Families of soldiers, who are allegedly surrounded by the Taliban in Baghlan, have called on government to do something to help the troops.
The families converged on Pul-e-Khumri, the capital of Baghlan on Saturday, to seek help. They claim their sons have been under siege by the Taliban in Sorkh Kotal area of Pul-e-Khumri since Tuesday.
"This issue should be solved by12 noon today. We want our sons to be taken out of the siege," said the mother of a local policeman.
"The government doesn't listen to us....forces can go there, but they don't go. The government has aircraft, but don't use them," said a relative of one of the soldiers.
Families of the soldiers warned that a human disaster will take place, if government fails to take action to break the siege.
The collapse of several check posts to the Taliban in less than a week has also raised concerns of Baghlan provincial council members.
"They are close to the highway. The Sorkh Kotal base was located in an area to not let the Taliban come close to the highway," said Bismillah Atash, another member of the council.
"If they don't launch operations in Baghlan, like the ones that they have carried out in Knnduz and Helmand province, then we, the members of provincial council, along with people will launch a widespread protest and will block the highway," said Mohammad Zarif Zarif, a member of Baghlan provincial council.
As opposed to say, fighting the Taliban yourselves...
Police in Baghlan admitted that fighting is underway between Afghan forces and the Taliban, but rejected that soldiers are under siege.
Awaz Mohammad Naziri, Baghlan Police Chief, also rejected claims of the fall of check posts to the Taliban.
Fighting between Afghan forces and the Taliban is underway in Baghlan-e-Markazi districts and outskirts of Pul-e-Khurmi over the past week.
Naziri said that in recent fighting nine Taliban militants have been killed and several others wounded.
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Afghanistan High Peace Council (AHPC) officials have said peace deal with Hezb-e-Islami party led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ... who used to be known in intelligence circles as The Most Evil Man in the World but who now seems merely run-of-the-mill evil... will likely complete on Sunday.
Deputy High Peace Council Chief in Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... , Ata-ur-Rehman has told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that the deal could be completed after two years of negotiations on Sunday.
A Hezb-e-Islami party representative Amin Karim has also said he expected President Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. to approve the final version of the agreement on Sunday.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth ordered the entire 614th quadrant searched. The Green Lensman must be found!... reports emerged last week suggesting that the leader of the party Gulbuddin Hekmatyar will visit Kabul to sign the agreement with the Afghan government.
Mohammad Ismail Qasimyar, international relations adviser to Afghanistan High Peace Coucil, confired Hekmatyar is expected to visit Kabul to sign the agreement.
Citing the representatives of Hezb-e-Islami, Qasimyar said Hekmatyar is based in Afghanistan and the delegation is not prepared to disclose the location until he arrives in Kabul for formal meeting with the Afghan officials.
The delegation of Hezb-e-Islami arrived for peace talks to capital Kabul in mid March and shortly after the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) called on holy warrior groups to participate in direct peace talks with the Afghan government.
Hekmatyar is considered is a notorious warlord for his involvement in the devastating civil war and insurgency following activities following the fall of the Taliban group.
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05/15/2016 00:00 ||
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[ASHARQ AL-AWSAT] The US administration yesterday joined the European Union in imposing sanctions on the President of the Libyan House of Representatives Aguila Saleh who is accused of blocking the formation of a UN – backed government of national accord which is led by Fayez Al-Sarraj in the capital Tripoli. Meanwhile, it was confirmed yesterday that American, British and Italian special military forces (commandos) are participating in skirmishes between Misrata brigades loyal to Al-Sarraj’s government and ISIS in western Libya.
American soldiers revealed that special American commando forces have been present in two locations in Misrata and Benghazi in Libya for weeks and are coordinating with Libyan combatant groups hostile to ISIS as part of US military strategy that anticipates an increase in the number of ISIS fighters in Libya as a result of their increasing defeats in Syria and Iraq.
The chief spokesman for the Department of Defense Peter Cook said that he would not comment on the details of any military operations in Libya, but added “We continue to contact different Libyan groups in order to help them establish a secure and stable state system”.
In a statement issued by the US Department of the Treasury, it accused Saleh of disrupting the vote of confidence to recognise the authority of Al-Sarraj’s government and of opposing the political transition process in Libya. It also noted that the European Union recently imposed similar sanctions against Saleh, including travel restrictions and the freezing of assets.
