[Al Ahram] US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... began a difficult mission to mediate an end to the political crisis in Afghanistan Friday, warning that a bitter dispute over presidential polls threatened the country's future.
"Obviously we are at a very critical moment for Afghanistan," Kerry said as he met the head of the UN assistance mission in the country, Jan Kubis.
"The election legitimacy hangs in the balance. The future potential of the transition hangs in the balance, so we have a lot of work to do."
The top US diplomat also met outgoing President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... , and then former World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani, who is well ahead in the preliminary results of last month's second round run-off.
In a swift boost for Kerry's diplomacy, Ghani threw his backing behind US calls for a wide audit of the elections, amid accusations by his rival Abdullah Abdullah ... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... of massive fraud.
"Our commitment is to ensure that the election process enjoys the integrity and the legitimacy of the people of Afghanistan and the world," Ghani told news hounds as he was welcomed to the heavily fortified US embassy in Kabul.
"Therefore we believe in the most intensive and extensive audit possible to restore faith."
Ghani said he and his supporters were committed to "an inclusive government. A government that could represent all of Afghans, and serve every Afghan citizen in the manner that every Afghan deserves according to the constitution".
Kerry, who will meet Abdullah later on Friday, stressed "no-one is declaring victory at this time. The results are yet to be finalised".
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Meanwhile, tens of thousands walk across our southern border from Latin America [or wherever they come from] and the State Department wanks off leisurely. Please tell me this Mexican border crisis isn't completely regime manufactured.
[Tolo News] Residents of Bamiyan ...a place in Afghanistan that used to have some historically interesting statues of the Buddha carved into a mountainside. Then the holy men showed up and now all they have is some big holes... province have raised concerns over insecurity and the election impasse, asserting that the two issues have decreased the number of foreign and domestic tourists to the province.
Bamiyan residents--many of whom acquire most of their income from tourism-- have stated that travel to the province has decreased dramatically in the past month.
Moreover, according to the tour guides and employees of the Provincial Culture Department, most tour guides end their days without giving tours.
"Only few tourists—about 10 foreigners and few domestics—visit Bamiyan in a month," Mairaj, a tourist guide said. "It used to be much more in the past."
Residents are concerned about the economy of the province, as it is highly dependent on tourism.
"Obviously tourism affects us," Bamiyan resident, Naimatullah, said. "Our businesses are dependent on tourists."
Some residents accuse the government of neglecting the issue.
"The Bamiyan sculptures are unique in the world but the government does not care about promoting them," resident Abbas said.
The main tourist attractions in the province are the ruins of the Buddha statues and the ancient towns of Gholghola and Zakhak.
Before the Taliban destroyed the Buddhas, the government and the residents had great income through foreign and domestic tourism. Bamiyan residents emphasize that the government should invest more in the province to rescue its economy.
Additionally, residents asserted that insecurity is a main reason for the lack of tourism in the province.
"Foreign tourists do not like to travel by land and only a few decide to travel by air," Bamiyan resident, Sayed Mohammad Hussaini, said. "The reasons are insecurity and the uncertainty of election results."
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07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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[Tolo News] The protracted dispute over this year's presidential election has caused grave concern among Afghans and the international community alike. With no end in sight, Afghan civil society activists and residents of Kabul on Friday blamed the election commissions for their failure to avoid, or resolve, the election crisis.
Presidential Abdullah Abdullah ... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... has remained isolated from the election process that the commissions have pushed forward with despite a cloud of fraud allegations hanging overhead. Without his observers present for vote counting and fraud investigations, many have expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... s about the legitimacy of the process. For others, the greatest concern are the seething tensions between supporters of Abdullah and supporters of the rival camp of Ashraf Ghani-Ahmadzai.
For the entire Afghan economy, however, the election dispute has taken its toll. Already there have been reports of slowed investment and business activity in light of the uncertainty surrounding this year's process.
Gregory Minjack, a Senior Advisor to Democracy International, spoke on Friday about the election commissions, and what needed to be done to ensure better elections in the future. He refrained from disparaging the commissions, but made it clear that he thinks change is needed if they are to be expected to execute their duties properly.
"They need to be reformed [...] I believe as an observer that they have come a long way, but there is still a lot to be done, especially on process, on increasing capacity, meaning, the IEC and ECC can do the job but the job is bigger than the IEC and ECC infrastructure; they need more people and they need longer tenure to train up to deal with the tasks that are asked of them," Minjack said on Friday.
Other civil society groups were less forgiving, and suggested the selection process for officials at the Independent Election Commission (IEC) was fundamentally flawed, leading to under-qualified and politically affiliated people be chosen.
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07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Salafists ...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them... protested on Friday against government plans to reopen synagogues which were closed for security reasons during Algeria's civil war of the 1990s.
After weekly Friday prayers at Al-Mouminine mosque in the poor Belcourt district of Algiers, dozens of worshipers tried to march in the streets but were blocked by police, an Agence La Belle France Presse journalist reported.
"No to the Judaisation of Algeria!" and "Mohammedan Algeria!" were among slogans chanted by the demonstrators, who also condemned Israel's military offensive in Gazoo.
They were responding to a call by Salafist leader Abdelfatah Hamadash to oppose the mooted reopening of synagogues, which he said would pave the way for "a normalization of relations between Algeria and Israel."
The North African country's Jewish population, which numbered around 130,000 when a war of independence from La Belle France broke out in 1954, is tiny, although no official figures are available.
The vast majority left during the war, and those who remained were targeted by hardline Islamists during the bloody decade of civil strife, when two of their leaders were assassinated and synagogues closed.
