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Today: 52 articles and 115 comments as of 13:04.
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Police continue attacks on protesters, Tahrir chants for field marshal to go
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
UN: Afghan law to protect women rarely enforced
KABUL: A law meant to protect Afghan women from a host of abusive practices, including rape, forced marriage and the trading of women to settle disputes, is being undermined by spotty enforcement, the UN said in a report released Wednesday.

Afghanistan’s Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women was passed in August 2009, raising hopes among women’s rights activists that Afghan women would get to fight back against abuses that had been ignored under Taleban rule. The law criminalized many abuses for the first time, including domestic violence, child marriage, driving a woman to resort to suicide and the selling and buying of women.

Yet the report found only a small percentage of reported crimes against women are pursued by the Afghan government.

Between March 2010 and March 2011 — the first full Afghan year the law was in effect — prosecutors opened 594 investigations involving crimes under the law. That’s only 26 percent of the 2,299 incidents registered by the Afghan human rights commission, the report said. And prosecutors went on to file indictments in only 155 cases, or 7 percent of the total number of crimes reported.

Sometimes victims were pressured to withdraw their complaints or to settle for mediation by traditional councils, the report said. Sometimes prosecutors didn’t proceed with mandatory investigations for violent acts like rape or prostitution. Other times, police simply ignored complaints.

In one such instance in Kandahar in March, a woman reported that after her daughter got married, in-laws used the young woman as an unpaid servant and forced her into having sex with visiting men. She committed suicide by setting herself on fire in her room and the mother brought the case to the police.

The UN report says police recorded the mother’s complaint but made no attempt to investigate even though the law specifies that all cases where a woman is suspected of being driven to kill herself by self-immolation require investigation even without a lodged complaint.

Self-immolation is one of the most common methods that Afghan women use to commit suicide. Women who set themselves on fire and survive often describe it as an act of desperation, something they were driven to do by the feeling that there was no other escape.

An official with the Afghan attorney general’s office rejected the UN report but did not respond directly to its specific accusations that authorities were failing to investigate all reported crimes.

“We have a law covering issues of violence against women. If someone breaks that law, they are prosecuted,” said Rahmatullah Nasery, the deputy attorney general. He said the attorney general’s office has acted on “dozens of complaints.”

Asked about women being pressured to withdraw complaints, Nasery said that this was a choice made by women on their own.

“If the woman wants to make a complaint, we act on it. But it is the right of the woman not to file a complaint,” he said.

Though women’s rights were most visibly suppressed under Taleban rule, when girls’ schools were banned and women could only leave the house accompanied by a male family member, Afghan women have continued to struggle for justice and equality in the country’s patriarchal culture.

“As long as women and girls are subject to violence with impunity that violates their human rights, little meaningful and sustainable progress for women’s rights can be achieved in Afghanistan,” said Georgette Gagnon, the UN’s director for human rights in Afghanistan.

She argued that shortcomings in the law’s enforcement could make it harder to bring women into the larger discussion of how to put an end to the decade of fighting in Afghanistan.

“Advances in women’s opportunities in public life, including in the peace process, includes implementation of this law,” Gagnon said, noting that women cannot advocate for themselves if they cannot trust in the government to protect them.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/24/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's more of a guideline.
Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 || 11/24/2011 7:22 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Qaddafi son to be tried in Libya: ICC prosecutor
TRIPOLI, Libya: The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) prosecutor says Muammar Qaddafi’s son Seif Al-Islam, who is being held by revolutionary fighters, will be tried in a Libyan court by Libyan judges.

The prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, conceded on Tuesday that the Libyans have the authority to try Seif Al-Islam at home but he wants judges from the Netherlands-based court to be involved.
Still trying to grab control.
Moreno-Ocampo says the ICC will help Libya establish the judicial framework for the trial, which many Western busybodies hope expect to be a bellwether of the new Libyan government’s ability to uphold the rule of law.
If the 'rule of law' in the new Libya is to execute those who committed crimes against humanity, will the ICC denounce them? Of course they will.
Seif Al-Islam, once the face of reform in Libya and the leader of his father’s effort to shake off pariah status, is charged with crimes against humanity by the ICC for the crackdown on an uprising that began in February and grew into a civil war.

“Seif is captured so we are here to ensure we get a piece of the pie cooperation,” Moreno-Ocampo told reporters after arriving in Libya. “If they (Libyans) prosecute the case, we will discuss with them how to inform the judges, and they can do it, but our judges have to be involved.”
Says who?
The ICC has also charged ex-intelligence chief Abdullah Al-Senussi with crimes against humanity for the brutal crackdown on an uprising that began in February.

Libyan Justice Minister Mohammed Al-Alagi said Wednesday that he can’t confirm reports that Al-Senussi is in custody. Moreno-Ocampo also said he believed the former intelligence chief Abdullah Al-Senussi had not been captured.

Officials from Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) said on Sunday that Senussi, who is also Qaddafi’s brother-in-law, had been captured the day after Qaddafi’s son Seif Al-Islam was caught. He is believed to be held in a secret location in the southern city of Sabha.
They're waiting for the ICC to go home...
Libya’s prime minister-designate, Abdurrahim El-Keib, later cast doubt on the reports, and the NTC has since neither confirmed nor denied Senussi’s capture, though a military commander has stood by his report of the arrest.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/24/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  With his fingers?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/24/2011 2:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Off wid 'is head fingers!
Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 || 11/24/2011 7:29 Comments || Top||

#3  The Libyans should take a more aggressive approach against the Europeans. If they try to fit into "internationalist norms", the Europeans will just try to rape their country. But if they tell them to get the hell out of their country, the Europeans will fall all over themselves trying to be nice to Libya.

Bottom line: Europeans are not trustworthy, because they are two-faced.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/24/2011 7:50 Comments || Top||


Surprises as Libya PM Names Transitional Cabinet
[Tripoli Post] Libya's National Transitional Council Tuesday evening unveiled the new cabinet that will govern the country until it holds its first elections since the Al Qadaffy
... one of those little rainstorms from the Arab Spring...
era. It features a number of surprise appointments, and as interim prime minister Abdurrahim el-Keeb said as he addressed a news conference late Tuesday, "all of Libya is represented in the new line-up, and it is hard to say that any area is not represented."