Furthermore, Libyan military sources revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that a series of secret meetings between representatives of US and British forces and local leaders loyal to Al-Sarraj’s government were held at the Maitiqa base in order to coordinate them. The sources asserted that they also had information about the presence of British special forces that are fighting alongside the Misrata brigades against ISIS.
#1
It also noted that the European Union recently imposed similar sanctions against Saleh, including travel restrictions and the freezing of assets.
I see our Champ's efforts to scuttle the upcoming 23 June 'Brexit' vote are paying off. Regime change for me, but not for thee. Help us fix the world won't you ?
Sarcasm of course, but yet another Proverbs 26:11 moment. Can't say it's 'all about the oil' this time. We must be harvesting or covering up something else.
#2
Crinemble, your words are from the English dictionary, but I don't recognize the references or the sentence construction. You'll have to help us here if you want us to help you.
Crinemble was just another gym for our dumb-assed Hemingway wannabe. He's deleted, as he will be each and every time in the future.
#8
Fly-fishin' with Hemingway's funny;
He never would do it for money!
His tip about trollin'
Or dippin' your pole in:
"I catch more with acid than honey."
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] There are signs that Nigeria’s 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... turbans are sending fighters to join ISIS in Libya,
...they won't enjoy being second class citizens in the Arab world, which no doubt will be a useful learning experience...
and of increased cooperation between the two groups, a senior US official said on Friday.
Nigeria has asked the United States to sell it aircraft to fight Boko Haram, which has been waging a seven-year insurgency in the north and last year pledged loyalty to ISIS, which is active in Syria, Iraq and Libya.
Continued on Page 49
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05/15/2016 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said on Friday that the priority in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... is no longer to wage a war against the Houthis but to fight al-Qaeda.
In an interview in the French newspaper Le Figaro, Jubeir said Al-Qaeda and ISIS are two terrorist organizations and they need to be contained. Le Figaro said Jubeir’s statement is evidence of a change in the situation on the ground in Yemen.
Jubeir added: "Al-Qaeda and ISIS are terrorist organizations. However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... the Houthis are Yemenis and are our neighbors with whom one can hold talks."
He expressed optimism about the ongoing talks in Kuwait between the Houthis and the government.
In tweets from his official account, Jubeir said whether we disagree or agree with the Houthis, they remain a part of the social fabric of Yemen.
He also said in another tweet: "ISIS and al-Qaeda are terrorist organizations that should not be given the chance to exist neither in Yemen, nor in any other part of the world."
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05/15/2016 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] There were hardly any Syrian migrants colonists among the 800 people rescued off Sicily, contrary to earlier reports from Italia’s coastguard, the UN and the International Organization for Migration have confirmed.
The coastguard had said Thursday that half of the 342 migrants colonists they had picked up were Syrians, sparking concern that the flow of Syrians previously attempting to cross into Europe via The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and Greece was shifting to Italian shores.
Around 50,000 Syrians
"A coupla mooks from Algeria stole my passport, but I am Syrian -- from Aleppo. Really. President Assad is my fourth cousin, five times removed. There were a couple of Nigerian slave girls in my ancestry, that's why I don't look Arab."
arrived in Italia between mid-2013 and early 2014, after which Greece became the route of choice, the IOM said.
While only 26 people from the war-torn country have landed in Italia this year, a deal between Turkey and the EU to close down that route and return those attempting to cross has raised fears Syrians would begin once more to set out for Sicily.
Of the 800 arrivals, only two people were believed to be Syrians.
"The information was incorrect," Carlotta Sami, Italia spokeswoman for the UN’s Refugee Agency, told AFP after UNHCR humanitarian workers spoke to the newly-arrived migrants colonists on Friday after they were brought to various ports on the Italian island.
"There are a lot of different nationalities: Yemenis, Somalis, Eritrea ...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age... ns, South Sudanese", she said, while IOM front man Flavio di Giacomo said there were also many Egyptians and a high number of unaccompanied minors.
The IOM said what was notable was the rise in the number of people setting off from Egypt rather than Libya.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... has slammed Western countries, saying they care more about gay and animal rights than the fate of conflict-stricken Syrians.
