[Dawn] When attackers threw acid in Shamsia Husseini's face outside her school in Afghanistan, she defied them by returning to class -- and now she has struck another blow for female education by becoming a teacher herself.
Shamsia suffered severe burns on her eyelids and cheeks in the November 2008 assault, which generated global publicity, with then US first lady Laura Bush condemning it as a "cowardly and shameful" crime.
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... vowed to hang the men who had attacked Shamsia as she walked to the all-girls' Mirwais Mena school on the outskirts of Kandahar city. But he hasn't, of course...
One man, wearing a mask, asked Shamsia if she was going to school. Then he tore off her veil and pumped acid from a spray gun onto her face.
Several other pupils were hurt in a series of similar acid attacks that morning, but Shamsia and her friends refused to abandon their lessons and persuaded their reluctant parents to support the school staying open.
Five years on, Shamsia, now aged 22, is still in the classroom -- but now she stands in front of an energetic bunch of nine and 10-year-old girls.
"The students sometimes play around and it does test my patience," she admitted to AFP with a smile. "But being a teacher is much better than being a student, and I am now studying to become fully qualified."
'The attackers did not win'
Shamsia's scars eventually healed well after treatment at hospitals in Kabul and New Delhi, though she has recurring problems with blurred vision and eye pain.
"It was very important for me to become a teacher as it shows people that the attackers did not win, just like we came back to school after the attack," she said.
"By teaching, I want to show that education is important and that women can do more than work in the kitchen."
Shamsia retains the quiet determination she displayed when speaking out over the attack, and she remains furious that her assailants have never been punished.
"President Karzai promised to hang these men. If I ever talk to him, I will ask him why he failed to do that," she said.
The Taliban, who banned female education when they were in power from 1996-2001, denied any involvement in the acid strikes, and nine suspects jugged ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... after the attack gave questionable confessions and were later released.
Shamsia even says that one of her attackers lives close to her home, and that he sees her go to school every day.
"He is free, and it is possible it could happen again. There is no justice, he needs to be punished," she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
"President Karzai promised to hang these men. If I ever talk to him, I will ask him why he failed to do that," she said.
...which is why she shall never meet him. I trust, however, that any words Mr. Karzai would say to her could only diminish himself...
[Libya Herald] The head of the Supreme Security Committee (SSC) Hashim Bishr maintains that the kidnapping of Nazih Al-Ruqaii, alias Abu Anas Al-Libi, was executed by Libyans, not US Special Forces.
"The American story is saying that the operation was done by American units but our information says that the operation was done by Libyans," Bishr told the Libya Herald.
Ruquii was snatched on 5 October when he returned to his house after attending early morning prayers at the mosque.
The next day 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... said: "Yesterday our personnel in the armed forces conducted two operations in order to continue to hunt down those responsible for acts of terrorism." He added that he wanted to "thank and congratulate the quality and courage of those young Americans who took part in those operations." The second operation was a bungled attempt in Somalia to seize Abdulkadir Mohammed Abdulkadir, a top commander of the islamist bully boy group Al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... .
Bishr said the SSC had information about the seizure of Ruqaii, including the direction vehicles involved in the abduction took, from the Nufleen district of 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 he lived, to the coast. "We even know the place he was delivered to, which was one of the ports on the beach." This is understood to be one of the small mooring places commonly used by fishing boats.
He said an American vessel was identified some 35 nautical miles off the coast of Tripoli that morning, shortly after midnight, adding: "I think this could have been the ship that received Ruqaii." The vessel had three helicopters on board, he said, but none of these appeared to leave the ship.
It is understood that Ruqaii was questioned on board the vessel, identified as the amphibious transport ship USS San Antonio, before being transferred to America.
He appeared in a New York court on 15 October and pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." to charges that he was involved in the double bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.
Bishr said he had not heard of Ruqaii before the abduction. He was in Libya during the revolution and spent some time in Misrata, he said, but it was not clear whether he was involved in any fighting. One of Ruqaii's sons was killed during the liberation of Tripoli, Bishr added.
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11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Tunisia's party leaders met Friday to choose a new premier to be tasked with replacing an Islamist-led government and steering the country out of a months-long political crisis, mediators said.
The birthplace of the Arab Spring was plunged into turmoil after the liquidation of a prominent opposition figure in July by suspected jihadists, with critics accusing the ruling Ennahda party, a moderate Islamist movement, of failing to curb Death Eaters.
The powerful UGTT union mediating between Ennahda and the opposition said the meetings to choose a new prime minister would also aim to take "a set of decisions to accelerate the adoption of the constitution."
"The message which will emerge from the national dialogue is that Tunisians are capable of compromise despite their differences,"the union said on its Facebook page.
Under a roadmap for the negotiations that started a week ago, Ennahda and the opposition plan to announce Saturday the name of the person who will succeed Ali Larayedh as premier.
At the same time, the Constituent National Assembly must elect members of the future electoral commission before starting the process of adopting a constitution, which has already taken two years to draft and must be completed by the end of the month.
After an initial meeting, media and participants said two candidates had emerged as favorites: veteran politicians Mohammed Ennaceur, 79, and Ahmed Mestiri, 88.
Both men served as cabinet ministers under Habib Bourguiba, Tunisia's first post-independence leader.
Prominent economists Mustapha Kamel Nabli and Jalloul Ayed had earlier also been named as frontrunners.
Whoever is tapped for the position will have two weeks to form a government of independents to prepare for elections.
Larayedh has pledged to step down so long as the timetable is respected. The Assembly has until the end of November to draw up a new constitution and an electoral law.
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11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef's show "El-Bernameg" was suspended by host channel CBC minutes before it was due to screen on Friday.
The channel announced in a statement read by TV anchor Khairy Ramadan that it had decided to suspend the show after review of the third season's second episode, which was yet to be screened, revealed that Youssef and his producer had "violated what has been agreed upon" with CBC, as well as CBC's "editorial policies."
He said the channel had decided to suspend the show until editorial and commercial disputes with Youssef were resolved.
Following the announcement, El-Bernameg wrote on its Twitter account that it was currently uploading the banned episode on YouTube.
After an almost three-month hiatus, Youssef returned to television last week.
Although El-Bernameg devotees eagerly awaited to hear how Youssef would address the Moslem Brüderbund's rocky summer, anticipation was even higher over whether or not Youssef would poke fun at popular army chief Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.
Those weary of the Egyptian media's unabashed adoration of El-Sisi in the wake of Morsi's ouster were not disappointed.
In a segment on the interim president, Youssef drew laughs by displaying a picture of El-Sisi before quickly switching to the correct image of Interim President Adly Mansour, insinuating that El-Sisi was the actual ruler of the country. Youssef poked fun at El-Sisi's supporters for "turning him into a pharaoh through blind support."
