[TOLONEWS] Residents of northern Sar-e-Pol Province have raised the volume on complaints of rampant corruption within their provincial government. Provincial officials acknowledged the existence of corruption, but said they needed the help of residents to effectively combat it.
According to a number of Sar-e-Pol denizens, provincial offices don't work without bribes, and officials delay work in order to extort higher fees. They warned that people would lose faith in government if the issues go unaddressed.
Corruption is a widely documented problem in Afghanistan. According to Transparency International, Afghanistan is the second most corrupt nation in the world, falling right behind Somalia, and a report the organization released earlier this year ranked the Afghan judiciary as the most corrupt in the world.
"If you want to get an ID Card, you have to pay 1,000 Afghani, and without paying money, it is impossible," a resident of Sar-e-Pul who asked not to be named told TOLOnews.
The Governor of Sar-e-Pul, Abdul Jabbar Haqbin, stressed his utmost commitment to the task of fighting corruption in his province. But he added that to remove the problem effectively, residents need to cooperate, and report instances of bribery and other improprieties.
"The people should inform high ranking officials in the province about the persons who engage in corruption, delay work for no reason or have illegal demands," Haqbin told TOLOnews. "If this happens, we will succeed."
While the issue off corruption in Afghanistan has been longstanding, and will likely not go away over night, sensitivity is heightened ahead of the elections and withdraw of coalition troops next year, which present trials that will test the credibility of the central and provincial government system that has been established since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.
Sar-e-Pul province is located in northern Afghanistan, and has just over 500,000 residents. The province's economy is primarily based on agriculture and livestock.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2013 00:00 ||
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President Hamid Karzai's Loya Jirga, intended to determine the fate of the Kabul-Washington Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA), is set to be held sometime in mid November in Kabul. But with only weeks left even Sebghatullah Mujadadi, the Jirga's Chairman, has voiced reservations about the purpose of the gathering.
In addition to Mujadadi's appointment, Sadeq Mudaber was tapped to be the head of its Secretariat, Nematullah Shahrani as First Deputy and Said Hamed Gillani as Second Deputy.
The men will preside over a Jirga that was proposed by President Karzai back in August as a strategy to leave future of the contentious security pact with Washington up to the Afghan people. The BSA is expected to outline the future of U.S. involvement in Afghan national security after the NATO combat mission ends in 2014, including the number and function of troops to remain behind for what has been called a "advising, training and assisting" mission.
The Afghan President's choice to defer the fate of the agreement up to a Jirga has received a mix of approval and disapproval from Afghan power players. Some have applauded it as a democratic way of deciding on what has been regarded as an accord that could determine whether Afghanistan sinks or swims after the coalition's departure. Others, however, have been less positive, calling the decision a waste of time, reckless and even illegal in some cases.
While introducing the Administrative Board and head of the Secretariat, Mr. Mujadadi, the designated leader of the Jirga, even voiced disagreement with the Jirga being the method relied upon for finalizing the BSA.
"There was no need for holding the Advisory Loya Jirga for signing the Bilateral Security Agreement. This could have been solved through discussions with the United States," Mujadadi said. Nevertheless, the Jirga is moving forward, and is now expected to convene in a matter of weeks. The traditional form of consensus decision-making will bring together thousands of local, national, religious and political leaders from around the country.
"The number of participants will be around 3,000 people and they will be divided into 16 categories, of which there will be members of parliament, provincial councils, civil society and representatives of the people," said Mudaber, the head of the Jirga's Secretariat.
The provisions of the BSA have been hotly debated between U.S. and Afghan negotiators over the past year since talks began. It wasn't until last weekend, when U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made a surprise visit to Kabul, that most of the agreement was finally ironed out. Reportedly, the only issue that remains unsettled is that of U.S. troop immunity from Afghan judicial jurisdiction, which Kerry said could make or break the deal and Karzai said he will leave up to the Jirga.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Methinks he is afraid of an explodydope attendee at the meeting.
A wise man in these times.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
10/20/2013 14:34 Comments ||
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[TOLONEWS] The National Assembly's Commission for Reviewing Government Actions released a report on land-grabbing after eight months of fact-finding. Although the names of small-to-medium scale land-grabbers were released, the Commission said that a lack of cooperation on the part of government ministries made it impossible to ascertain the identities of the country's biggest offenders.
