(Xinhua) -- Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday called on Taliban militants to give up resistance, return home and take part in the reconstruction process of their war-torn country. "Taliban are part of this soil and we want them to return home," he told newsmen at his Palace after attending the recently concluded NATO summit in Bucharest.
Karzai, who represented Afghanistan at the summit, said that part of his speech to NATO leaders in Bucharest was on Taliban militants, adding that those Taliban fighters who have no link with al-Qaida can return home. The Afghan leader said there were no official talks between the government and Taliban at the moment, but the two sides had few contacts months ago. He also said that a number of Taliban militants had returned home and resumed their normal life due to such contacts. "We would continue our contacts for the larger interest of Afghanistan," the president emphasized.
Taliban insurgents, who in the past had rejected any talks with the Afghan government in an audio cassette sent to the media, on Sunday downplayed NATO's new commitment towards Afghanistan and vowed to continue war till last. The 26-nation military alliance at their historic summit concluded on Friday renewed its long-term commitment to support Afghan government and stabilizing security in the post-Taliban nation.
President Karzai, additionally appreciated the renewing approach of the alliance to Afghanistan calling on its people to benefit maximum advantage of world community's support in rebuilding their nation until it stands on its feet
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2008 00:00 ||
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Many Algerians listened to al-Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri's recent audiotape with dismay, particularly over the language he used to justify terrorist operations against Algeria and other Muslim nations.
Twin attacks last December 11th against the offices of UNHCR and the Constitutional Court in Algiers left 41 people mostly Algerians dead. The al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attacks. In his audio taped message, released Wednesday (April 2nd), al-Zawahiri responded to a question allegedly posed by an Algerian medical student about why the UN offices in Algiers had been attacked. "The United Nations is an enemy of Islam," the terrorist leader replied. He went on to say the Algerians killed in the attacks were not innocent victims, instead calling them "crusader unbelievers and the government troops who defend them".
Algerians expressed their dismay over these interpretations. One observer said the terrorist leader used these descriptions of the victims in order to "hide his hand, which has been stained with Algerian blood".
Azzedine Essalami, a young public employee in Algiers, said al-Zawahiri's justifications cannot be accepted by sensible people. He said the attacks are a form of terrorism, whether targeting security elements, civilians, or UN employees. "As for we Algerians," he continued, "who suffered from the deterioration of the security situation in the 1990s, we can't buy into such 'sayings'. He says that they are not targeting innocent people. So were the people killed in all the recent terrorist operations not innocent? They are trying to justify the unjustifiable."
Thirty-year-old Yacine told Magharebia he simply is not interested in the messages issued by the terrorists, and that he wouldn't hear their statements or read them in newspapers. "I know in advance that whatever he is going to say will not convince me," he said. "This is because of my strong conviction of the barbarianism of their acts."
Nouwara, who narrowly escaped the December 11th bombings, was surprised at what al-Zawahiri said. She invited him to have a look at the list of victims so that he may know their identities. "His ideology is bankrupt. The victims of those bombings are people living in the popular neighbourhood of Belcourt, and the only reason they joined the UN organisation was to work there to support their families," she added.
Journalist Mounir Abi, a writer specialising in the affairs of armed Islamist groups, said that Ayman al-Zawahiri's statement reflects his "takfirist" ideology that is based on erroneous religious doctrine. He added that al-Zawahiri's statement represents a declaration to Algeria that "you're either with us or against us". Abi challenged the ideological foundations of the attacks, saying they had no religious, doctrinal or legal justifications. "UN employees, whether in Algeria or in any other place around the world, are innocent people... just doing purely humanitarian missions."
Reacting to al-Zawahiri's statements, the Arab League condemned the content of the message, deeming his accusations against the UN "irresponsible" and "an offence" against Arab countries. A spokesman for the Arab League said Friday that "Arab countries, which are calling on the UN to enhance its role and to bear its responsibility towards the Palestinian issue, cannot accept that such irresponsible charges be made against it."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
#1
It appears AQ has worse public relations problems then Absolut...
General Homeland Direction DGSN has finished the elaboration of the project of the new counterterrorism unit which it is to be launched sooner to substitute the dissolved central judicial police department; well informed sources told El Khabar.
The creation of this new body targets countering Al-Qaeda in Algeria, as already mentioned by the Director of DGSN Colonel Ali Tounsi following fierce terror attacks in 2007. The creation of this new counterterrorism unit, which has not yet being given a name, has taken into account several parameters in terms of prerogatives, areas of intervention and staffs, the same sources added. DGSN is focussing on recruiting well skilled and elite of security services acquiring practical experience in terms of counter terror, as the majority of staffs have served during the black decay, the nineties, in the dissolved central judicial police department specialized in counterterrorism.
