycle of violenceshot up police mobile checkpost in Zangwal area of Loralai.
He said two coppers were killed on the spot whereas one was injured. The assailants escaped unhurt from the spot.
Police and levies reached the spot and have started an investigation into the incident.
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[An Nahar] One person was killed and five others were maimed Sunday in an armed clash between members of Hizbullah and Paleostinian young men near the Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp in Beirut's southern suburbs.
State-run National News Agency identified the dead man as Paleostinian national Mohammed al-Simrawi, saying the shootout erupted when a number of Paleostinians in a wedding convoy refused that their cars be searched by a Hizbullah checkpoint.
"Security forces and representatives of the factions of the Paleostine Liberation Organization intervened in a bid to contain the incident as festivities abated," the agency added.
Earlier, MTV said a number of Paleostinians "opened fire on a Hizbullah checkpoint near the Burj al-Barajneh slaughterhouse after they refused to be searched."
Al-Jadeed television said Hizbullah was "communicating with the camp's security committee to pacify the situation."
LBCI television said protesters burned tires at the camp's entrance and shouted anti-Hizbullah slogans in the wake of the clash.
Later on Sunday, NNA said a meeting got underway between Hizbullah and the Paleostinian factions at the party's office in Haret Hreik and that a joint statement would be issued after the talks.
Hizbullah had beefed up its security measures in and around Beirut's southern suburbs in the wake of a powerful boom-mobileing that rocked the Rweiss neighborhood in Dahieh and left 27 people dead and around 300 maimed.
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[MAGHAREBIA] Algeria deployed 3,000 more soldiers along the borders with Tunisia and Libya, L'Expression reported on Saturday (September 7th). The decision reportedly followed last Tuesday's meeting of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika ... 10th president of Algeria. He was elected in 1999 and is currently on his third or fourth term, who will probably die in office of old age... with Army Chief of Staff Major General Ahmed Gaid Salah.
In August, Prime Minister Abdelmalik Sellal admitted that the security situation in Algeria was sensitive.
"Algeria is now living in the middle of a volcano," he said during a visit to the Jijel province in reference to the security situation along the country's southern and eastern borders.
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[Al Ahram] Representatives of liberal forces swept the leading positions of the Committee of 50 during internal elections on Sunday, ending the day with a resounding majority in the newly-formed committee tasked with writing the final draft of Egypt's post-30 June constitution.
Jerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa ... who was head of the Arab League for approximately two normal lifespans, accomplishing nothing that was obvious to the casual observer ... , a former presidential candidate and past secretary-general of the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... , was elected committee chairman with 30 votes. His rival, lawyers syndicate chairman Sameh Ashour, got 16 votes. Two votes were considered invalid.
According to Mohamed Salmawy, the committee member in charge of counting the votes, 48 members out of a total 50 attended the session. Absent were El-Sayed Mohamedein, chairman of Suez Canal University, and Bassam Al-Zarqa, deputy chairman of the ultraconservative Islamist Salafist Nour party. Mohamedein is currently outside Egypt, whereas Al-Zarqa is expected to attend tomorrow's session following a last-minute Nour party vote in favor of participating in the committee.
Moussa promised to do his best "to help Egypt draft a constitution that reflects the ideals of the two revolutions of January 2011 and June 2013."
Moussa's three deputies, who were also elected Sunday, also represent a liberal to moderate perspective. They include world-renowned heart surgeon Magdi Yacoub, human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... activist Mona Zulficar, and Islamist thinker Kamal El-Helbawy.
Speaking to parliamentary correspondents on Saturday, El-Helbawy, who describes himself as a liberal Islamic thinker who rebelled against the Moslem Brüderbund's ideology, stated that he is "against mixing religion with politics."
"My message to Islamists -- after one year of rule by a very bad regime -- is to keep away from politics in order to allow this country to move forward," El-Helbawy added.
Meanwhile, ...back at the alley, Slats Chumbaloni was staring into a hole that was just .45 inch in diameter and was less than three feet from his face ... Gaber Nassar, president of Cairo University and a high-profile constitutional law professor, was elected as the committee's rapporteur. Like Moussa, Nassar boycotted the Islamist-dominated constituent assembly which drafted Egypt's 2012 constitution under former president Mohamed Morsi.
Mohamed Salmawy, a liberal dramatist and chairman of the Union of Egyptian Writers, was elected as the committee's media spokesperson.
The committee's procedural meeting was headed by Abdel-Gelil Mostafa, the liberal-oriented chairman of the National Association of Change.
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[An Nahar] Two Red Thingy drivers held for almost two weeks in Sudan's troubled Darfur region were safely released on Sunday, their organization said.
They were among eight Sudanese employees of the International Committee of the Red Thingytossed in the clink Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! by gunnies on August 26 as they traveled between Nertiti and Zalingei in Central Darfur state.
Six were soon freed but the drivers continued to be held.
"Our two remaining colleagues have also been released and they have returned to Zalingei," Rafiullah Qureshi, the ICRC's front man in Sudan, told Agence La Belle France Presse.
He said they were tired but well.
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[An Nahar] Syrian rebels, including jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda, have taken control of the historic Christian town of Maalula, north of Damascus, a watchdog and a resident said on Sunday.
Maalula is home to around 5,000 residents and is of strategic importance for the rebels, who are trying to tighten their grip around the capital Damascus, adding a northern post to existing bases in the south and west of the city.