As expected, Osama al-Juwali, the commander of the forces from Zintan who captured Seif al-Islam Al Qadaffy, has been assigned the portfolio of defence minister.

Perhaps what wasn't expected was the appointment of little known diplomat originally from Derna, Ashour Bin Hayal as foreign minister. Pre-selection predictions had indicated that the portfolio could have gone to Libya's deputy envoy to the United Nations
...boodling on the grand scale...
, Ibrahim Dabbashi who came to the fore early in the eight-month long uprising by rallying diplomats to support the uprising against Al Qadaffy.

El-Keeb appointed former oil executive Hassan Ziglam as finance minister, while the oil minister's portfolio was assigned to another former executive in the oil industry, Abdulrahman Ben Yezza, who previously worked with with Italian oil major ENI.

Western countries, which backed the revolt against the former Al Qadaffy regime and have a big stake in seeing his replacements succeed, were reported by Rooters as welcoming the new government, saying it would guide Libya towards democracy.
Posted by: Fred || 11/24/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Which one of 'em's working for Boskone?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 11/24/2011 18:42 Comments || Top||


Who cut Saif Al Islam's fingers off?
[Emirates 24/7] A Libyan rebel said that his colleagues cut off three fingers of the right hand of Saif Al Islam, surviving son of late Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy.
... the like of whose wardrobe will never be seen again. At least that's what we hope...
He did so, allegedly because Saif pointed his finger at the rebel in a threatening manner.
That'll teach him...
Meanwhile,
...back at the pound, Zebulon finally found just the friend he'd been looking for...
'Al Mashahad Al Leeby' programme in a joint broadcast with 'Libya TV' and 'Libya FM' reported that Abdullah Al Zentan said he personally witnessed the "cuting off of the fingers of Saif Al Islam".

On the other hand, Saif Al Islam himself told Rooters on Saturday he is in good health, and he had maimed his right hand during a NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
air raid.

Saif al-Islam spoke briefly on the bandages on three fingers of his right hand would only say, "Air Force Air Force .." In response to a question whether he meant the raid to NATO said: "Yes .. a month ago."

Saif Al Islam Qadaffy, and son of Abdullah Sanusi were jugged in Ubari in the south of Libya, where he was found hiding in an abandoned house accompanied by a group of his associates.
Posted by: Fred || 11/24/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He is lucky that is all that they cut off: he had a reputation for grabbing women that caught his fancy off of the streets at one point in time.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 11/24/2011 21:10 Comments || Top||

#2  he had a reputation for grabbing women that caught his fancy off of the streets at one point in time.

Just like Saddam Hussein's lads. What is it about the sons of murderous totalitarian dictators?
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/24/2011 22:51 Comments || Top||

#3  That brings to mind Little Kimmie-boy of North Korea....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 11/24/2011 23:48 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Saleh to Seek Treatment in the United States of America
The Yemeni state --run agency Saba announced today that the Secretary General of the United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
, Ban Ki moon made a phone call to the ailing autocrat expressing his appreciation over the president's willingness to end months of uprising and conflict in Yemen.

Ban Ki Moon told news hounds that Saleh had said that he would immediately traveled to the States upon completion of the signature ceremony for he wished to continue there his medical treatment.

Saleh who was severely injured in an liquidation attempt against his person in early June is believed to be still suffering from poor health, despite months of recovery in the KSA.

As members of the Opposition are currently on their way to Riyadh, the Saudi capital, King Abdullah his hosting with other Gulf leaders a pre-ceremony meeting.

Back in Sana'a, armed festivities are erupted sporadically throughout the capital, with Taiz a flashpoint of the revolution in the south is being shelled by the government forces.
Posted by: Fred || 11/24/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Getting treatment outside Yemen is vital for the continuing function of his heart.
Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 || 11/24/2011 7:31 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Rats to help Colombia sniff out land mines
BOGOTA: In a laboratory on the grounds of a police-guarded complex, 11 white-furred rats wait their turn to impress trainers and perhaps receive a bit of sugar as reward. The rodents could play an important role in making conflict-wracked Colombia safer. They are in the final stages of a training program to find land mines that kill or injure hundreds of people each year in Colombia.

The government project, which began in 2006, trains specially bred rats to detect the metals used in land mines, thousands of which have been laid during the country's decades-long conflict with left-wing guerrillas.

Colombian scientists decided to use rats because, like the dogs more traditionally used in land mine detection, they have a highly developed sense of smell. But the rats are lightweight and unlikely to detonate mines.
"Remember, Remy, first you step on the mine, then they give you the sugar cube."
"But what if I trigger the mine?"
"Won't happen, we don't weigh enough."
"But what if they keep feeding me sugar cubes?"
The rats are first taught to recognize voice commands and the specific smells of metals used in land mines, and then to work in large, outdoor areas.

It has taken government scientists five generations of rats to be confident their training program is thorough enough to begin sending rats out into the countryside.

In the laboratory, an element of instinct has been built into the training, with baby rats scurrying after their mothers in plastic mazes during practice sessions. The mothers show their young how finding the dead end containing the same wires and metal pieces used in land mines can earn you a treat.

"These rats will be a great help, and will provide great input to those trying to carry out demining," said Erick Guzman, the police official and former canine handler who now is responsible for much of the rats' outdoor training.