Religious Affairs Minister Mohammed Aissa said last week that the Jewish community had "the right to exist," indicating its synagogues would eventually be reopened.
"There is a Jewish community in our country that is well accepted by Algerian society. It has the right to exist," he said, describing the community's leader as a "patriot".
He said, however, the reopening of synagogues was not likely soon, adding that "a place of worship must be made safe before it can be opened to the faithful."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Salafists and Wahabbis: Your Saudi Oil Money at work.
#2
Thomas Jefferson, I think it was, who took the first American swipe at the Wahhabis, at Tripoli. At least probably the Wahhabi-inspired. Pirates really, but with the classical Moslem edge. Wahhab was a contemporary of USA Founding Fathers and was reacting, after the Ottoman defeat at Vienna, to the existential question of how Islam could suffer a defeat of any kind. His answer: not puritanical enough, so, get puritanical on steroids. He had in view keeping out the European and probably also the American Enlightenments. In that he failed because soon enough Napoleon and then Nelson were stomping about in their boots on presumed inviolate Moslem soil. Then came Jefferson. Doughty. Allenby, Lawrence, Bell, Crane, Bush, Bush. Wahhab lost the argument. But as with descendants of puritanism in the USA and England, his never cease being [epithet, epithet, epithet].
#3
Unlikely it would be anything that could be shot back. Remember Gaza was part of Egypt, not Palestine before the '67 war. Egypt only supported a separate Paleo state when they figured out they weren't going to be able to get the land and serfs back.
#7
I wasn't aware Egypt had any medical or food supplies to spare currently. Did they recover from the Brotherhood's rule that quickly?
Posted by: Charles ||
07/12/2014 19:16 Comments ||
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#8
Did they recover from the Brotherhood's rule that quickly?
Egypt has been getting regular cash infusions since al Sisi kicked out the Brotherhood, Charles. Gifts, loans, purchases of whatever... Saudi Arabia has taken the lead, as I recall.
[MAGHAREBIA] A recent Moroccan dahir on holy mens' duties bans them from being members of political parties or trade unions.
Imams were previously barred from expressing political opinions but were allowed to be members of parties.
Habous and Islamic Affairs Minister Ahmed Toufiq underlined on July 9th that the May 20th decree formed part of the integrated and inclusive strategy aimed at restructuring the religious sector, which was launched in 2004.
Clergymen still have the right to vote and even run for office in elections as long as they resign from their post six months before the date of the election, the minister explained.
He went on to state that holy mans were already aware that engaging in politics during the course of their duties was forbidden but a minority of imams exploit mosques for political ends when they are supposed to be focusing on their duty to give religious guidance.
"I am not worried about religion being corrupted by politics; I'm worried about politics being corrupted," the minister said.
Jamal Farhani, a political analyst, told Magharebia that the decree was being passed a few months in advance of the municipal elections in order to prevent mosques from being used for political purposes.
He said experience has shown that in the run-up to polls, a small minority of imams do not hesitate to use their spiritual influence to convey political messages.
"Some have been dismissed because of their stance. Mixing politics and religion has always been forbidden. But now there is a law to govern this area," the analyst said.
It is important for such a law to be passed because imams are obliged to be neutral, noted Mohammed Santili, a professor of Islamic science.
He highlighted the need to mark the boundaries of the political realm precisely so that what imams say is not misinterpreted. He also said that preachers must be made aware so that they can play their true role of giving guidance to the population, especially young people.
"An imam's role is not just to safeguard the spiritual safety of citizens, but also to raise awareness and combat extremism and fundamentalism," he commented, calling for public confidence in imams to be boosted.
As for the public, some people welcome the provisions of the new law, while others say that the freedom to join political parties and trade unions should be guaranteed for the entire population, including men of the cloth.
Farida Madini, a bank clerk, said it was vital to keep politics and religion separate so that religion will not be improperly exploited. "Mixing the two creates confusion in people's minds," she said.
Mehdi Tanjiri, a student, said it was understandable that imams were required to be neutral in what they say but banning them from joining political parties or trade unions was going too far.
"What we need to do is train them so that they can attract young people by talking about issues that interest the youth," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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[MAGHAREBIA] Morocco is tightening security measures in response to a "serious terrorist threat" from the Islamic State group, AFP reported on Friday (July 11th).
Interior Minister Mohammed Hassad on Thursday said there was an elevated risk of "a terrorist attack against the kingdom because of the growing number of Moroccans belonging to Death Eater organizations in Syria and Iraq".
"A certain number of these fighters rise to leading positions within such organizations and do not hide their intention of carrying out terrorist attacks in Morocco," Hassad told a cabinet meeting in Rabat.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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[MAGHAREBIA] Tunisian Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa on Thursday (July 10th) threatened tough measures against salafist party Hizbut Tahrir ...an al-Qaeda recruiting organization banned in most countries. It calls for the reestablishment of the Caliphate... , which he accused of undermining the republic.
He gave the salafist ...also known as Wahhabis, salafists are against innovation in religion or in anything else. They eat the same things every meal of every day and all their children are named Abdullah. Not all salafists are takfiris, but all takfiris are salafists. They are fond of praying five times a day and killing infidels... party a 30-day deadline to fix violations.
Jomaa said Hizb ut-Tahrir, which obtained a license about two years ago, had called for disobeying the constitution, rejecting democracy and other violations of laws governing political parties.
The salafist party's Ridha Belhadj said Jomaa's warning was illegal.
"It's not one of the government's powers to speak about Hizb ut-Tahrir," he stated.
But according to constitutional law professor Hajar Bechikh, "Mehdi's government has the right, and the power, to hold Hizb ut-Tahrir to account, but it has to provide the necessary justification, which I think it has."