"El-Sisi has turned into ... chocolate!" exclaimed Youssef, referring to the recent emergence of chocolate bars bearing the army chief's face in Egyptian sweet shops. "We're also selling Sisi-fours," said an actor playing a pastry shop owner, making a pun on the tea cake "petit fours."
El-Sisi, as head of the army, has grown immensely popular since the military's ouster of Morsi on 3 July following days of mass protests against Islamist rule.
Taking on a more serious tone at the end of the episode, Youssef -- who was called in by Morsi-appointed general prosecutor Talaat Abdullah during Morsi's tenure on charges of insulting the president -- stated "I am not with the [Islamists], who attacked us and declared us apostates ... and publicly called for our imprisonment."
"At the same time, I am not with hypocrisy, deification of individuals and creation of pharaohs," he went on. "We are afraid that fascism ...a political system developed in Italy symbolized by the Roman fasces -- thin reeds, each flimsy in itself but unbreakable when bound into a bundle. The word is nowadays thrown around by all sorts of people who have no idea what they're talking about... in the name of religion will be replaced with fascism in the name of nationalism," Youssef added, expressing concern over the possible suppression of free media during the transitional period.
El-Bernameg's home network expressed last week its disapproval of Youssef's season opener -- the first episode since Morsi's ouster -- condemning its mockery of the "symbols of the Egyptian state."
However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... according to Bassem Sabry, a famous blogger and Twitter activist, this week's suspended episode did not poke fun at El-Sisi, but rather at the media and especially host channel CBC, according to those who attended the live show earlier Wednesday.
This is not the first time for CBC to suspend Youssef's show. In 2012, the channel suspended the first season's second episode, during which Youssef made fun of both famous CBC presenters as well as then-president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... . Youssef later broadcasted the episode on YouTube.
A host of legal complaints were filed against Youssef following the third season's premier last Friday.
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11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[MAGHAREBIA] Mokhtar Belmokhtar's bloody attacks have brought him worldwide scorn, even from those he sought most to impress within al-Qaeda central.
The Algerian terrorist known as "Laaouar" in September issued a videotape in which he talked about all he had done since splitting from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). He tried to depict himself as a jihadi emir, but that did little to bring him any endorsement by the global terror network.
In a speech marking the anniversary of the 2011 terror attacks, 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... mentioned all branches of the terrorist network across the world, from AQIM and al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... to the lone wolves.
He said nothing about Mokhtar Belmokhtar.
Since splitting from AQIM, Belmokhtar (aka Khaled Abou El Abass) began acting haphazardly, accumulating failures and errors. Immediately after the split, he founded his "the Signed-in-Blood Battalion".
The new organization inaugurated its bloody performance with the attack on the Tiguentourine gas plant near In Amenas. Belmokhtar's goal was to carry out an operation that could bring him attention and money, since he had a long history of hostage-taking and ransom negotiations. He anticipated a financial windfall from ransoms for the hundreds of foreign hostages.
The decisive intervention of the Algerian army shattered his dreams. Indeed, half of those killed when the ANP reclaimed the site came from the ranks of the assailants.
The killing machine of Belmokhtar next turned to Niger. The attack on the Arlit uranium mine killed 23 and the attack on the Agadez military school left several Nigerien soldiers dead. Belmokhtar did not collect any money from these operations; the army foiled his plan to take hostages.
Three key elements emerged about the new strategic directions of Laaouar. The first was the evidence of a partnership between the Signed-in-Blood Battalion and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO).The two groups merged at the end of August, to create the "Mourabitounes".
The second element of the Laaouar's operations was the participation of bully boyz from different nationalities: Sudan, Nigeria, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Western Sahara. This was an indication of the extent of the recruiting network upon which Belmokhtar relies.
The third element, which was revealed by Niger, was that the operations were planned and launched from Libya. This fact confirmed the theory that Belmokhtar had fled northern Mali to escape the military campaign.
In all these operations, the fate of the participating bully boyz ended up being death.
They were all young people from different nationalities, who were lured by salafi jihadist elders, sent to join the ranks of Belmokhtar and then exploited.
Instead of their anticipated jihad, they ended up as criminals: taking hostages and requesting ransoms, or protecting convoys of international gangs of drug and weapons smugglers across the desert.
"Belmokhtar succeeded through these operations to attract attention and the lights of the global media, who followed these events and particularly the attack of In Amenas," noted Abdellah Rami, a Moroccan researcher specialised in Islamist groups.
"But the limelight did not seem to convince al-Qaeda's central command, which continues to see him with both caution and apprehension," the analyst added.
Belmokhtar's goal from these operations was to send a message to the central leadership of the organization that he was able to carry out important operations and deserved a promotion to the post of al-Qaeda emir for North and West Africa, Rami said.
"Al-Qaeda is not a structured organization subject to a hierarchy with strict regulations, as is the case of the Moslem Brüderbund," the Moroccan expert pointed out. "It is a network of various groups and cells, and sometimes isolated individuals. Positions within the mother organization are gained based on the individual's performance and not through administrative advancements."
Belmokhtar thinks he has credentials he needs to advance, based on his participation in the Afghan jihad in the early nineties, all the way up to this year and his operation at In Amenas.
In addition, he managed the money gained from hostage ransoms and the protection fees paid by drug smugglers and traffickers of weapons and people, who turned to al-Qaeda to cross the Sahel and Sahara.
His proudest moments are in fact over operations conducted with international criminal gangs, under the cover of religion. According to some reports, even the real reason behind his defection along MUJAO from AQIM was a dispute over money and spoils.
The defection of Belmokhtar dealt a hard blow to AQIM, for it lost with him an essential source of money and weapons.
"I think that the organization of Abdelmalik Droukdel ... aka Abdel Wadoud, was a regional leader of the GSPC for several years before becoming the group's supremo in 2004 following the death of then-leader Nabil Sahraoui. Under Abdel Wadoud's leadership the GSPC has sought to develop itself from a largely domestic entity into a larger player on the international terror stage. In September 2006 it was announced that the GSPC had joined forces with al-Qaeda and in January 2007 the group officially changed its name to the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb.... committed a big mistake when it dismissed Belmokhtar in October 2012 for lacking discipline, breaching leadership rules and failing to comply with orders," political scientist Hasnawi Abdul Latif told Magharebia.
"They did not know that he was seeking to create a rival organization in the region."
According to Hasnawi, "Droukdel's decision was bureaucratic and did not take into account the fact that Belmokhtar had spent decades in the desert of northern Mali."
"Belmokhtar's big ambition is reflected in the name of the organization that embraced him, the MUJAO. It implies that West Africa in its entirety is an area targeted by his rule," the academic said. "His ambitions are also reflected in the name he gave to the group under which his battalion merged with MUJAO."
"Al Mourabitoune refers to a state launched from the desert a thousand years ago and expanded to form the first empire in the Moslem West. Back then the Mourabitoune extended their influence to North and West Africa, in addition to Andalusia," he explained.