"We are hoping that this generation will be ready at the beginning of next year to be tested in a real environment," he added as his favorite rat Sophie perched on his shoulder.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/24/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I picture Rats scurrying off in all directions.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/24/2011 2:59 Comments || Top||

#2  The other side is training countermeasure cats.
Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 || 11/24/2011 7:34 Comments || Top||

#3  A new movie: " Rattkablewwie"
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 11/24/2011 9:31 Comments || Top||

#4  I'd avoid using the Brazilian Capybara rats in this case.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/24/2011 10:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Well horses, dogs and others have been domesticated by the caveman. I guess Brazilian Capybara are a modern fit for current times. No tail that is great.
Posted by: Dale || 11/24/2011 11:24 Comments || Top||

#6  A new movie: " Rattkablewwie"

*Applause*

Now go to your room.
Posted by: Pappy || 11/24/2011 12:18 Comments || Top||

#7  but leave the DVD, please. sounds like a great post-Turkey movie
Posted by: lotp || 11/24/2011 19:27 Comments || Top||

#8  *happy sigh*.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/24/2011 22:58 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Dagestan - the most dangerous place in Europe
Posted by: phil_b || 11/24/2011 02:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Expect Russia to take "drastic" action to a losing region. Also include Ingushetia to be a part of the area of influence.

Russia will be putting in stakes again at this point - be it by handing out passports in the Ukraine or Kosovo, and pushing their character influence through every energy asset in Europe.
Posted by: newc || 11/24/2011 8:23 Comments || Top||


Russia throws down gauntlet over Syria.
YouTube
7 min mark. Hit cc for close captioning.
Statement on the situation around a European missile defense

"First, I am instructing the Defense Ministry to immediately put the missile attack early warning radar station in Kaliningrad on combat alert. Second, protective cover of Russia's strategic nuclear weapons, will be reinforced as a priority measure under the programme to develop out air and space defenses. Third, the new strategic ballistic missiles commissioned by the Strategic Missile Forces and the Navy will be equipped with advanced missile defense penetration systems and new highly-effective warheads. Fourth, I have instructed the Armed Forces to draw up measures for disabling missile defense system data and guidance systems if need be... Fifth, if the above measures prove insufficient, the Russian Federation will deploy modern offensive weapon systems in the west and south of the country, ensuring our ability to take out any part of the US missile defense system, in Europe. One step in this process will be to deploy Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad

Posted by: tipper || 11/24/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Perhaps somebody needs to hit that reset button again.
Posted by: Vortigern Hupurong3082 || 11/24/2011 1:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Do not mess with Syria.
Posted by: newc || 11/24/2011 2:31 Comments || Top||

#3  BS.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey || 11/24/2011 3:27 Comments || Top||

#4  Fucking Russians! Always masturbating to the idea of getting to use their big strategic nuclear weapons. What the fuck is wrong with them?
Posted by: gromky || 11/24/2011 3:51 Comments || Top||

#5  NATO conceals preparations for military action against Syria(Pravda)
Posted by: tipper || 11/24/2011 9:01 Comments || Top||

#6  Well it appears to me that Russia has leadership. Open to dialogue. The economy of Russia now is in much better shape than most. Open borders and increased cooperation with surrounding countries is a known goal of Russia. Natural resources are the future needs of all modern countries. I see Russian alignment with the west more than with the east. Yes, Russia is coming back as a world power. Some in power want the old days back. The people want better standards of living and look for a future. I can't say a future of hope because they expect things always will go badly for them. Those in political power know this. So in my opinion Russia needs stability and economic growth. With Russia I see give and take.
The EU is an example of controlled failure. No outside power did this. This is not just about Syria. Seize the day. With our current administration however not likely. Cold war days on the horizon.
Posted by: Dale || 11/24/2011 9:03 Comments || Top||

#7  Report: Russia Sent Syria Super-Advanced S-300 Missiles
A report Thursday said that Russia has supplied Syria with advanced S-300 missiles, and has sent advisers to help Syria run the system.
Posted by: tipper || 11/24/2011 9:35 Comments || Top||

#8  I've sat through the entire 10 min, there is no mention of Syria.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/24/2011 16:06 Comments || Top||

#9  A report Thursday said that Russia has supplied Syria with advanced S-300 missiles, and has sent advisers to help Syria run the system.

Hopefully, this will dissuade the Turks from trying to engineer an Libyan-style Assad defeat via a no-fly zone. And if Erdogan isn't dissuaded, it would be nice to see the Turkish military machine defanged a little, given the rhetoric coming from Turkey's Islamist government.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 11/24/2011 16:51 Comments || Top||

#10  I'll order more popcorn.
Posted by: Barbara || 11/24/2011 19:57 Comments || Top||

#11  Vlad was jeered at an MMA match a few days ago. He isn't as powerful as before. But who wants another islamonazi regime in the Near East? And who remembers that Turk aggressors who hold a large section of Europe, caused the US to leave 20% of weaponry on ships in the Mediterrean, at the start of Gulf War2? That move led to the creation of a Sunni rearbase in the north, which operated much of the later terror against US troops.
Posted by: Bubba Lumumba8396 || 11/24/2011 21:36 Comments || Top||

#12  Russia is many things. We have seen Putin presented many ways. This video is a Russian perspective. No slam dunk for Putin:

Posted by: Dale || 11/24/2011 23:08 Comments || Top||

#13  And who remembers that Turk aggressors who hold a large section of Europe

I don't understand, Bubba Lumumba8396. Do you think we should rewrite the last millennium? As for what follows I your comment, we here at Rantburg are very aware of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan's choices in 2003, and what followed from that. We watched the news unfold in real time -- it's all in the archives.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/24/2011 23:11 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
N. Korea threatens South with "sea of fire"
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea threatened Thursday to turn Seoul's presidential palace office into a "sea of fire," stepping up its rhetoric one day after South Korea conducted large-scale military drills near a front-line island attacked by North Korea last year.

On Wednesday, South Korea mobilized aircraft, rocket launchers, artillery guns and naval boats for the first anniversary of the artillery attack on a military garrison and fishing community on Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea. Two marines and two construction workers were killed in the attack, the first on a civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean War.

A similar "sea of fire" threatens to engulf Seoul's presidential Blue House if South Korean forces fire a single shot into North Korean territory, the North's People's Army warned in a statement from Pyongyang.

"They should not forget the lesson taught" by the Yeonpyeong shelling last year, said the statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

The North has issued similar threats over years at times of tension with South Korea.

The Korean peninsula remains in a technical state of war because their conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. However, North Korea disputes the maritime border drawn by the U.N. in 1953, and the waters have been a flashpoint for violence over the years.