Capturing the town, around 55 kilometers north of the capital, could also help rebels threaten the nearby highway between Damascus and Homs, a supply route used by the regime.
The battle for the town left at least 17 rebels dead and more than 100 maimed overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that dozens of regime forces and pro-militia members were also killed or maimed in the fighting.
"Overnight, Syrian regime troops moved into the village, but rebel forces sent reinforcements and were able to take control of the entire town," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
He said the Al-Nusra Front, which has pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri ... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is... , was among the forces that had taken control of the town.
A Maalula resident, reached by phone, confirmed that regime forces had withdrawn from the area and rebel forces were now in control.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the resident said the situation on the ground was quiet.
"The rebels are inside Maalula, all of Maalula. The government troops have pulled out of Maalula," the resident said.
Abdel Rahman said "fierce fighting broke out between regime forces and rebel fighters overnight, and the soldiers withdrew to the outskirts of the town."
Troops were still stationed around the town, raising the possibility of renewed fighting.
Picturesque Maalula is nestled under a large cliff and is considered a symbol of the Christian presence in Syria.
Many of its inhabitants speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus Christ that only small, scattered communities around the world still use.
It is full of troglodyte caves dating back to the first centuries of Christianity, and also houses the Mar Takla Greek Orthodox monastery.
The festivities first erupted on Wednesday, when Al-Nusra Front fighters and other Salafist tough guys attacked a regime checkpoint at one entrance to the town.
The advance raised fears of attacks against churches or Christians in the town but on Friday, the opposition Syrian National Coalition said rebels had withdrawn from the area.
On Saturday, the Observatory said rebel forces were fighting pro-regime militias in the west of the town, and were also engaged in festivities with Syrian troops on the outskirts of Maalula.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2013
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#2
Just watching BBC. Jeremy Simpson has been talking to people from Maalula who don't want an attack from the West as Assad stands up for the Christians whilst the jihadis are attacking churches and pulling down crosses.
Bottom line Sunni jihadis sponsored by Saudi and Qatar are intolerant bastards. Why would we want to help/support them?
Posted by: Paul D ||
09/09/2013 8:13
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#3
Syria Rebels Seize Former Christian Town of Maalula
[Al Ahram] Heliopolis Prosecution has received the final autopsy report regarding the victims that were killed during clashes at the Republican Guards club last July.
According to the report, the victims were shot in the head and stomach by live ammunition and suffered from internal bleeding that led to their death. "Live ammunition" as opposed to? Blanks? Dead ammunition?
The report also added that some of the victims died within minutes of being shot in the head and heart, whilst others passed away after being transferred to hospital.
On 8 July 2013, clashes erupted between Egypt's armed forces and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, resulting in the death of 53 citizens and the injury of 100 more.
The Heliopolis Prosecution office asked forensics at the criminal lab to hurry in issuing the report concerning weapons and bullet casings used, as evidence in ongoing investigations.
Egypt's armed forces have accused the Muslim brotherhood of trying to storm the Republican Guards headquarters.
Several prominent Muslim brotherhood figures, including Mohamed El-Beltagy, and Islamist preacher Safwat Hegazy, are being accused of inciting the attack against security forces - police and army - at the Republican Guards club.
Meanwhile, Eastern Cairo Prosecution continues to question 700 Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters, tens of whom have been accused of incitement to violence and murder, both outside the Presidential Guards club and during another violent clash with security forces at the Unknown Soldier memorial.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2013
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#1
"Live ammunition" as opposed to? Blanks? Dead ammunition?
"Remember, brothers, the live ones we shoot with live ammunition, and the dead ones we shoot with blanks. You with the .22, you shoot only skinny guys. Shotgun, you stick to storks. Lead doesn't grow on trees. Guys without guns, just use your finger and yell 'bang'. Okay, let's roll."
[MAGHAREBIA] Tunisia's National Guard Special Unit (USGN) broke up a terror recruitment network, the interior ministry announced on Saturday (September 7th). The group members were recruiting young Tunisians into terrorist training camps in Libya, TAP reported. Twenty-one people, including one foreigner, were locked away You have the right to remain silent... in the operation.
In related news, Tunisian forces dismantled two mines west of Jebel Chaambi, Shems FM reported on Saturday (September 7th). Local residents called the army after noticing two suspicious roadside boxes in the region of Doghra.
The army on Friday resumed the bombing of some areas of Jebel Chaambi and Semama, according to Tunisie Numerique. The soldiers raided villages Awled Nasr and Mraouna in search of armed terrorists.
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[An Nahar] A 107-year-old Arkansas man was killed during a shootout with U.S. police and SWAT team members, local authorities said.
Police were responding to a disturbance at a house in Pine Bluff city Saturday afternoon and determined that suspect Monroe Isadore had pointed a gun at two people, according to a statement given to local media.
The two victims were led out of the house. As the officers approached the bedroom where Isadore had taken cover, he shot through the door.
Isadore failed to injure any of the officers with his gunfire. Supervisors began negotiating with Isadore and a Special Weapons and Tactics team was called out.
Using a camera inserted into the room, the SWAT team was able to confirm that Isadore was armed with a handgun. The officers then slipped gas into the room before Isadore responded with gunfire.