The Commission's report was divided into three tiers of land-grabbing: small amounts in the third tier, medium amounts in the second tier and the largest amounts in the first tier.
At a general meeting of the House of Representatives, Zalmai Mujaddadi, the Chairman of the Commission, said that the government had been cooperative in helping assemble the names of individuals falling in the third and second tiers, but unhelpful when it came to the big-time offenders of the first tier.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] New CCTV footage from Nairobi's Westgate mall appears to shows Kenyan soldiers carrying loot out of the besieged mall, attacked exactly four weeks ago, the Nation newspaper reported Saturday.
The report comes two days after members of parliament investigating the attack absolved the army of looting.
The Nation said the 30 minutes of footage showed "scores of soldiers rummaging through the Nakumatt Supermarket and leaving with white polythene bags whose contents cannot be seen."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
#1
4000 years of records show that if you pay the soldiers squat they usually 'liberate' material when given the opportunity. They also become somewhat surly if challenged, particular by people less well armed - "Let the Wookie win"
[Al Ahram] The High Administrative Court adjourned to 21 December Saturday a case demanding the dissolution of the Moslem Brüderbund's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and the Salafist El-Nour Party, on grounds of their being formed on a religious basis.
The court also adjourned earlier Saturday to 16 November 11 other lawsuits demanding the FJP's dissolution, pending recommendations by the State Commissioners' Authority on each case.
Egypt's State Commissioners' Authority, a body that advises the government on legal issues, recommended 7 October the dissolution of the FJP, the political wing of the Moslem Brüderbund.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The Netherlands is considering sending some 400 soldiers including elite commandos, as well as Apache attack helicopters to war-torn Mali following an appeal for more U.N. peacekeepers, a newspaper report said Saturday.
The plan follows an urgent request by the U.N.'s special representative in the west African country for more blue helmets as its peacekeeping force faced a new surge of Islamist attacks.
"The plan is to send in around 400 Dutch troops. This included 70 commandos, able to operate behind enemy lines to gather intelligence," the Dutch leftist daily De Volkskrant reported, based on interviews with 15 unnamed diplomats, top military sources and politicians.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
#1
Wonder how much Srebrenica still haunts some of the Dutch, military and civilian. Doesn't seem like a good idea to put 400 guys into a continent the size of Africa.
Joseph Conrad once referred to a European gunboat shelling the jungle for some European gunboat reason. Back in that day, no radio contact with observers, aerial observers, just firing into the vastness of Africa. It was a metaphor for The vastness of the place and the uselessness of pinpricks.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
10/20/2013 6:54 Comments ||
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[Dawn] PTI Chairman Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree... on Saturday urged the federal government to play the leading role by initiating talks with Taliban for rooting out terrorism, which had damaged peace in the country in general and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... in particular.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] A recently released UN report suggests there is "strong evidence" that top Pak military and intelligence officials approved US drone strikes on Pak soil during 2004 and 2008.
The study says in some cases, even "senior government figures" gave their approval to the strikes in the country's militancy-hit tribal areas.
"There is strong evidence to suggest that between June 2004 and June 2008 remotely piloted aircraft strikes in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas were conducted with the active consent and approval of senior members of the Pak military and intelligence service, and with at least the acquiescence and, in some instances, the active approval of senior government figures," says the report by Ben Emmerson, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... and counter-terrorism.
The report, however, does not elaborate on the details of the evidence collected.
Islamabad officially condemns US drone attacks as a violation of its illusory sovereignty and counter-productive in the fight against terrorism and militancy.
In April this year, former military dictator Gen (Retd) Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... admitted in an interview to CNN that his government had given approval "only on very few occasions".
Musharraf, who ruled over Pakistain until 2008 after coming to power in a bloodless coup as army chief of staff in 1999, said drone strikes were discussed and approved "at the military and intelligence levels" but only "two or three times".
Drone strikes against Pakistan's sovereignty: Nawaz
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... has said that drone attacks violate the illusory sovereignty of Pakistain and that the issue will be raised during his visit to the United States, DawnNews reported.
The prime minister spoke to the media after reaching the UK capital while en route to the United States. He said that drone attacks will be discussed when he meets with US President Barack Obama I am the change that you seek... Sharif said that Pakistain has raised the issue of drone attacks at the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... as well.
The prime minister also said that all political parties are on one platform with regards to having talks with the Pak Taliban.