Pyongyang accuses Seoul of provoking last year's attack, saying it struck after warning the South not to hold live-fire drills in the disputed waters.

Since then, South Korea has spent millions of dollars beefing up its arsenal. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Jung Seung-jo said his forces would "crush the enemy" if they strike again.
Posted by: Beavis || 11/24/2011 09:18 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hurrah! Sea of Fire Man has survived! Thank you, Beavis, for setting our minds at ease, when we were so sure he had perished from one of the many, many reasons to perish in North Korea.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/24/2011 23:13 Comments || Top||


Europe
Minority Muslims, 70% of French inmates
[Iran Press TV] As the number of French prisoners is expected to break a new record this month, Moslems account for 70 percent of inmates despite making only 5-10 percent of the population, Press TV reports.

Widespread poverty and discrimination against French Moslems have been regularly mentioned as the main cause of their incarceration, but the phenomenon has not yet been closely probed, largely due to political consequences.

In addition to overcrowding, poor sanitation and increased frequency of jailhouse attacks and suicides are other features of French prisons.

The country has been repeatedly censured by the European Court of Human Rights for denial of basic rights and alarming suicide rate among prisoners.

According to Arnaud Gaillard, a prison sociologist, most French prisons are not in good shape.

"We need to comply with the European rules and we need to get some quality of imprisonment here in La Belle France," he added.

During his tenure as the French interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy
...23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. Sarkozy is married to singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit...
, insisted on austerity on crime and pushed for harsher sentences for minor crimes such as theft, assault and illegal immigration to La Belle France.

Researchers maintain that people convicted of these crimes currently account for two-thirds of those in short-term jails.

Gaillard maintains that although crime rate is not very high in La Belle France, the government only relies on imprisonment and toughness on crime as the sole solution.
Posted by: Fred || 11/24/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  The lazy choose jihad over jobs.

Gives them a purpose in life!
Posted by: Glatle Glealing7009 || 11/24/2011 10:03 Comments || Top||

#2  ..harsher sentences for minor crimes such as theft, assault and illegal immigration..

You think the American LSM would pick up on that last point? Nah, me neither.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/24/2011 10:32 Comments || Top||

#3  French welfare pays the equivalent of $1200 US. With public housing rent fixed at a quarter of that, muz have learned to use that base as a subsidy for organized crime. Most car theft and drug crime is committed by slaves of allah.

France: c'est fini.
Posted by: Bubba Lumumba8396 || 11/24/2011 21:43 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkish PM apologizes over 1930s killings of Kurds
[Dawn] Turkey's prime minister has apologized for the first time for the killings of nearly 14,000 people in a bombing and strafing campaign to crush a Kurdish rebellion in the 1930s.

The apology Wednesday by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan comes at a tense time for relations between Turkey and its minority Kurds and sparked calls to face another dark chapter of the Turkish history, the mass killings of Armenians in 1915.

Erdogan's government is currently fighting against autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels and despite efforts to seek peace, says it is determined to crush the rebels if they don't lay down their arms.

The fighting has killed tens of thousands since it began in 1984, but it is only the latest of several uprisings by Kurds in Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast.

Erdogan on Wednesday offered his apology for the killings of 13,806 people in the southeastern town of Dersim, now known as Tunceli, between 1936 and 1939. The apology came after a war of words between Erdogan and the leader of the main opposition party.

An opposition politician, Huseyin Aygun, from the Republican People's Party said a dozen of his relatives were killed in Dersim and added that details about the suppression of the rebellion needed to become known.

Erdogan's apology appeared to be a political tactic to tarnish the image of opposition party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, whose party was in power at the time of the rebellion. Kilicdaroglu's family is also rooted in Tunceli.

"Am I going to apologize or are you?" Erdogan asked Kilicdaroglu in a televised speech. "If there is need for an apology on behalf of the state, if there is such a practice in the books, I would apologize and I am apologizing."

Some ruling party politicians called for a probe into the Dersim slayings, where troops of Turkey's newly founded republic brutally crushed Kurdish clans that rejected central authority.

"Instead of looking for a culprit, we must chose to face history," government politician Mustafa Elitas said.

Mustafa Armagan, a historian and researcher, told state-run TRT television on Wednesday that the military's campaign in Dersim was followed by forced migrations and massacres as well as policies of assimilation.

The prime minister also said one of the main obstacles to Turkey's becoming "one of the world's most powerful states is that it can't face up to its past, history, taboos and fears."

Turkey is also under pressure to acknowledge other dark pages in its history, including the mass killings of Armenians in 1915, a special wealth tax imposed on Jews in the 1940s and attacks on its Greek minority in 1955.

The killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians and their forced migration under the Ottoman Empire has been the main barrier to Turkey's reconciliation with Armenia.

Armenians have long fought to persuade other governments to call the killings a genocide. Turkey rejects the term genocide, contending the figures are inflated and saying there were many deaths on both sides as the Ottoman Empire collapsed during World War I.

Despite the calls for search for truth over the Dersim incidents, Erdogan's government has said it would only halt its current military drive if the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK disarm.

However,
the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits...
the government has left the door open for future talks. Turkey has long realized that it can't end the Kurdish rebel war through military measures alone, and the government has granted more cultural rights to the Kurdish minority such as broadcasts in the once-banned Kurdish language on state television.

But the rebels and Kurdish activists insist on autonomy and Kurdish education in schools, which Turkey fears could divide the country along ethnic lines.
Posted by: Fred || 11/24/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  As I pointed out yesterday, the Dersim massacres followed a period of forced resettlement, expropriation of property, organized assaults and other persecutions. The death toll of all of these persecutions of the mid to late 1930s in Turkey probably exceeds 80,000 and might be as high as 120,000 including not just Kurds but other minorities (Jews, Assyrians, Greeks).
Posted by: Lord Garth || 11/24/2011 8:12 Comments || Top||

#2  It was Attatürk's secular government that crushed the Kurdish rebellion in the 1930s.