Addressing a large crowd Friday in northwest The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , Erdogan also accused the West of possessing a mindset "remnant of slavery and colonialism."
His latest anti-Western outburst came amid a standoff with the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... over its demand that Turkey amend its anti-terrorism laws to secure visa-free travel in Europe for Turks.
Erdogan said: "Shame on those who don’t show sensitivity ... to the women and kiddies who reach out to them for help."
He added: "Shame on those who deny the sensitivity they show to ... the whales, the seals and the turtles in the sea to 23 million Syrians."
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05/15/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Last I checked, there were no Islamic polar bears.
[DAWN] Key members of Congress are not prepared to support military aid to Pakistain without some specific actions and the B.O. regime has to follow their decision, says the US State Department.
At a Thursday afternoon news briefing in Washington, a State Department official, Elizabeth Trudeau, pointed out that the US administration also wanted Pakistain to act against the Haqqani network.
"Key members of Congress have been clear they’re not prepared to support US military aid to Pakistain absent some specific actions," she said.
Ms Trudeau said the United States had clearly conveyed its views to Pakistain on the activities of the Haqqani network and Islamabad knew what to do.
"Pakistain has spoken that they will not discriminate against [militant] groups. We could encourage them to continue to live up to that," she said when asked if the State Department was willing to certify that Pakistain had taken the ’specific actions’ needed to justify releasing military funds to the country.
The statement coincided with a debate in the Pak parliament where Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj PrunefaceAziz ...Adviser to Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs, who believes in good jihadis and bad jihadis as a matter of national policy... conceded that relations with the US had been under stress for the past three months.
Last week, a US congressional panel endorsed a move to block $450 million of military aid to Pakistain for failing to take action against the Haqqani network. And late last month, US senators stopped the administration from using foreign military financing for subsidising sale of eight F-16s to Pakistain.
Responding to another question, Ms Trudeau said that while only Congress could explain its position on the issue, the administration was "committed to working with Congress to deliver security assistance to our partners and allies".
Doing so, she added, "furthers US goals by building capacity to meet shared security challenges".
When asked if the B.O. regime and Congress were on the same page on the matter, Ms Trudeau said: "We continue to work with Congress," making it clear that the administration on its own could not release the funds.
After improving a bit, relations between Pakistain and the US began to deteriorate again early this year when Pakistain’s efforts to persuade Taliban to join Afghan reconciliation talks failed.
Some analysts say that Pakistain does not have enough influence on the Taliban to persuade them to accept a peace deal. They argue that the turbans will only join peace talks if they realise that they cannot win the war.
The Americans argue that Pakistain can play an effective role in making the Taliban realise their own vulnerability by taking direct military action against those who are hiding inside its borders.
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05/15/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
The bin Laden payments must have ended. What else do you have ?
Tahir Hussain Minhas, alias Sain, the Safoora bus carnage criminal mastermind who has been awarded death sentence by a military court, disclosed that he had been active in militancy since the late 1990s when he went to Kashmire to get training for jihad and also met Al Qaeda chief the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now beyond all cares and woe... and his then deputy 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 assuming he's not dead like Mullah Omar. He lost major face when he ordered the nascent Islamic State to cease and desist and merge with the orthodx al-Qaeda spring, al-Nusra... later during his visit to Afghanistan, it emerged on Friday.
Continued on Page 49
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[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Iraqi refugees fleeing Nineveh asked to be allowed to cross to north of Iraq regions due to difficult humanitarian conditions in al-Haul camp in Hasaka province, local sources said.
Hundreds of Iraqi families suffer terrible conditions at al-Haul refugee camp in Hasaka eastern countryside especially after families keep coming to the camp. The number of families exceeded 500 while the camp has only a capacity of 200 family.
The locals have not been able to help the refugees who fled Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... in Iraq.
The locals returned to their homes this month after they were displaced by Kurdish Self-administration. The locals depend on Iraqi refugees in bringing medicine and food items from the Iraqi borders.
Hasaka Charity organization cooperates with self-administration to help the refugees.
The later provides water, food and medicine to the refuges coming to the camp.
Self-administration officials spoke of establishing 250 tents to host the refuges and they are trying to bring power through Rmaylan to the camp.
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[ARA News] QAMISHLO – The Syrian Kurdish news website Welati shut down its website on 8 May after facing financial difficulties. This comes just two weeks after an independent radio station ARTA-FM was burned in the town of Amude city in northeastern Syria by anonymous gunmen.