El Khabar sources further mentioned that the staff members of this unit are highly skilled and specialized in counterterrorism as they have been trained here in Algeria and abroad in the domain of counterterrorism. The staff members of this new unit is likely to reach 200 skilled elements from different ranks and levels in the judicial police, the same sources said, pointing out that the unit is to fight also crimes linked to supporting terror groups like smuggling, narcotic traffic as well as arms and ammunitions traffic.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2008 00:00 ||
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(Xinhua) -- Kim Jong Il, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), made a second inspection of the army in recent days as ties with South Korea deteriorate, the official news media reported on Sunday. Kim inspected a recruit training subunit under Korean People's Army (KPA) Unit 776, urging the newly-enlisted soldiers to firmly train and become "ardent revolutionaries and reliable fighters," the KCNA news agency said.
Kim also inspected a company of KPA Unit 350, according to the Rodong Sinmun newspaper. He praised the company for having acquired high military technology and combat capacity to beat back the enemy's invasion at a single stroke, the newspaper said.
Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul have become more tense since South Korea's new president, Lee Myung-bak, pledged to review rapprochement projects pushed by his two predecessors. On March 29, the DPRK threatened to cut off talks with South Korea over comments by a South Korean military official about a possible pre-emptive strike against the DPRK.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under:
#1
Inspection,
Kimmie "Do we have anybody left"
General, "Well, I'm still here"
Kimmie, "Inspection complete"
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/07/2008 0:17 Comments ||
Top||
#2
See also TOPIX > SEOUL: NORTH KOREA NUKES AT TURNING POINT; + SOUTH KOREA REJECTS NORTH DEMAND FOR APOLOGY.
The United States is no closer to achieving its goals in Iraq than it was a year ago but a quick military withdrawal could lead to massive chaos and even genocide, according to a report released Sunday by a U.S. think tank. The U.S. Institute of Peace report was written by experts who advised the Iraq Study Group, a panel mandated by Congress to offer recommendations on U.S. policy in Iraq in 2006.
The report was released two days before top commander Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker brief Congress on the situation in Iraq and prospects for American troop reductions. Their recommendations, which President Bush has signaled he will accept, could largely determine the course of action in Iraq for the coming year.
The report cited security improvements in Iraq since the buildup of U.S. forces in 2007, but credited factors outside U.S. control, such as help from mostly Sunni fighters who turned against al-Qaida and a truce by a Shiite militia. So the U.S. didn't win, several of the enemy quit.
"The U.S. is no closer to being able to leave Iraq than it was a year ago," it concluded. "Lasting political development could take five to 10 years of full, unconditional U.S. commitment to Iraq."
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/07/2008 06:20 ||
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#1
Ah yes, the USIP, the sponsors of the Iraq Study Group whose members contracted bugout fever. Fortunately Bush and Petraeus threw their recommendations in the trash.
Posted by: ed ||
04/07/2008 6:42 Comments ||
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#2
That's ok, "progressives" love a good genocide. They'll spend 18 months at least arguing about the technical hurdles of whether or not they can even call it a genocide.
#3
Helmuth has it right, the retrograde progressives have thier eye on that old revenue stream of OIL for food, when that broke down, millions didnt flow to the internationals coffers. Life styles must be maintained and therefor alll manner of chaos needs to be explored.
#4
ION, RIAN.RU > IRAN PROPOSES MISSLE SHIELD AGAINST USA, ISRAEL. IRAN-WORLD needs protectin' from Dubya, Zionists; + WILL IRAN RUSH INTO WAR? Has Iran for some reason WILFULLY ESCALATING TENSIONS in ME???
ALso ION, WAFF.com Poster Thread > AQ QAEDA THREATENS TO GO WAR AGZ IRAN. Al-Baghdadi ALIVE AND DEMANDIN' ANY AND ALL SHIA IRANIANS = TEHRAN CUT OFF DIRECT + INDIRECT MIL-ECON, MILITIA, ETC. TIES WID IRAQ - "AB" also DEMANDS TWO-MONTH DEADLINE FOR IRAN TO COMPLY???
The U.S. Republican Party's presumptive nominee for president, Senator John McCain, says Iraq's military performed "pretty well" during its recent assault in the southern Iraqi city of Basra despite mixed results of the battle. McCain made the comment in an interview with Fox News Sunday. He said such an assault would have been unthinkable just nine months ago.
Hundreds of people were killed during last month's street battles between extremist Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and Iraqi and foreign forces. McCain's comment comes just days before the U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, is to give an assesement of the war before the U.S. Congress.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
#1
Wow, Fred, you sure get some interesting pix of the senator.