The Armenian genocide was perpetrated by the Ottoman caliphate.

By apologizing for the Kurdish massacre Erdogan is delegitimising Attatürk's heritage which is probably his real objective.

There won't be a similar apology to the Armenians as that move would cast a shadow over Attatürk's opponent, the caliphate.
Posted by: Gromolet Sleregum5131 || 11/24/2011 12:52 Comments || Top||

#3  Yah, the Turks don't apologize for murdering Christians. Kurds executed much of the slaughter of Armenians.
Posted by: Bubba Lumumba8396 || 11/24/2011 21:51 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Taliban claim truce holding in South Waziristan
[Dawn] A commander of the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistain has said that his organization has declared a ceasefire to the extent of Mehsud-dominated areas of South Wazoo to build confidence with the government for holding peace talks.

(A report by the News Agency that Dare Not be Named news agency quoted a senior commander as saying that the Taliban had declared a ceasefire to encourage nascent peace talks with the government. He said the ceasefire had been in effect for several weeks and was valid throughout the country.)

A close aide to Hakimullah Mehsud, the chief of the banned
...the word banned seems to have a different meaning in Pakistain than it does in most other places. Or maybe it simply lacks any meaning at all...
organization
, told this correspondent that the TTP had ceased all combat activities in October and had not been attacking security forces in Mehsud-dominated area of South Waziristan, 'following talks with the government'.

"Now it depends on the government's attitude. If security forces reciprocate the Taliban will not carry out attacks," he said, adding that the declaration of ceasefire was a confidence-building measure.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth had turned a paler shade of blue. Star-A-Star had struck again...
the military's public relations wing, the ISPR, strongly denied
No, no! Certainly not!
reports about talks with the TTP. It said in a statement that the army was not holding any kind of negotiations with the TTP or its affiliated thug groups.

Such reports are concocted, baseless and unfounded, the ISPR said, adding that any contemplated negotiation/reconciliation process with thug groups had to be done by the government.

Security officials in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar also played down Taliban claims about peace talks and ceasefire and termed it mere "feelers".

On Monday also, the TTP had claimed to be holding negotiations with the government and tribal elders and that some retired
government officials were facilitating the talks.

The situation in Mehsud area, the birthplace of TTP, has been comparatively peaceful over the past two months. However,
the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach...
there have been three attacks on security forces in the area since October 1 which left five soldiers dead and eight maimed.
Pazir Gul adds: A thug commander in North Waziristan has sternly warned local people not to work with military engineers working on a road and other projects in the area.

A pamphlet distributed in Miramshah on Tuesday said the Shura Mujahideen North Waziristan had prohibited securing contracts and other privileges from the military in order to keep tribal people away from its influence.

It said the army had started building Bannu-Ghulam Khan Road, but local people would neither work on the project nor provide construction machinery. The pamphlet said that Mujahideen would not be responsible for security of these people.

Kalbe Ali adds from Islamabad: Interior Minister Rehman Malik
Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Näwaz Shärif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men.
welcomed the Taliban's ceasefire offer and said the government also had received the offer. "However,
the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach...
any peace talks with the Taliban are subject to disarming themselves," he added.

Talking to newsmen after inaugurating 50 Mobile Registration Vans at the National Database and Registration Authority, the minister said the government also had made a talks offer to the Taliban but there had not been any progress so far.
Posted by: Fred || 11/24/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Sherry Rehman appointed Pakistan's ambassador to US
[Dawn] Pakistain appointed a former information minister and human rights
...which often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
campaigner as its ambassador to the United States on Wednesday, moving quickly to fill a post left vacant after Husain Haqqani's resignation.

"The prime minister is pleased to appoint Sherry Rehman as the new ambassador to the United States," said the front man for the prime minister's office, Akram Shaheedi.

Rehman is veteran member of President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari's
... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ...
Pakistain People's Party and a staunch proponent of civilian rule.

Former ambassador Husain Haqqani resigned on Tuesday, days after a Pak-American businessman accused him of being behind a memo that said the military was plotting a coup and appealed to the Pentagon to help ward it off.

Haqqani denied any connection with the memo.

Rehman, a former journalist, was information minister for Zardari. She resigned in March 2009 over a crisis in which the government was refusing to reinstate judges sacked under the military regime of President Pervez Perv Musharraf.
... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
Rehman has been a strong advocate of women's and minority rights and faced death threats for her calls to reform the country's blasphemy laws.

Haqqani resigned on Tuesday, days after a Pak-American businessman accused him of being behind a memo that accused the Pak military of plotting a coup in May.
Posted by: Fred || 11/24/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Fayyad Warns: No Tax Money - No More PA
The Palestinian Authority may soon fail financially and cease to exist, its prime minister warned on Thursday.

Salam Fayyad warned that if Israel does not resume the transfer of tax revenues it collects for the PA, the entity will collapse economically and thus cease to exist. Already now, Fayyad claimed, the PA cannot pay salaries to its employees.

Channel 10 News reported that Fayyad made the comments following a meeting with Norway’s Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. According to the report, Fayyad said that the collapse of PA institutions “is advancing rapidly toward the point at which they will stop operating.”

“We have no money,” Fayyad was quoted as having said. “It’s not about donations or international assistance we receive,” he added, blaming the Israeli decision to freeze the taxes it collects for the PA as being the reason for the impending collapse.

A recent World Bank report, while admitting that the PA is undergoing a financial crisis, said the crisis was primarily due to the lack of donor countries fulfilling their pledges to fork over billions of dollars to Ramallah.

Israeli officials decided to halt the transfer of taxes to the PA as part of a round of sanctions against the entity, following its ascension as a 'full-member state' to UNESCO. Last week, Israel's cabinet voted to maintain the freeze. Israel transfers some $100 million in tax payments to the PA every month.

Foreign Minister Støre reportedly said Fayyad is correct in saying that the PA will soon cease to exist, and compared the Israeli decision to waterboarding, the method of torture used by the United States on security prisoners, when interrogators simulate drowning by pouring water on the head of the prisoner.

