[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The senior presidential adviser in regional affairs for peace consensus Mohammad Omar Daudzai assures that the peace talks with the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... will yield positive outcome.
He made the remarks at the end of the second national conference of district chiefs which concluded in Kabul on Wednesday evening.
Daudzai told the district administrative chiefs that the peace talks will yield a positive outcome and peace will return to country in the near future.
Daudzai further added that "We want a lasting peace, a reconciliation which should be fair and strengthen the national unity."
The senior presidential adviser also added that the reconciliation process which the nation demands must be finalized within the framework of the constitution of Afghanistan, should be led by the government and must guarantee international participation.
Daudzai was appointed as senior presidential adviser in regional affairs for peace consensus and secretariat chief of the Afghan high peace council on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
[Libya Observer] Libyan Grand Mufti, al-Saddiq al-Gharyani, has called for filing a lawsuit against the British embassy in Libya for sponsoring activities that violate Libya's sacred norms and for motivating anti-religion and sedition activities. Libya's sacred norms? Did he keep a straight face when he said that?
The Mufti's call came as a reaction to a new strategy launched by UK's embassy last week, promoting equality between the two sexes in Libya.
"We want to make changes that can alter lives of men and women as well as boys and girls in Libya." The embassy remarked.
On Tanasuh TV Channel on Wednesday, the Mufti said foreign embassies in Libya are working with some liberals and seculars to rebel over the fixed norms and religious teachings in the country.
"Islam is a religion of justice, equity but not absolute equality. Those who call for equality between man and woman are accusing Islamic Sharia of injustice," the Mufti added. "It's a different kind of equity... very Islamic"
Several western-motivated activists and liberals have called for gender equality in Libya, especially with regard to "inheritance in Islam."
Inheritance is a topic that is prominently dealt with in the Qur'an, and all Moslems must follow and implement the rules of Islamic inheritance.
Late in November, the UK's embassy organized a seminar chaired by the special envoy of Gender Equality of Britannia and announced a new strategy for Libya's sexual equality issues.
Many activists from Libya and the international community attended the UK embassy's workshop where the strategy of gender equality in Libya was explained.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11124 views]
Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood
[All Africa] A leading African soccer official was jugged Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! Wednesday in La Belle France on charges of war crimes committed in the Central African Republic.
Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) said Patrice Edouard Ngaissona was the most big shot and "national general coordinator'' of the anti-Balaka militia.
The ICC said that as the leader of the mostly Christian militia, Ngaissona was suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder, extermination, deportation, persecution, torture, attacking civilians and recruiting child soldiers. sounds Islamic
The anti-Balaka militia was formed in 2013 to counter the MoslemSeleka ...a 'mainly' Moslem rebel force in the Central African Republic that overthrew the govt, imposed a regime of rapine and looting on the country's non-Moslem population, and was then tossed by France. They still exist, getting funding and weapons from somewhere or other, licking their wounds, complaining about the oppression of Moslems, and occasionally raping and looting someone... rebels who seized control of the CAR capital, Bangui and ousted President Francois Bozize. The resulting civil war has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more.
Ngaissona is head of his country's national soccer federation. In February, he was elected to the executive committee of the Confederation of African Football, the governing body for soccer on the continent, prompting many to think he was untouchable. But Lewis Mudge, senior researcher in the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, said the arrest proved "even high-level figures implicated in grave crimes can be arrested to face justice."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under: Seleka
[PULSE.NG] The United Kingdom has called for international support for Nigeria in the fight against the resurgence of the destructive activities of the 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... terrorist group.
The UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Amb. Jonathan Allen, stated this at the Security Council Briefing on the UN Office for Central Africa.
Allen raised concern about the humanitarian and security situation in the wider Lake Chad Basin, which continued to deteriorate, in addition to the crisis in Cameroon ...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there... He said: "The United Kingdom has played its part in providing humanitarian support, as well as significant support particularly to assist the Nigerian security forces in the fight against Boko Haram and Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... West Africa (ISWA), but this matter needs the ongoing focus and support of the international community.
"The deteriorating security situation in northeast Nigeria ... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border... is of particular concern, and one I note shared by the Secretary-General.
"ISWA has increased the frequency, range and sophistication of their attacks and has attacked forward operating military bases in North East Nigeria.