“The main reason we are closed is that we don’t have sufficient financial resources and enough manpower to continue our work,” Zara Misto, a Welati editor from Kobane told ARA News.
“When we started Welati in 2011, we aimed at covering news in Rojava [Syrian Kurdish region] independently,” said Him Omar, the founder of the website.
“Our goal was to work independent from political parties and the website was financed privately by its owner,” he told ARA News. “We wanted to report on the differences between the Kurdish parties and report about sensitive subjects in a constructive way.”
However, the news website faced several challenges. “Our website was hacked several times and we lost our archive. Moreover, we had financial problems and we tried to find financial support from international organizations that support free media, but we failed,” he said. “Slowly our work became impossible.”
For local reporters in the Kurdish areas of Syria it’s difficult to work due to security challenges and the increasing polarization between the dominant Kurdish parties such as the Kurdish National Council (KNC) backed by Masoud Barzani, and the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM) backed by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The two sides signed an agreement in Duhok in October 2014, but failed to implement it and share power on the ground.
Currently, a local administration dominated by TEV-DEM and it’s Christian, Arab and Kurdish allies is ruling large parts of northern Syria.
There are several Kurdish TV-stations covering the current situation in the Kurdish areas of Syria but most of them are either affiliated with TEV-DEM such as Ronahi or Rojava TV, or funded by Iraqi Kurdish parties such as Zagros and Rudaw, affiliated to Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). As a result, most Kurdish media is used as instruments by Kurdish parties to attack each other.
“The KDP-S [Syrian branch of the Iraqi KDP] have Rudaw and Zagros, the PYD [TEV-DEM member] have Ronahi and Rojava TV. Amid this, independent Kurds are left with less options,” Mustafa Mashaikh, a member of the Kurdish Democratic Unity party, told ARA News.
“The media is more dominated by politics,” a TEV-DEM official said.
As a result, the local Kurdish media in Syria is often forced to choose sides due to the lack of financing.
“The war in Syria is becoming more bloody and you are forced to support a party and cannot have different opinions,” Omar said.
“We [Welatî] wanted to be active in Rojava and other parts of Kurdistan and needed more reporters and financial support, we tried several times to get international support since we knew we would loose our independence if we would receive backing from local parties,” Omar told ARA News. “We rejected proposals to finance our website from Kurdish organizations, because we wanted to maintain our independence.”
“That’s why we took the painful decision to stop the website and have no new plans to start again,” he said.
“Welatî was an example of moderate media within the Kurdish society. It could prove neutrality and moderation when published events and crises reports,the website was away from parties and political groups influence,” Idris Nassan, a former Kurdish official in the Kobane administration told ARA News.
“It’s team could not gain financial help from its supporters as they did not seek for politicians’ approval, so it came to an end, and in this way the Kurdish media lost one of it’s media outlets to publish the reality and truth in a neutral way,” Nassan added.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The United States called on Iran Saturday to free seven leaders of the minority Baha’i faith serving 20-year prison sentences, urging Tehran to ensure religious and other freedoms.
The Baha’i leaders were tossed in the clink Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! eight years ago and convicted of espionage, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic Theocratic Republic.
"We join the international community in condemning their continued imprisonment and calling upon the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran to release them immediately, along with all other prisoners of conscience in Iran," State Department front man John Kirby said in a statement.
"Furthermore, we call upon Iranian authorities to uphold their own laws and meet their international obligations that guarantee freedom of expression, religion, opinion and assembly for all citizens," he said.
Iran allows religious freedom for several minorities but targets the Baha’i faith, which believes in unity among religions and equality between men and women.
The Baha’i faith considers Bahaullah, an Iranian born in 1817, to be the latest prophet sent by God, a major divergence from Islamic orthodoxy.
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05/15/2016 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iran is staging an international cartoon contest on the Holocaust, saying it is not a denial of the Nazi massacre.
Masuod Shojai-Tabatabai, the secretary of the contest, said Saturday, that they have no interest in denying the Holocaust or "ridiculing its victims."
He added that the world was witnessing a similar massacre "by the Zionist regime in Gazoo and Paleostine."