“This is waterboarding-style torture, only that it has to do with the economy,” Støre was quoted as having said.

On Tuesday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to resume the transfer of taxes to the PA, saying that transferring tax money to the PA would be in line with Israel’s legal obligations.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/24/2011 18:42 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Why not ask your buddies in UNESCO to pay for your sorry asses?
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/24/2011 18:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Sounds fair enough. Let them sunset.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 11/24/2011 19:27 Comments || Top||

#3  "No Tax Money - No More PA"

And this is a problem because....?
Posted by: Barbara || 11/24/2011 20:00 Comments || Top||

#4  a feature, not a bug
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/24/2011 23:07 Comments || Top||

#5  That's absurd. Waterboarding is simulated drowning, merely temporarily distressing, as demonstrated by the few brave reporters brave enough to submit themselves to it as research; what the PA is going through is the real thing -- and long since deserved, too.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/24/2011 23:28 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran claims to have captured 12 CIA spies
Iranian officials claimed a blow against US spying efforts on its nuclear programme and strategic industries after 12 CIA assets were captured by the regime and its Lebanese ally, Hizbollah.

US officials acknowledged that its network targeting Iran had suffered a setback and expressed fears that its contacts would be executed by the regime.

Heydar Moslehi, Iran's intelligence minister, said yesterday that the alleged spies worked at the highest levels of "major firms involved in oil, gas and nuclear industries" as the country .

Parviz Sorouri, a member of parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy committee said the arrested spies were on a mission to cripple Iran in vital sectors with military and security links.

This current announcement follows the unravelling by Lebanon's Hizbollah of a CIA spy ring included a network based in a Pizza Hut.

Hassan Nasrallah, Hizbollah's leader, has admitted that at least two CIA spies had infiltrated the ranks of the organisation. The US Embassy in Lebanon officially denied the accusation but officials conceded that Hizbollah had subsequently methodically picked off CIA informants in recent months.
Posted by: tipper || 11/24/2011 17:59 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  FUBAR comes to mind.
Posted by: Zenobia Jert8593 || 11/24/2011 22:30 Comments || Top||


Paris Says SNC a Legitimate Syria Interlocutor, Wants It Both Ways
[An Nahar] La Belle France will ask its EU partners to consider setting up humanitarian corridors in Syria, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Thursday after talks with Burhan Ghalioun, head of the opposition Syrian National Council.

Juppe said La Belle France considered the SNC a "legitimate interlocutor" and he would take to Brussels the idea of protected escape routes for Syrian civilians fleeing the crackdown of the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...

"We examined the question of humanitarian corridors and I will ask the next meeting of the European Council to put this point on its agenda," Juppe said.

"If there could be a humanitarian dimension to the zones, which could be secured, to protect the population, that's a question that must be studied with the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
and the Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
," he said.

There have been reports that Turkey and NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
allies such as La Belle France are considering imposing a no-fly zone and a buffer zone on Syrian territory to give the opposition breathing space while it organizes its revolt.

No official source has gone this far, however, and Juppe's statement was the first sign that something of the sort might be envisaged.

"The Syrian National Council is the legitimate interlocutor, and we will continue to work with it," Juppe said, stopping short of formally recognizing the body and stressing that it must be inclusive.

"We are working on a formal recognition with the vaporous Arab League and all of our allies," Juppe said.

The SNC headed by Gay Paree-based Ghalioun is one of at least four Syrian opposition movements, but is seen as the most representative and claims to speak for activists both inside and outside the country.

Speaking to news hounds after the joint news conference, Ghalioun said the SNC did not want to see the decampedgling Free Syrian Army, an armed rebel group, take the fight directly to the regime's far superior forces.

"We would like this army to carry out defensive actions to protect those who have left the (regime's) army and peaceful demonstrations, but not take on offensive actions against the army," he said.

In recent weeks there have been increasing reports that a rebel army has begun fighting Assad's regime in parallel to a largely peaceful street revolt that has faced brutal repression from regular forces.

This has increased fears the nine-month old revolt against the regime is slipping towards civil war. Four more non-combatants were killed on Wednesday, in a conflict which the United Nations
...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
says has claimed more than 3,500 lives.

Syria's northern neighbor Turkey warned, meanwhile, that the crisis was at "the point of no return" amid a growing chorus of international anger over the eight-month crackdown on dissent.

Posted by: Fred || 11/24/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Geagea Urges Miqati to Quit
[An Nahar] Lebanese Forces
A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb...
leader Samir Geagea
... Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005 ...
on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Najib Miqati to "submit his resignation today rather than tomorrow or to jump off the boat, which is approaching the rocks."

"The Lebanese state has not granted refugee status to those who decamped to Israel (in 2000). Let the government classify them as refugees and let Miqati quit if he does not have the majority in cabinet to do that," Geagea said during an interview on Future News television.

"Did the energy minister (Jebran Bassil) or the premier seek Arab funds for the (recently approved electricity) plan? They rather rejected proposals from Arab funds so that they make investments in the local market. It would be better for the government to quit today rather than tomorrow," Geagea added.

He warned that the approach adopted by Miqati will not lead to "building a country."

"In my opinion, if the government resigns, let's form a March 14
Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys...
government because Leb can only find salvation through a March 14 government based on the Cedar Revolution's principles," Geagea suggested, noting that the previous national unity government had "failed to unite the country."

"Should we fail to form a March 14 government, let's form a technocratic government. The best PM Miqati can do for the sake of his political future is to step down immediately," the LF leader went on to say.

Slamming Hizbullah and its allies, Geagea said: "We tell them once and for all: Let no one threaten us. They got accustomed to that after the May 7 (festivities) but we shall not tolerate threats. To hell with stability if we are supposed to live a false life."

"What kind of state is that which is a mailbox for other countries? Let the other camp take to the streets whenever they want, but when they realize that we will stand our ground they will leave the streets," Geagea noted.

He blasted the Lebanese state as "inexistent on the human rights
...which often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
map or the world map."

Asked about Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi's stances on the Syrian crisis and the Arab Spring, Geagea said "the patriarch is observing the events and raising concerns."

