The man in the back of the pick-up truck driving along a Mogadishu street is wearing military fatigues with the pale blue starred Somali flag sewn on his sleeve. He may be a soldier in Somalia's national forces -- or he may not.
The al-Shabaab militants who controlled the Somali capital before they were routed two years ago have been known to don army uniforms to infiltrate the city, as have common criminals. This is just one of the myriad challenges when it comes to building a viable army in a country that has known little else but war for more than two decades.
For over a year now a regular parliament has been in session in Mogadishu for the first time since the collapse of Mohamed Siad Barre's regime in 1991 plunged the country into years of vicious clan fighting. Parliamentarians have appointed a president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who talks ambitiously of putting Somalia on a path towards political and economic stability, and hopes to hold national elections in 2016.
Continued on Page 49
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MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Æthiopias Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Tedros Adhanom Tuesday arrived in Mogadishu to attend the closing ceremony of Jubaland Reconciliation Conference which kicked off last Sunday, Garowe Online reports.
Adhanom, who played a key role in Addis Ababa agreement which was signed by Federal Government of Somalia and Jubaland administration met President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon.
The Ethiopian delegation and the Somali Federal Government officials discussed bolstering the bilateral ties and political and security cooperation between Somalia and Ethiopia-nations adamant about Al Shabaab terror threats.
Prime Minister Shirdon thanked Ethiopia for maintaining a military presence in southern Somalia in an effort to stabilize the war-ravaged horn of Africa nation where Al Shabaab boasts of deadly rampages targeting Somali government officials, foreign diplomats, important structures and innocent civilians. On his side, Minister Adhanom reiterated Addis Ababas commitment to standing with the Somali people and their government to get an atmosphere conducive for peaceful coexistence and cooperation.
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[Libya Herald] A military governor responsible for security in Benghazi is being appointed, according to the Minister of Defence Abdullah Al-Thini.
He was speaking this morning at a special session of the General National Congress on the security situation in the city. It had been demanded by the city's Congress members. The Deputy Prime Minister, Sadiq Abdulrahman, who is acting Interior Minister, had been summoned to explain what the government was doing. So too had the Justice Minister, Salah Marghani, as well as Al-Thini, Intelligence head Salem Al-Hassi and the Chief of Staff, Major-General Abdussalam Jadallah Al-Obeidi.
Contrary to media reports, the Prime Minister was not called, Congressman Ahmed Langhi told the Libya Herald.
In his address to Congress, Thini said that, following discussions between his ministry, Benghazi Congress members and the local council, the appointment of security supremo would be made as soon as possible. However, women are made to be loved, not understood... he refused to name him for security reasons. However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... members of Congress later named him as Colonel Awad Al-Saiti who replaced Colonel Younis Al-Abduli just over a week ago as head of the Benghazi Joint Security Room (BJSR).
A fortnight ago, the Prime Minister named Colonel Wanis Bukhamada, the man who currently heads the Saiqa Brigade (special forces) in Benghazi, as the city's new security supremo.
Speaking today, Thini blamed the spate of killings and the unstable security situation in Benghazi on the absence of a specific plan for the Benghazi Joint Security Room (BJSR). This would now change, he said. In addition to the new security supremo, there would be a new security force at the BJSR. He would not go into the security details, however, saying that this was responsibility of the BJSR.
According to Congressman Langhi, the results of the new plan would be seen within the next couple of days.
His fellow Benghazi congressman, Saleh Joudah, told this paper that as of today there would be around 1,500 military personnel stationed at strategic locations across the city. They would be members of the Libyan army, he said, but they would be under under the command of the BJSR.
The force, Joudah added, would begin by protecting the most important parts of the city, including all the entrances.
For his part, the Justice Minister told Congress that judges in Benghazi were threatened on an almost daily basis and that until now there had been no one to protect them.
As to who was responsible for the wave of killings, the Chief of Staff revealed that three groups were under investigation. However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... for security reasons he too would not name them.
Meanwhile, ...back at the saw mill, Scarface Al had tied Little Nell to the log and was about to turn on the buzz saw... in a statement today coinciding with the Congress debate, the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said it strongly condemned the wave of killings in Benghazi and called on the government to intensify its efforts focus on security in the city as a matter of priority.
A week ago, the BJSR front man said that 400 armed vehicles with members of the Libyan Revolutionaries Operations Room had arrived in the city. It was reported at the time that they had come from the west of the country to help ensure Benghazi's security. However, by candlelight every wench is handsome... there were other reports that these were pro-Islamist revolutionaries who had returned east to support their colleagues following the apparent backlash against a number of brigade leaders in the wake of the murder of the Benghazi head of military police Colonel Ahmed Mustafa Al-Barghathi.