Jomaa's message came one day after Tunisians citizens presented a petition demanding that the government withdraw recognition from any party or association that did not respect the values of the republic and the civil nature of the state, as per the constitution.
The petition was circulated in response to a video from Belhadj, released on the first day of Ramadan, which targeted writer and researcher Mokhtar Khalfaoui.
Khalfaoui told Magharebia that he decided to resort to court "to file a complaint against Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesperson Ridha Belhadj, who has publicly accused me of kufr".
"Belhadj has rushed to the traditional abyss of takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... sts, which is to describe their intellectual and political opponents as opponents to God himself and religion. And we all know that those who are against religion are apostates, and that the ruling for apostates is killing," he added.
The video has spurred reaction from other writers. Hedi Yahmad, hakaekonline editor called on the government to reconsider allowing parties such as Hizb ut-Tahrir o have licences to engage in activities.
"When the spokesperson of that radical party publishes a 20-minute video accusing one of the country's intellectuals, i.e. Mokhtar Khalfaoui, of kufr, we have to ask the following question: Doesn't this necessitate a firm stance in order to cleanse the country once and for all from all those takfirists?" Yahmad asked.
"It's clear that the gunnies who are slaying our soldiers in Jebel Chaambi have accomplices in cities. Hizb ut-Tahrir is one of them," he alleged.
Yahmad said that the demand to disband Hizb ut-Tahrir and all religious parties that don't believe in the republican system has now become an urgent request a few months before the election.
"This is because leaving these parasitic, religious parties doing whatever they want will lead to known and catastrophic consequences, which we'll find in ballot boxes and on the sidewalks that will be stained with blood because of takfirist parties' calls," he added.
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07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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Ordinary North Koreans are lucky to earn US$30 a month, but senior state officials easily make more than $100 a day from endemic corruption, a survey shows.
The Chosun Ilbo and Center for Cultural Unification Studies interviewed 100 North Koreans living in the Chinese border areas of Dandong and Yanji earlier this year. Ninety-eight of them said there is a huge gap between the rich and poor in North Korea. The North Koreans said the collapse of the state rationing system and growth of the black economy have enabled those in power and successful traders to amass fortunes, while ordinary people who have been unable to adjust to these changes often barely have enough to eat.
One woman from Pyongyang said "Ordinary people only make around $30 a month, while upper class people earn $100 a day. Ten percent of the public is rich, 10 percent are middle class and almost 80 percent are poor."
The majority said that the gap is most apparent when it comes to the bare necessities. "Poor people can barely afford to buy new shoes no matter how hard they work and don't have the money to buy pork, which costs W30,000 per kilogram," a woman from North Pyongan Province said.
But senior officials grow fat on bribes. One man from South Pyongan Province said, "Party officials only care about making money. If a person becomes a party official, his children can grow rich without having to work."
Food aid provided by the UN usually ends up in the hands of party and military officials. Forty-three of the North Koreans who took part in the survey said party officials wield the greatest power in the North, and 41 percent said party officials in charge of overseeing Pyongyang's overseas businesses are the most powerful. Sixteen pointed to military officers.
North Korea's Hwanghae Province on the impregnable border with South Korea is said to be at least half a century behind Sinuiju bordering China in the North. One person from Sinuiju said "People who live in Sinuiju are much more familiar with the outside world."
Another man from Hwanghae Province described the difference between the two regions as "like night and day." "After we supply crops to Pyongyang, we end up starving," he added.
The North Koreans said corruption is endemic in their country, and party officials have to be bribed in order to get anything done. Ninety admitted they have had to bribe a party official, and only 10 claimed they have not.
The preferred bribes are cash or cigarettes. One person from Sinuiju said, "We have to pay between W20,000 and W100,000 in bribes to get a single travel pass. There are 12 checkpoints from Sinuiju to another area 50 km away, and we have to pay up at each one."
A North Korean apparently needs to pay between US$300 and $1,000 in bribes for permission to go to China to make money. North Koreans also pay bribes to get their children stationed in better positions in the military.
Poor people are resorting to drinking a bowl of soy sauce so they fail the health test ahead of conscription, because it makes the liver appear bloated.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
corruption is endemic in their country, and party officials have to be bribed in order to get anything done.
Hmmm; starting to sound familiar as the US tests its Stalinist wings.
[DAWN] Three of the five American Mohammedans marked for surveillance are of Pakistain origin, community sources told Dawn.
Two of the three - Asim Ghafoor, Faisal Gill - are lawyers while the third, Agha Saeed, heads a Mohammedan think-tank. The US media reported on Wednesday that US intelligence agencies had spied on five Mohammedan activities inside the United States.
An online magazine, The Intercept, claimed receiving documents from Edward J. Snowden, identifying the five Mohammedans. Mr Snowden is a former employee of the US National Security Agency who later leaked thousands of security documents to the media in the United States and abroad.
Mr Gill is a former security lawyer for the US Department of Homeland Security who also ran for Virginia's state legislature as a Republican candidate. He served in the government during the George W. Bush administration.
Mr Ghafoor is a defence lawyer who has handled terrorism-related cases. His clients included the Haramain Islamic Foundation, a 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... -based charity organization with branches around the world. In September 2004, the US Department of Treasury accused it of having "direct links" with the late Osama bin Laden ... who has left the building... . The United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... has now put a global ban on this charity.
Agha Saeed heads the American Mohammedan Alliance, which supports Mohammedan political candidates in the United States. He has also been active on the Israeli-Paleostinian issue and also demanded a free trial for Aafia Siddiqi.