"His concerns are legitimate but I would've liked to see him asking us politicians to take action. His stances have changed now and I didn't share him some views," Geagea added, noting that "al-Rahi is not closer to the other camp even if his viewpoint is different than that of (ex-)patriarch (Nasrallah) Sfeir."

He stressed that there is "dissimilarity" between the two patriarchs' personalities, but pointed out that "al-Rahi has just started his journey and we cannot judge it at this time."

Geagea reminisced "major disagreements with patriarch Sfeir when he first started his journey," calling for giving al-Rahi "enough time to see what direction he will take."

Commenting on the murder of 28-year-old Lebanese woman Myriam al-Ashqar on Monday in Keserwan, Geagea said: "Only the law and the path of justice can salvage us, as a crime should not be confronted with another crime, but rather through the law, despite the current status of our judiciary."

Turning to the issue of the Syrian crisis, Geagea said "the fall of the Syrian regime is inevitable," noting that embattled Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Light of the Alawites...
's regime "does not enjoy any Arab or international legitimacy."

He also noted that "Hizbullah will not sacrifice itself to rescue the (Syrian) regime, although it would grow weaker with its downfall."

"Syria will witness a difficult turmoil after the revolution, just like what happened in Iran, the Bolshevik Revolution and the other Arab countries," Geagea suggested.

Posted by: Fred || 11/24/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


March 14: How Can the Army Enter Arsal and Not Siddiqin?
[An Nahar] March 14
Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys...
General Secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid questioned on Wednesday the double standards adopted in tackling security issues in Leb, asking why it is easy for the army to enter the town of Arsal while it is prevented from entering the town of Siddiqin.

He wondered after the General Secretariat's weekly meeting: "Why was it allowed to pursue Syrians in Arsal, while the army, which is responsible for protecting Leb and implementing U.N. Security Council 1701, was thwarted from heading to Siddiqin?"

A huge kaboom went off in an alleged arms depot in the Hizbullah stronghold of Siddiqin in the South overnight.

Party members prevented the security forces from reaching the area.

Soaid asked: "Why is the army forbidden from conducting an investigation only after Hizbullah's security forces had informed the Lebanese public of what it wants?"

Addressing the Special Tribunal for Leb, he said: "The funding of the tribunal is an integral matter that the Lebanese government should commit to out of respect of justice and in order to prevent Leb from being dragged into a confrontation with the international community."

On the developments in Syria, he stated: "Syria is seeking shelter behind the Lebanese government because it appears that it has lost its diplomatic ability to persuade the Arab and international circles of its points of view."

He predicted that Prime Minister Najib Miqati will therefore not remain in power for too long because the Syrian regime is slowly losing its Arab and international legitimacy.

Leb, Syria, and Yemen were the only countries who opposed an 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...
decision to suspend Syria's membership from the organization.

The government's position has sparked the condemnation of the March 14-led opposition, which has labeled the stand as an act of consent to the Syrian regime's bloody crackdown against anti-regime protests that have been raging since March.

Posted by: Fred || 11/24/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Iran plans to expel British ambassador
[Emirates 24/7] Iran on Wednesday looked to expelling the British ambassador in angry retaliation for fresh Western sanctions over its nuclear programme, which have been slammed by both China and Russia.

Iranian politicians, some crying "Death to Britannia", adopted an emergency bill to be voted on Sunday that would downgrade diplomatic relations to the level of charge d'affaires if passed, the legislature's website said.

The bill also said parliament could take action "on other countries that behave in a manner similar to that of Britannia," according to the Fars and Mehr news agencies.

Britannia this week, in coordination with the United States and Canada, announced the new sanctions on Iran. They cited as justification a report by the UN atomic energy watchdog this month suggesting Tehran was researching nuclear weapons.

Britannia said it was "ceasing all contact" between its financial system and that of Iran. The United States and Canada said they would also clamp down on the sector, including on Iran's central bank.

La Belle France has called for a freeze on Iranian central bank assets and an embargo on oil exports.

Britannia, Canada and La Belle France have embassies in Tehran. Canada's is headed only by a charge d'affaires; the other two by ambassadors.

The United States does not have a diplomatic mission, having closed its embassy after Islamic students took its diplomats hostage in 1979 following Iran's revolution. US interests are handled by the Swiss embassy.

China on Wednesday criticised the Western sanctions, saying they would "exacerbate" the stand-off over Iran's nuclear activities.

"We believe pressuring and sanctions cannot fundamentally solve the Iranian nuclear issue. On the contrary, they will complicate and exacerbate the issue and intensify confrontation," said foreign ministry front man Liu Weimin.

Russia on Tuesday blasted the sanctions as "unacceptable and against international law."

China and Russia have used their weight on the UN Security Council to block any possibility of the sanctions being more broadly imposed through a UN resolution.

Iran is already subject to four sets of UN sanctions. It has rejected the UN atomic energy agency's report, and insists its nuclear programme is exclusively for peaceful, civilian purposes.

The latest sanctions put more pressure on Iran's financial sector, with the US and Britannia invoking anti-terrorist laws to target the central bank and other financial institutions.

They aim to make it more difficult for Iran to be paid for its oil exports, and put pressure on Iran's currency.

They stop short, however, of hitting the central bank with more draconian measures, which Western officials and analysts feared could cause a spike in oil prices, worsening the global economic downturn and providing Iran with a revenue windfall.

Iran's representative in OPEC, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, told ISNA news agency his country could "adopt special stances" in terms of using its vast oil exports as a political tool if "emergencies and special situations demand."

He stressed, though, that Iran was not at this time changing its approach in the global oil market.

Pressure on Iran looked likely to be raised a notch on December 1, when EU foreign ministers were expected to announce additional sanctions on some 200 Iranian firms and individuals, according to diplomats.

US President Barack Because I won Obama said in a statement Monday as the latest sanctions were unveiled: "As long as Iran continues down this dangerous path, the United States will continue to find ways, both in concert with our partners and through our own actions, to isolate and increase the pressure upon the Iranian regime."
Posted by: Fred || 11/24/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


'Iran backs Syria against US, Israel'
[Iran Press TV] Iranian ambassador to Syria has reiterated Tehran's full support for Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...
in the face of the US and Israeli schemes against the Syrian nation.