(Xinhua) -- U.S. Senate Democrats sent a letter Sunday to President George W. Bush urging him to shift anti-terror efforts from Iraq to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In the letter, Harry Reid, the majority leader, and other Democratic senators, said the White House has committed too much of U.S. resources to Iraq while neglecting "terror-havens" of Afghanistan and Pakistan. "While violence and the drug trade have surged in Afghanistan and Pakistan's security remains fragile, we are distracted by an endless civil war in Iraq," the letter said. "To make America more secure, we must refocus on hunting down a resurgent al-Qaida, securing a troubled Afghanistan and rebuilding our overburdened and misused military," it added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#4
COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG > THE HINDU - AL QAEDA SEEKING TO A NUCLEAR WEAPON TO STRIKE/USE, not merely to stockpile. Nuclear Suicide Bombing-Sapper??? ALso from CT > TIMES OF INDIA -Islamists-Terrorists may also target INDIA's nukes = nuclear facilities. THEY NEED OR REQUIRE FISSILE MATERIALS; ZAWAHIRI"S question primer seen as reflecting a TACTICAL CHANGE in PR or Strategy???
#5
Screw Russia and China. They can go to hell in a handbag for all I care. Where do you think all the worlds dictators, terrorists and militias get their weapons.
#9
We should shift to focus on CNN, the New York Times, the BBC and everyone else supporting B. Hussein Obama in his stealth Muslim bid for the presidency.
#11
Right, George W. Bush is going to start taking direction from Harry Reid letters. Sure thing. I'd charge Reid with "Littering the White House" and fine him $300.
#16
Why should anyone listen to the dhimmicrats; they can't even select a presidential candidate without screwing it up. Harry Reid most likely would have been a defeatist in WWII. STFU Harry.
They grew beards, gave up women and booze, surfed the Web for radical Islamic sites and turned their back on American pop culture. All red flags, according to a new NYPD analysis that details how otherwise "unremarkable" young Muslim men morph from middle-class nobodies with no criminal records into homegrown terrorists, posing a threat as dangerous as that from Al Qaeda.
The NYPD's report - "Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat" - is a 90-page road map to jihad based on the actions of about 100 extremists and 11 terror plots. The analysis was created by the NYPD's Intelligence Division to help law enforcement authorities identify terrorists and prevent attacks.
The warning signs include becoming more religious, growing a beard, taking part in activities like paint-ball war games and expressing significant dissatisfaction with the U.S. As the individuals follow the destructive path, they start hanging out with like-minded extremists in back rooms of bookstores, isolated corners of prayer rooms, Islamic community centers and Muslim student associations, rather than traditional mosques, the report says.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the primary motivation behind the assessment was to determine: "Were there any early-warning signs?"
"Hopefully, the better we're informed about this process, the more likely we'll be to detect and disrupt it," Kelly said.
NYPD Assistant Commissioner for Intelligence Lawrence Sanchez described the report as "a guide to know what to look for, what to watch for and how to interpret what you see. It is a start, a way to a look at a series of benign activities, to try to decide what is really benign and what is virulent."
The experts found that direct command from Al Qaeda is the exception, not the rule.
The NYPD traced how legal immigrants - mostly Muslim men, ages 15 to 35, with high school or even college degrees - grew disillusioned with life in America or other adopted countries and took up radical Islam that put them on the path to jihad. NYPD analysts charted how the London bombers in July 2005 devolved from second-generation Brits who loved soccer, cricket and gambling into jihadists willing to travel to Pakistan for military and explosives training.
They cut ties with their families and exchanged less radical mosques for hard-core coffee klatsches led by sympathizers with an often dubious grasp of the Koran, the report found.
"For detectives, they can now look at a series of signals and see if there is a pattern," said Mitchell Silber, the NYPD's senior intelligence analyst and a co-author of the report. "They notice a group of young men are no longer attending a certain mosque. They might interpret that as a good thing. But a signature, or a red flag, is that jihadists leave a mosque because it is not radical enough, and go and meet in someone's apartment."
#2
I like the idea that's "homegrown". Deep down, you've got to reach the conclusion it's not homegrown at all, it's imported, first generation or followings, as muslims pour into non-muslim countries - and terror is only the surface threat.
#3
One nice thing about Muzz...they keep repeating patterns over and over...with or without educations. Now that we have all this fine information, what are we doing about it ? Are they being quietly gathered up ? Disappeared from our streets ? The next step needs to be executed, if you know what I mean.