Nihad Awad, an Arab, is a co-founder of the Council on American-Islamic Relations ... the Moslem Brüderbund's American arm ... , a Mohammedan civil-rights organization.
Hooshang Amirahmadi is an Iranian-American professor of international relations at Rutgers University and founder and president of the American Iranian Council.
The Intercept reported that the documents it received from Mr Snowden list 7,485 email addresses, 202 of which were American. Those were monitored between 2002 and 2008.
The eavesdropping took place under a process authorized by the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The documents did not say what the suspicions or the evidence were against the men that prompted the apparent surveillance.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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[Jpost] Congress unlikely to lift sanctions on Iran if deal over its nuclear program fails to address ancillary concerns, politicians tell US president.
Compromise with Iran will not earn the support of Congress if the B.O. regime agrees to a deal that solely addresses international concerns with its nuclear program, a commanding majority of the House of Representatives wrote to the White House on Thursday.
Delegations from world powers and Iran have convened in Vienna this week in an attempt to forge a comprehensive nuclear agreement, working against a self-imposed deadline of July 20. The task is a tall order: such a deal has alluded the world's top diplomats for over a decade, since the slow-motion crisis began.
Earning the signatures of 344 members, including the Democratic whip and the speaker of the House, the letter asserts that "the concept of an exclusively defined 'nuclear-related' sanction on Iran does not exist in US law."
"Almost all sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program are also related to Tehran's advancing ballistic missile program, intensifying support for international terrorism, and other unconventional weapons programs," reads the letter, written jointly by House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and ranking member Eliot Engel (D-NY).
"Similarly," it continues, "many of these sanctions are aimed at preventing Iranian banks involved in proliferation, terrorism, money laundering and other activities from utilizing the US and global financial systems to advance these destructive policies."
US negotiators have suggested that Iran's ballistic missile program, and its endorsement and funding of terrorist activity around the world, are not a part of the negotiation under way in Austria, as Western diplomats focus on the technical challenges of curbing decades-old nuclear work and the feasibility of enforcing such a deal.
Congress has passed four bills codifying sanctions against the Islamic Theocratic Republic in the past five years, in addition to a series of executive actions taken by US President Barack Obama If you have a small business, you didn't build that... that have— coupled with sanctions passed through the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... Security Council— fueled an economic crisis in Iran and a significant drop in the country's crude oil sales.
Members of both houses of Congress fear the president will attempt to circumvent the legislature in the short-term, should negotiations in Vienna, currently under way, succeed in forging a comprehensive agreement to the nuclear impasse.
On several occasions, however, the White House has said that a deal that includes the repeal or relieving of sanctions will require a mix of executive and legislative action. B.O. regime officials decline, however, to provide a timeline for such steps.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Implementing the Islamabad High Court's orders, the capital police have approached the political agent of North Wazoo Agency (NWA) to get a case registered against former station chief, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), police officials told Dawn on Friday.
Haji Abdul Karim from Mirali lodged a complaint with Secretariat police in 2009 seeking registration of a case against former station chief of the CIA Jonathan Banks for killing his son Zaheenullah and a brother Asif Iqbal in a drone strike the same year Mr Banks was CIA station chief in Islamabad at that time.
However, a clean conscience makes a soft pillow... the police refused to entertain the complaint and in response he filed an application at district and sessions court Islamabad under section 22-A seeking direction for the police to register a case.
After getting orders from the high court the capital police approached their prosecution department to seek legal opinion whether a case can be registered in Islamabad.
The prosecution department replied that under such circumstances the case should be registered in NWA, the officer added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] PPP leader and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's former prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics could be awe-inspiring ... revealed here on Friday that during his government an understanding had been reached with the establishment that then president retired Gen Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... would be given an honourable exit if he resigned, instead of going through impeachment proceedings.
Talking to journalists during a visit to PPP's Sindh Media Cell, Mr Gilani said that talks held with the establishment had led to the understanding about Gen Musharraf's resignation and going abroad.
He claimed that it was a big achievement and said that a person who had become president after a referendum which was also endorsed by the judiciary had agreed to resign as a result of successful negotiations.
Former premier says then army chief Gen Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... wanted the decision about North Wazoo operation to be taken only by himself
According to Online, Mr Gilani said the PML-N was also part of the talks held with the establishment to get rid of Gen Musharraf. It had been decided to let the former president go if he stepped down, he said, adding that it wasn't possible to ask a powerful military ruler to resign without the assistance of the establishment.
Mr Gilani said PML-N's present conduct on the issue of Gen Musharraf was not correct because it should keep in mind the details agreed upon with the establishment. He said he did not support Gen Musharraf but was only informing the nation about the commitments made that time.
On a question relating to North Waziristan, he said his government did not take up the matter of launching an operation because then army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani wanted the decision to be taken only by himself.
Mr Gilani rejected perceptions about democracy facing threats or chances of changes in the government in near future and advised 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... and PTI chief Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... to resolve issues because politicians should always keep the doors of talks open. They should normalise their relations and work for strengthening democracy and parliament.
Answering a question, he said holding public meetings and taking out processions were constitutional rights of every party, but the PPP would not back any unconstitutional move to derail the democratic set-up. The politics of the 1990s has been rejected by the people and the PPP will not indulge in politics of confrontation.
He called for compliance with the Constitution and said the leadership in Punjab should broaden its vision, look beyond Lahore and adopt a countrywide approach.
The former premier said the government had not taken the people and politicianship of the country into confidence about talks with Taliban and the military operation in North Waziristan.