"The execution by ISWA of humanitarian workers such as Saifura Khorsa and Hauwa Liman, who were both kidnapped while providing antenatal care to communities in desperate need is a telling reminder of the brutality of ISWA’s activities".
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11130 views]
Top|| File under: Boko Haram (ISIS)
It occurs to me that there has long been a tradition of mistreatment in Turkey’s prisons — to the point that there is an entire literature about it. How can we be certain these recordings were not of Turkish detainees being tortured at Turkish hands? For that matter, how on earth would a Turkish agent have managed to get into the secret torture chamber in the Saudi embassy to record such actions, when embassies are supposed to be inviolable?
[NYPOST] One of the men who killed and dismembered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was heard saying "I know how to cut" in a recording of the killing that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... shared with US and European officials, President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... said Friday.
"The United States, Germany, La Belle France, Canada, we made them all listen ... The man clearly says, ’I know how to cut.’ This man is a soldier. These are all in the audio recordings," Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul, where Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate on Oct. 2.
The Ottoman Turkish leader did not provide additional details about the tape, according to Rooters.
The US-based Washington Post columnist repeatedly told his killers "I can’t breathe" during his final moments, CNN reported Monday, quoting a source who said they had read the entire translated transcript of an audio recording.
Erdogan also slammed 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... for its changing narrative of how the journalist, a prominent critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, was murdered.
The kingdom has said the prince had no prior knowledge of the murder.
Riyadh initially said Khashoggi had left the consulate, where he went to gather documents for his forthcoming marriage. But his Ottoman Turkish fiancee, who had waited outside the building, said he never emerged.
"The prince says Jamal Khashoggi left the consulate. Is Jamal Khashoggi a kid? His fiancee is waiting outside," Erdogan said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia
#1
I don't believe any of these "audio clip" claims:
"He was also heard to say 'MBS! Don't kill me. I know you personally ordered my death! Oh woe is me! Aiyyeeee, I am undone! *rosebud*'"
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/15/2018 8:35 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I don't believe any of these "audio clip" claims:
Here in the US, we have entire industries devoted to producing audio and video of things that never happened. (No, I'm talking about Hollywood, not the Mainstream Media.)
The idea that the Turks have actual evidence is dubious because A) the Turks, and B) as tw points out, bugging embassies is naughty. I'd sooner believe the FBI.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] La Belle France’s interior minister dismissed on Friday a claim by ISIS bad boy group that the gunman who attacked a Christmas market in Strasbourg was one of its "soldiers", calling the assertion "completely opportunistic".
"The completely opportunistic claim by ISIS doesn’t change anything," Christophe Castaner said as he visited the newly reopened market, using an Arabic acronym for the ISIS.
Minister Castaner added: "We’re dealing with a man who was consumed by evil."
French President Emmanuel Macron visited the Strasbourg Christmas market this evening to pay his respects to the victims of a jihadist gunman who was killed in a shoot-out with police last night. The president went to the market and laid a single white rose at a nearby monument to the terrorist outrage and stood silently for over two minutes in tribute after the official re-opening of the market at 11:00am this morning.
As he looked solemn and closed his eyes in reflection, the crowd spontaneously began singling La Marseillaise - the French national anthem - in memory of the fallen victims.
Cherif Chekatt’s victims were a Thai tourist, on holiday in Strasbourg with his wife, an Afghan who sought refuge in La Belle France some 20 years ago, a 28-year-old Italian journalist in town to cover the European parliament, and a local Frenchie who had just retired. A fifth victim was declared brain-dead.
Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte tweeted his 'deep sorrow' at the death of Antonio Megalizzi, who became the fourth victim when he passed away in hospital.
Following the attack the threat level was raised to its highest, but today the 'Vigipirate plan' - La Belle France's national security alert system - was reduced to the level second level of 'Risk Attack', the French government said.
As the Christmas market reopened armed police and soldiers patrolled the area.
Gay Paree prosecutor Remy Heitz told a news conference on Friday that seven people are in police custody, including four of his family members. Police on Wednesday jugged Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! his parents, two brothers and a friend in connection with the attack. On Friday, they arrested his third brother in Algeria to see if he was involved.
'We want to reconstruct the past 48 hours in order to find out whether he got some support,' Heitz said.