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[Libya Herald] A tense and apparently nervous Saif Al-Islam has given a strange one-minute TV interview in Zintan, in which he answered just three questions, agreed in advance with his lawyer.
Broadcast this evening, the exclusive encounter with a news hound and crew from Al-Assema TV appears to have been recorded within the last few days. Wearing the same style blue prison jumpsuits as the 30 top Qadaffy-era officials now on trial in 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... , Saif was asked about his heath and whether he was being visited by human rights ...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you... organizations and members of his family. To both enquiries, he replied merely: "Yes. Thanks be to God."
The interviewer then asked why he wished to be tried in Zintan and not Tripoli. For the first time removing the hand that had been covering his mouth, Saif asked the interviewer if Zintan was not part of Libya? The interviewer said it was, to which Saif responded, with a flash of his old commanding ways, "Well there you are then". Sitting back, he then showed that, in his view, the interview was over.
It is understood that the TV station had convinced Saif's Libyan lawyer, Mohammed Abu Semah and the Zintani forces holding Saif, that he should make an on-screen appearance to confound rumours that he had escaped custody and left the country.
Saif's expressed satisfaction with a Libyan trial is new. In the past the defence lawyers appointed for him by the International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... , have said that their client wished to be tried in the Hague, because he does not believe that he can receive a fair trial in his home country. Libya is still contesting an outstanding ICC demand that Saif be handed over. The ICC has however now accepted that Qadaffy's former security chief Abdullah Senussi will now be tried fairly in Libya. Senussi's ICC legal team is currently appealing that ruling, even as his trial gets under way in Tripoli.
Saif was due to be appearing in the same Tripoli courtroom as well, but despite demands from the Ministry of Justice, he has not been brought from Zintan.
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[Al Ahram] The Salafist Nour Party objects to an article in the draft constitution which defines equality between men and women, Salah Abdel-Maaboud said on Monday.
A 50-member committee is amending the constitution drafted by an Islamist-dominated constituent assembly in 2012, of which the Nour Party was a leading representative.
In a statement on Monday, Abdel-Maaboud said the subcommittee finalising articles on the basic elements of the state had agreed on ten out of 11 articles, but disagreed on the one related to gender equality.
Article 11 states: "The State is committed to achieving equality between women and men in all the rights stated in this constitution. The State is obliged to take the necessary measures to ensure the appropriate and balanced representation of women in parliaments and local units, as organised by the law, and enable them to reconcile the duties of family and work, and protect them from all forms of violence. The State is committed to providing special care for motherhood and childhood and women who are poorest and most in need."
However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... Abdel-Maaboud said his party objected to the phrasing as it would open the door for a women's quota in parliament, which it is against.
"We cannot have a quota for every marginalised group," he remarked.
The party also believes women's rights defined in the article should be restricted by Sharia law. Although Article Two of the constitution names the principles of Sharia as the main source of legislation, he said, Nour demands it is also added to Article 11 defining women's rights so these rights are in accordance with Sharia law.
The amendments are to be approved by interim Adly Mansour by 3 December, after which they will be submitted to a national refendum. As part of the roadmap established on 3 July with the ouster of 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... , the constitutional referendum is to be followed by parliamentary and then presidential elections.
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[Al Ahram] Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Ziad Bahaaeddin said on an interview with CNN Monday that Egypt had deviated from the "proper path to democracy," linking the deviation to 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... 's tumultuous year in power.
The deputy prime minister is on a visit to Washington to shore up ties between the two longstanding allies and attend the US Chamber of Commerce's US-Egypt Business Council, state news agency MENA said on Monday.
"Egyptians are suffering," Bahaaeddin said in the interview. "But let's make no mistake about this: Egyptians are suffering as a result of the policies that were adopted particularly during the year of the reign of ex-president Morsi."
Morsi, the country's first freely-elected president, was ousted by Egypt's army amid mass protests against his one-year rule. The toppled leader, who had been held incommunicado since his removal in July, made his first public appearance in court on Monday, along with other Islamist co-defendants, on charges of inciting violence.
The deputy prime minister blamed the state of affairs on the toppled leader, saying that during Morsi's troubled one-year rule "freedoms began to be taken" and "the constitution was no longer upheld."
"We need to keep our eyes fixed on not continuing in that road, and as quickly as possible, as strongly as possible, going back to a proper path of democracy," Bahaaeddin urged.
Bahaaeddin stressed on the necessity for swift progress, adding that "We should expect some things to happen the right way, some things [to] take more time, some things to be bumpy -- but at the end what matters is whether we are progressing in the right direction, and I think we are."