Mohammed Benhammou, who heads the African Federation for Strategic Studies (FAES) and the Moroccan Centre for Strategic Studies (CMES), noted that after the military campaign in northern Mali, armed terrorist groups "chose escape over confrontation, and urged their members to disperse in neighbouring countries, especially in the south of Libya, Chad, and Niger".
"Some of them merged even with the local population," he said. "Today, these groups are starting to resurface and come out of their dens, as indicated in the increasing frequency of terrorist operations in the north of Mali since last September."
Benhammou continued, "We are now facing an imminent danger with the reshaping of the ranks of these groups."
"What exacerbates this risk is the apparition of new areas where security is vulnerable, such as Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt."
As to the connections between the groups, Benhammou said, "There are ideological ties, as well as some form of co-ordination and consultation but no organizational links."
"Most groups declared and pledged allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri, like Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Tunisia and Yemen, with the Tunisian version currently most active... in Tunisia and the Shabaab in Somalia. Belmokhtar did the same thing. There are also some groups that did not declare explicitly their allegiance to al-Qaeda, although they adopted the same thinking and have the same salafi jihadist beliefs," the FAES chief said.
"What distinguishes all these groups is that they are independent in terms of funding, decision making, and organization. Although they all belong to the network of global terrorism of al-Qaeda, their objectives, operations, and organization tend to be local in nature."
Benhammou said, "The goal in the short term is to prevent these terrorist groups from conducting operations. We reach that goal by having the countries of the region share intelligence, and by having co-operation between security services and border controls."
"In the long term, eliminating this phenomenon requires a strategy that includes economic, social, religious and security dimensions. We must eliminate the recruiting capabilities of these terrorist groups and dry up their sources of funding, and reduce the social, political and religious deficiencies that feed them."
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11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The Netherlands will send 380 soldiers and four Apache attack helicopters to war-torn Mali following an appeal for more U.N. peacekeepers, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Friday.
The announcement comes after an urgent request by the U.N.'s special representative in the west African country for more blue helmets as its peacekeeping force faces a new surge of Islamist attacks.
"The Netherlands has decided to answer the U.N.'s call," Rutte told journalists at his weekly press briefing following a cabinet meeting.
"Northern Mali is threatening to become a place where Death Eaters are freely trained," he added.
The Dutch force's main task will be intelligence gathering for the U.N.'s Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), as well as training local police, the Dutch foreign ministry said in a statement.
The high-tech Apache attack helicopters will also be used in an intelligence gathering role and to protect the Dutch forces.
"In principle the Dutch force will remain with the mission until the end of 2015," the ministry added.
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11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
How many troops does it take to support four Apaches?
Not many left over for grunt work.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
11/02/2013 10:15 Comments ||
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Egypt is bracing for deposed president Mohammed Mursi to go on trial on Monday, when he is expected to make his first public appearance since the military ousted him in July.
Mursis supporters, hammered by a bloody and far-reaching police campaign since the presidents overthrow and arrest, are determined not to allow the day to pass quietly.
This is not just a trial of an elected president, its a trial of the peoples will, said Imam Yousef, a protest leader in the pro-Mursi Anti-Coup Alliance.
The coalition, led by Mursis Brotherhood, has called for peaceful protests as the trial convenes at a police academy adjacent to Cairos Tora prison, where much of the Brotherhoods leadership is jailed.
Police say they are ready to deal with any outbreak of violence.
There is a security plan to secure the court and (Mursis) transport to the court room, a police general told AFP. The security official said 20,000 policemen will be deployed on full alert in Cairo.
Mursi is charged alongside 14 others with inciting the murder of protesters outside his palace in December 2012.
He had been held at a Cairo military installation but was moved after his supporters clashed with soldiers outside the building on July 8 and more than 50 people were killed. The military will bring him from the secret location to the court in a helicopter, a security official said.
Mursi, according to relatives and the few officials who were given access to him, remains defiant. Unlike his predecessor Hosni Mubarak, also on trial facing similar charges, he will not cooperate with the court, said the Anti-Coup Alliance.
The deposed president does not recognise the authority of the court, it said. His lawyers will attend the hearing only as observers, it added.
Should make for a short trial...
Mursis position appears unchanged since the night of his ouster, on which he released a defiant video challenging the military.
Later in July, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton was allowed to speak with Mursi. Officials briefed on the visit said Mursi had access to two state-owned newspapers and television, was in high spirits and utterly defiant.
He remains stuck in June 30, said one official, referring to the day the military gave him a 48-hour ultimatum to yield to opposition demands to resign after millions took to the streets demanding he do so.
Ashton had personally asked interim president Adly Mansour and military chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to free Mursi and other leaders.
Not a chance Kate. The country would come unglued...
Egypts judiciary, which mostly loathed Mursi and repeatedly clashed with him during his one-year presidency, bristles at any political intervention and will likely see the trial through.
The charges against Mursi could lead to the death penalty or life in prison. They stem from a turning point in his presidency, when thousands camped outside his palace protesting against a decree that placed his decisions beyond judicial review.
Accusing police of failing to protect the president, the Muslim Brotherhood called on supporters to confront the protesters. At least seven were killed in the clashes. The violence galvanised an array of opposition groups that eventually played a role in the presidents ouster.
Wael Haddara, a former Mursi aide, accused the military-appointed government of staging a sham trial.
I think the world will see this clearly for what it is, its a kangaroo court, Haddara, who is now in Canada, told AFP.
The appearance of the stocky, bespectacled former engineering professor in the defendants cage will inspire his supporters, Haddara said.
The very sight will rally a segment of Egyptian society.
His co-defendants include senior Brotherhood officials and presidential aides.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The Red Thingy called Friday for an "immediate" ceasefire in deadly festivities between Zaidi Iranian catspaws and Sunni Islamists in northern Yemen to allow the maimed to be evacuated.
Friday's latest fighting in Saada province left one dead and seven maimed, raising to 11 the corpse count since Wednesday, according to tribal officials.
The fighting with mortars and rockets has been concentrated on the Mazraa mosque and a Koranic school held by the Islamists in the village of Dammaj, circled by Zaidi rebels.
"The ongoing festivities have been preventing us reaching people who urgently need our help," said Cedric Schweizer, the International Committee of the Red Thingy delegation head in Sanaa.
"Every minute we lose waiting to get into Dammaj and the surrounding area is a potential life lost," he warned in a statement.
"We are calling for an immediate and solid ceasefire, which would allow our colleagues to evacuate the maimed and deliver life-saving care."
Dammaj, where the school for Sunni preachers has operated since the 1980s, has been the scene of frequent festivities between Sunni Islamists and the Zaidis for whom Saada is a stronghold.
The Ansarullah (partisans of God) Iranian catspaws, in a statement, charged that Sunni faceless myrmidons had "transformed the center of Dammaj into a real barracks for thousands of armed foreigners.