"Shortly afterwards, a SWAT entry team inside the residence breached the door to the bedroom and threw a distraction device into the bedroom," the Pine Bluff Police Department statement read.
"Isadore then began to fire on the entry team and the entry team engaged Isadore, killing him."
The statement did not say which type of distraction device was used.
Law enforcement officials are investigating the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2013
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#1
Sounds like Murder to me.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/09/2013 0:11
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#2
Hate to armchair this one, but I wonder if anyone suggested warm milk and a few cookies, a preacher or two? He might have harmlessly just dozed off. The foto with him in a suit and tie, looked pretty respectable. I'll bet he worked hard and paid taxes all his life. Clean living took him to 107. Too bad no one told him about the new Police State.
#8
I think I would have had the cops wait a whole lot longer before trying to put gas, 'distraction' devices, etc., into the house.
Once the two victims had been secured safely and it was determined that Isadore was in the house alone, there's no rush. Put up a perimeter, get a bullhorn and start talking. The goal is to bore him into surrendering.
We don't have near all the facts yet, but I wonder what the rush was.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/09/2013 7:41
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#9
Exactly, Doc. They couldn't wait him out? He likely had a nap coming up soon.
Suicide by cop. Ably assisted by kids who have toys they have to use because they're there.
SWAT teams are wannabee miitary. OK, then they go under the State not the city or county. For law enforcement they belong to the AG. The AG personally clears the use of them in an incident. All actions are filmed. A formal official After Action Report is filed with each case. At least once a year all cases are reviewed for adjustments to TTP and employment. If you want to be professional don't moan about it. It you just want to play cowboys and indians/cops and robbers, grow up or have your toys taken away from you.
#13
I can imagine a real problem for police and certain politicians if more elder ex-military types decide they need to serve their country one last time in an extralegal, violent fashion.
That is twinkle, twinkle little star
Along come Brady in his electric car
But he's got a mean look right in his eyes
He's gonna shoot somebody just to see him die
He's been on the job too long
[Al Ahram] An Al-Qaeda-inspired group based in Egypt's Sinai has said it was behind a bombing that targeted the interior minister in a failed liquidation attempt, a statement on Death Eater Islamist forums said.
"God has allowed your brothers in Ansar Beit al-Maqdis to shatter the security organization of the murderer Mohamed Ibrahim through a martyrdom operation," the group said in the online statement, pledging further attacks.
A boom-mobiledestroyed the interior minister's convoy as he was leaving home for work on Thursday, killing one person.
Ibrahim, who was travelling in an armoured car, was unscathed.
In the statement, the Death Eater group which has in the past claimed attacks against neighbouring Israel, apologised "for not killing the tyrant", threatening another attack against him and army chief Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
The group blamed both men for the killings of hundreds of Islamist supporters of president Mohamed Morsi, tossed by the military in a popularly backed coup on 3 July.
"We vow to God to avenge all those who killed Mohammedans and assaulted their honour, the foremost being Sisi and Mohamed Ibrahim," the statement said.
"We call on all Mohammedans in Egypt to stay away from all military and interior ministry installations to preserve their lives," it added.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2013
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One would hope so. And other countries' intelligence services as well. This is not news.
[An Nahar] Germany's intelligence services cooperated with the U.S. CIA for years on a database of suspected jihadists and their supporters in Germany, the weekly Der Spiegel reported on Sunday.
Under the codename "Project 6" or "P6", Germany's BND and Verfassungschutz intelligence services and the CIA monitored and collected data on Islamists and suspected bully boyz in Germany, the magazine said, without revealing its sources.
The U.S. and German services jointly rented premises in the western town of Neuss in 2005, before subsequently moving to Cologne, the weekly said in a pre-release of an article to be published in its Monday edition.
Der Spiegel said the BND had confirmed the existence of the database, but said the cooperation ended in 2010.
According to the magazine, the database included the name, date of birth and passport number of a German investigative journalist Stefan Buchen, who worked for NDR public broadcaster, after he contacted an Islamist preacher in Yemen and also visited Afghanistan on a number of occasions.
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[Al Ahram] Former liberal-leaning presidential candidate Jerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa ... who was head of the Arab League for approximately two normal lifespans, accomplishing nothing that was obvious to the casual observer ... has been elected ٍas head of Egypt's 50-strong constitution-drafting committee.
Both Moussa -- a former foreign minister -- and chairman of the Syndicate of Lawyers and the Arab Nasserist Party Sameh Ashour announced they would stand for the post of chairman.
Moussa won 30 votes, compared to Ashour's 16, whilst 2 members abstained and 2 were absent.
The panel, led by Abdel Gelil Mostafa - head of the National Association for Change - as the oldest member, convened its first session on Sunday at the headquarters of Egypt's Shura council (upper house of parliament).
Pursuant to a presidential decree, issued by Egypt's interim President Adly Mansour on 8 July, the charter is due to be approved within "sixty days" of the board's first session.
Work by this constitutional-drafting board represents the second stage in writing Egypt's new constitution, which is to replace the suspended 2012 version. This follows initial proposals made by a ten-member legal panel, which have already proved contentious.
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[Dawn] President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari ... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ... , one of the most powerful civilian presidents the country has ever had, stepped down on Sunday, leaving his official residence after a record five years in power.
He retires six years after his wife's murder in December 2007, and is the first democratically elected president in the history of Pakistain to fully complete his constitutional tenure and be replaced by another elected individual.