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[Al Ahram] Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed its dissatisfaction at recent comments by Turkish officials about ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi. "[Turkish officials] insist on falsifying the real situation in Egypt and challenging the will of the Egyptian people," the ministry said on Tuesday in a statement published by state news agency MENA. Erdogan Bey can see himself in the same situation as Morsi.
The Turkish foreign ministry called on Tuesday for the release of Morsi, who is currently in detention pending trial on charges of inciting violence during his presidency.
Morsi has been held in detention since his ouster by the military in July, after mass protests calling for an end to his presidency. Initially he was held without charge at an undisclosed location.
On Monday he appeared at a Cairo court for the first session in his trial.
"We believe the release of all political prisoners, including elected president Morsi, will contribute significantly to the emergence and sound implementation of the dialogue and reconciliation process in that country," read a statement on the official website of the Turkish foreign ministry.
The president's ouster has strained relations between Cairo and Ankara. Turkey's Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) government had warm relations with Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood administration.
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#4
CF, I've made it clear in the past that I believe that Obama is following the path to a Fascist dictatorship, so yes, it could certainly be both.
The details and order thereof can be different but that's the path Obama is treading with the same level of power. The main difference is that Obama doesn't play the anti-Jew card, but then, neither did Benito.
The important marker of Fascism is ultimate government control over the economy and activities of society via ever spreading cronyism and regulation. Fabian socialists and Gramsciian communists are all cheek by jowel with the Fascist left on the continuum.
#8
g(r)om, I'd go more with ironic. Obama has a much broader range of target enemies that aren't quite so compartmentalized as Jews & Gypsies.
Tea Partiers are equivalent in his regard but there's no way to identify them physically. The closest he can get is to hate whitey but that isn't going to work cause half his homies are honkies.
[Al Ahram] Security officials say Egypt's 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... spent his first night in a civilian penitentiary in a hospital room after he complained he wasn't feeling well. Mubarak was on his deathbed from day to day, too.
Morsi was transferred to a maximum security prison in a remote desert area near Alexandria, Egypt's second city, after his first trial session was adjourned to January 8. It was his first appearance following his July ouster. Since then, he has been held in a secret military facility.
Upon arrival to the prison, the 62-year-old Morsi complained of high blood pressure and high blood sugar, officials said Tuesday, speaking anonymously because they weren't authorized to brief news hounds.
They said he was taken to a prison hospital room with a separate bathroom and a TV. The Interior Ministry said he was receiving regular check-ups.
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[An Nahar] The failure of ousted Egyptian 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... 's supporters to stage large protests at his trial reflects the dwindling power of his Moslem Brüderbund following a deadly military crackdown.
Morsi's insistence in a Cairo court on Monday that he remains Egypt's president, and his subsequent transfer to a prison cell, could further polarize the already deeply divided country following months of unrest.
Morsi, ousted on July 3 by the army amid massive demonstrations against his one-year rule, was put on trial Monday for incitement to murder protesters outside the presidential palace in December 2012.
His supporters had vowed massive protests but in the end only a few dozen showed up outside the courtroom and a few thousand held a brief demonstration at another location in Cairo.
"A big shift happened yesterday. First, Morsi turned from a president in jug to an inmate of Borg al-Arab prison," said political analyst Hisham Kassem, referring to the jail on the outskirts of Alexandria where Egypt's first democratically elected leader was transferred.
"Second, his Islamist supporters bungled. They were unable to garner large numbers and it clearly shows their movement is weakening. If the Moslem Brüderbund thought it could last for centuries, then that perception is gone. The movement is sputtering towards an end."
The low turnout illustrated the fall from grace of a movement that for decades was Egypt's most formidable opposition and which handily won a series of polls after the 2011 overthrow of Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... .
An August 14 assault by security forces on two protest camps killed hundreds of Morsi supporters, and since then more than 2,000 Islamists have been tossed in the clink ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... , including most of the Brotherhood's leadership.
Subsequent demonstrations have ignited deadly street festivities with security forces and Morsi opponents.
On Monday, a defiant Morsi rejected the court that is trying him, chanting several times from behind the bars of a caged dock that he remains "president of the republic."
But analysts say his defiance failed to energize supporters who just a month ago staged massive demonstrations backing him.
"Fractures within the Egyptian society remain deep. The strategy of Morsi (of insisting he is the president) is hardly tenable in the long term....as it is hardly noticed beyond his movement," said Karim Bitar of the Gay Paree-based French Institute of International and Strategic Relations.
He said a majority of Egyptians and even world powers like the United States seem to have accepted Morsi's overthrow.
"The American concern today seems to be that some form of a democratic process is in place (in Egypt), even if the Brotherhood is excluded," said Bitar.