At least 42 people were killed in 10 days of festivities last month in Amran province, also in northern Yemen, and the central Ibb region.
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11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] With less then three months left of the incumbent government's tenure,
Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif yesterday said verdicts on some war criminals will be executed during the government's tenure.
"Restoration of caretaker government system is not BNP's main agenda. Rather, the party wants to save war criminals.... The trial of some war criminals has already been completed and some of the verdicts will be executed during the present government's tenure," he mentioned.
The AL leader was speaking at an extended meeting of the Dhaka city unit AL at the party's Bangabandhu Avenue central office in the capital.
The killers of 1971 and 1975 want to create an unstable situation in the county, complained Hanif.
Regarding BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir's statement that the government was "staging a drama" in the name of dialogue, the AL leader said, "How are we staging a drama? There is no drama in our offer. Rather, BNP has staged a drama by giving an ultimatum."
"Our invitation to the opposition leader is still valid. You [BNP] may inform us about the time when you want to talk with us," added Hanif.
He, however, insisted that the next national polls will be held under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums.. .
Chaired by city AL acting president MA Aziz, the meeting was organised to make the November 3 (Jail Killing Day) AL rally at Suhrawardy Udyan successful.
Speaking at the meeting, AL leaders asked its city leaders to take initiatives to gather huge number of people at the November 3 rally. They also asked party men to remain alert about the BNP-Jamaat's violent activities in the name of hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... and blockade in future.
AL leaders Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Qamrul Islam and Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya spoke at the meeting, among others.
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11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums.. yesterday reiterated that the next general election will be held as per constitutional provisions and power will be handed over to the next elected government.
She was speaking at a views-exchange meeting with the leaders of Jatiya Party ...aka Jatiya Front; a political party established by Bangladictator Lieutenant General Hussain Muhammad Ershad in 1986 to lend a veneer of respectability to his rule. Since nobody was amused he was forced to resign by popular demand in 1990. The party remains in existence with about a dozen seats in Bangla's parliament... (Manju) at Gono Bhaban.
JP-Manju Chairman Anwar Hossain Manju said his party will take part in the next polls if it is held as per constitutional provisions.
"He [Manju] has assured us of joining the polls," AL Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif told The Daily Star after the meeting.
The prime minister said, "We want to ensure political stability in the country permanently. For that, we want to hold the next election in a free, fair and credible manner under an all-party polls-time government comprised of elected representatives from different political parties."
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11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Makers of crude bombs made a windfall gain during last week's 60-hour hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... , which saw an unprecedented number of kabooms across the country.
Police sources said during the opposition called strike, more than 1,000 crude bombs, locally known as cocktails, and Molotov cocktails went off in the capital alone.
Quoting locked away Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! bomb makers, Additional Deputy Commissioner Sanwar Hossain of Bomb Disposal Unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Detective Branch, said, "The bomb makers sell cocktails for Tk 500-1,000 in lots of 10′s and 20′s, on orders from only the people they know."
He said the cocktail makers in their high-risk business were making profit five to 10 times their manufacturing cost. At least 50 groups make the bombs at places in and around Dhaka.
Fuelled by high demand due to political confrontation, the bomb makers had an easy going as bombs are largely made of off-the-shelf materials, which are cheap since they are heavily used in the agricultural, industrial and cottage industry sectors. Yet, the price of their product is high since bomb making is risky and there is a long jail term if one gets caught.
Sanwar said during their drive last week police recovered 250 live cocktails and materials for making 400 more.
Explosions of a few hundred crude bombs inside a flat rocked a six-storied building in Fakirerpool on October 9. Investigators in the wrecked flat found 1.5kg of gunpowder and plenty of pebbles and bits of metals apparently meant to be used as shrapnel.
They also found several hundred empty cans stored for making bombs. It was obvious that the flat was actually a bomb factory.
Police believe that similar factories are still operating in Dhaka and the law enforcers are looking for them.
Among the people police arrested during the hartal, they found a group who carry out kabooms for money.
Sanwar said they were mostly teenagers, street urchins, drug addicts and thugs. During primary interrogation, they admitted carrying out kabooms for as little as Tk 200.
On Sunday, the first day of the hartal, a 16-year-old boy sustained serious injuries to his hand and abdomen after a crude bomb burst in his hand at Kakrail. He had initially claimed that someone gave him the bomb saying it was a can of food and he got hurt trying to open it.
He later told news hounds that he was attempting to bomb a target in exchange for Tk 200.
Many political parties rely heavily on commercially manufactured bombs and hired hands for attacks while only a few make their own explosives, police sources said.
During the 18-party alliance sponsored hartal, some bombs went kaboom! in front of the residences of the chief election commissioner, ministers, a Supreme Court judge, war crimes tribunal prosecutors, law enforcers, cop shoppes and some media houses.
Criminals generally use crude bombs during running battles and to create panic, but last week several attacks were made apparently to unnerve people in high office.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
What is the secret of the Patels? Simple. Make big lakr at home in your sink. If you can read or have a literate person in your abode easy instructions are yours for the price of a young goat. Call or write or have someone call or write for you:
Biims for Bangla
3400.34 JinnahDale Dale Drive Road Way
Tony Upazillah
[BBC] A drug-smuggling tunnel equipped with electricity, ventilation and a rail system has been found connecting San Diego, Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, and Tijuana, Mexico.
Authorities seized more than eight tons of marijuana and 325lb (147kg) of cocaine in the discovery.
Officials have not revealed the exact length or location of the recently finished tunnel, but Mexican media report it is near Tijuana's airport.
More than 75 such secret tunnels have been discovered since 2008.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the find on Thursday.
'Just completed'
It was described as "a just completed, highly sophisticated underground passageway", according to an ICE statement.
The tunnel is the eighth discovered just in San Diego since 2006, according to media reports.
In 2010, officials confiscated 22 tons of drugs from a 640m (2,100ft) tunnel equipped with rail tracks stretching from a Tijuana home to two San Diego warehouses.
Mexicos Sinaloa cartel is behind an illicit super tunnel that led from a building in an industrial area of Tijuana near the U.S. border fence to a warehouse just west of the Otay Mesa port of entry, U.S. authorities said Thursday.
#1
I seem to remember that a ground penetrating RADAR doesn't need to be 'on the ground'. A simple flyover can generate a map. Except, those of you who have been there will have seen hovels on the Mexican side built using the fence as a structural wall to support a metal roof.
[NY Times] Edward J. Snowden, the fugitive American security contractor granted asylum by Russia, has appealed to Washington to stop treating him like a traitor for revealing that the United States has been eavesdropping on its allies, a German politician who met with Mr. Snowden said on Friday.
The appeal came in a letter from Mr. Snowden carried to Berlin by Hans-Christian Ströbele, a veteran member of the Green Party in the German Parliament, who said that he and two journalists for German media met with Mr. Snowden and a person described as his assistant -- probably his British aide, Sarah Harrison -- at an undisclosed location in or near Moscow on Thursday for almost three hours.