The US State Department said that 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... will meet with Nawaz Sharif before the former leaves on a foreign trip.
The prime minister will meet President Barack Obama at the White House on Wednesday.
US-Pak relations have weathered numerous crises in recent years.
There was a months-long legal battle over a CIA contractor who killed two Paks, in addition to the fallout from bin Laden's killing in the Pak military town of Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... in May 2011.
The Pak government was outraged that it received no advance warning of the Navy SEAL raid on bin Laden's compound.
Adding to the mistrust, the US mistakenly killed two dozen Pak soldiers in November 2011. Islamabad responded by shutting land supply routes for troops in Afghanistan until it received a US apology seven months later.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
The Pak government was outraged that it received no advance warning of the Navy SEAL raid on bin Laden's compound.....
.....but continue to cash the Obama administration foreign aide dividend checks and dutifully blame slumbering security forces, faulty Russian radar and doctor.
[An Nahar] Arab nations on Saturday appealed to Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... to reverse a decision to reject a seat on the U.N. Security Council.
Arab U.N. ambassadors made the appeal after an emergency meeting on Saudi Arabia's surprise announcement Friday that it would not take up a Security Council seat to protest the body's handling of the Syria war and other conflicts.
Saudi Arabia's leaders should "maintain their membership in the Security Council and continue their brave role in defending our issues specifically at the rostrum of the Security Council," said a statement released by Arab states at the U.N.
The statement expressed "respect and understanding" for the Saudi position.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Which (IMO) it will do eventually, albeit very reluctantly.
[Ynet] Marking 2 years to Shalit deal, Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, PM Haniyeh calls for 'renewal of intifada in West Bank' praising recent terror attack, boasting Hamas has broken all of Israel's redlines, claiming 'thousands are training above, below ground to fight for Paleostine'
Gazoo Strip's Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank... gave a speech marking two years to the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal, which he dubbed a "victory" for the terror organization.
As expected, in the speech, billed as "strategic," Haniyeh opened with a few words about the "historic victory" Hamas registered with the Shalit deal and then moved on to on recent developments in Sinai, Egypt as well as praising recent terror attacks and claiming that Hamas as succeeded in erasing all of Israel's redlines.
Attempting to accent his claims regarding the Shalit deal, Haniyeh quoted Israeli leaders who mentioned the heavy price Israel had to pay -- namely the release of over 1,000 Paleostinian prisoners -- for Shalit's release. Haniyeh further promised that Hamas will continue to "use any mean possible" to release all the remaining prisoners in Israel's custody.
"We call for the renewal of the popular intifada in the West Bank, to restart resistance within it," Haniyeh said, praising the recent string of terror attacks. "We send blessings to the heroes who undertook the recent attacks in the West Bank, and call on (Paleostinians involved in the) resistance to stand up and take action at every possible moment to stop the threat facing the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem."
During his speech, Haniyeh stressed that Hamas is still strong and built on unity among its ranks and the Paleostinian people. According to him, armed resistance is still the movement's strategy, and thus he slammed peace talks currently underway. According to him the talks are held only in a bid to better Israel's international standing and while negotiation, Israel continues to expand its settlement project -- in contradiction of peace talks.
Haniyeh claimed that the armed resistance is still strong and undeterred in Gazoo, in spite of the Israeli and Egyptian enforced blockage on the Strip. "Resistance fighters are silently preparing for the next battles in Paleostine. Thousands of them are above the ground and thousands underneath, preparing to release our lands," referencing the IDF 's unearthing of a tunnel into Israel.
In the second part of his speech, Haniyeh commented on Hamas's status within a wider regional context, specifically in regards to the group's deteriorating relations with Egypt and the ambivalent relation the terror group has with embattled Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... , and by proxy with Hezbollah and its patron Iran.
He expressed empathy with Arab people's desire for freedom, but much like Khaled Mashal, said he opposes the bloodshed which it seems to entail. He reiterated claims that Hamas remains neutral in regards to internal events in Arab countries such as Syria, Egypt and Leb.
Haniyeh attempted to dispel rumors of a riff within the organization's leadership in wake of the Arab Spring, saying such claims were false. "Hamas has never been more united as it is today."