Some 150 works from 50 countries are on display. The works mainly criticize what they consider the use of the Holocaust by Israel to distract from the Paleostine issue.
Cartoonists from various countries, including La Belle France, are competing in the contest which is organized by non-governmental bodies with strong support from Iran’s hard-liners.
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[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that a judge in terrorism court in Damascus referred prominent Syrian opposition figure Mohammed Saleh to the criminal court on charges of "funding terrorism in Syria" and that when he helped a family in besieged al-Waer neighborhood by regime in Homs with 100 Euros, according to the source.
Air Force Intelligence branch in Homs by orders of Jameel al-Hasan the chief of the Air Force Intelligence in Syria tossed in the calaboose You have the right to remain silent... on October 23, 2015 the prominent leader in the peaceful Syrian uprising after storming his house in al-Shammas neighborhood in Homs. They confiscated his lap top and all communication devices in his house.
He was transferred to Air Force Administration and after two months of interrogation, he was referred to terrorism court on December 30, 2015 where he was taken to Adra, central prison in Damascus.
Opposition figure and journalist Mohammed Deebu told Zaman al-Wasl that Mohammed Saleh is one of the fiercest opponents of Assad regime and one who was clear about his stand against tyranny.
He added that Mohammed Saleh decided to remain in Homs until his arrest and he was doing what he could to help the displaced people in Homs and locals of Homs.
Deebu confirmed that Mohammed Saleh remained a peaceful fighter against tyranny until the last minute and that is what scares the regime. The regime then fabricated a charge against him of funding terrorism when he was only offering help to those in need.
Mohammed Saleh was exposed to many uncomfortable situations during the times he was helping during to his religious background, but he choose to continue to do what he believed he should be doing until his arrest, Deebu added.
Arrest opposition figure Mohammed Saleh said in front of the judge who refused to release him that I admit that I did all i could to stop the bloodshed of Syrians. I wished I could put an end to each pain and suffering of Syrians and that s why I connected with all who helped me to do that, according to activists.
He added in his defense that if it was a crime, I admit then my crime and I will continue to work wishing that one day the law would rule instead of the rule of force. He concluded thanking those who still have a conscious.
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights demanded UN envoy to Syria Staffan De Mistura the immediate release of Mohammed Saleh and all prisoners of conscious in regime prisons and detentions who are estimated to be 200 thousand detainees.
The observatory said quoting a source inside security detentions that at least 60 thousand detainees were martyred under torture and the observatory documented the martyr of 14 thousand until this moment.
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[EN.ZAMANALWSL.NET] Syrian regime and backed militias launched missile attack on the besieged town of Daraya near Damascus, field sources said Saturday.
Residents of Daraya said regime plans for major attack on the town after pounding the the southern neighborhood by surface to-surface early Saturday.
On Thursday, regime mortars hit crowds were waiting humanitarian medicine aid in Daraya west of Damascus, killing at least two people, local activists said Thursday after aid convoy denied entry.
Father and his son have been killed as dozen more have been maimed, activists reported.
The aid convoy was refused entry to Daraya, the Red Thingy and United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... said, blocking what would have been the first supplies to its residents for more than three years.
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[IsraelTimes] Tehran nuclear chief Salehi hails technological progress, says Iran establishing itself as an exporter of nuclear products
Iran is enhancing its nuclear activities, and has improved its capacity to enrich uranium, Iran’s nuclear chief told a gathering of his country’s diplomats in Tehran on Saturday.
"We are enhancing the industrial section of Iran’s nuclear activities technologically with modern systems and machines," said Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran who was a key figure in the negotiation of last year’s nuclear deal between Iran and the US-led P5+1 world powers.
Salehi spoke of advances in enrichment capability, asserting that the quality of process of uranium enrichment in Iran is also progressing, according to the Tehran Times.
Iran’s IRNA state news agency reported: "Salehi said that Iran’s nuclear program is on the right path naturally and compatible with the strategic plans of the country in a transparent way based on international factors."
He also told the envoys, at a conference that focused on the nuclear deal, that Iran is establishing itself as an exporter of nuclear products, including heavy water. "We have improved the country’s situation in the field of the civilian nuclear energy," Salehi said, according to Iran’s Fars news agency.
Salehi said earlier this week that Iran was negotiating with Russia to sell 40 tons of its excess heavy water.