#5
It's really not new - substitute 'communism' for 'Islam' and 'european' for for 'muslim', and you pretty much have the same scenario from the early 20th century.
#6
The early 20th century? Wasn't the real issue then the violent anarchists? Who, admittedly, morphed into both fascists and marxist-trotskyist-leninist-stalinists a few years later. (Splitters!)
#9
Yes Abu. My design to take over the world is to provide free sat tv and run Randy Newman's 'I Love LA' repeatedly. It will be the utter destruction of any other civilization unable to adapt. Mawhahahahahahh. :)
#11
I thought this looked familiar. The linked article is from August 2007. Still relevant, however.
Posted by: Tibor ||
04/07/2008 18:46 Comments ||
Top||
#12
The NYPD traced how legal immigrants - mostly Muslim men, ages 15 to 35, with high school or even college degrees - grew disillusioned with life in America or other adopted countries and took up radical Islam that put them on the path to jihad.
No offense to the fine folks at NYPD, who (literally) risk life and limb policing that City, but I could've told ya this in far less than 90 pages, and probably a LOT cheaper too. How many times have we stated...."Profile these guys (Muslims aged 18-35 or so) UNTIL 80 year-old Amish women start strapping on bombs."
Posted by: BA ||
04/07/2008 21:00 Comments ||
Top||
President Pervez Musharraf believes that if he steps down, the US will launch direct military attacks on Pakistan's restive tribal areas and take away disgraced nuclear scientist AQ Khan for interrogation about his proliferation activities, a daily reported on Monday.
The President is also of the view that the Gwadar port project in Balochistan will be affected if he leaves the scene and consequently, Pakistan's "time-tested relations with China could suffer a setback", official sources told the Dawn newspaper.
Musharraf also believes that in his absence, no leader or party will be "able to maintain cordial relations with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement", they said.
In view of the "likely negative fallout", the sources said, the President had no intention to quit the post to which he was elected for a five-year term last year.
They said the President's decision to stay in office was more due to "national interests" than his own.
The media report further said it was Musharraf who was keeping the US away from Khan, who has been under house arrest for the past four years after admitting to proliferating nuclear technology.
Pakistan has so far not granted the International Atomic Energy Agency and US authorities access to the nuke scientist.
The sources said the US had been seeking access to Khan to interrogate him but it was the President who resisted all pressures and kept the scientist in safe custody at his home.
It was also because of Musharraf's "strong personal links with US President George Bush", the sources claimed, that the US was not attacking Pakistan's tribal areas, which Washington has described as a "safe haven" for Taliban and Al-Qaida elements.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/07/2008 17:06 ||
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#1
Dunno, Mushy, you can croak tomorrow and what then?
Detained Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan said he took the blame four years ago for passing atomic secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya in order to "save his country".
Guess he heard we wuz onto him ...
Khan, who has been under effective house arrest since confessing on television in 2004 to running a proliferation network, added that the country's new government had not yet contacted him about his possible release. Khan was pardoned by President Pervez Musharraf after his confession but has remained in detention. Musharraf denied any state involvement in Khan's activities but has rejected international requests to quiz the scientist.
"I saved the country for the first time when I made Pakistan a nuclear nation and saved it again when I confessed and took the whole blame on myself," Khan told AFP in a telephone interview from his Islamabad villa late Sunday.
Khan is hailed as a hero by many Pakistanis for transforming the country into the Islamic world's first nuclear power. Pakistan carried out nuclear tests in 1998 in response to detonations by neighbouring India. "Even Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain (former prime minister) and Mushahid Hussain (a senator from the party that backs Musharraf) said I saved Pakistan by accepting the whole blame myself," he added.
Members of the new government have indicated that they may consider freeing Khan as they review Musharraf's policies over the past nine years and seek to roll back his powers.
But Khan said he had had no contact with the new administration. "No government official has so far contacted me about my release nor would I contact any of them to do so," Khan said. "You had better ask this question of the government."
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Monday he favoured lifting restrictions on Khan. "Yes, I don't want to see his movement restricted," Qureshi said in an interview with local Dawn television. "He is a Pakistani, a respected Pakistani, I think that he should be allowed to see his friends and I think that he should be allowed to go for a drive," the minister said.
He should also be allowed to fly. I can think of a couple places he might go ...
"I think he should be allowed to go and have a meal at a restaurant, I see no reason why he should be deprived of that, on the other hand we also have to be concerned about his security and health."
Khan was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006 and was briefly hospitalised last month with complications. "I have faith in Allah and believe that wisdom is hidden in everything. I believe in positive thinking and get comfort by reading the Holy Koran during my detention," he said.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/07/2008 17:02 ||
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Top|| File under:
#1
I took one for the team sez the Doc. Also appears to have very few self esteem issues...