He said people did not tolerate anyone for a long period and, therefore, it would be better to reduce the tenure of a government from five years to four.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The Gilgit-Baltistan Inspector General of Police Mohammad Saleem Bhatti said on Friday that police had information that a group of holy warriors linked to the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain was present in Diamer district, and a search operation to arrest them had been intensified.
Talking to news hounds at his office here, he said that the group had kept contacts with the TTP in South and North Wazoo Agencies. He informed that two members of the group had taken shelter in North Waziristan Agency.
Mr Bhatti said that Gilgit-Baltistan Scouts, Pak Army and police were jointly conducting search operation in Diamer.
He added that the law enforcement agencies have tossed in the clink ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... important holy warriors involved in killing of nine foreign tourists at Nanga Parbat, last year, massacre of Shia passengers at Karakoram Highway and attack on Dodishal cop shoppe.
The police chief announced that 1,500 police vacancies would be created to address shortage of coppers in the region. He said special police training schools would also be established in the region.
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07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... operation — launched amidst great fanfare in September last year in the hopes of improving the law and order situation in the country's commercial capital — is currently in dire straits.
The federal government now seems to be putting the onus of the operation slacking off squarely on the provincial government's shoulders.
A bigwig of the federal government, who has been actively associated with the team responsible for the planning and execution of the operation, said: "I must accept, with a heavy heart that, having lost whatever momentum we had built up in the beginning, the Karachi operation is almost dead now."
The core team, consisting of officers from the Sindh police, Rangers and intelligence agencies who were meticulously selected to lead the operation, is now all but dismantled, he deplored.
"Within the first few months, we tracked down several hit mans, criminals and Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) operatives and nabbed most of them successfully," the official said. As a result, the number of murders declined significantly from November last year.
Picking out honest and apolitical officers from a heavily-politicised force was a mammoth task, he said, adding that it was unfortunate that political commitment from the top dried up as soon as the team started to deliver.
The political masters of many of these incarcerated Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! criminals began to feel the heat of the operation and raised a hue and cry. They accused law enforcers of being prejudiced in their arrests and even alleged that they were involved in extra-judicial killings.
"Following the removal of Additional Inspector General (AIG) Shahid Hayat in May, the Karachi operation lost its direction. Now the Sindh government has removed another IG, Iqbal Mehmood, who was appointed at the recommendation of that very government," the official said.
A source who was present at Thursday's meeting in Karachi — chaired by the prime minister himself — confirmed that the government of Sindh seemed to have lost interest in the operation.
"Behind-the-scene manoeuvres are influencing decision-making at the provincial level, as is obvious from the recent reshuffling of the Sindh police force. The other day, when the prime minister asked Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah about the latest IG's transfer, the chief minister had no answer," he said.
The delay in the purchase of armoured personnel carriers, bulletproof jackets, helmets and other protective gear that the Sindh police had asked the provincial government for, was another major factor that affected the outcome of the operation.
In one of the earlier meetings chaired by the prime minister, the Sindh CM had asked the federal government for Rs7 billion for the procurement of crime fighting equipment. In the same meeting, the CM also said the provincial government would contribute Rs5 billion for the purchases.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] MIRAMSHAH: It was one of the many non-descript buildings around, located at the dead-end of a small street inside Serai Darpakhel. "Go straight and there is the door on the left", we were told by a guard outside the street.
But even then it was hard to find the iron door, opposite a power transformer and a heavy generator to ensure uninterrupted power supply.
For the unsuspecting outsiders, there was nothing unusual about this place, except that it was known to all those who lived nearby. It was a facility to indoctrinate and train jacket wallahs.
Step inside and there is a courtyard with big columns, mats spread out, bedrolling piled up in one corner. Nothing unusual. Stairs lead to the upper portion painted in light cream and brown colours.
Plastered on one of the walls is a white banner inscribed with kalma and beneath it 'the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan'.
This was one of the five suicide kaboom facilities, locals now say, owned and operated by the Haqqani Network in Serai Darpakhel, frequented by would- be-bombers in their teens and twenties; Afghans and Mehsuds mostly but boys from Mohmand and Orakzai too would turn up.
Rarely were the religious indoctrinators, mentors or those running the centres seen outside the iron gate that shielded the dead-end house from passersby.
No -one living in Serai Darpakhel knew who they were, except that it was a centre for suicide bombers.
Even those brought or enrolled at the centre for 'esteshahadi' or martyrdom were not allowed to step outside till the completion of his mandatory two-month stay inside the centre.
The undertaking or affidavit all 'esteshahadi' friends were required to sign was elaborate.
It had a printed colour picture of the would-be bomber, his name, assumed name, his father's name, age, address, education, personal contact number, family contact number, family occupation, names of friends and acquaintances, father's past and present political affiliation, the number of members in the family and their monthly income and experience, if any, in bad boy activities.
And the seven rules the 'esteshahadi friend' were required to live by were pretty stringent too. The use of cell phones were neither allowed nor considered necessary, the undertaking said. For two months, neither would the enroller be allowed to go outside nor was he allowed to go out without permission, it read.
He was also required to make no attempt to befriend anyone else except his other 'fidayi brothers' teachers and mentors. He was supposed to hand-over his personal belongings to the centre in-charge and ask for things he might need from him.
Other than that, things inside the centre were kept tight with a strict regimen of praying, spiritual and religious indoctrination and cooking, locals say.
Even a man, who came looking for his son, was turned away by the centre's administrator, feigning ignorance about his whereabouts, a local resident recalls. It was only after a lot of contacts here and there, that the centre reluctantly let the boy go.