U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... , who paid his first visit to Egypt since Morsi's ouster on the eve of the trial, made no mention of the ousted leader.
"The Moslem Brüderbund would be unable to impact the roadmap" now, said Hassan Nafea, professor of political science at Cairo University, referring to the transition plan of the military-installed authorities.
It envisages a new constitution and new parliamentary and presidential elections by the middle of 2014.
Founded in 1928, the Brotherhood has weathered previous waves of arrests, most notably under Egypt's nationalist president Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1950s and 1960s.
After Mubarak's overthrow in February 2011 the Brotherhood emerged as the most well-organized political movement in the country and won a series of victories at the polls, culminating in the 2012 election of Morsi.
But millions of Egyptians became disillusioned with Morsi's turbulent one year-rule, marked by political turmoil and a crippling economic crisis.
His supporters insist he was undermined at every step by the "deep state" left over from Mubarak's reign, while opponents accused him of trying to erect a new dictatorship run by the Brotherhood.
In November 2012, he decreed himself sweeping powers, prompting opponents to accuse him of failing the revolution that ousted Mubarak.
The following month festivities broke out when the Moslem Brüderbund moved in to disperse protesters outside the presidential palace after accusing security forces of failing to protect the president.
Several people were killed in the ensuing melee, from which the charges against Morsi stem.
And six months later, millions erupted into the streets to demand Morsi's ouster and welcomed the military's announcement that he had been removed from power and taken into custody.
"The Moslem Brüderbund ...over time has lost support from the majority of the people," said Nafea.
"It was given a chance but it failed to change itself from a secret, underground group to a real democratic component of Egypt's national movement... and yesterday was a clear failure for the Islamists."
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#1
Nope. It reflects basic Islamic strategy: when they're strong---we wait peacefully for them to weaken.
[An Nahar] Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki said he was confident the country could overcome a protracted political crisis that deepened Tuesday with the breakdown of talks on a new prime minister.
"Tunisia will get through this difficult phase," Marzouki said during a visit to Gay Paree in his first reaction to the failure of the talks between ruling Islamists and the opposition. "We are determined to promote a democratic process, whatever the present difficulties may be."
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[An Nahar] The Reporters Without Borders watchdog on Tuesday condemned Egypt's arrest and military trials of journalists and denounced the suspension of a popular television show by a controversial satirist.
"This new wave of threats to freedom of information in Egypt is especially disturbing," the group said.
"Arbitrary arrests and hauling journalists before military courts constitute a danger to basic freedoms, as do prison terms, even if these are suspended."
Egypt's new military-installed authorities have put three Egyptian journalists on trial in military courts since the ouster of Islamist 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... in July.
Mohammed Sabry, Hatem Abul Nour and Ahmed Abu Derra have all been tried by military courts, with Sabry and Derra sentenced to six-month suspended jail terms and Nour receiving a one-year prison term.
Sabry was convicted by a military court in the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya for taking pictures in the town of Rafah on the border with the Paleostinian Gazoo Strip.
Nour was sentenced by a Cairo military court for impersonating an army officer over the phone, while Derra was convicted for reporting without authorization in a military zone of the Sinai by Ismailiya military tribunal.
"These practices must stop, and journalists still tossed in the slammer Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! because of their professional activities must be freed immediately and unconditionally," Reporters Without Borders said.
The watchdog also denounced the suspension by the CBC channel of Bassem Youssef's popular talk show Al-Bernameg (The Program).
Youssef, known as "Egypt's Jon Stewart" after modelling his show on the US comedian's popular satirical news program, had returned to CBC on October 26 after a four-month break.
In that broadcast Youssef mocked the country's military which ousted Morsi, provoking fury and complaints from some viewers.
After that episode was broadcast his show was taken off the air on November 2, with CBC saying Youssef had violated its editorial policy.
"Complaints against comedian Bassem Youssef and the suspension of his show are especially regrettable," Reporters Without Borders said.
"Freedom of satirically critical expression, especially in the context of a humor program, must have a place in a country that aspires to democracy."
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[Al Ahram] Nigeria's Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... Islamists could be classed as war criminals, the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... office said Tuesday, as it condemned a bloody attack on a wedding convoy.
"Members of Boko Haram and other groups and entities, if judged to have committed widespread or systematic attacks against a civilian population ... (could be) guilty of crimes against humanity," said Cecile Pouilly, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The Islamist bully boyz have killed dozens of people over recent days in restive northeast Nigeria ... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border... , first storming a town on cycle of violences and pick-up trucks and then carrying out highway ambushes.