#2
Admirable, but IMO the USA will invade Paki only to prevent OSAMA +AQ, etc. from getting their hands on NUKES-WMDS + destabilizing Russ-China/Asia. TO SAVE THEIR WEAKENING REGIONAL-GLOBAL JIHAD, OSAMA + ISLAMISTS RIGHT NOW NEED BOTH A NUCLEAR IRAN + similar OUTSIDE/EXTERNAL ARSENALS [Islamist NucBloc?]in case Iran finally gets invaded.
Lest we fergit, iff and when the US-West is defeated or destroyed, and under OWG-SWO/CWO, the honeymoon will be over between RIGHTIST FASCIST + LEFTCOMMUNIST, COMMUNIST/SOCIALIST + ISLAMIST, + SHIA + SUNNI, etc. As argued or inferred long ago, WOT > WAR FOR OWG-NWO, etc. - DEFEATING OR DESTROYING THE US IN THE NAME OF OWG-NWO = "GLOBALISM" IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.
#3
ION NUKIES, TOPIX > NORTH KOREA: SOUTH KOREAN LEADER RUNNING THE RISK OF [Inter-Korean][Nuclear] WAR. Interesting considering the on-going Net, etc. debate over NOKOR's actual nuke capability, or lack thereof???
Islamabad, April 06: After lying low for some time, leaders of several militant groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday met in Rawalpindi city near here and vowed to continue their "Jehad" in the valley.
A terrorist meeting in Rawalpindi garrison- the headquarters of the Pakistani Military
The meeting, organised by the Pakistan-based al-Badr Mujahideen at a mosque in the garrison city, was addressed by United Jehad Council and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, al-Badr chief Bakht Zameen Khan and leaders of the Lashker-e-Taiba, Hizbi Islami-Kashmir and other Jehadi groups.
"The continuation of the Jehad in Kashmir is linked with the survival of Pakistan," Salahuddin told the 500-strong gathering.
Observers said this was one of the largest gatherings addressed by militant leaders near Islamabad in the past few years. The meeting came just days after PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, whose party is in the ruling coalition, said no terrorist training camps were operating in Pakistan.
Salahuddin said the Jehadi groups would be ready for dialogue with India only if "agrees to quit Kashmir and recognise the fundamental rights of Kashmiris". He told the gathering that they will continue operating in Jammu and Kashmir as long as even a single Indian soldier is deployed in the state. "We in this gathering want to convey a message to Kashmiri Muslims that they are not alone. We are with them. We will not accept Indian hegemony till the last drop our blood," he said as the crowd shouted slogans like "our way of life Jehad Jehad" and "Allah is Great".
He claimed that the "Jehad" in Kashmir is passing through a "sensitive period" because its traditional supporters had turned their back on it and the base of the movement was now in "Azad Kashmir"
Posted by: john frum ||
04/07/2008 16:27 ||
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#1
Ah, more "last drop of blood" guys.
Off of past performance, I ain't too worried.
Senior Congress leader and Social Welfare Minister Abdul Gani Vakil today said Kashmir issue was an "internal affair of India" and no external power will be allowed to interfere.
"Solution to Kashmir issue lies in political discourse within India. No external power will be allowed to interfere in our internal affairs," Vakil said, addressing a public meeting at Repan-Rafiabad in Baramulla district. Apparently referring to separatists, Vakil said: "Congress party favours involvement of all political parties and shades of thought in the resolution process of state's problems through reconciliation and consensus."
"Everybody in a democratic set up is free to express his views but that expression should not reflect opinion of external forces," he said, adding people and their representatives are the only stakeholders of peace and development in the state.
He said the coalition government had succeeded in safeguarding human rights in the state. "Security forces were sensitised and directed to avoid harassment to innocent civilians while combating militancy. This has resulted in the remarkable reduction in rights' violation," he added.
The Minister laid foundation stones for two parks at Mazbug and Nowpora villages to be developed at a cumulative cost of Rs nine lakh. He also distributed Rs 20 lakh among 200 persons of Rafiabad and Sopore tehsils under National Family Welfare Scheme.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/07/2008 16:09 ||
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SRINAGAR A major body of Indias leading entrepreneurs said yesterday that investment flow into Jammu & Kashmir has registered a 10 time-high in the wake of a "remarkable improvement" shown in its security situation in recent years.
You may have noticed fewer editions of the "Kashmir Korpse Kount" over the past year ...
Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM) president Venugopal N. Dhoot said that investment flow into the state went up to $200 million in 2001 to $2,300 million in 2007 following the improvement in its security situation. He told a Press conference in winter capital Jammu that the flow is expected to further accelerate in next five years. He urged the federal government to extend a special package of Rs50 billion towards improving the necessary infrastructure so that investment flow towards Jammu and Kashmir fastens both in value and volumes from domestic and overseas industries.
Meanwhile, ASSOCHAM will host a golf tournament at Gulmarg, Kashmir's premier resort, in September-October this year for twin purposes of promoting the game and attracting the investors to the state from across the country and abroad especially the Gulf, Dhoot said. The ASSOCHAM is nurturing a dream of showcasing peaceful Kashmir to the participants of 2010 Commonwealth Games and attract people from across the globe to the land known as Paradise on Earth," he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/07/2008 00:00 ||
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The revival of almost-defunct Muttahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) is difficult, if not impossible, unless all members of the National and provincial assemblies from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) an MMA component party quit their offices.
This was one of the prime conditions the religious alliances other component party, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), set when a JUI-F delegation approached it to facilitate the reconciliation of the MMA, a source privy to the talks between the two parties told Daily Times on Sunday.
According to the source, the JI leadership said that the JUI-F had violated the MMAs disciplinary norms by taking part in the February 18 elections, much to the annoyance of the alliance chief, Qazi Hussain Ahmad. Now, resignation of JUI-F elected representatives is the only way to develop reconciliation, said the source.
The source said that the JI leadership wanted to arrange a meeting of the MMAs supreme council, to elect new office-bearers for the alliance. The JI leadership has told its erstwhile partner that non-compliance with the resignation condition will mean they [JUI-F members] are not interested in the continuation of the alliance, the source said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Iraq's prime minister raised the stakes in his showdown with followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, saying in an interview broadcast on Monday they would be barred from elections unless their militia disbands.
The comments followed raids on Sunday by security forces into the cleric's Baghdad stronghold, the slum of Sadr City, which brought heavy fighting back to the capital after a week of relative calm when Sadr called his militia off the streets.
U.S. forces reported two more deaths across Iraq on Sunday, bringing the single day toll to seven, making it one of the deadliest days for American troops since the arrival of extra forces last year reduced violence over the second half of 2007.
"Solving the problem comes in no other way than dissolving the Mehdi Army," Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in an interview with CNN. "They no longer have a right to participate in the political process or take part in the upcoming elections unless they end the Mehdi Army."
It was the first time Maliki has singled out Sadr's Mehdi Army militia by name and ordered it to disband. He said government troops would continue a crackdown -- first launched in the southern city of Basra late last month -- in Sadr City.
"We have opened the door for confrontation, a real confrontation with these gangs, and we will not stop until we are in full control of these areas."
Sadr spokesman Salah al-Ubaidi rejected the ultimatum: "No one can intervene in the Mehdi Army; only those who established it and the religious leaders," he said.
The renewed conflict risks undoing some of the security gains of the past year's so-called U.S. "surge" of additional troops.
"If the fight shifts to Baghdad and the Sadrists go for the bait and expose themselves to American attacks, everything will change. There will be more attacks and the surge will be over," said Joost Hiltermann of the International Crisis Group.
The ultimatum comes at a sensitive time, just two days before Sadr has called a million followers onto the streets of the capital for a mass anti-U.S. protest, and a day before the top U.S. officials in Baghdad are due to report to Congress.
The U.S. military commander, General David Petraeus, is expected to recommend a pause in withdrawing U.S. troops once an initial cut of 20,000 troops is completed in July.
Sunday's fighting, the worst in the capital since Sadr withdrew his fighters from the streets a week ago, continued into Monday with sporadic fighting in Sadr City.
"The Iraqis are taking sporadic gunfire and rocket-propelled grenade fire but we haven't heard about any reports of pitched battles or casualties. They're just firing at the Iraqis and us," said U.S. spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Steven Stover.
DEEPENING DIVIDE
The deaths of two more U.S. soldiers raised the total for Sunday to seven killed, including three killed and 31 wounded in two attacks using mortars or missiles in Baghdad.
One of those strikes killed two U.S. soldiers and wounded 17 inside the heavily fortified Green Zone government compound.
Sadr's followers are due this year to participate for the first time in elections for powerful provincial government posts and are poised to win control of southern cities from less-popular Shi'ite parties that back Maliki.
Mustafa Alani of the Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre said one of Maliki's goals was to sideline political rivals ahead of the vote: "Obviously, this is the liquidation of parties ahead of provincial elections."
Hiltermann said the crackdown could put the election itself in jeopardy, which could suit Maliki: "He has no interest in the election taking place because he will not do well."
