[ToloNews] The fifth round of peace talks between the US negotiators and the Taliban ...Arabic for students... members entered twelfth day on Friday with Taliban saying in a statement that "extensive" talks are ongoing about the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan.
The statement says that the Afghanistan issue has two dimensions, internal and external and that the talks are ongoing on the external dimension.
The talks are mostly focusing on troop withdrawal as well as counter-terrorism efforts, the statement said.
The statement added that so far the internal dimension of the war has not been discussed with the US negotiators.
THE FOUR ‘KEY ISSUES’ OF QATAR TALKS
On March 6, an official of the US Department of State said the ongoing talks in Qatar are focusing on four key issues and that both sides are trying to reach a final agreement.
The four key issues are post-peace deal counterterrorism efforts, intra-Afghans talks, US forces withdrawal and ceasefire, said Robert Palladino, a spokesperson for the US Department of State.
The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that he might visit Qatar to give a helping hand in the Afghan peace talks.
"I am hoping he (Khalilzad) makes enough progress and I can travel there in a couple of weeks and help move it along a little bit myself," Pompeo said.
Sources say that the US and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... forces commander in Afghanistan Gen. Scott Miller who was in Qatar has left Doha.
According to the sources, recently, Mullah Abdul Manan Omari, brother of Mullah Mohammad Omar, the founder of Taliban has joined Qatar talks.
[PULSE.NG] The Taliban ...Arabic for students... denied on Friday that they were discussing a ceasefire and dialogue with the Kabul government during ongoing talks with the US in Doha, contrary to statements from Washington.
"This phase is about fleshing out the details of the two issues... the withdrawal of all occupying forces from Afghanistan and not allowing" the country to be used as a base for international militancy, Taliban front man Zabihullah Mujahid said.
He described them as "external" aspects of the 17-year conflict.
"Other issues that have an internal aspect and are not tied to the United States... have not been held under discussion."
On Tuesday, US State Department front man Robert Palladino had affirmed the opposite.
"What we're focusing on are the four interconnected issues that are going to compose any future agreement," Palladino said -- listing them as "terrorism", "troop withdrawal", "intra-Afghan dialogue" and "ceasefire".
He said progress was being made.
The latest round of talks, believed to be among the longest held between Washington and the krazed killers, began on February 25 in the Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... i capital.
Both sides have remained tight-lipped, however, and it is not clear how many days have involved direct negotiations.
The talks have already been paused at least once for two days, and the Taliban said Friday that they were again being suspended for a day, due to resume Saturday. It is not clear how much longer they will go on for.
Expectations remain high. The previous round, in January, saw the US and the Taliban walk away with a "draft framework" that focused on the issues Mujahid said were being discussed this time: a potential US troop withdrawal and a pact to prevent Afghanistan from harbouring terrorists.
The Taliban have repeatedly refused to meet with the Afghan government, whom they dismiss as "puppets".
US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who is leading the diplomatic push, had earlier hinted that headway was being made on the issue, however.
He also met with the Taliban's top political leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar at the start of the current round in Doha, in what has been touted as the highest-level engagement between the two sides in the months-long diplomatic thrust.
General Scott Miller, the top US and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... commander in Afghanistan, has also attended at least some of the talks.
President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... has repeatedly voiced his eagerness to end America's involvement in Afghanistan, where 14,000 US troops are still deployed.
On Thursday, General Joseph Votel, head of US Central Command, said the military has received no directions yet to withdraw from Afghanistan.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has suggested he could visit Doha to help advance the negotiations "in a couple (of) weeks".
Posted by: Fred ||
03/09/2019 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
[PULSE.NG] Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. Friday said that a deal to transfer the container terminal at Port Sudan to a Philippines company is under review after workers held a strike against the contract.
Hundreds of workers at Port Sudan, a vital economic hub of the east African country, went on strike for days last month to oppose Khartoum's decision to transfer control of the terminal to the foreign firm International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI).
"We have already ordered a review of the contract with the Philippines company to ensure that it is a fair contact for Sudanese people," Bashir told a gathering of people from east Sudan at his residence in Khartoum.
The presidency's media office also confirmed that Bashir had ordered a review of the contract.
In July 2018, ICTSI informed the Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission that it had won a bid to operate and manage the terminal under a 20-year concession.
The company said on its website that the tender process had been led by Sudan's state-run Sea Ports Corporation (SPC) and had attracted bids from several international operators.
SPC builds, maintains and governs Sudan's ports, harbours and lighthouses.
Port Sudan workers have opposed the contract and hundreds of them went on strike last month at a time when nationwide demonstrations have rocked Bashir's rule stretching back three decades.
Protesters have taken to the streets, accusing his administration of mismanaging the country's economy.
Sudan's economic woes have long caused popular frustration, but anger spilled on to the streets in December after the government tripled the price of bread.
Soaring inflation along with acute foreign currency shortages have severely impacted Sudan's economy, especially after South Sudan won independence in 2011, taking with it the bulk of oil earnings.
Officials say 31 people have died in protest related violence so far, while Human Rights Watch has put the corpse count at at least 51.