Boko Haram gunnies were blamed for Saturday's slaying of more than 30 people, including the groom, when a wedding convoy was halted on a road near the border with Cameroon.
Pouilly called the wedding convoy "atrocious" and condemned Boko Haram's campaign of "cowardly attacks" against civilians, politicians, members of government institutions, foreigner and the security forces.
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[Al Ahram] Thirty Emiratis and Egyptians went on trial on Tuesday accused of setting up an illegal branch of Egypt's Moslem Brüderbund in the United Arab Emirates.
The Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi adjourned the case, which is viewed as an attempt to stamp out what the UAE says is a threat from political Islam, until Nov. 12.
The UAE, a U.S. ally and major oil exporter, has long been distrustful of the Moslem Brüderbund, which helped propel Egypt's Mohammed Mursi to power last year. The UAE has welcomed Mursi's ouster by the army after mass protests against his rule.
Twenty Egyptians, six of whom are being tried in absentia, and 10 Emiratis are charged with setting up an illegal branch of the Moslem Brüderbund in the UAE, stealing and airing state security secrets and collecting funds illegally, activists said.
The defendants denied all the charges, a family member of one of the detainees who attended the trial told Rooters, adding that some of the Egyptians had said they were physically abused in jug and their confessions were obtained under coercion.
"One Egyptian said they were subjected to all kinds of torture," the family member said, on condition of anonymity.
The UAE denies using torture. The court ordered medical tests for some of the defendants, state news agency WAM said.
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North Korea's special forces have grown by 20,000 over the past two years, reaching about 200,000 in total and increasing the so-called asymmetric threat the country poses to the South.
They don't necessarily mean 'special' the way we do...
The numbers come from the defense white paper 2010 published on Thursday, which says the North has consistently boosted its special warfare capabilities, deploying a light infantry division under an Army corps stationed on the frontline and adding a light infantry regiment to an Army division there.
The 200,000-odd special troops are primed to carry out combined operations such as attacks on major facilities in South Korea, assassination of VIPs and harassment in the rear by infiltrating the South using underground tunnels and AN-2 aircraft capable of low-altitude infiltration, the white paper said.
The number of the North's special forces, reportedly the world's largest, was estimated at about 120,000 in the 2006 defense white paper and at about 180,000 in the 2008 white paper. They now account for 17 percent of the North's 1.19 million soldiers (1.02 million in the Army, 60,000 in the Navy and 110,000 in the Air Force).
According to the white paper the North Korean Army has about 4,100 tanks, up 200 from two years ago, and about 2,100 armored vehicles, showing no increase over the same period. It has deployed a new tank at the frontline dubbed "Pokpung" (Storm) patterned after the Soviet Union's old T-72 tank, while superannuated tanks are deployed at rear-area units.
The Pokpung tanks are reportedly equipped with stronger firepower and better maneuverability than the old "Chonma" (Flying Horse), an improved version of the T-62.
The white paper identifies a new antiaircraft missile with a vertical launch control system, which was unveiled during a massive parade in celebration of the Workers Party's anniversary in October, as the "KN-06," and a medium-range ballistic missile with a range of 3,000 km as the "Musudan."
It says the North continues to develop nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and ballistic missiles to secure strategic weapons. It has extracted an estimated 40 kg of plutonium by reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods which it acquired by operating a 5 MW nuclear reactor since the 1980s. It also has 2,500 to 5,000 tons of various chemical weapons, according to the white paper.
The North Korean Army consists of 15 corps, 90 divisions, and 70 mobile brigades. Troop numbers are similar to 2008, but four more divisions and one more brigade were created.
Equipment includes about 8,500 field guns, 5,100 multiple rocket launchers, and some 100 surface-to-surface missiles, as well as 170 mm self-propelled guns and 240 mm multiple rocket launchers that can deliver blitzkrieg fire at the Seoul metropolitan area from their current positions.
The North Korean Navy has about 420 combat warships, 260 landing ships, 30 minesweepers, about 30 support vessels and some 70 submarines. The Air Force has some 820 combat aircraft, 30 surveillance and control aircraft, 330 aerial mobile planes and some 170 training aircraft. Compared to 2008, that is 20 fewer combat aircraft and 10 fewer training aircraft.
A ministry official said the figures "are the outcome of estimates by Korean and U.S. intelligence agencies of all North Korean Air Force aircraft capabilities, including aircraft that have been downed since 2008 and those that have long remained unused."
The North also has about 300 helicopters, 7.7 million reserve forces, and some 300 munition factories. The military is keeping most of the ordnance stored in caves and has two to three month's worth of supplies, the white paper estimates.
Numbers are impressive but don't tell the tale on maintenance, training and discipline. I still think a general attack on the South wouldn't get farther then the first big box store north of Seoul...