Maliki's crackdown on the Mehdi Army in Basra late last month triggered uprisings across Baghdad and southern Iraq, home to most of the country's oil output. Although government forces made little headway, Sadr called his militia off the streets. "Quagmire!"
But U.S. and Iraqi forces have continued to surround Sadr City. Iraqi forces moved into southern parts of the Baghdad slum on Sunday. Hospital sources said at least 25 people died and more than 90 were wounded in the days fighting.
On Saturday, Maliki received the backing from Iraq's major parties apart from the Sadrists for a statement calling for all militia to disarm. It did not mention the Mehdi Army by name.
Sadr formed the Mehdi Army in 2003 after the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The militia got squashed rose up twice against U.S. forces in 2004 but helped install Maliki in power after an election in 2005. Sadr broke with Maliki last year, partly over the government's refusal to set a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal.
#2
"If the fight shifts to Baghdad and the Sadrists go for the bait and expose themselves to American attacks, everything will change. There will be more attacks and the surge will be over," said Joost Hiltermann of the International Crisis Group.
What incredible fearmongering idiocy by the press and its attached leftist avocacy groups.
Yeah, the surge will be over because the Sadrists and other Iranian lackeys will all be DEAD and therefore a lower need for US troops.
/disgusted at the press - soon be time to start shooting them.
#1
See also TOPIX > INDEPENDENT.UK > ROBERT FISK: HIZBULLAH TURNS TO IRAN FOR NEW WEAPONS IN [new?]WAR AGZ ISRAEL. Is NASRALLAH's = Islamists alleged "new weapon" a potent surface-to-air missle agz Israeli airpower? or Other?
Also from TOPIX > IS ISRAEL FINISHED? Or will be soon enuff???
LESS THAN 48 HOURS AFTER Iraqi security forces began their campaign against militant Shia factions in Basra, the media had already declared the operations a failure. The operations, which were initiated on March 25, were designed to quell rogue factions of Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army. In covering the fighting, the press displayed its previously seen penchant for quickly throwing in the towel when a military operation does not instantaneously meet its goals.
Of course, the expectation of immediate success for an operation aimed at clearing densely-populated urban terrain is highly unrealistic. Recent history in Iraq shows this: it took months before Coalition efforts to clear and hold Baghdad showed progress, and even today only 75 percent of the capital city is considered fully secured. Last year the media declared the surge a failure long before the full contingent of forces was deployed, yet the press did not learn from its mistakes. Two popular myths have developed about the Basra fighting: that it constituted a complete failure for the Iraqi security forces, and that it resulted in a major political embarrassment for Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.
VIRTUALLY EVERY MEDIA OUTLET declared the Basra operations a military failure before a week had passed. A New York Times headline blared that the "Iraqi Army's Assault on Militias in Basra Stalls" on March 27, two days after the launch of operations. Two days later--just four days after operations began--Britain's Independent noted that "the Iraqi army and police have failed to oust the Mahdi Army
from any of its strongholds in the capital and in southern Iraq." And six days after the onset of operations, the Guardian was reporting that "the Iraqi army had made little headway in Basra and large swaths of the city remain under the Mahdi Army's control."
To be sure, the Iraqi security forces' performance in Basra is best described as mixed. However, they did not run into a wall. The Iraqi military was able to clear one Mahdi Army-controlled neighborhood in Basra and was in the process of clearing another when Sadr issued his ceasefire. The ceasefire came on March 30, after six days of fighting, and was seemingly unilateral in the sense that the Iraqi government made no apparent concessions in return. By that time, 571 Mahdi Army fighters had been killed, 881 wounded, 490 captured, and 30 had surrendered countrywide, according to numbers tabulated by The Long War Journal. Thus, an estimated 95 Mahdi Army fighters were killed per day during the six days of fighting. In contrast, al Qaeda in Iraq did not incur such intense casualties even during the height of the surge.
The Iraqi security forces were at their best in the smaller cities in Iraq's south. The Mahdi Army suffered major setbacks in Hillah, Najaf, Karbala, Diwaniyah, Amarah, Kut, and Nasiriyah. The security forces drove the Mahdi Army off the streets in those cities within days. The casualties taken by the Mahdi Army in Baghdad, Basra, and the wider south surely played a role in Sadr's tactical decision to call a ceasefire. An American military officer serving in southern Iraq told us, "Whatever gains [the Mahdi Army] has made in the field [in Basrah], they were running short of ammunition, food, and water. In short, [the Mahdi Army] had no ability to sustain the effort." Time's sources in Basra paint a similar picture. "There has been a large-scale retreat of the Mahdi Army in the oil-rich Iraqi port city because of low morale and because ammunition is low due to the closure of the Iranian border," the magazine reported on March 30.