After his escape, Chekatt hid out in a warehouse a few hundred yards from his parents' house where he grew up in the northeastern French city. He was tracked down at 9pm on Thursday when police in a patrol car spotted him on a street in a district where he was last seen after Tuesday night's attack.
Around 800 people had called in tips to a hotline after the authorities released his name and photo Wednesday night, including two which Heitz called 'decisive' in finding Chekatt.
The information allowed police to home in on an area in the Neudorf neighbourhood, where he tried to escape into a building after being spotted by a patrol.
Unable to get in the door, he turned and shot at the three officers with a handgun when they tried to approach. Two returned fire and killed him, Heitz said at a presser in Strasbourg.
Defence Minister Florence Parly rejected criticism that Chekatt's presence on the country's so-called 'S file' of forces of Evil should have prompted a more proactive reaction from the authorities.
'You can't... arrest someone just because you think he might do something,' Parly told Radio Classique on Friday.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Greek Coast Guard intercepted a Syrian flag ship that was sailing through the central waters of the Mediterranean Sea nine-days ago.
The Syrian flag ship ’Noka’ reportedly possessed six tons of processed hashish and 3 million ultra-strength captagon pills that were bound for the Libyan city of Benghazi.
According to the Greek Coast Guard, the Syrian ship left the port-city of Latakia and was en route to Libya before it was intercepted by the Greek authorities off the coast of Crete on December 5th.
The drugs were found under false floors in eight containers, hidden between layers of coffee, spices and wood shavings.
The Greek Coast Guard released footage of the intercepted ship and the arrest of the eleven crew members, who identified as ten Syrian nationals and one Indian national.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under: Narcos
#1
The Assad family has been involved in the trafficking of narcotics for more than three decades.
[ALMASDARNEWS] Ottoman Turkish troops will enter Syria’s Manbij if Kurdish units fail to leave the city, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...Qatar's colony in Asia Minor.... ’s President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... said at an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) event in Istanbul on Friday.
"We are determined to ensure stability and security east of the Euphrates River [in Syria]. If Manbij is not cleared [of Kurdish units], then we will enter the city," he said.
According to the Ottoman Turkish president, "the United States is trying to distract Turkey by delaying the implementation of the Manbij roadmap." "The US seeks to weaken our resolve to fight against terrorists," Erdogan added.
On Wednesday, the Ottoman Turkish leader said that Ankara might soon launch a military operation east of the Euphrates River in Syria in order to target Kurdish fighters.
Turkey previously carried out two military operations in Syria dubbed Olive Branch and Euphrates Shield. Erdogan said at a presser following the G20 summit in Argentina ...a country located on the other side of the Deep South. It is covered with Pampers and inhabited by Grouchos, who dance the Tangle. They used to have some islands called the Malvinas located where the Falklands are now. They're not supposed to cry for Evita... that Ankara would soon clear areas east of the Euphrates River from terrorist units.
Over the past several months, the Ottoman Turkish president has many times announced plans to carry out an operation against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) concentrated east of the Euphrates River.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
[ALMASDARNEWS] Ottoman Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... urged the US to "eliminate" Kurdish fighters in Northern Kurdistan, vowing that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... will do so if the US does not. Erdogan was speaking from Istanbul on Friday.
Erdogan started by announcing that Turkey had conducted operations against Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq, adding that "there will be more to come."
"Why? Because, if there is a threat towards us from those areas ‐ and yes there is ‐ then they [the US] should eliminate those holy warriors from that area. If they dont we will do it," vowed Erdogan.
"Yesterday’s attack from Tal Afar against our soldiers in Afrin showed how accurate our decision was. This attack proved that the holy warriors who were pilling up on our border, would eventually target us," said the Ottoman Turkish leader.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
US should have worked with Turkey long ago to take over Syria/Northern Iraq and give it to the Kurds. I have no doubt the Turks would love to get all of their Kurds to move out of Turkey it's a lot better than their genocide daydreams.
h/t Gates of Vienna
[LegalInsurrection] Israel is in the process of uncovering even more Hezbollah tunnels under the border from Lebanon.
A key part of this campaign is to win international diplomatic pressure on Lebanon and Hezbollah.