"The West is attempting to abuse the developments in the region for its [own] benefits," Mohammad-Reza Sheibani warned in the Syrian capital Damascus on Wednesday, referring to the wave of Islamic Awakening sweeping the Arab world, IRNA reported.

"Today, we see this Islamic Awakening in the Islamic resistance in Leb and Paleostine, which is advancing in the interest of the Moslem world and threatening the West's interests," he said.

The Iranian official emphasized that Syrian officials, including Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Sonny, disguised as Fredo, trying to be Mike...
, supported the 'legitimate' demands of the Syrian nation and added that the West's plots against Damascus were rooted in the Syrian government's support for the Islamic resistance.

Syria has been experiencing deadly unrest since mid-March, with demonstrations being held both against and in support of Assad's government.

According to the United Nations
...an international organization whose stated aims of facilitating interational security involves making sure that nobody with live ammo is offended unless it's a civilized country...
, over 3,500 people -- including hundreds of Army personnel members and members of the security forces -- have been killed in the ongoing violence. The Syrian government blames the unrest on armed gunnies funded by elements from outside the country.

Syrian state TV has broadcast reports showing seized weapons caches and confessions by gunnies describing how they obtained weapons from foreign sources.

Since the beginning of the unrest, however, the United States and the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
have imposed severe sanctions on Damascus over alleged application of violence against anti-government protesters.

Syria has vehemently denied reports of violence against protesters, saying the security forces have been given clear instructions not to harm civilians.
Posted by: Fred || 11/24/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Not surprised.
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/24/2011 16:28 Comments || Top||

#2  In other shocking news, dog bites man.
Posted by: Barbara || 11/24/2011 19:58 Comments || Top||

#3  If I were Assad, I would be back-channeling a deal with the Israelis for my family and I to flee the country, and turn over my secret police files to them in exchange for cash and new identities.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 11/24/2011 21:12 Comments || Top||


Hezbollah claims 'victory' in intelligence war with CIA
[Al Ahram] Iranian-backed Hezbullies boasted on Wednesday that it has succeeded in exposing CIA operatives in Leb and urged the government to take immediate measures against the US embassy near Beirut.

"Our security... has exposed several American and Israeli plots on Leb," Hezbullies MP Hassan Fadlallah told news hounds outside parliament.

"We call on the Lebanese government to take immediate action... and raise the issue with the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
and embassies, so that the whole world is aware of what the US embassy in Leb is doing," he added.

Fadlallah, who heads parliament's telecommunications committee, said the Lebanese Shia cut-thoat group had succeeded in uncovering Central Intelligence Agency operatives that had infiltrated Hezbullies.

"Lebanese intelligence vanquished US and Israeli intelligence in what is now known as the intelligence war," Fadlallah said.

"The resistance blinded American intelligence eyes."

The MP's comments came days after reports emerged that Hezbullies had uncovered several operatives within the movement working for the CIA.

In the first acknowledgement of infiltration since the Shia group's founding in the 1980s, Hezbullies chief Hassan Nasrallah in June said members of his group had confessed to being CIA agents.

Nasrallah accused his arch foe Israel of turning to the US spy agency after failing to infiltrate his party, slamming the American embassy in Beirut as a "den of spies."

The US embassy in Beirut dismissed the accusations as "empty."

More than 100 people in Leb have been placed in durance vile on suspicion of spying for Israel since April 2009, including military personnel and telecoms employees.

Leb and Israel technically remain in a state of war and convicted spies face life imprisonment or the death sentence if found guilty of contributing to Lebanese loss of life.

Leb has protested to the United Nations over the alleged spy networks.
Posted by: Fred || 11/24/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  They claim to be more intelligent than CIA?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/24/2011 2:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Oprn your Mouth, and close your eyes, and I will give you a big surprise.

OK.

BLAM.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/24/2011 3:05 Comments || Top||

#3  It ain't over til it ain't over.
Posted by: Creregum Glolump8403 || 11/24/2011 9:13 Comments || Top||

#4  New Guys???

Outed over PIZZA HUT - puts new meaning into the monicker "Pizza [Cold]Wars".
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/24/2011 20:41 Comments || Top||

#5  "Our security... has exposed several American and Israeli plots on Leb,"

No someone out of Langley did that, you just knew where the American chain restaurant was.

I have word for every single Station of the CIA - BROKEN ARROW.

EXFIL, Firestorm, and cover your asses, and GTFO now cause we have lost two stations in a week.

EVERYONE is in danger.

This is not the time to rely on Langley if you are a Station Chief.
Posted by: newc || 11/24/2011 22:07 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2011-11-24
  Police continue attacks on protesters, Tahrir chants for field marshal to go
Wed 2011-11-23
  Yemen's president signs power transfer deal
Tue 2011-11-22
  Yemen Opposition: Saleh Agrees to Sign Peace Plan. Really.
Mon 2011-11-21
  Colombia Farc rebel radio station 'shut down' by army
Sun 2011-11-20
  Libya: 'the executioner' Abdullah al-Senussi captured
Sat 2011-11-19
  Saif al-Islam Gaddafi captured in Libya
Fri 2011-11-18
  Sufi Mohammad's sons acquitted by Swat ATC
Thu 2011-11-17
  Saleh again refuses to sign power transfer
Wed 2011-11-16
  Missile raid targeted top Shabaab leaders
Tue 2011-11-15
  Suspected suicide bomber killed near Afghan loya jirga site
Mon 2011-11-14
  Syria Calls for Urgent Arab Summit
Sun 2011-11-13
  Syrian brownshirts storm Saudi embassy
Sat 2011-11-12
  Iranian Terror Plot Against Bahrain Uncovered
Fri 2011-11-11
  Mexican minister who fought drug cartels killed in crash
Thu 2011-11-10
  Cash shortage threatens Pakistan flood aid

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