In his letter, Mr. Snowden, 30, also appealed for clemency. He said his disclosures about American intelligence activity at home and abroad, which he called "systematic violations of law by my government that created a moral duty to act," had had positive effects.
Yet "my government continues to treat dissent as defection, and seeks to criminalize political speech with felony charges that provide no defense," Mr. Snowden wrote. "However, speaking the truth is not a crime. I am confident that with the support of the international community, the government of the United Sates will abandon this harmful behavior."
Mr. Ströbele, 74, is a seasoned left-wing defense lawyer and the longest-serving member of the parliamentary committee that oversees German intelligence. At a packed news conference held after his return to Berlin, he said he had been trying to visit Mr. Snowden since the summer, when the American first arrived in Moscow in search of asylum. After a number of countries, including Germany, said Mr. Snowden could not apply for such protection from the Moscow airport where he was taking sanctuary at the time, Russia granted him a one-year asylum on Aug. 1.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
He has a point - remember when dissent was the highest form of patriotism?
#5
No can do! Your project has NOT been terminated. Stay there and continue to attempt to infiltrate the SVR tech support branch per your original tasking.
[BBC.CO.UK] Pakistan's interior minister has said the death of Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud has destroyed the country's nascent peace process. Somehow my caremeter just isn't sparkin'... The official Rantburg Sympathy Meter didn't budge so much as 0.1 givashits...
"This is not just the killing of one person, it's the death of all peace efforts," Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said. it's the size of the poop we give about your peace process.
Pakistan's security forces have been put on high alert following the US drone strike on Friday. Insert horse, barn door analogy...
It came a day before a government delegation had been due to fly to North Waziristan to meet Mehsud. That meeting's cancelled...
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had pledged to talk with the Taliban to try to end its campaign of violence, which has left thousands dead in bombings and shootings across the country. Hakimullah's campaign of violence has ceased. Somebody else's campaign will now commence. Talk to him.
Militants have in the past carried out retaliatory attacks after the killings of other Taliban commanders. They keep carrying out "retaliatory attacks" whether we've whacked anybody or not. It's their nature. Mehsud was killed along with four other people - including two of his bodyguards - when four missiles struck their vehicle in the north-western region of North Waziristan, a senior Taliban official told the BBC. Such is the destiny of all Pak Taliban leaders, though not, so far, of Afghan Taliban leaders. That fact raises a few interesting questions.
Pakistani media say Mehsud's funeral has taken place at an unknown location in the tribal area of North Waziristan. "Is that his thumb?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Toss it in."
The Taliban's ruling council met on Saturday to choose a new leader. Unconfirmed reports say regional commander Khan Said Sajna has been elected to the top job. The premium on his life insurance policy just jumped dramatically.
As well as Mehsud, the previous Pakistan Taliban leader was killed in a drone strike, in 2009. And the one before him.
Caitlin Hayden, a spokesperson for the US president's National Security Council, would not comment on any US government involvement or confirm the death but said it would be a serious loss for the group. "Coulda been anybody, y'know. We ain't the only ones that didn't like him..." The Pakistan government has strongly condemned the drone attack as a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty. They always do, don't they? Like clockwork.
Mehsud's death is seen as another setback for the militant group after the recent capture of a senior commander by US forces in Afghanistan. We concentrate on Wazoo because that's where the al-Qaeda leadership lives, and where the Haqqanis rule.
Mehsud, who led the insurgency from North Waziristan, had a $5m (£3.1m) FBI bounty on his head and was thought to be responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. I'm sure he only shot a few of them personally.
He came to prominence in 2007 as a commander under the militant group's founder Baitullah Mehsud, with the capture of 300 Pakistani soldiers adding to his prestige among the militants. "Ugh! Hakimullah count many coup!"
His second-in-command, Waliur Rehman, was killed in a similar drone strike in May. That was a violation of Pak sovereignty, too.
But BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins says that however weakened the Taliban may be by this loss, they will fight on under a new leader. Unless they don't, of course. Predicting the likely is easy money.
In a rare interview two weeks ago, Mehsud told the BBC he was open to "serious talks" with the government but said he had not yet been approached. That's because the govt hadn't capitulated to all his demands yet...
Mehsud denied carrying out recent deadly attacks in public places, saying his targets were "America and its friends". "Yeah. We're only after them danged infidels. And girls that go to school. And people who ain't devout enough..."
He had loose control over more than 30 militant groups in Pakistan's tribal areas. Rather than maintaining lunatic asylums, Pakistain has militant groups. They have thirty of them to cater to various types of psychosis.
This article starring:
Baitullah Mehsud
Hakimullah Mehsud
TTP
Khan Said Sajna
TTP
Waliur Rehman
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2013 11:23 ||
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[Dawn] The Fata Secretariat is understood to be in contact with the Taliban through a tribal jirga for early removal of the ban on polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... vaccination in North Wazoo Agency.
The development comes out as another child in the restive agency tests positive for polio taking the number of this year's cases of the crippling disease to 16, the highest by any agency or district in the country.
The National Institute of Health, Islamabad on Thursday diagnosed 15-month-old Essa Khan of Mussaki village in Razmak tehsil of North Waziristan Agency with polio. The child didn't get any dose of oral polio vaccine due to the Taliban's ban on polio campaigns, which has been in place since June 2012.
Until now this year, 39 of the 54 nationwide polio cases have been reported in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, a major obstacle to the global polio eradication efforts as declared by the World Health Organisation.
According to the relevant government officials here, talks are underway between the Fata Secretariat and the Taliban in North Waziristan Agency through a tribal jirga comprising local elders and parliamentarians for permission to begin door-to-door vaccination of local children against polio.
They told Dawn on Thursday that more than 150,000 children remained unvaccinated due to the Taliban ban.
An official said the ban had already shown its adverse effects on children, while the rest were at the risk of being crippled due to the virus' circulation.
"We are hopeful that the Taliban will realise the gravity of the situation and lift the ban," he said.
Other officials said one round of talks had taken place, where the Taliban had showed willingness to continue with the dialogue process.
They said the jirga told the Taliban that more than 300,000 children risked disability due to the vaccination ban.
The officials said the Taliban knew it very well that the Pak government had no authority over the US drone strikes in Fata and that only the US could stop them and therefore, they (Taliban) were ready to listen to the jirga.
They said the Taliban understood that the government was opposed to drone strikes.
The officials said if talks succeeded, then children in North Waziristan Agency would be vaccinated through special campaigns in the current low transmission season to enhance their immunity against the virus in highly transmission season beginning in Feb or mid-March.
They said had the virus not entered the agency, there would have been no concern but detection of back-to-back cases warranted serious corrective steps.