Most of his speech focused on tensions with Egypt. Despite denying that Hamas is active in the Sinai Peninsula or anywhere else in Egypt, and demanding that the Egyptian authorities stop inciting against Hamas and Gazoo, Haniyeh praised the regime in Cairo. According to him, claims that Hamas is in contact with the Moslem Brüderbund, like claims of Hamas's involvement in Sinai, are false.
The Hamas prime minister noted that his organization will turn its arms only against Israel and that "Egypt will remain the Paleostinians' strategic" partner.
He concluded his speech by praising Gazoo residents for their endurance during hard times.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2013 13:52 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Ahh yes, the voice of reason from Hamas.
Just in a nick of time to derail any meaningful negotiations on the West Bank or Palestinian statehood.
Do you get the feeling Hamas and Hezbollah really don't want to settle the issue, they need an excuse for their behavior.
Of course terrorism is a nice gig, nice cars, admiring compliant women, nice houses, nice expense accounts and thousands of gullible useful idiots to carryout the dirty work and donate to the cause.
These guys don't want peace. If Israel never existed they would find some other excuse.
The Israeli issue could have been settled years ago but the lousy greedy leadership in the middle east use Israel as a scapegoat for the societal problems and divert attention from their own incompetence and lavish lifestyles.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
10/20/2013 14:38 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] The Gazoo Strip's Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, prime minister Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank... denied on Saturday reports that the Islamic myrmidon group was involved in fighting in the neighboring Egyptian Sinai or in Syria.
"We did not interfere in the affairs of any country and are not involved in the events or differences or internal conflicts of any country," Haniyeh said.
"This (is) our position regarding what has happened and is happening in Syria, Egypt, Leb and all Arab and Islamic countries," he said.
"We are not involved in any incident," he added. "Neither in the Sinai or elsewhere. We only act in the Paleostinian arena and our guns are turned only toward the Zionist enemy."
He called on the media to stop their "baseless" accusations against Hamas, which he said "is proud to have taken from its first day a principled and moral position for the people and their suffering and their right to freedom , democracy and dignity."
Haniyeh made the remarks during a speech marking two years since captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was exchanged for 1,027 Paleostinian prisoners, feted in Gazoo as a victory for the "resistance."
Relations between Cairo and Hamas have deteriorated since July 3, when the Egyptian army ousted 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... , a member of the Moslem Brüderbund in which Hamas has its roots.
Since then, the Egyptian army has destroyed hundreds of smuggling tunnels under the border with the Gazoo Strip, which supplied the Paleostinian territory with food and construction materials.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
"We did not interfere in the affairs of any country and are not involved in the events or differences or internal conflicts of any country," Haniyeh said.
"....except da Jooooos"
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/20/2013 8:52 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Heard the Germans in WW II had "assault grenades", whose body was made of cement. Intense effect up close but very small radius of injury, so you could pitch them far enough that you were beyond the unfortnate-result range and keep going, rather than duck until it went off. Useful throwing into rooms whose walls might be some sheetrock or something. Not going to come back and bite you.
OTOH, maybe they ran out of steel.
Virtue from necessity.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
10/20/2013 6:59 Comments ||
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#3
I also saw a description of a uniform shell with custom packing for explosive content. Something of a roll-yer-own mission specific munition. Hard to mix 'more lethal/less range' with 'less lethal/more coverage' in a handheld.
[Ynet] Two Turkish pilots kidnapped in Leb were freed Saturday as part of a deal that saw nine kidnapped Lebanese pilgrims in Syria released from captivity, officials said.
Turkish Airlines pilots Murat Akpinar and Murat Agca had been held by bully boyz since their kidnapping in August in Beirut. Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency issued a bulletin Saturday announcing the pilots' release, without offering any other details. The Turks' release is part of a negotiated hostage deal that included the freeing of the kidnapped pilgrims, as well as dozens of women held in Syrian government jails.
A plane with nine Lebanese hostages freed from northern Syria landed safely in Beirut on Saturday night, witnesses said, nearly a year and a half after the men were captured by Syrian rebels near the Turkish border. Live video from Lebanese television showed a Qatari jet landing at Beirut International Airport and Lebanese officials lining up to greet the men.
Qatari officials negotiated the release of the men in a deal that simultaneously secured the freedom of two Turkish pilots taken in a retaliatory kidnapping in August 2013.