His successor, Mamnoon Hussain, is to be sworn in on Monday, September 9.
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#1
hopefully Mamnoon has some equally mockable characteristics...besides his name
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/09/2013 9:29
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Does he get to keep 10 percent of the honor guard?
[Al Ahram] Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... on Sunday condemned a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... Arclight airstrike in the east of the country that he said left 16 civilians dead, according to a statement from his office. "Hamid Karzai considers attacking women and kiddies against all accepted international norms and strongly condemns it," the statement said after the Arclight airstrike Saturday in Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country.....
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[Al Ahram] At least four Afghan intelligence agents were killed and dozens of civilians were maimed Sunday when a group of Talibs attacked an intelligence bureau in central Afghanistan, officials said.
Six attackers armed with small arms and boom jackets attacked a National Directorate of Security (NDS) building in Maidan Shar, the capital city of Wardak province south of the capital Kabul, provincial front man Attaullah Khogyani told AFP.
"Five attackers and four intelligence officers were killed in the ensuing clash. Thirty civilians were maimed," he said.
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[Dawn] Two security officials were critically maimed on Sunday after a remote controlled kaboom took place in North Wazoo, DawnNews reported.
According to security sources, a remote controlled bomb, planted along the main Ghulam Khan Road, exploded as a security convoy was travelling through North Waziristan's capital city of Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... , seriously wounding two security forces personnel.
Rescue and security forces reached the area after the incident.
The area was cordoned off as an investigation into the incident went underway.
In related news, an indefinite curfew was announced in the area, with shoot at sight orders against curfew violators given to soldiers.
In another incident, a Death Eater was killed in festivities with security forces on Sunday, according to military sources.
While undertaking a routine patrol in North Waziristan, a security convoy came under fire from Death Eaters.
The resulting festivities killed one Death Eater. No losses were reported by the security forces.
Security forces managed to diffuse a landmine before they cordoned off the area and began a search operation.
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[Al Ahram] A joint committee formed by Egypt's Illicit Gains Authority - the Public Funds Investigation and Administrative Control Authority - has started to examine the financial disclosure of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi, his wife and children, in order to make a report about the family's wealth and assets.
The committee is expected to finish its work over the next two days.
Egypt's prosecutor-general opened on Saturday an investigation into Morsi's wealth, after a report was filed by the head of an anti-corruption association accusing the ousted president of taking personal advantage of his position, as well as squandering LE2 billion ($285.7 million) during his election campaign.
A judicial source told Ahram Online's Arabic gate the committee's mission includes an inventory of the properties of the former president, his wife and children, in all of the Egyptian governorates, including land and real estate.
The family's banks accounts will also be examined, as well as shares in the stock market, if they exist.
In July, Egyptian prosecutors froze the assets of 14 prominent Islamists, including Moslem Brüderbund Supreme Guide and deputy leader Khairat El-Shater, as part of investigations into alleged 'incitement of violence' at protests.
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[Al Ahram] Egypt's prosecutor-general Hesham Barakat has referred Moslem Brüderbund Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and 14 others to the criminal court for alleged involvement in 15 July Giza festivities that left five dead.
Badie was referred to court along with leading Brotherhood members Mohamed El-Beltagy, Bassem Ouda and Essam El-Erian - the latter has not yet been tossed in the calaboose Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! - in addition to Islamist preacher Safwat Hegazy and leading member of Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya Assem Abd El-Magued, who is also still to on the lam, and nine others.
The prosecution accused Badie, El-Beltagy, El-Erian, Abd El-Magued and Hegazy of 'inciting violence and terrorism, murder, forming a gang to attack citizens and supplying it with arms and funds.'
The remaining suspects were accused of 'terrorising, crowding, murder, joining a group that attacked citizens, damaging private property and possessing arms.'
Five were killed in Al-Bahr Al-Azam area of Giza and in the vicinity of the nearby Cairo University, during fire-fights that broke out between pro-Morsi protesters and unknown assailants late on 15 July.
Two other people were killed in the Ramses area, downtown Cairo, in similar festivities that day.
Badie, along with six other leading members of the Brotherhood, are currently on trial facing charges of allegedly 'inciting murder' in festivities at the Brotherhood's headquarters in Moqattam, Cairo, on 30 June.
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[Dawn] Two persons were taken into custody by the capital police and an intelligence agency on the suspicion of their links with a terrorist organization on Saturday, sources in the police told Dawn.
The arrests were made during a raid on a house at Khayaban-e-Kashmire in G-15 sector by a joint team of the police and the intelligence agency.
The police announced that they would share the details of the raid with the media at a news conference but later cancelled it for unknown reasons.
The sources said during the raid, 5.5 kilogrammes of explosives, 16 detonators, 10 hand grenades, four remote-controlled toy planes, spying gadgets, four 222-bore guns, two 9mm pistols and two Kalashnikovs were also recovered from the house.
The Tarnol police produced one of the nabbed Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! suspects, a cousin of the house owner, before a court.
The court gave him in police custody on a physical remand.
The police officially did not share any detail about the development with the media. However, some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves... a police official told Dawn that the matter was being investigated, adding the main suspect was not in the police custody.
The sources said it was suspected that the two men had links with Al Qaeda and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TPP).