First, the Taliban in North Waziristan Agency warned vaccinators of repercussions over violation of ban and a week later, the Taliban in adjacent South Waziristan Agency not only banned polio campaigns but went a step further by ordering complete suspension of the government's vaccination programme for nine vaccine preventable childhood ailments, including polio, in the area.
The officials said the polio situation in Fata was critical to global polio eradication for which different strategies were being applied to ensure vaccination of all children in every campaign repeatedly.
They said they were confident that ban on vaccination would be lifted as the Taliban knew that the decision had rendered many children physically disabled permanently.
The officials said the government had already begun door-to-door campaigns in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency with the help of the security forces for the first time in two years.
It is, according to them, is a welcome development in the militancy-stricken agency, which has reported 14 polio cases, the second largest in the country this year.
The officials said vaccinators had no access to 25 per cent of the 1.1 million children targeted in Fata.
They said they were hopeful that sense would prevail and the Taliban would allow vaccinators to administer polio drops to children
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... government has decided to impose ban on all firebrand ...firebrands are noted more for audio volume and the quantity of spittle generated than for any actual logic in their arguments... speakers, wall chalking and hate literature during Muharram to maintain law and order in the province.
According to a statement, the decision was taken in a meeting held here on Thursday with Home and Tribal Affairs Secretary Syed Akhtar Ali Shah in the chair. The meeting was attended by commissioners and regional coppers, who informed the participants about the Muharram security plan.
The meeting also discussed the threat perceptions and contingencies plans to deal with the situation in a befitting manner. The officials said that they were in high state of preparations.
They said that services of army, Frontier Corps and Frontier Constabulary had also been requisitioned according to the contingency plans chalked out for 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. , Kohat, Hango and Dera Ismail Khan ... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ... .
Similarly, the meeting decided that walls should be white-washed in the districts where Muharram activities were carried out and timings of processions must be observed to avoid clash with prayers timings of other sects.
The meeting decided that code of conducts must be Govt to ban firebrand speakers in Muharram followed by both the sects and places of gatherings of other sects should be shifted and cleared by the special branch and bomb disposal unit (BDU).
Similarly, the civic bodies would remove all the garbage and proper sanitation be ensured by the staff of relevant town municipal officers. The staff of gas and postal departments would check their installations before the start of processions and on daily basis and give a certificate to the police officials concerned.
The meeting said that Peshawar Electric Supply Company should ensure that power supply would not be interrupted and there should be alternate arrangements of lighting in case of breakdown in advance. "There shall be proper security plan for meeting any eventuality like rocket attack, especially in Hangu district ... Hangu is famous for its greenery, hills, beauty and water. Most of the people of this area are Bangash & Orakzai Pashtuns. Part of the Bangash are Shia. The Orakzai and the Sunni Bangash are determined to kill them... ," the participants of the meeting said.
The statement said that Kohat DIG would calculate the exact number of Levies personnel in Kohat, Hangu and Karak to equip them with arms and ammunition, to be provided by the police department.
"Mardan, Nowshera, Bannu and Lakki Marwat shall not be taken as light and the divisional administration and police should not be ignorant of the situation in the adjoining districts. Rather, they should be more active as compare to most sensitive districts," it added.
The meeting decided that police would conduct targeted operations to arrest bully boys, proclaimed offenders and anti-social elements and submit reports to the home department.
The meeting asked the local government department to release funds to municipal committees for Muharram on urgent and daily basis to carry out repair work and sanitation in their areas.
Meanwhile, ...back at the secret hideout, Scarface Al sneeringly put his proposition to little Nell... AIGP Masood Khan Afridi has said that special branch would l be given the status of an agency as it was playing vital role against terrorism in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
Addressing a training session for special branch here on Thursday, he said that chances of terrorism always persisted but the credit went to special branch, which foiled sabotage attempts and saved lives of people. He said that special branch was also facing serious challenges to foil anti-state conspiracies.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
ATTENTON STATE DEPARTMENT, can Jesse Jackson get a visa, Please.
(And an armed "Honor" Guard, to make sure he goes)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/02/2013 12:21 Comments ||
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[Dawn] The Foreign Office said on Thursday that the government was convinced that drone attacks were counter-productive and it (FO) had sought details from the defence ministry about the low non-combatant casualty figure reported in Senate.
"Our position on the drone strikes is very clear. We are convinced that drone strikes are counter-productive," Foreign Office front man Aizaz Chaudhry said at the weekly media briefing, a day after the defence ministry informed Senate that drones had killed 2,160 gunnies and the number of civilians killed by drones was 67.
He said the Foreign Office had sought details from the defence ministry on the casualty figure quoted in Senate.
The Foreign Office, based on data provided by the military, had in March this year informed the UN Special Rapporteur Ben Emmerson that there were 400 confirmed civilian deaths because of drones, while another 200 victims were likely non-combatants.
The front man said the government's stance on drones was based on "national consensus" against the pilotless US planes to target bad turban targets in tribal areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] The Pak Taliban said Friday they have had "no contact" with the government, a day after officials said a process to initiate peace talks had been started.
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... said Thursday that the "process of dialogue" had started, and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said "structured, formal" talks with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) snuffies would soon be initiated.
Shahidullah Shahid, the main front man for the TTP told news agency AFP on Friday that there had been no overtures.
"No one has yet contacted us. The government is making announcements only by media, no peace talks have yet been started," Shahid said. "The beginning of peace talks means sitting at a table and discussing issues, no such thing has yet happened."
The TTP have waged a bloody six-year war against the Pak state, which has left thousands dead. The government of Prime Minister Sharif has been edging towards peace talks to end the bloodshed.
Last month Sharif won the backing of the main political parties to go ahead with peace dialogue with the TTP, and the powerful army chief has voiced his support.
After the political parties gave their backing to talks, the TTP issued a list of preconditions including the release of all its members held in Pak jails and the withdrawal of troops from the tribal areas along the Afghan border, where the snuffies have hideouts.
Shahid on Friday reiterated these demands and said the government must fulfill them to prove they are serious about talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Reacting to yet another US drone strike in Pakistain, that eventually killed Pak Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) chairman Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... Friday demanded the government to block NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... supplies going through the country.
Five bad boys, including Abdullah Bahar Mehsud and Tariq Mehsud, both key bad boy commanders and close aides of the TTP chief, were also killed with two others injured in the drone strike.
Speaking to media representatives, he blamed the US for sabotaging efforts to establish peace in Pakistain by repetitive drone strikes in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. "Whenever initiative of peace talks are taken in the country, US drone strikes sabotage them," he said.
The cricket legend-turned-politician, who's party rules the restive northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... province, said that they will not only table a resolution for blocking NATO supplies in the provincial assembly on Monday but in the National Assembly also.
Khan, on Thursday, had said his party had the capability to stop the NATO supplies and warned that his words must not be taken lightly. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is one of two routes NATO supplies move in and out of Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[USATODAY] With violence in Iraq at its highest level in Iraq since 2008, President B.O. told Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party.... on Friday that the U.S. was committed to helping the Iraqis establish an "inclusive, democratic and prosperous" Iraq.