The nuclear deal was designed to freeze and inspect Iran’s rogue nuclear program, in return for sanctions relief for the Tehran regime. Critics, notably including Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have warned that, far from blocking Iran’s path to the bomb, it paves the way to an Iranian nuclear arsenal.
Even as the deal is being implemented, Iran’s leaders have kept up a barrage of aggressive rhetoric against the United States and Israel. Earlier this month, for instance, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the United States is the Middle East’s main enemy, with the "Zionist regime" a close second.
Speaking at a meeting in Tehran with the head of the Paleostinian Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... terror group, Khamenei said that looking at the turmoil in the region in a "macro" sense, the US was clearly to blame, with Israel following closely behind.
Iran has also been testing ballistic missiles. In March, it tested what it said were missiles with a 2,000-kilometer range, capable of reaching Israel, inscribed with the words, "Israel must be wiped out."
The B.O. regime, which championed the Iran deal, has been under fire at home in recent days after a top presidential adviser, Ben Rhodes, reportedly told the New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... he created an "echo chamber" of supportive experts in an effort to persuade politicians to back the deal. The article also claims Obama misrepresented the timeline of the negotiations in an effort to create a story line that bolstered the administration’s case.
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[IsraelTimes] Syrian Observatory: Opposition groups deny involvement in Mustafa Badreddine’s death, claim no recent shelling on airport where he was killed
A Syrian watchdog group refuted claims made earlier Saturday by Hezbollah that a top commander in Syria was killed last week as a result of shelling by Islamic Lion of Islams.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday that Syrian opposition groups denied involvement in the death of Mustafa Badreddine, adding that sources in the Syrian military also said that no projectile was launched on the Damascus international airport recently.
"There was no shelling... in recent days. The Syrian opposition has no connection to the death," said the group’s head Rami Abed a-Rahman.
Earlier Saturday, Hezbollah announced that Badreddine was killed by Islamist rebel groups.
"An investigation has shown that the blast that targeted one of our positions near the Damascus international airport that led to the martyrdom of the brother commander Mustafa Badreddine was caused by artillery bombardment carried out by takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... (Sunni Lion of Islam) groups present in that region," a Hezbollah statement said.
Hezbollah did not name any particular group and there has been no claim of responsibility for the attack. But in its statement the group vowed not to let up in its war against those it described as "criminal gangs" in Syria.
"The result of the investigation will only increase our determination and will to pursue the fight against those criminal gangs until they are defeated," the statement said. "It is the same battle against the American-Zionist scheme in the region, which the bandidosholy warriors are spearheading."
The announcement contradicted a flurry of earlier Arab media reports claiming an advanced nation, possibly Israel, was behind the big shot’s death.
Earlier in the day a Lebanese newspaper with ties to the group claimed Badreddine was killed by a guided missile only possessed by advanced nations. Al-Akhbar reported that Badreddine had just concluded a meeting with other commanders near the Damascus airport on Thursday night when the kaboom occurred. The weapon used to kill him, the paper said, was a highly advanced one.
The newspaper claimed a guided missile went kaboom! several meters from Badreddine. It said the majority of his injuries were internal, caused by the blast shockwave, and that only tiny amounts of shrapnel were found in his body.
Meanwhile Kuwaiti paper Al-Rai claimed Saturday that Israel was behind the killing, saying an Israeli Air Force jet had fired the missile that hit Badreddine.
The Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV, which is close to Hezbollah, initially said Badreddine was killed in an Israeli Arclight airstrike but later removed the report. There was no comment from Israel.
Al-Akhbar noted that the group would seek retribution for the top commander’s killing not only to avenge his death, but also to send a strong message that it will not allow the targeting of high-ranking officials to go unpunished.
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.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
[ASHARQ AL-AWSAT] The US administration yesterday joined the European Union in imposing sanctions on the President of the Libyan House of Representatives Aguila Saleh who is accused of blocking the formation of a UN – backed government of national accord which is led by Fayez Al-Sarraj in the capital Tripoli. Meanwhile, it was confirmed yesterday that American, British and Italian special military forces (commandos) are participating in skirmishes between Misrata brigades loyal to Al-Sarraj’s government and ISIS in western Libya.
...Adviser to Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on National Security and Foreign Affairs, who believes in 
Zawahiri