It has been revealed that the suspects had planned to fill the remote-controlled toy planes with half a kilogramme explosives each and use them to target three to four important installations outside the red zone in Islamabad, the sources said.
After engaging the law enforcement agencies in the buildings, the gunnies would carry out a massive attack inside the high security zone, they added.
The suspects had filled the four toy planes with explosives which were defused by the police bomb disposal squad.
The sources said the planes could carry up to one kilogramme explosives each and could be sent up to a considerable height. Besides, it can also be handled from a long distance.
When the raid was conducted at the house, there were also some women but after the raid they disappeared. They police took into their custody only one of the suspects.
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[An Nahar] A Syrian national was tossed in the calaboose Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! on Saturday on charges of attempting to prepare explosives, reported the National News Agency on Sunday.
It said that the General Security arrested Ahmed Osama al-Toumani near the vegetable market in the Nahr Ibrahim region.
He was found in possession of a plastic bottle, flammable material, and en electric charger.
He confessed to communicating with individuals in Syria who were teaching him how to assemble explosives.
Investigations are underway with the suspect.
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[Al Ahram] housands of Romanians erupted into the streets for the eighth straight day Sunday to protest a Canadian company's plans to open Europe's largest gold mine in a picturesque Transylvanian village.
Canadian firm Gabriel Resources hopes to extract 300 tonnes of gold in Rosia Montana in the Carpathian mountains with mining techniques requiring the use of thousands of tonnes of cyanide.
Around 3,000 people gathered in capital city Bucharest's University Square and marched to the government headquarters chanting "United we can save Rosia Montana".
Carrying banners reading "I love nature, not cyanide" and "Corruption equals cyanide", they called for the resignation of Prime Minister Victor Ponta, whose government last month adopted a bill clearing the way for the open-cast mine.
The draft law still has to be approved by parliament.
Some 6,000 protesters also rallied in Cluj, the major Transylvanian city, police said.
"We are calling on the government to withdraw this draft law without delay," said Tudor Trif, a 29-year-old engineer marching alongside his wife and son.
"We cannot bequeath to our children a lake full of cyanide and a polluted region," he told AFP, referring to the huge tailings lake where used water from the gold mine will be stored.
Gabriel Resources, which owns 80 percent of the Rosia Montana Gold Corporation, acquired a mining licence in 1999 but has been waiting ever since for a crucial permit from the environment ministry.
The company promises 900 jobs during the 16-year extraction period and economic benefits.
Opponents say the mine will be an ecological time-bomb and threaten the area's Roman mining galleries.
The project will also lead to the destruction of four mountains and require hundreds of families to be relocated.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2013
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#1
Spot price of Gold on 9/9/13 = $1386.40 / troy ounce. 1 ton = $40,435,742.40 x 300 = $12,130,722,720.
The Twelve Trillion Dollar Protest
Posted by: Au Auric ||
09/09/2013 6:54
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#2
Correction that should be the Twelve Billion Dollar Protest....I get excited thinking about Gold
Posted by: Au Auric ||
09/09/2013 6:56
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#3
Well, they'll have some expenses, right?
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/09/2013 12:20
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#4
Rhodium is at $1700 per ounce.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/09/2013 12:25
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#5
That's because Dave D. has cornered the market Deacon.
[Dawn] The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain has set up two self-style Sharia courts in Darra Adamkhel town of FR Kohat to what they call dispense speedy justice to the local rustics.
The development comes in the wake of a secret peace deal between TTP and the government, claim sources in the banned myrmidon outfit.
According to these sources, local TTP chief Mohammad Arif heads the two courts, which are called 'Sharia courts' by Taliban, and operate at separate places in Tor Chappar village.
The courts hear murder, kidnapping, drug and arms smuggling, and adultery cases and dispose them of within 24 hours.
They hand down sentences, including detention, whippings and death by shooting, to convicts under what TTP calls Islamic laws.
The large compound, where the two courts operate, have cells, too, for convicts.
Interestingly, the convicts are bound to preach Islamic teachings to the people of the specified areas for four months after serving sentences.
The sources told Dawn on Saturday that TTP and security forces had struck the secret Islamic court deal courtesy of local TTP front man late Khalid's father and commander Arif, the cousin of slain TTP Darra Adamkhel and Khyber Agency chief Tariq Afridi.
They said TTP and security forces were bound by the deal to stop fighting.
The sources said under the deal, the Talibs wouldn't target security forces, khasadar ...a rural policeman in Pakistain or India... s and innocent rustics but would continue with their activities against criminals.
They, however, said another Taliban group led by commander Noor Bangash had refused to abide by the deal and announced to continue fighting security forces.
TTP was declared a banned outfit and expelled from Darra Adamkhel in 2008 after fierce battles with security forces.
Later, it twice tried to destroy the Kohat tunnel by suicide kabooms, but to no avail.
After the blasts, the army was tasked with safeguarding the tunnel.
The army is still doing the job.
In the past, too, TTP had punished criminals in Darra Adamkhel under Islamic laws.
At that time, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, an alliance of religio-political parties, ruled the adjoining province then called North Western Frontier Province.
Afterwards, the banned outfit began targeting security forces over the military operation, which, it claimed, got underway at the behest of the US.
Our Ghalanai Correspondent adds: A boy was maimed when a toy bomb went kaboom! in Wocha Jawar village of Khawezai tehsil in Mohmand Agency ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... on Saturday.