But in brief remarks to news hounds after a nearly two-hour meeting at the White House with al-Maliki, Obama appeared also to put the onus on the Iraqi premier, saying the best way to honor lives lost during the Iraq war is for al-Maliki to work to bring about a functioning democracy in his country.
Iraq is slated to hold its next national election in April, and Obama encouraged al-Maliki to make sure that Iraq quickly passes an elections law, paving the way for the vote to happen on time.
Obama hopes that a new round of elections in which the country's minority Sunni population is more active could help stem some of the violence. The United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... reported on Friday that 979 people were killed in violence in Iraq in October -- the same number as in September.
"We were encouraged by the work that Prime Minister Maliki has done in the past to ensure that all people inside of Iraq -- Sunni, Shia and Kurd -- feel that they have a voice in their government," Obama said. "And one of the most important expressions of that will be elections next year."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
"...Obama appeared also to put the onus on the Iraqi premier, saying the best way to honor lives lost during the Iraq war is for al-Maliki to work to bring about a functioning democracy in his country."
[An Nahar] U.S. President Barack Obama I inhaled. That was the point... said Friday that he had discussed how to work with Iraq to "push back" a surge in sectarian violence whipped up by al-Qaeda.
Obama noted that the group was increasingly active in the country, and said he and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki discussed a common response, and also said Washington wanted to help build an Iraq that was "inclusive" and "democratic"
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
This in turn would inevitably draw further Israeli action, Daniel posited, and added bitterly: Then perhaps the US will clap its hands because it will have started a very major flare-up.
Mr. Daniel does understand the obvious need for conveniently timed distractions, does he not ?
Seriously, a "leak" had to be in the IS calculations. Not releasing the information would have been totally out of character for the regime.
#4
One would think that after the last time Bambi and Co. threw Israel under the bus, they would have kept their mouths shut and not told the WH anything. maybe now they will figure you can't trust that POS.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A shortage of fuel halted the production of electricity across the Gazoo Strip on Friday, said the energy authority of the Islamist movement Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, which controls the Paleostinian enclave.
"We have completely stopped the operation of [Gazoo's sole] power plant this morning at 6:00 am [4:00 GMT] because we don't have a single liters of fuel," Fathi el-Sheikh Khalil, the authority's deputy chairman, told AFP.
An AFP correspondent in the Gazoo Strip said the electricity supply had been cut off across most of the territory on Friday morning.
Khalil blamed the power outage on Israel's destruction of tunnels used for bringing fuel to Gazoo and accused the Western-backed Paleostinian Authority of charging Hamas too much for its fuel.
"Less than 50 percent of the needs of the Gazoo Strip are currently covered by electricity from Israel [and] we can no longer get Egyptian fuel due to the destruction of tunnels from Egypt," he said.
"We tried to get fuel from Israel via the Paleostinian Authority, but it has imposed prohibitive taxes."
The Gazoo plant supplies about a third of the territory's electricity needs.
"The plant will remain shut until fuel supplies resume from Egypt through the tunnels or the Rafah border crossing, or from Israel if the Paleostinian Authority agrees not to impose the heavy taxes," said Khalil.
In September, the Gazoo energy authority warned of an impending shortage of fuel and called on Egypt to resume deliveries to the strip.
Relations between Cairo and Hamas have deteriorated since the Egyptian army ousted Islamist president Mohammed Mursi in July.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Reducing their carbon footprint; I'm cool with it.
[TEHRANTIMES] Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov has underlined the necessity of Iran's participation in a peace conference on Syria in Geneva aimed at finding a political solution to the long-standing conflict in the country.
Russian believes that the forum should definitely include those regional players that can play an influential role in resolving the crisis in Syria, Bogdanov said, Press TV reported on Friday.
In a joint presser in Tehran with Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-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... special envoy for Syria, in late October Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Iran will participate in the Geneva II conference to help find a solution to the Syria crisis if it is invited.
Brahimi stated that he and the UN secretary general want to see Iran participate in the conference
Bogdanov added that the Russian and American sides are working hard in cooperation with Brahimi to prepare for the international event.
"All agree that this forum should be held as soon as possible. The bloody armed conflict in Syria brings further casualties each day," he said, emphasizing that the Syrian crisis "has no military solution and can only be resolved through political and diplomatic means."
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11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Friday that officials are determined to tackle the situation in the northern city of 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... "wisely and calmly."
He said after meeting a delegation of Tripoli MPs: "The army and security forces will continue their mission to halt the unrest, restore calm, and protect its residents."
"We are responsible for all our sons and brothers, but this should not take place at the expense of the authority of the state," he declared.
"No one can consider themselves more powerful than that state," he added.
"Regardless of what happens, the state will remain more powerful than all sides and everyone should abide by the law," Miqati said.
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11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Russia said on Friday that most of Syria's chemical weapons may be taken out of the country for destruction because of the violence raging between rebels and Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... 's regime.
"Much speaks in favor of the idea of moving the predominant majority of the toxic agents that exist in Syria out of this country," the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying.
Ryabkov spoke after being briefed by Sigrid Kaag -- the Dutch diplomat heading the risky international mission to eradicate Syria's chemical weapons -- on her team's progress under a disarmament plan devised jointly by Moscow and Washington in September.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons reported on Thursday that Syria's entire declared stock of chemical weapons has been placed under seal.
But how nations go about actually destroying the weapons by the mid-2014 deadline has been a point of debate.
The Chemical Weapons Convention bars countries from transporting their stockpiles to other nations.
U.N. Security Council resolution 2118 adopted in September authorized member states to help transport the weapons stockpiles so they could be destroyed in "the soonest and safest manner".
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... has previously said that some of Syria's declared stock of more than 1,000 tonnes of toxic agents may be destroyed abroad.
Ryabkov estimated the cost of the stockpiles' destruction at $300-400 million.
"But this is under the condition that there are no acts of terror, and that those who are actually involved in the operation are not being targeted," the Russian diplomat said.
Friday's edition of Moscow's Kommersant daily quoted an unnamed Russian diplomatic source as saying that world powers may shortly agree to transfer the weapons for destruction in Albania.
The report said that both Turkey and Jordan have already rejected U.S. requests to accept the dangerous shipments.
Kommersant added that Washington was now holding talks on the matter "with two or three countries".
Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The Internal Security Forces on Friday responded to remarks voiced by Arab Democratic Party leader Ali Eid after he was summoned for interrogation by the ISF Intelligence Bureau, stressing that the request was authorized by the relevant judicial authorities.
"In response to remarks reported by some media outlets about Ali Eid rejecting to appear before the Intelligence Bureau and his willingness to appear before any other legal authority, and his claims that a person called Bassam al-Halabi who allegedly serves at the office of the bureau's chief had advised Khodor Shaddoud and his relatives to leave their neighborhood to avoid being tossed in the calaboose ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... ... the ISF Directorate General clarifies that the Intelligence Bureau does not have and did not have any officer, non-commissioned officer or agent with the name Bassam al-Halabi," a statement said.