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#1
I fear that the DPRK's claim of a warship being allegedly sunk last month wid loss of life + while performing "combat duties" may be used as a cover story = PCorrect-Deniable propaganda pretext for tit-for-tat, DPRK-claimed,
"retaliatory" LR TLCM, Air strikes by the DPRK agz the USS GEORGE WASHINGTON CVN.
CHINA-ORDERED, NORTH KOREA/DPRK-FIRED OR LAUNCHED???
The above being said, DPRK/NORTH KOREA ICBM = IRAN ICBM???
* ION RELATED TOPIX > [International Business TimEs] DOOMSDAY WW3 RISING? CHINA WARNS JAPAN OF WAR IFF LATTER BLASTS DOWN DRONE.
Caroline Kennedy to the save the day for everybody???
China Foreign Ministry = says JAPAN-N-ONLY-JAPAN WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY MILITARY CONSEQUENCES.
As per WORLD MIL FORUM ARTICS, Beijing + PLA would like to remind Japan + US-World that iff China is attacked by Nuclear Weapons, so also will they be counter-attacked by same.
* SAME > PACIFIC COMMANDER PLANS FOR NORTH KOREA MISSLE THREAT.
PACOM Chief USN Adm. Samuel Locklear.
NORTH KOREA ICBM = CHINA-ORDERED, ERGO IS NOT CHINA???
Well, thank goodness thats cleared up.
* RUSSIA TODAY > NORTH KOREA PROGRESSING ON ICBM TO STRIKE US [can reach Seattle + similar US West Coast cities]: THINK-TANK.
ARTIC > JOHN HOPKINS UNIVERSITY US-KOREA INSTITUTE T.T. = DPRK KC-O8 BMS not as fake = "less fake" than originally thought???
* RELATED WORLD NEWS > [The Australian] NORTH KOREA'S FAKE MISSLE NOT SO HARMLESS NOW, EXPERTS FEAR.
* SAME > HAGEL: US MILITARY MUST ADAPT TO SMALLER BUDGETS, as induced by new + deeper Sequester-required cuts.
USDOD MUST PREPARE TO FACE ACROSS-THE-BOARD, ALL-ASPECTS MAJOR UPHEAVALS WHILE DEFERRING TO INCREASED USE OF NEW OR ADVANCED TECHNOLGIES + WHILE ALSO AVOIDING ISOLATIONISM.
The future USDOD will N-O-T be akin to the Cold War or the US Army-Navy Depts. of the early 20th century where a smaller, budget-constrained service allowed servicemembers to stay in-service on one or a few milbases throughout their entire career-tenure or many years, WW1 + WW2 + Cold War per se notwithstanding.
[Dawn] 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... police chief Shahid Hayat Tuesday said a "conspiracy is being hatched to fan Sunni-Shia festivities in the city" as gunniesrubbed out five Sunni Musselmens a day after six minority Shias were killed in the financial hub of Pakistain, officials said.
"We have identified the shooters and will arrest the killers within a couple of days," Hayat told a delegation of local businessmen.
Police said the five, killed on Tuesday, belonged to the conservative Deobandi movement and were either members of sympathisers of banned bully boy outfits.
"Apparently they were targeted because of their sect," senior police officer Muneer Sheikh told AFP.
The shootings took place in different areas of Karachi, Sheikh said, but declined to comment on whether they were Dire Revenge killings following the murders of the Shias on Monday.
Officials said the victims were two holy mans, a prayer caller and two activists of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat ...which is the false nose and plastic mustache of the murderous banned extremist group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain, whatcha might call the political wing of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi... (ASWJ), a Sunni sectarian group.
At least five Shia Musselmens, including two doctors, were rubbed out on Monday, while another Shia Musselmen who was injured in an attack on a tailor shop also died Tuesday morning, hospital officials said.
The killings came ahead of the Musselmen holy month of Muharram which starts on Wednesday in which Shias mourn the seventh century martyrdom of Hussain, the grandson of prophet Muhammad (PTUI!), along with his family members.
Shias make up around a fifth of Pakistain's population.
Police are already carrying out operations against criminal groups to curb sectarian and political killings in the port city.
Security would be further tightened in the month of Muharram, they said.
Karachi, a city of 18 million people which contributes 42 per cent of Pakistain's GDP, is rife with murder and kidnappings and has been plagued for years by ethnic, sectarian and political violence.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shouting match, a new, even louder, voice was to be heard... Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sindh Shahid Nadeem Baloch has taken notice of the recent killings. A police statement said that he has sought detailed report from the Additional IGP Karachi on case to case basis.