Local residents said the blast occurred when Jalil Khan, 12, was playing with the toy bomb he had found grazing the cattle.
They said the boy was shifted to a Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. hospital, where his condition was out of danger.
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09/09/2013
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[Dawn] An activist of the Pakistain Musselmen League-Functional (PML-F) was rubbed out near his home in Surjani Town on Saturday, police said.
They added that gunnies riding a cycle of violence targeted 45-year-old Khanzada Istehkam in Sector 36-B shortly after he left his home in the nearby Sector 50 of the Surjani Town.
"He was hit by two bullets in the head," said Surjani Town SHO Inspector Shabbir Awan. He said: "Two men riding a motorbike fired at him when he was on his way to see some friend in Sector 36-B.
"The victim was associated with the PML-F but we are not sure about the motive for the killing."
Gang warfare claims two lives
Two suspected gangsters were killed in an armed attack in Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... on Saturday in what police described as infighting between criminal gangs.
The officials said Abdul Sattar alias Pera and Siraj Ali alias Jin were bumped off in a drive-by shooting in Street 16 of Gul Mohammad Lane. "Both were hit by multiple bullets and was struck down in his prime," said Kalakot SHO Inspector Saleem Marwat.
"The victims were area resident and sitting at a shop when they came under attack. The bodies were handed over to the families after medico-legal formalities."Tension gripped parts of Lyari after the killing as traders pulled down shutters and vehicles gradually disappeared from the roads. The police, however, said the normality returned to the locality a couple of hours after the incident.
"Both the dear departed had criminal record and were known for their association with gangs operating in Lyari," the SHO said. "While the people behind the attack have not been identified so far, we have reasons to believe that their killings are part of the ongoing infighting between criminal gangs."
'Bandit' rubbed out
In Gulistan-e-Jauhar, an early morning encounter between police and armed bandidos left one of the 'bandidos' dead, officials said.
The officials added that four gunnies stormed into the house of Mohammad Imran in Long Life Bungalows near Jauhar Morr early in the morning.
"Earlier, area people witnessing some mysterious movement had approached the police and informed them about it," said an official at the Sharea Faisal cop shoppe. "Subsequently, a police party rushed to the area and spotted a car parked outside the bungalow. As soon as four gunnies came out of the house, they fired shots at the police and an exchange of fire ensued. One of the bandidos was killed on the spot while the house owner, Imran, who received a gunshot wound, was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre." Doctors said his condition was stable, the police official said.
The official added that three accomplices of the 'bandit' managed to run away with the booty. However, there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly... the police seized a TT pistol and seven rounds from the dear departed bandit, who had not been identified yet, said the official.
Rickshaw driver killed
A 60-year-old rickshaw driver was rubbed out in Orangi Town, police said.
They added that gunnies targeted Kamil Shah near Metro Cinema under Banaras bridge.
The victim was a resident of nearby Frontier Colony, said an official at the Pirabad cop shoppe. "He was hit by two bullets in the head and neck. After medico-legal formalities at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, the body was handed over to the victim's family," he said.
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09/09/2013
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"The National Team fully expected our permit to be rejected, and have already drafted a Plan-B. That Plan-B will be posted a little later today once the final details have been bolted down."
#2
I understand perfectly, no one wants Two Million Bikers in Washington DC on the day after The Big O's speech on Syria, now do they.
Think what might happen if the content of his speech is disagreeable to the majority of Americans
Posted by: Au Auric ||
09/09/2013 7:15
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#3
You and whose army?
What, you need reinforcements?
Sorry everyone is in sensitivity training today. The only people working are the maintenance crews to have the copter ready for the golf outing.
#4
What they wanted was a permit to drive straight through without stopping (lights, etc.).Looks like they're still gonna be there but,
What could have been a one or two hour ride through will now likely be an all day event. We will be obeying all laws. We will be stopping at all stoplights, stop signs, and yielding to all pedestrians.
So enjoy the traffic nightmare, DC morons.
Isn't there supposed to be be some Bazillion Muslim Whinefest in DC on 9/11?
#5
Hell's angels was started by maverick paratroopers who used to parachute in to drop zones with dynamite on their legs. Send them an invite then pass the pop corn.
#6
No doubt CAIR and it's supporters will be there to claim how all the bikers were 'disrespectful' of the muslim protesters - but somehow they won't be able to find any videos....
A discussion of problems Canadians are having in getting people employed. And some measures being discussed to remedy the problem
From TFA:
There has been some structural movement to try to shrink the gap between available and in-demand skills among university grads. Ontario, for example, will soon halve the number of students accepted into teachers college programs and double the amount of time it takes to complete the degree. The University of Alberta announced last month that it will be closing 20 of its arts programs. And the University of Ottawa and Mount Royal University in Calgary recently said they will suspend admissions to their journalism programs. These changes may nominally affect the numbers of grads serving you your morning latte. But it wont give the post-secondary system the shakeup it needs.
#4
Ontario, for example, will soon halve the number of students accepted into teachers college programs and double the amount of time it takes to complete the degree.
Ridiculous padding. How about just jacking up standards? No additional costs involved. Oh wait, what am I saying, they want the money. The others are only being shut down because someone finally discovered the negative ROE.
#7
Mrs. Phester and I have (3) grand-morons who finished college in the past (3) years.