Bashir has imposed a slew of tough measures, including a year-long state of emergency across the country, to quell the protests after the initial crackdown failed to suppress the movement.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/09/2019 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
[IsraelTimes] Microsoft researchers say attackers stole secrets and wiped data from some 200 companies in last two years.
Iranian hackers working to penetrate systems, businesses and governments around the world have caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, a report said Wednesday.
Researchers for tech giant Microsoft said the attackers stole secrets and wiped data from computer networks after targeting thousands of people at some 200 companies over the past two years, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to an AFP query on the report.
The Journal said Microsoft traced the attacks to Holmium, a group linked to Iran, and that some of the hacking was done for Holmium by another Iranian group known as APT33.
John Lambert, the head of Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Center, told the newspaper the attacks were "massively destabilizing events."
The report said the hackers notably targeted oil-and-gas companies, heavy-machinery manufacturers and international conglomerates in 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... , Germany, Britannia, India and the United States.
In 2017, the security firm FireEye blamed APT33 for destructive malware that targeted organizations in the Middle East and elsewhere.
The news comes with Iran, according to security experts, seeking to step up its cyber capabilities amid increasing efforts by the United States to isolate the Islamic regime.
[NBCNews] The hackers are believed to have penetrated the software giant Citrix years ago and have remained inside the company's computer network ever since.
Iranian-backed hackers have stolen vast amounts of data from a major software company that handles sensitive computer projects for the White House communications agency, the U.S. military, the FBI and many American corporations, a cybersecurity firm told NBC News.
Citrix Systems Inc. came under attack twice, once in December and again Monday, according to Resecurity, which notified the firm and law enforcement authorities.
Continued on Page 49
[DW] Germany will not declare Leb's Hezbollah movement a terrorist organization, a top official said Friday.
Minister of State Niels Annen told newsmagazine Der Spiegel that the Iran-backed Shiite Islamist movement is a relevant factor in Lebanese society and part of the complex political landscape in the country.
The comments come after Britannia last month banned Hezbollah's political wing, accusing the movement of destabilizing the Middle East.
"The British move is a national decision that has no direct impact on the position of the German government or the EU," said Annen, a top Foreign Ministry official.
The European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... had already added Hezbollah's military wing to a list of banned murderous Moslems groups in 2013.
Hezbollah is represented in the Lebanese parliament and holds three of 30 ministries in the government led by Western-backed Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri.
The movement's armed wing has expanded its influence in recent years in Leb and Syria, where alongside Iran and Russia it backs the regime of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Scourge of Qusayr... . In Leb, it is considered to be more powerful than the Lebanese army.
Annen, who spoke to Der Spiegel after a visit to Leb, rejected US criticism that Germany was not doing enough to counter Iran's influence in the region. He said Berlin's foreign policy remained focused on finding political solutions to complex situations.
Germany and the EU have sought to save the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, setting up an alternative financing mechanism to allow trade with Tehran despite unilateral US sanctions.
Leb is host to nearly 1 million Syrian refugees, some of whom have started to return home as the war in the country winds down. The humanitarian crisis has made the safe return of Syrian refugees an important issue for Germany.
[PULSE.NG] Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday that his party could opt to abandon conservative allies in the European Parliament and seek to join up with Poland's right-wing faction in a spat over an anti-EU billboard campaign.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/09/2019 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Moslem Colonists
[PULSE.NG] Istanbul police fired tear gas at thousands of women who took to the city's central avenue on International Women's Day on Friday in defiance of a protest ban to demand greater rights and denounce violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/09/2019 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
Was Shrillary there? How about AOc, Omar and Tlaib? Where's the solidarity?
[DAWN] Murder charges against Syed Ahmed Shah, secretary to late senator Maulana Samiul Haq ...the Godfather of the Taliban, leader of his own faction of the JUI. Known as Mullah Sandwich for his habit of having two young boys at a time. Now beyond all cares and wore, courtesty of his jealous secretary... , were dropped by a judicial magistrate on Thursday after Haq’s sons told the court that they were not accusing him of their father’s murder.
Mr Shah was tossed in the calaboose You have the right to remain silent... for murder on Feb 28 by the Airport police and presented before the court of a judicial magistrate for physical remand.
He was remanded into police custody for four days, which was then extended for two more days on Friday because the police said they wanted to interrogate him further, as previous interrogations had not revealed anything they could use to charge him with murder or to help find the real killer.
The six-day remand ended on Thursday, when Mr Shah was produced before judicial magistrate Zaib Shahzad Cheema.
Haq’s sons Maulana Hamidul Haq and Hafiz Rashidul Haq also appeared in court, where they submitted an affidavit stating that Mr Shah was not an accused in their father’s murder.
Maulana Hamidul Haq confirmed to Dawn that he appeared in court along with his brother.
"We prayed to the court that Ahmed Shah was not our accused as a superpower was involved in the murder of our father, therefore, we do not want to charge any innocent person with murder," he said, adding that the magistrate dropped the charges after their affidavit was submitted in the court.
He added that the police have assured him the case has not been closed and investigations into Haq’s murder will continue.