[An Nahar] An official in the fundamentalist al-Nusra Front has threatened to target Hizbullah strongholds in Leb in response to the party's involvement in the fighting in Syria alongside the country's regime, reported the Kuwaiti al-Seyassah daily on Saturday.
He vowed that the front will respond to the killing of Syrians by targeting Hizbullah strongholds of Dahieh in Beirut, the Bekaa city of Baalbek, and southern Leb, a military leader of the Syrian opposition quoted him as saying.
Meanwhile, ...back at the dirigible, Cynthia backed into the galley, the barbecue fork held in front of her. Jack! she called. Where the hell are you?... Lebanese security authorities told the daily that the security forces and army's deployment the southern Beiurt suburbs of Dahieh will not prevent boom-mobileings from targeting the area.
They said: "The deployment in over 16 Hizbullah security zones will not prevent such attacks because those seeking to harm the party are already in the area."
In July, al-Nusra Front leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani hit out at Hizbullah for its intervention in the Syrian conflict, warning "Shiites in Leb against allowing Hizbullah to drag them into a proxy war in Syria on behalf of its Iranian backers."
"I say that abandoning Hizbullah and disowning it will save you from woes and disasters that you would do without," he added.
In September, a joint force of 800 men composed of soldiers from the army and security searvices began their deployment in Dahieh, where they will take over security at checkpoints set up by Hizbullah in the wake of two bombings that hit its stronghold.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The U.N.'s humanitarian chief called Saturday for a cessation of hostilities in a Damascus suburb besieged for months by Syrian army, so that food and vital medical aid can be delivered.
Although some 3,000 people were evacuated last week, "the same number or more remain trapped," the U.N.'s Valerie Amos said in a statement, noting that continued shelling and fighting hinder aid workers from reaching the needy in the town of Moadamiyet al-Sham.
"I call on all parties to agree an immediate pause in hostilities in Moadamiyet to allow humanitarian agencies unhindered access to evacuate the remaining civilians and deliver life-saving treatment and supplies," Amos said.
She emphasized that Moadamiyet al-Sham is not the only town under siege.
"Thousands of families also remain trapped in other locations across Syria, for example in Nubil, Zahra, old Aleppo town, old Homs town and Hassakeh," she said.
"How many more children, women and men will needlessly lose their lives? The humanitarian community has stressed time and time again that people must not be denied life-saving help and that the fighting has to stop," Amos said.
Moadamiyet al-Sham, a suburb southwest of the capital, is largely controlled by rebels seeking the overthrow of the government, although pockets remain under regime control.
The army has laid siege to the area for months, and bombed it near-daily, with the opposition accusing it of creating a situation in which residents are starving to death.
At the end of August, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an NGO, reported two children aged three and seven had died from a disease related to malnutrition.
The group said the siege, which began in April, had prevented doctors from bringing in food or medicine to save the children.
It was also one of the neighborhoods on the outskirts of Damascus hit in an August 21 sarin gas attack the opposition blamed on the regime and that reportedly killed hundreds.
But the government accuses the opposition of holding residents of the district hostage.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2013 00:00 ||
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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.
[TOLONEWS] Residents of northern Sar-e-Pol Province have raised the volume on complaints of rampant corruption within their provincial government. Provincial officials acknowledged the existence of corruption, but said they needed the help of residents to effectively combat it.
[TOLONEWS] The National Assembly's Commission for Reviewing Government Actions released a report on land-grabbing after eight months of fact-finding. Although the names of small-to-medium scale land-grabbers were released, the Commission said that a lack of cooperation on the part of government ministries made it impossible to ascertain the identities of the country's biggest offenders.
[An Nahar] The Netherlands is considering sending some 400 soldiers including elite commandos, as well as Apache attack helicopters to war-torn Mali following an appeal for more U.N. peacekeepers, a newspaper report said Saturday.
Pervez 
Nawaz Sharif
[Ynet] Marking 2 years to Shalit deal, 
During his speech, Haniyeh stressed that Hamas is still strong and built on unity among its ranks and the Paleostinian people. According to him, armed resistance is still the movement's strategy, and thus he slammed peace talks currently underway. According to him the talks are held only in a bid to better Israel's international standing and while negotiation, Israel continues to expand its settlement project -- in contradiction of peace talks.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Ynet] Two Turkish pilots kidnapped in 
[An Nahar] An official in the fundamentalist al-Nusra Front has threatened to target Hizbullah strongholds in 