Of the three, none are working in their fields. Two are secretarial assistants (one of whom works in the same place as her Mom and Dad), and the other recently landed a job in retail sales. None of these jobs require more than an Associates Degree.
Another one of the kids is being pushed into going to college, and my recommendation that he consider the "successes" of the above is looked at as being, er, unwelcome to say the least. When I ask why he wants to go to college to begin with, I get "To play ball." (He's a pretty good catcher.) as the answer.
Four-year college used to be a place that taught you how to think; it is now somewhere where you are taught what to think with very low levels of actual education. The little pieces of paper you now get at the end are little more than expensive certificates of attendance. Corporate Cultures are pushing the "College Degree Required" crap all the way to broom pushing.
IM(not so)HO, College education is, for most students (Dr's, Engineers, etc. excepted) a scam not far removed from a Ponzi Scheme....
My "wake-up call" happened a number of years ago when I saw a book we used in one of my college courses in a $1-bin at K-mart. Kind of put it all in perspective....
#8
Uncle Phester, you know the grand kids better than I of course and I don't know what majors they have, but the job market is in the toilet and the kids got jobs. That is something.
#11
job market is in the toilet
Don't know what you have been searching for in the way of employment, but out here north of Seattlestan, we have a dearth of engineers and program managers for our little ol' aerospace company. Boeing is sucking them all away, but if you are fresh out of school, this would be a place to get some 'sperience.
[Al Ahram] Egypt prosecutors extended the detentions of Salafist leader Hazem Salah Abu-Ismail and Moslem Brüderbund leaders Helmi El-Gazzar, Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maqsoud, and former MP Mohamed El-Omda for another 15 days on Sunday, pending investigation into charges of inciting the murder of anti-Morsi protesters.
The Islamist figures were tossed in the clink Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! following the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi, who hails from the Moslem Brüderbund.
The prosecution charged the four leaders with inciting the violence that led to nine protester deaths during festivities between Morsi supporters and opponents near Giza's Cairo University on 30 June.
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Al Ahram] Syrian President Basar al-Assad has denied in an interview with CBS television that he was behind a chemical attack in a Damascus suburb last month, the US network said Sunday. "He denied that he had anything to do with the attack," CBS veteran correspondent Charlie Rose said, speaking earlier after interviewing Assad in Syria. The interview is due to be shown early Monday in the United States.
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Also repor in the same CBS interview ...
* DAILY STAR LEBANON >ASSAD SAYS THOSE ALIGNED WID HIM [Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, etal.] WILL RETALIATE IN CASE OF ATTACK.
and
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > VIDEO: AL-FURQAN BRIGADES CLAIM TWO ATTACKS ON SHIPS IN SUEZ CANAL, THREATEN MORE - THREAT MATRIX.
[Al Ahram] The daughter of Libya's ex-spy chief under dictator Muammar Qadaffy ...a reminder that a single man with an idea can change an entire nation, usually for the worse... was released by her abductors after her tribe cut off the capital's water supply, officials said Sunday.
Commander Haitham el-Tajouri of the militia that kidnapped Anoud el-Senoussi said that she was handed over to her tribe in southern Libya late Saturday after the country's prime minister negotiated her release.
El-Tajouri's militia is part of the Supreme Security Committee, which is comprised of militias that work with police and are paid to help with security by the Interior Ministry. The 21 year old's abduction highlighted the government's inability to control even its own paid forces.
Prime Minister Ali Zidan has struggled to reign in a combustible mix of tribal feuds, disgruntled tribes and renegade militias. The country's nascent police and army have been unable to secure the country and rely on help from former rebels who fought in the 2011 civil war that toppled Gadfhafi. The armed militias born out of the war often act above the law and have taken part in a string of abductions, often seeking Dire Revenge™.
Amnesia Amnesty International said last week that el-Senoussi's abduction "casts a shadow on the Libyan authorities' ability to ensure the safety" of around 8,000 detainees held in relation to the 2011 war.
The rights group said masked men armed with heavy weapons attacked a three-car judicial convoy carrying her Monday and that no one was reported injured.
Amnesty said the judicial police have been significantly weakened because of the war and that hundreds of officers have failed to report back to work since. It added that around 10,000 former members of armed brigades that fought against Qadaffy are being courted by the Interior Ministry to beef up policing, but "lack the necessary training and experience to handle detainees," Amnesty said.
The militia claimed in a statement online that it had kidnapped el-Senoussi to protect her from criminal gangs amid a security vacuum in the North African country.
El-Senoussi was kidnapped as she left al-Rayoumi prison in Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... where she was visiting her father, Abduallah el-Senoussi. He is locked away ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... over his alleged role in crimes committed during the civil war. His daughter was previously detained for 10 months on charges of using a forged passport and entering Libya on a forged document.
Days after her abduction, el-Senoussi's Megraha tribe in Sabha in southern Libya cut the power on pumps that keep water flowing to the northwest and the capital. Water shortages hit Tripoli, forcing hospitals and homes to rely on wells and large tanks.
Water Minister El-Hady Hansheer said Sunday that water valves in the south were opened after three days of being shut off.
El-Tajouri said el-Senoussi's release was not a result of blackmail or pressure.
"If Anoud had committed a crime against Libyans or her arrest was required she would not have been released even if our air and not just our water was cut off," he told news hounds.