"If he was referring to First Adjutant Bassam al-Halabi, his place of service is the Halba judicial department, and therefore he has nothing to do with the work and missions of the Intelligence Bureau whatsoever, and supposing al-Halabi had prior knowledge, wouldn't it have been more logical for him to inform all the perpetrators, who are far more dangerous than Shaddoud, the thing that would have prevented the arrest of Youssef Diab, one of the main suspects in the case" of the deadly 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... bombings, the ISF added.
It said Eid's accusations that Intelligence Bureau chief Col. Imad Othman had facilitated the escape of the Tripoli blasts suspects "are against the simplest rules of logic."
"How could the Intelligence Bureau chief arrest a culprit and seek to facilitate the escape of others?" the ISF added.
It noted that "the preliminary interrogation of Ali Eid's driver -- in which he openly admitted that Eid had asked him to smuggle the suspect Ahmed Merhi -- did not happen at the Intelligence Bureau department," but rather before army intelligence interrogators.
"After the case was referred to the aforementioned bureau, he repeated the same confessions," the ISF went on to say.
It stressed that Eid's summoning over the issue of smuggling Merhi "happened following a permission from the relevant judicial authorities, which oversaw all the stages of the investigation from its onset."
"If he has any information related to the investigation, he better submit them to the Sherlocks of the military judiciary, not through media outlets," the ISF added.
On Thursday, Eid said he was willing to appear before any security agency except for the Intelligence Bureau. "I don't trust it at all and its history is not honorable, especially with Syria's allies," he added.
"There is a conspiracy against our (Alawite) sect and I have abandoned politics to focus on serving people, but there is a conspiracy to eliminate all of Syria's allies," Eid said.
Eid's driver Ahmed Mohammed Ali is being held by the Intelligence Bureau on charges of smuggling to Syria Ahmed Merhi, one of the main suspects in the bombings against al-Taqwa and al-Salam mosques in Tripoli on August 23.
MTV reported that Ali was first arrested on October 26 by Lebanese army intelligence agents on charges of smuggling Merhi into Syria at the request of the pro-Damascus former politician.
Merhi is reportedly the driver of the second explosive-laden vehicle that blew up near al-Taqwa mosque.
On October 14, seven people involved in the August bombings were charged, including three in jug. The majority are from Jabal Mohsen.
Forty-five people were killed and over 800 maimed in the twin bombings.
The Arab Democratic Party has denied any involvement in the attacks and stressed that the suspects are not members of the party while slamming media leaks attributed to the Intelligence Bureau.
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11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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Azerbaijan, Baku -- Head of the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation, IMIDRO, Mehdi Karbasian said that Chinese MCC Company is ready to finance seven Iranian steel projects, Mehr News Agency reported.
Just in case you thought Iran was suffering from sanctions or something...
Karbasian who leads an Iranian delegation that visited China said that the manager of MCC Company would visit Iran in the near future to become aware of the situation closely and negotiate the issues of scheduling and the ways of financing. China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC) is a state owned enterprise involved in the construction of metallurgical, infrastructural facilities, other industrial projects.
Earlier, Iranian Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade and MCC have signed a memorandum of understanding to expand industrial cooperation. The MoU was signed by the Iranian Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Mahmoud Dodangeh, and MCC President Shen Heting on June 6, 2012.
According to Press TV, the signing of the recent MoU adds 12 more projects to the ones already being implemented by the MCC, one of the world's biggest engineering contractors, in Iran. The MCC and China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure) have jointly invested $20 billion in previous projects in Iran. Press TV reported that with the addition of 12 more projects, the investment is estimated to increase to $30 billion.
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11/02/2013 00:00 ||
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...makes it easier to track the "multiplier effect" of our interest payments...
Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi Friday slammed the visiting UN-Arab League joint envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahami, apparently for putting the government and the rebels on a par with each other.
Following Brahimi's press conference here, in which he said "there are unacceptable practices both by the government and the armed opposition", al-Zoubi unleashed a barrage of criticism against him, reports Xinhua.
"Brahimi reflects lack of understanding of the military and field reality in Syria," al-Zoubi said, adding that "Brahimi has more than one language as if he wants to please one party over the other".
The minister further said that "Brahimi must be an even-handed envoy and an honourable mediator and not to put forward thoughts outside his competence".
He said that "Brahimi didn't have the audacity to name things by their names, such as the Al Qaeda and Nusra Front" who are fighting in Syria against the government.
In a press conference during his five-day visit to Syria, Brahimi said that the opposition attendance to the Geneva II conference on Syria is essential and necessary. Brahimi said serious efforts are being exerted for holding the Geneva II conference, which is a follow-up to last year's international meeting in Geneva that drafted a peace roadmap for Syria but did not materialise.
Brahimi said the Geneva II conference must be based on the statement adopted in the first conference last year.
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UN-Arab League envoy to Syria is winding up a days-long visit to Damascus with a call to both the Syrian government and the opposition to attend a planned peace conference in Geneva.
But Lakhdar Brahimi acknowledged that the conference, which the US hopes will be held later this month, will not take place if the Syrian opposition refuses to take part.
Syrian opposition groups are split on whether to attend and the conditions for taking part.
Brahimi's plea comes just hours after officials said Israeli warplanes had attacked a shipment of Russian missiles inside a Syrian government stronghold a development that threatened to add another volatile layer to regional tensions from the Syrian civil war. Syrian officials and state media have not commented on the reports.
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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.
[Al Ahram] Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef's show "El-Bernameg" was suspended by host channel CBC minutes before it was due to screen on Friday.
Those weary of the Egyptian media's unabashed adoration of El-Sisi in the wake of Morsi's ouster were not disappointed.
Zawahiri
Egypt is bracing for deposed president Mohammed Mursi to go on trial on Monday, when he is expected to make his first public appearance since the military ousted him in July.
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as 
[NY Times] Edward J. Snowden, the fugitive American security contractor granted asylum by Russia, has appealed to Washington to stop treating him like a traitor for revealing that the United States has been eavesdropping on its allies, a German politician who met with Mr. Snowden said on Friday.
[BBC.CO.UK] Pakistan's interior minister has said the death of Pakistani Taliban leader 
Mehsud was killed along with four other people - including two of his bodyguards - when four missiles struck their vehicle in the north-western region of North Waziristan, a senior Taliban official told the BBC.
The Pakistan government has strongly condemned the drone attack as a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty.
Wazoo
Nawaz Sharif
Nouri al-Maliki
Najib Miqati
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
UN-Arab League envoy to Syria is winding up a days-long visit to Damascus with a call to both the Syrian government and the opposition to attend a planned peace conference in Geneva.