Speaking during a presser at the DIG Office in Hyderabad, Baloch said that the police are putting in place stringent security arrangements in the whole province to meet the challenges of providing security during the days of mourning in Muharram.
He said that he had taken detailed briefing from the DIGs of Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur and Larkana divisions as well as the SSPs of all the districts in this regard.
Responding to a question, the IGP Sindh said the police were alert to possible reaction to the recent killing of Pak Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud in a drone attack in northwestern North Wazoo agency, close to Afghan border.
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11/06/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Opposition politicians expressed their concern over the worsening law and order situation in Hyderabad during the Sindh Assembly session on Monday, asking the provincial government to protect the life and property of the people and restore peace to the second largest city of the province before it is too late.
The house, which resumed after a two-day break, took up an adjournment motion on the worsening law and order situation in Hyderabad for discussion.
The motion was jointly moved by Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... politicians Heer Soho, Sumita Afzal and Naira Munir and it was specific to Hyderabad.
However, if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... MPAs also referred to the law and order situation from 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... to Kashmore and called upon the government to hold law-enforcers accountable for deterioration in law and order.
However, if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... some MPAs from the treasury benches pointed out to the supporter of the motion that the law and order problem was not one city specific as it was the issue of entire Pakistain.
He said the situation was not restricted to Hyderabad and Karachi only. He highlighted a large number of kidnapping for ransom incidents in Punjab.
Mr Memon said there were some reasons behind the worsening situation in Hyderabad and among them was the ongoing targeted operation in Karachi, as criminals were running away to other cities.
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11/06/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Law and Local Government Minister Rana Sanaullah has condemned Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... leaders' statements regarding stopping NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... supplies and opening the Taliban's office in the country as "unconstitutional", "unwise" and suicidal for the whole nation.
"Statements of PTI chairman Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree... and opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Mahmoodur Rasheed regarding opening of the Taliban's office in Pakistain and stopping NATO supply, respectively, are highly lamentable, unconstitutional and unwise," he said while talking to the media here on Monday.
The minister wondered how the provincial government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... could itself take a decision with regard to NATO supply as the issue was related to defence and foreign affairs ministries.
Rana Sana said Imran's thinking was still childish though he had turned 62.
He said the only difference between Imran and the Taliban was that the latter were stationed in Wazoo while the former stayed in Islamabad.
"The Taliban put a (suicide) jacket on one person while Imran intends to put the jacket on the whole nation," he added.
The minister said the nation thought the US was sabotaging the government's dialogue with the Taliban and the "force sabotaging the dialogue process was not our friend".
Posted by: Fred ||
11/06/2013 00:00 ||
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#5
So John, do you similar consider Russian and Polish settlements in the former German states of East Prussia and Silesia to be illegitimate? Or just don't lose a war?
Former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman was acquitted by a three-judge panel of the Jerusalem Magistrates Court on Wednesday in the fraud and breach of trust trial against him. They never had a case---but it did disrupt the elections
[An Nahar] The Gazoo Strip's Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, government said on Tuesday it had added studies to encourage "resistance to Israel" to the territory's public schools curriculum.
Courses to "strengthen Paleostinian rights, update programs and add studies on human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. " would be introduced at three levels in secondary schools, Education Minister Muetassem al-Minaui told Agence La Belle France Presse.
They were intended to instill "faith in the role of the resistance to win rights and to raise awareness of the importance of effective preparations to face the enemy," he said.
The new material, seen by AFP, tells of Israel's winter 2008-2009 and November 2012 military offensives into the Gazoo Strip and shows photos of dead Paleostinians and of buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes.
"All of Paleostine from the (Mediterranean) sea to the river (Jordan) belongs to us, to us Musselmens," it states, in accordance with the beliefs of the hard boy Islamic group, which refuses to recognize Israel.
The new courses will be taught only in education ministry schools and not those of the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... Relief and Works agency, in which close to half of the 463,000 pupils in the strip study, the agency's operations director Robert Turner told journalists on Tuesday.
At the start of this year, Hamas launched an experimental program of basic military training for about 10,000 high school students.
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11/06/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The United States is skeptical about Syria's declaration of its chemical weapons to an international watchdog and is still checking its accuracy, a top U.S. envoy said Tuesday.
U.S. ambassador to 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... Samantha Power said Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... remained unacceptable as a leader of Syria despite his agreement to destroy all of his banned chemical arms by mid-2014.
Syria has made a 700-page declaration of its chemical weapons sites and arms to the Organization for the Elimination of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and has met a deadline to destroy its chemical and weapons production facilities.
But many western nations still doubt that all of Syria's chemical weapons have been declared, diplomats say.