Hisham Hassan, a front man for the International Commission of the Red Thingy in Libya, also confirmed to the AP on Sunday that el-Senoussi was safely released.
Also Sunday, a Libyan security official said a disgruntled officer in uniform shot up the front gates of the prime minister's office in the heart of Tripoli. No one was injured. The official said civilians tossed in the clink Please don't kill me! the man and handed him over to the building's guards.
In the eastern city of Benghazi, another Libyan official said Capt. Salem Shabaan, one of several officers in charge of a group of special forces at the airport there, survived a boom-mobileing. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists.
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Al Ahram] Residents in northeast Nigeria ... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border... say at least 13 vigilantes and five 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... members have been killed after Islamic sect members launched attacks on a town.
Sunday's attack in Benisheik, 72 kilometers (45 miles) west of Maiduguri, took place days after the military says it killed at least 50 snuffies in an area to the north.
Zannah Fannami, an injured operative with the Civilian Joint Task Force, said they were attacked while awaiting Boko Haram's approach on the town. He said the vigilante group was able to kill five of the suspected Islamic sect members. Another Civilian-JTF operative Muhammed Abuwar said the military didn't assist the vigilantes and 18 others were maimed.
Though the military couldn't be immediately reached for comment, the road leading to Benisheik was barricaded.
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Top|| File under: Boko Haram
[Dawn] Officials of a sensitive agency raided some localities in the city on Saturday to track down members of a banned outfit after they incarcerated Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! two suspected foreigners, said to be associated with al-Qaeda, from a Punjab University hostel on Friday night.
The Lahore police also rounded up several suspects during a search and sweep operation.
Sources claimed that suspects had come to Lahore for supervising suicide kabooms and they were given refuge by a sister organization of a religious party.
Oh? And which particular religious party was that, pray tell?
Officials seized several cell phone SIMs and other material from the possession of the accused.
One of the arrested suspects was a commander who had supervised terrorist activities across the country from the tribal area in the past.
All sorts of lovely hints in this article, but precious few facts...
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
[An Nahar] The leader of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... 's M23 rebels said Sunday they were ready to disarm under two conditions: the return of Congolese refugees and the eradication of Hutu militia the FDLR.
M23 chief Bertrand Bisimwa said the army mutineers, whose rebellion has terrorized eastern DR Congo for more than a year, would return to civilian life if the government agreed to their demands at peace talks set to resume in Uganda after breaking down in May.
"We are ready to disarm under two conditions: first, that the question of the FDLR be resolved, and second, the return of the Congolese refugees living in camps" in Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi, he told Agence La Belle France Presse.
The M23 was founded by former Tutsi rebels who were incorporated into the Congolese army under a 2009 peace deal.
Complaining the deal was never fully implemented, they mutinied in April 2012, turning their guns on their former comrades and launching the latest rebellion to ravage DR Congo's mineral-rich but conflict-prone east.
The United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... and various rights groups have accused the M23 of atrocities including rape and murder in a conflict that has caused tens of thousands of refugees to flee the country.
The U.N. also accuses Rwanda's current Tutsi leadership of backing the M23, a charge the country has adamantly denied.
The rebels for their part have accused the Congolese army of joining forces against them with the FDLR, or Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, which is also active in eastern DR Congo where its members fled in the wake of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Some FDLR members are wanted on charges of taking part in the genocide, when Hutu bully boyz killed around 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
"We don't want them (the FDLR) on our territory anymore," said Bisimwa, calling for the Hutu group to be "neutralized" and Tutsi refugees returned.
The M23 have recently retreated from their positions around the key eastern city of Goma in the face of a fresh offensive by the army and a new U.N. combat force created to fight the rebels.
Speaking three days after declaring the M23 was willing to resume peace talks, Bisimwa said Sunday the rebels were ready to become civilians again.
"The M23 isn't interested in joining the army or the Congolese government," he said.
"That army's not attractive," he added. "The M23 is ready to demobilize and return to civilian life."
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Debka] In an unexpected turn of events along the road to a US military strike on Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday afternoon, Sept. 9 that he had urged Syria to hand over its nuclear arsenal to international control if that would stop an American attack. Moscow had lost no time in picking up the gauntlet thrown down by US Secretary of State 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wxUFNZC6Hio/UZExp_jLRTI/AAAAAAAALRE/92LL66hwtS8/s1600/1%CE%92%CE%92.JPG")
[Al Ahram] Israel deployed its Iron Dome missile defence system near Jerusalem Sunday, an AFP correspondent said, as the United States lobbied for domestic and international support for military strikes against Syria.
[Al Ahram] A group of men in a stolen car shot 29 people on the main street of a poor indigenous town in the mountains outside Guatemala City, killing 11 in an incident that some residents blamed on corrupt 
Nawaz Sharif
[Dawn] An orphan girl who was in illegal detention and faced 'death warrants' issued by a local jury (panchayat) for contracting love marriage was recovered by police on the orders of a court that later sent her to a local shelter home (Dar-ul-Aman) with directions for the safety of the couple.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Bouteflika
Jerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa
Zawahiri
President Asif Ali 
Wazoo
[Al Ahram] Egypt's prosecutor-general Hesham Barakat has referred 
[Dawn] The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain has set up two self-style Sharia courts in Darra Adamkhel town of FR Kohat to what they call dispense speedy justice to the local 
Mohmand Agency
[Dawn] An activist of the Pakistain 