Regional Police Officer Ahmed Ishaq Jhangeer told Dawn that Mr Shah’s arrest came about after he failed a polygraph test and after he made inconsistent statements.
Mr Shah had been staying with Haq when he was stabbed to death by unidentified individuals in Bahria Town Safari II on Nov 2, 2018.
Mr Shah had said in an earlier statement that he had left the house, locking the gate from outside, to fetch water from a filtration plant. During this time unidentified individuals entered the house, stabbed Haq and escaped.
He later changed his statement and said he did not lock the gate when he left.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/09/2019 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] An anti-terrorism court in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... 's Loralai district on Friday dismissed an application for bail filed by Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) politician Sardar Masood Ali Khan Luni, police sources said.
The verdict had been reserved earlier and was announced today by Judge Mohammad Ali Kakar of the ATC.
After the dismissal of the plea, Luni, who is an MPA from the ruling BAP, was incarcerated Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! from the court premises and shifted to the Loralai District Jail, according to sources.
A case was registered at the Dukki cop shoppe against Luni and his associates for the alleged abduction in early 2018 of tribal leader Sardar Mir Ghous Kibzai. The First Information Report (FIR) was registered under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997, on a complaint of Kibzai's family.
Luni, who is the parliamentary secretary on forests and wildlife, had a dispute with Kibzai over a coal mine in Dukki, Levies sources told DawnNewsTV.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/09/2019 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] Azad Jammu and Kashmire (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider on Friday said that India had forcibly Indian Kashmiree and its security personnel were the ones spreading terrorism in the valley.
"It is a war zone and the UN charter fully empowers the Kashmiris to take up arms against occupation," said Haider while speaking at a news conference at the Prime Minister’s House in Muzaffarabad.
"The bully boyz in Kashmire are the ones in uniform," he said of the Indian forces, and expressed his gratitude to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for "exposing" India in this regard through a comprehensive resolution.
He went on to highlight the value with which Kashmiri people see Pakistain.
"For the Kashmiris, Pakistain is the most important country for being our advocate, our supporter, and our sympathiser. We always remain worried about its safety, stability, and integrity and do not want anyone to even cast an evil eye on our beloved country," he said.
In response to a question, the AJK premier doubted Jaish-e-Muhammad's (JeM) claim about the Pulwama attack, saying no Pakistain-based outfit had any connection with the incident.
"Whenever any incident occurs, it is a matter of routine for people to try to take its credit [by claiming responsibility] ... Taking credit without rhyme or reason amounts to sabotaging the indigenous character of Kashmiris’ struggle," he maintained.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/09/2019 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
...And the Balouchis wanting independence from You are vile, illegal bandits that should all be killed. Gotcha.
[Jpost] Hundreds of police were deployed around the Old City on Friday as thousands gathered for Friday prayers at al-Aqsa mosque. The prayers came amid heightened tensions over Moslem prayers inside the Gate of Mercy and calls by Islamic leaders to protest on the Temple Mount.
On February 22, Moslem worshipers entered the Gate of Mercy area, a previously closed zone on the Temple Mount, and Israel tossed in the slammer Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! a senior Islamic Waqf authority official on February 24 in response. Jordan has complained about the incidents. King Abdullah of Jordan is heading to Washington Sunday for meetings and, judging by attempts not to inflame the tensions, neither he nor Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu want escalation in Jerusalem. Nevertheless Friday in the Old City felt tense.
On Friday, the worshipers gathered by the thousands around noon time. Israeli police deployed mounted units at Damascus Gate and riot police were on hand, including the elite Yasam special police, to confront any riots. After prayers ended the large crowds of male and female worshipers clogged the alleys of the Old City and the historic Via Dolorosa. Tourists and the Arab crowds pressed against each other, going in opposite directions. Israeli police looked on.
Hundreds of vegetable and fruit sellers set up makeshift tables and mats to sell their goods, as they do every Friday, adding to the masses of people and tensions. Dozens of beggars also came to Damascus gate to shout for spare change. Near Lions Gate, where there were festivities in July 2017 over a temporary decision by Israel to install metal detectors following a terror attack, thousands gathered. Several young men tried to incite the crowds. But for the most part the worshipers walked out of the gate without any incidents. Some young teens shouted at the Israeli police, and words were exchanged but it appeared the police had orders to reduce tensions, not escalate the situation.
Outside Lions Gate the worshipers walked back to A-Tur, with dozens of buses parked along the street, apparently brought in to bus the worshipers to and from the prayers. Near the Gate of Mercy, adjacent to a large Moslem cemetery, some teens gathered and smoked and talked. Women took photos. Tourists examined the graves. Police units deployed for violence sat and looked on, the men fiddling with their tactical vests and truncheons.
#1
Note: When the Somali representative referred to Benjamins, she was refering deeply to both America, Franklins image on currency and Israel, Netanyahu.
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] The fifth round of peace talks between the US negotiators and the 
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
[IsraelTimes] Microsoft researchers say attackers stole secrets and wiped data from some 200 companies in last two years.
[DW] Germany will not declare 
the 
[DAWN] Azad Jammu and 