"More work of course remains to be done to ensure that the Syrian government's list of declared sites is comprehensive and that the process remains on track, particularly as we enter the destruction phase, which looks very complicated," Power commented after a U.N. Security Council meeting on Syria's chemical arms.
The U.S. ambassador told news hounds that American experts are still studying the "extremely technical" Syrian document.
"We obviously bring skepticism born of years of dealing with this regime, years of obfuscation in other contexts, and of course a lot of broken promises within the context of this current war," Power said.
"You will certainly hear from us in the event that we detect non-compliance or we detect significant discrepancies," she added.
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11/06/2013 00:00 ||
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Iran's top nuclear negotiator said on Tuesday a framework deal with world powers on its nuclear work was "possible this week", although it was not necessary to hold to any such deadline, Reuters reported.
"I believe that if we don't make a breakthrough at this round it's not a disaster," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told France 24 television. "A lot of work has to be done, but there is a great deal of mistrust in Iran."
Zarif will participate in the new round of P5+1 and Iran negotiations which are scheduled to be held in Geneva on November 7-8.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/06/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Again, NORTH KOREA'S repor alleged KC-08 based
"ICBM" = IRAN'S "ICBM"???
[An Nahar] World powers failed Tuesday to set a date for a hoped-for Syria peace conference in Geneva, U.N.-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said after meeting with senior diplomats.
"We were hoping that we'd be in a position to announce a date today, unfortunately we're not," Brahimi told news hounds.
"But we're still hoping that we'll be able to have the conference before the end of the year," he said, adding he would meet again with U.S. and Russian envoys on November 25.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/06/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
All-or-nuthin, uncompromising Baby Assad versus the all-or-nuthin, uncompromising Rebels versus anti-Assad, anti-Syria Rebels, uncompromising Al-Qaeda + Foreign Militant Groups - D *** NG IT,
WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG!?
* RUSSIA TODAY > ASSAD ADVISOR: WITH POLITICAL WILL, [opportunity/chance exists for] SYRIAN CRISIS OVER IN TWO WEEKS.
At least for the FSA + aligned "moderate" domestic Rebs - for the Bammer + OWG Amerika's new BFF [OWG "Co-Superpower"]Shia Iran + Hezzies + Quds Force, ITS JUST BEGINNING.
[An Nahar] Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Wally Jumblat ... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling... assured on Tuesday that he is not going to Damascus, stressing also that he "is still a centrist."
"I am never going to Damascus," Jumblat said in an interview on LBCI television, denying reports that claimed he was reaching out to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... 's regime.
He elaborated: "I am still a centrist amid this division in politics, between religious sects and regarding the war in Syria."
"I want to neutralize Leb from the repercussions of the Syrian crisis and I am trying alongside President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... , caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet... to fend off the dangers."
Jumblat explained that unlike other political figures that thought the neighboring country's regime would collapse, he "knew it would be a long war."
He detailed: "I gathered my information from (former Syrian army chief of staff Lt. Gen.) Hikmat al-Shihabi and he told me that Syria is heading towards a war."
"The Syrian regime aggravated imprisonments and killings until the revolution turned into a sectarian war."
The PSP leader considered that the Friends of Syria "disappointed" the revolutionaries due to the presence of "different agendas."
"What is required is stopping the smuggling 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... s into the country, uniting the financing and the military efforts of the Free Syrian Army, and sending a single delegation that represents all factions to attend the Geneva II summit."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/06/2013 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.
International Criminal Court
[Al Ahram] Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Ziad Bahaaeddin said on an interview with CNN Monday that Egypt had deviated from the "proper path to democracy," linking the deviation to ousted president 
[Al Ahram] Nigeria's 
[Dawn] 
...the creepy-looking former dictator of Pakistain. Zia was an Islamic nutball who imposed his nutballery on the rest of the country with the enthusiastic assistance of the nation's religious parties, which are populated by other nutballs. He was appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whom he hanged when he seized power. His time in office was a period of repression, with hundreds of thousands of political rivals, minorities, and journalists executed or tortured, including senior general officers convicted in coup-d'état plots, who would normally be above the law. As part of his alliance with the religious parties, his government helped run the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, providing safe havens, American equipiment, Saudi money, and Pak handlers to selected mujaheddin. Zia died along with several of his top generals and admirals and the then United States Ambassador to Pakistain Arnold Lewis Raphel when he was assassinated in a suspicious air crash near Bahawalpur in 1988...
Pervez 
Wazoo
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Iran's top nuclear negotiator said on Tuesday a framework deal with world powers on its nuclear work was "possible this week", although it was not necessary to hold to any such deadline, Reuters reported.
Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling...
Najib Miqati