Not very far from Serai Darpakhel, drive to the main Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... bazaar. And there is the two-storey building of what once was the Government Girls Higher Secondary School. When snuffies first moved in and started bombing schools, this too was soon abandoned and later occupied and converted by snuffies of all hue and origin into a facility for training and distribution of dead bodies on their arrival from battlefield or of those killed in drone strikes.
The 450 to 500 girls were later shifted to continue their studies at a degree college inside the military cantonment in Miranshah. The bad boys, surprisingly, had no objection to that.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] The Kurdish political bloc will no longer take part in Iraq's national government in protest against Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's accusation that Kurds were harbouring Islamist snuffies in their capital, the foreign minister said on Friday.
"We have suspended our government business," said minister Hoshiyar Zebari, who is a Kurd.
The Kurds said on Thursday they were cancelling their participation in cabinet meetings. Zebari told Rooters that Kurdish ministers were now suspending their day-to-day involvement the foreign, trade, migration and health ministries and the deputy premiership.
Zebari said the Kurds will continue to attend the parliament, elected on April 30, which is seeking to form a new government in the face of a Sunni insurgency that has seized large sections of northern and western Iraq.
Maliki said on Wednesday the Kurds were allowing snuffies of the Islamic State (ISIL), an offshoot of al Qaeda, to base themselves in Arbil.
Zebari said Iraq risked falling apart if a new inclusive government is not formed soon as "the country is now divided literally into three states - "Kurdish; a black state (ISIL) and Baghdad."
He urged Iraq's political blocs to form a government quickly. "There is a need for all the leaders to work together and recreate the new Iraq, to build a federal Iraq based on the principles in the constitution."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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The UN atomic agency said on Thursday it believed nuclear material Iraq said had been seized by insurgents was "low grade" and did not pose a significant security risk.
Iraq told the United Nations in a July 8 letter that the nuclear materials had been taken from a university in the country's north. It appealed for help to "stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad".
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) "is aware of the notification from Iraq and is in contact to seek further details", IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor said.
"On the basis of the initial information we believe the material involved is low grade and would not present a significant safety, security or nuclear proliferation risk," she said. "Nevertheless, any loss of regulatory control over nuclear and other radioactive materials is a cause for concern."
No, really?
Iraq's UN Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the letter that nearly 40kg of uranium compounds were kept at Mosul University. "Terrorist groups have seized control of nuclear material at the sites that came out of the control of the state," he said.
"Hey Abdul, what's in this canister?"
"I dunno, Mahmoud, open it up and see!"
However, a US government source said the materials were not believed to be enriched uranium and therefore would be difficult to use to manufacture into a nuclear weapon. Olli Heinonen, a former IAEA chief inspector, said that if the material came from a university it could be laboratory chemicals or radiation shielding, consisting of natural or depleted uranium.
"You cannot make a nuclear explosive from this amount, but all uranium compounds are poisonous," Heinonen said. "This material is also not 'good' enough for a dirty bomb."
But likely good enough to scare the pants off an entire population...
Citing UN investigations dating back ten years or more, Heinonen said there should be no enriched uranium in Mosul. The Vienna-based IAEA helped dismantle Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme in the 1990s — during Heinonen's three decades there.
Any loss or theft of highly enriched uranium, plutonium or other types of radioactive material is potentially serious as militants could try to use them to make a crude nuclear device or a "dirty bomb", experts say.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
The Vienna-based IAEA helped dismantle Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme in the 1990s — during Heinonen's three decades there.
Clandestini nuclear programme? Was the evil Hiterbush right after all? Was conflict justified? Was Saddam actually attempting to acquire the bomb? I am so confused.
#2
The IAEA forgets our geniuses in the EPA and OSHA have a zero tolerance standard for radiation contamination. Any twitch of the Geiger counter requires a clean up, even the most low-grade nuke material would, under those rules, require a massive and expensive cleanup...
Coming soon to a neighborhood near you.
Of course, the clandestine program didn't fit the narrative on the left so they are hoping the gradual trickling out of information that proves Iraq had WMD will pass right by and people will not notice...much like the "insecticide" that permanently disabled the squad of Marines.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
07/12/2014 13:28 Comments ||
Top||
#3
For a moment I was concerned but now that the IAEA has said the risk is insignificant I can relax.
Kurdish forces seized two oilfields in northern Iraq and took over operations from a state-run oil company on Friday, while Kurdish politicians formally suspended their participation in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government, Reuters reported. The Kurdish forces took over production facilities at the Bai Hassan and Kirkuk oilfields near the city of Kirkuk, the oil ministry in Baghdad said. It called on the Kurds to withdraw immediately to avoid "dire consequences".
The two oilfields have a combined production capacity of 450,000 barrels per day but have not been producing significant volumes since March when Baghdad's Kirkuk-Ceyhan export pipeline was sabotaged.
An oil ministry spokesman in Baghdad described the takeover as dangerous and irresponsible.
"We ask the people responsible for this disorderly behaviour to withdraw immediately from these sites in order to avoid dire consequences," the spokesman, Asim Jihad, said.
Kurdish authorities said they had moved to "secure the oilfields of Bai Hassan and the Makhmour area" of the giant Kirkuk oilfield after hearing that the oil ministry planned to disrupt a pipeline designed to pump oil from Makhmour.
Bai Hassan and the Makhmour part of the Kirkuk oilfield had been under the control of the state's North Oil Company (NOC).
"The Kurdish Regional Government learned on Thursday that some officials in the federal Ministry of Oil gave orders to a number of NOC staff to cease their cooperation with the KRG and to dismantle or render inoperable the valves on the new pipeline," the Kurdish authorities said in a statement.
"The nearby Bai Hassan field and the other fields located in Makhmour district are now safely under KRG management," it said.