To that end, the Israelis have been filming the new tunnels and insisting that the UN force in Lebanon and the Lebanese government help destroy the tunnels on the Lebanese side. That puts them in the diplomatically uncomfortable position of either refusing to act, or having to act against Hezbollah.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also led ambassadors on a tunnel tour:
...When the first tunnel was unveiled, the IDF posted a video of Hezbollah operatives caught on the Lebanese end of the tunnel who run away when they come face-to-face with an IDF camera, That moment a Hezbollah terrorist comes face-to-face with an IDF camera in an attack tunnel:
...The man in the video now has been identified, according to Israel’s i24 News (emphasis added), the operative trained with Mexican drug cartels near the U.S. border:
Dr. Imad "Azaladin" Fahs first showed up in our archives here.
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... Lions of Islam are holding 3500 Iraqis in prisons they are still running inside Syria, a local Iraqi official was quoted saying on Friday.
Ahmed al-Mahallawi, mayor of al-Qaem, a former Islamic State bastion in Iraq’s western province of Anbar, near the Syrian border, told Iraqi AlMaalomah news website that 3500 people from the town are still held by the hard boy group.
Mahallawi said Iraqi security had approached the Syrian side to inquire about the whereabouts of 3500 Iraqis held in IS prisons who had been captured by the group during its reign over various areas of Anbar.
He said the list of missing prisoners is officially adopted by the Iraqi authorities, adding that those authorities started contacting their Syrian counterparts after the discovery of the body of an Iraqi army member at a grave in the Syrian border city of Boukamal.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
12/15/2018 00:07 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and its component, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), have promised to fight "to the death" in the event of a new Ottoman Turkish operation in northeastern Syria, SDF spokeswoman Jihan Sheikh Ahmed told Sputnik on Friday.
"We will defend the north and the east of Syria to the death," Ahmed said commenting on the SDF response on a possible operation.
The spokeswoman added that the SDF would not like to see a situation similar to what happened earlier this year in Afrin, where Ankara conducted a military operation.
Later in the day, Syria’s main Kurdish parties and other allied groups issued a joint statement on the issue, calling Ottoman Turkish plans a "declaration of war" and calling on world powers to prevent an assault on the region.
"All the forces in the north and east Syria...are asked to agree on strategies to confront this aggression," the statement read.
The statements followed Thursday’s media reports, saying that the Ottoman Turkish military was reinforcing troops stationed in the province of Kilis on the Syrian border with armoured vehicles. These reports emerged after a statement made by Ottoman Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... on Wednesday that Ankara would launch a new military operation in Syria within days to free the east of the Euphrates from the US-backed Kurdish militia.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11131 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Russian military has reportedly established a new base a few kilometers away from the U.S.-held al-Tanf region.
According to reports from southern Syria, the newly established Russian base will maintain a large presence of Russian and Syrian military personnel.
The new Russian base is located near the Zarqa Crossroad, which was the site of intense festivities between the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the U.S.-backed Jaish Mughawar al-Thoura group last night.
The Russian military already has several bases in southern Syria, including a large presence at the T-4 Airbase near the ancient city of Palmyra.
The T-4 Airbase has several Russian warplanes, primarily helicopters, that have aided the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in their ongoing fight against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[Reuters] (Reuters) - A federal judge in Texas on Friday ruled the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, was unconstitutional based on its mandate requiring that people buy health insurance, a decision in a case that could reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth agreed with a coalition of 20 states that a change in tax law last year eliminating a penalty for not having health insurance invalidated the entire Obamacare law.
The coalition of states challenging the law was led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, both Republicans.
Republicans have opposed the 2010 law - the signature domestic policy achievement of Republican President Donald Trump’s Democratic predecessor Barack Obama - since its inception and have repeatedly tried and failed to repeal it.
#1
This is more greatness. Now Trump can blame the dems for all of the folks that are going to cry about no health care. Now the dems will have to come up with a bill to replace it. They will be mired in this for years...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/15/2018 10:36 Comments ||
Top||
#2
True, but it would still be nice to be able to get affordable insurance for some us who don't work for an employer that provides insurance. Ambetter is bullshit and my COBRA costs me roughly $600 per month.
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.
[Libya Observer] Libyan Grand Mufti, al-Saddiq al-Gharyani, has called for filing a lawsuit against the British embassy in Libya for sponsoring activities that violate Libya's sacred norms and for motivating anti-religion and sedition activities.
[All Africa] A leading African soccer official was 
... 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...
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) 