The statement said NOC staff had been told they should cooperate with Kurdish authorities from Saturday or leave and that any production at the fields seized by the Kurds would be used primarily to supply the domestic market.
The Baghdad ministry's spokesman Jihad rejected Kurdish assertions that they had acted to protect oil infrastructure, saying the ministry had worked to raise output at the fields and increase investment in local gasoline production.
"The ministry rejects their irresponsible accusations as these workers are doing their best in order to supply the gasoline," he said. "Such a statement is ridiculous."
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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#4
If the Kurds pull back, then ISIS will walk in. This is why they went there in the first place. The Shia Iraq government's units in the north are so corrupt, the only thing they are masters of is the "drop and run" technique of abandoning positions and equipment, as taught to them by whichever relative they paid off to get rank and position in a unit there.
The Kurds, having needed to fight for survival, have not developed such ingrained weaknesses to the degree the Shia have. Clannishness, bribery and Arab culture are a recipe for a failed society any larger than a sultan's tent.
#6
"Clannishness, bribery and Arab culture are a recipe for a failed society any larger than a sultan's tent."
Coalition Forces had to pay Iraqis to keep their Baghdad streets and homes clean. In contrast, Filipinos of all incomes keep their areas clean as a matter of pride and probably also hygiene.
Good for the Kurds. Their cities were clean and open to Coalition Forces, who could walk there as if civilians, without weapons or fear. A welcome rest from Arabs.
Kurds and Indians long since should have been strategic US allies, as close as Japan and Philippines. Stupid Ivy League "leaders" could not/cannot see this.
#7
Running over an AK in the middle of the street can be hard on a set of Michelins.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
07/12/2014 13:30 Comments ||
Top||
#8
"Stupid Ivy League 'leaders' could not/cannotrefuse to see this."
Fixed.
Posted by: Barbara ||
07/12/2014 13:31 Comments ||
Top||
#9
"Fixed."
Perhaps the Kurds' and Indians' mistake -- in not being allies of the USA -- was not applying the "The Mouse That Roared Principle," to wit, attack the USA, be defeated by the USA and then swim in her largess and friendship.
Just kidding. Looking for levity.
The Prophet Isaiah, I think it was, who looked at the question of could not vice will not and came down on the side of could not: make the heart of this people fat, something to that effect.
Willful blindness, persisting, probably goes to involuntary blindness. Habit, preference, whatnot. It seems to me that when a blindness of whatever origin persists over goodly duration, it becomes institutional and bears the appearance if not the stamp of providence. viz. Isaiah. An interesting question, in any case, one that exercised that and many a subsequent worthy.
[An Nahar] Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi only they haven't dumped him yet... on Friday accused Israel of a policy "based on lies" over its aerial bombardment of Gazoo, in his latest vehement criticism of the Jewish state.
Speaking to supporters in Istanbul, Erdogan pointed out that 100 Paleostinians had now been killed in the Israeli campaign while no Israeli's had died due to Paleostinian attacks.
"They say (Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,) is firing rockets. But is there anybody who died?" he asked.
"The number of Paleostinians that you (Israel) killed is now 100. Their (Israel's) life is based on lies. They are not honest.
"We cannot take the side of the cruel."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] The United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... chief on Friday voiced serious doubts that Israeli's military operation against Gazoo complied with international law banning the targeting of civilians, and called on both sides to step back from the brink.
International law requires Israel to take all measures to ensure that its attacks are proportional, distinguish between military and civilian objects, and avoid civilian casualties, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said.
What does international law require terrorists to do in the launching of missiles against civilians?
"We have received deeply disturbing reports that many of the civilian casualties, including of children, occurred as a result of strikes on homes. Such reports raise serious doubt about whether the Israeli strikes have been in accordance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law," Pillay said in a statement.
Israeli air strikes on densely populated Gazoo killed four more Paleostinians before dawn on Friday, raising the corpse count from the four-day offensive to at least 85, while a Paleostinian rocket hit a fuel tanker at an Israeli petrol station causing a huge blaze.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
So, the UN now tells sovereign countries what is legal and illegal.?
Tell the UN to check out Russia in Ukraine. Maybe the UN will tell the US what is legal and illegal concerning our interests soon. Wouldn't we be fortunate?
Not a word? WHO at the UN is so kind to dictate what a nation's best interests are? The Israelis can handle this. Too bad we have American "leadership" who are a bunch of shifty-eyed wankers, and can't be depended on for much.
But we did elect them, and its so nice with all this Hope and Change thingy. And we are fortunate to have the Messiah at the wheel. The system's not broken and the United States is as great as it ever was. Yeah?
How many of the Gazoo are open minded and friendly to iIsrael? Who will miss them ? I mean, WHO will miss the Gazoo..if they all blew up and drifted in the wind? I will curse those who curse you. Nobody will miss them.
Posted by: Big Thromoth3646 ||
07/12/2014 6:10 Comments ||
Top||
#3
The United States reportedly resisted her appointment at first, because of her views on abortion and other issues, but eventually dropped its opposition. At a special meeting on 28 July 2008, the UN General Assembly confirmed the nomination by consensus.
[Al Ahram] Paleostinian Authority front man Ehab Bseiso told MENA agency on Friday that Paleostinians appreciate Egypt's support for them and their cause, and that Egypt is Paleostine's "strategic depth", a reference to the history of Egypt's support for the Paleostinian cause.
But the border crossing remains closed to commerce and the general population, while Hamas's tunnels are still interdicted, yes? Heckuva shallow depth ya got there, buddy.
Bseiso also reiterated the PA's demand that Egypt open the Rafah border crossing,
See?
and said that the demand was based on the right of movement of Paleostinians, and also on Egypt's national security needs.
Really, Egypt will be so much more secure when the missiles move freely from Gaza to the salafists in the Sinai.
The Gazoo Strip has been bombarded by Israeli Arclight airstrikes for the last four days, leaving at least 100 Paleostinians dead. The crossing with Egypt at Rafah has been frequently closed over the last year, and Egyptian security forces have demolished cross-border tunnels, citing security concerns in the Sinai Peninsula where Islamist holy warriors are active.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Never forget how fragile Egypt is.
Aswan_plus_sealevel_calc_mass_energy.pl
#!/usr/bin/perl
print "calculate energy in Aswan Dam\n";
#
#assumptions: force of gravity at sea level.
# 132 cubic km of water behind the dam viewed as
# a flat rectanglular solid 111 meters above the dam base
# altitude of dam base is 85 meters above sea level.
#
$g = 9.0665;
$total_mass = 132000000000.0;
$total_drop = 111.0;
$drop_increments = 11100.0;
$drop_count_max = 11100;
$dam_base_altitude = 85.0;
$drop_mass = $total_mass / $drop_increments;
$drop_height_increment = $total_drop / $drop_increments;
$height = 0.0;
$total_energy = 0.0;
for ($drop_count = 0; ($drop_count < $drop_count_max); $drop_count++) {
$height = $height + $drop_height_increment;
$slice_height = $height + $dam_base_altitude;
$drop_energy = $slice_height * $drop_mass * $g;
$total_energy = $total_energy + $drop_energy;
}
print "meters of dam height ",$height,
" Joules of potential energy at the sea: slice ", $drop_energy,
" total ", $total_energy, "\n";
Posted by: Barbara ||
07/12/2014 13:27 Comments ||
Top||
#3
3dc -- nice calculations, but you need a friction coefficient, and a calculation for base spread (where the water behind the dam spreads beyond the banks of the river downstream. As the width of the flow increases, the speed decreases). The damage is still huge, and millions will be buried five feet or more in mud. I'm sure Egypt could recover in a couple of hundred years...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/12/2014 19:18 Comments ||
Top||
Turkish President Abdullah Gul has urged Israel to end its military air operations in Gaza, Turkish TV channel TRT Haber reported on July 11.
What's it worth to you?
President Gul also called on Israel not to start military land operations in the region.
"There is no winner in the military actions in the Middle East," Gul stressed.
Following the discovery of corpses of three abducted Jewish teenagers on July 12 in the West Bank of the Jordan River, the Israeli government accused the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas. Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that new military operations would be launched in the Gaza Strip in revenge on Hamas for the killing of the teenagers.
On July 8, Israel announced the beginning of a military operation dubbed "Protective Edge" in the Gaza Strip. The operation has killed scores of Palestinians, and more than 500 people have been injured.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Even less people listen to Turkey than listen to Obama. They need a new gig.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday Israel has attacked more than 1,000 targets during a four-day-old offensive against Gaza militants and that "there are still more to go", Reuters reported.
In remarks to reporters, he said he saw no international pressure on Israel to halt its campaign. He also would not rule out the possibility of expanding the campaign of mostly aerial attacks into a ground war in Gaza, answering when asked whether such a move was possible that "we are weighing all possibilities and preparing for all possibilities."
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/12/2014 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] An indictment issued Friday demanded the death penalty for Arab Democratic Party top official Rifaat Eid ...secretary general of the Leb Arab Democratic Party, a Pencilneck regime front organization... and three others on charges of murder and terrorism.
Military Examining Magistrate Judge Riyad "Abu Ghida has issued an indictment demanding the death penalty for Rifaat Eid and three leaders of Jabal Mohsen's fighting frontiers on charges of murder and terrorism," LBCI television reported.
The charges also include "starting gunbattles between Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh."
On April 28, new arrest warrants were issued against Arab Democratic Party leader Ali Eid, his son Rifaat and others over their involvement in the 18th round of fighting in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... .
The warrants came as army troops and security forces started implementing an unprecedented security plan in the North and the Bekaa, which resulted in the arrest of dozens of runaways while many others are still on the lam, among them Ali and Rifaat Eid.
That was the third arrest warrant against Rifaat Eid, whose father Ali is accused of helping runaways behind the 2013 blasts against Tripoli mosques escape justice.
On April 5, State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr charged 12 Lebanese, including Rifaat Eid, with belonging to an armed terrorist group, possession of arms, inciting sedition and involvement in gunbattles between the rival Tripoli districts of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh.
According to Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi, Rifaat Eid fled to Orange County, Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,. Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq has noted the party's chief Ali Eid left Leb to Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2014 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.
[Al Ahram] US Secretary of State 
[Tolo News] Residents of 
[Tolo News] The protracted dispute over this year's presidential election has caused grave concern among Afghans and the international community alike. With no end in sight, Afghan civil society activists and residents of Kabul on Friday blamed the election commissions for their failure to avoid, or resolve, the election crisis.
Wazoo
Pervez .png)
Wazoo
[DAWN] MIRAMSHAH: It was one of the many non-descript buildings around, located at the dead-end of a small street inside Serai Darpakhel. "Go straight and there is the door on the left", we were told by a guard outside the street.
Kurdish forces seized two oilfields in northern Iraq and took over operations from a state-run oil company on Friday, while Kurdish politicians formally suspended their participation in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government, Reuters reported. The Kurdish forces took over production facilities at the Bai Hassan and Kirkuk oilfields near the city of Kirkuk, the oil ministry in Baghdad said. It called on the Kurds to withdraw immediately to avoid "dire consequences".