While the Iraqi security forces encountered stiff resistance, and while some units reportedly defected, it is a gross exaggeration to portray the fighting as a complete defeat for them.
THE PRESS WAS EQUALLY INSISTENT that Maliki's move to secure Basra was a political embarrassment for him, with Sadr emerging the victor. The day after Sadr issued his ceasefire, Time claimed that "the very fact of the cease-fire flies in the face of Maliki's proclamation that there would be no negotiations. It is Maliki, and not Sadr, who now appears militarily weak and unable to control elements of his own political coalition." The Associated Press portrayed Maliki as "humbled within his own Shi'ite power base." And a second Associated Press report stated that "a strict curfew is ending in Baghdad, U.S. diplomats are holed up in their green zone offices, al-Maliki is resented and the private army of Muqtada al-Sadr is intact."
But the fact is that the Maliki government did not agree to the nine-point terms for a truce that Sadr issued, nor did it sue for peace or promise that operations would cease. Instead the Iraqi government called Sadr's order for his fighters to pull off the streets a "positive step," and insisted that operations would continue. "The armed groups who refuse al Sadr's announcement and the pardon we offered will be targets, especially those in possession of heavy weapons," Maliki said, referring to the ten-day amnesty period for militias to turn in heavy and medium weapons. "Security operations
in Basra will continue to stop all the terrorist and criminal activities along with the organized gangs targeting people."
Subsequent to the ceasefire, the Iraqi military announced it was moving reinforcements to Basra, and the next day pushed forces into the ports of Khour al Zubair and Umm Qasr. Iraqi special operations forces and special police units have conducted several raids inside Basra since then, while an Iraqi brigade marched into the heart of a Mahdi-controlled Basra neighborhood on April 2. And two days after Sadr called for a ceasefire, the government maintained a curfew in Sadr City and other Shia neighborhoods in Baghdad. None of this would be happening had Maliki simply caved to Sadr.
Maliki's governing coalition did not revolt over this operation. When the Iraqi opposition held an emergency session of parliament to oppose the Basra operations, only 54 of the 275 lawmakers attended. AFP reported, "The two main parliamentary blocs--Shiite United Iraqi Alliance and the Kurdish Alliance--were not present for the session which was attended by lawmakers from radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's bloc, the small Shiite Fadhila Party, the secular Iraqi National List and the Sunni National Dialogue Council." The fact that the major political blocs in Iraq's parliament ignored the emergency session is politically significant, and no evidence suggests that Maliki's governing coalition has been jeopardized since then.
Despite this, there is no shortage of reports declaring Maliki's actions a political failure while announcing victory for Sadr and his Mahdi Army. Some of these press reports cited Sadr's own spokesmen and militia commanders to prove the point. "We did not really throw everything we have into battle. We only fought in self defense," an anonymous Mahdi Army commander told the Associated Press. "If al-Maliki has won, he would have dictated his demands. But it's we who did that."
But none of the journalists bothered to ask one simple question: if Sadr was so successful, why end the fighting? If Iraq's army was being beaten and Maliki politically weakened, why not press the fight and make the government collapse? As an American military officer serving in southern Iraq told us, "Claiming a 'victory' and then withdrawing from the battlefield is the tactic of someone that is losing."
WHILE THE RECENT FIGHTING AGAINST the Mahdi Army in Basra, Baghdad, and Iraq's south was not a stunning victory for the Iraqi government and military, neither was it the resounding defeat that many believe.
It isn't entirely clear why the media leapt to the conclusions that it did about the Basra operations. Perhaps impatience coupled with a lack of knowledge about military affairs was the biggest factor. Perhaps, tired of six months of generally positive reporting about the surge, journalists were gleeful to announce that the situation on the ground was deteriorating. Or perhaps a negative angle was irresistible in light of General David Petraeus's upcoming congressional testimony.
Whatever the reason, the press has done a major disservice to readers by misreporting the events in Basra.
#5
The Press BotchesSpins Basra to Make it Look Like Their Side Won
There, fixed it for ya.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/07/2008 9:13 Comments ||
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#6
In covering the fighting, the press displayed its previously seen penchant for quickly throwing in the towel when a military operation does not instantaneously meet its goals.
"Its" goals being the defeat and humiliation of the West.
#7
If they could have passed ROTC they wouldn't have been journalism majors
Algore somehow managed to be a reporter and in the Army at the same time - I guess it was only possible because his father pulled some strings (otherwise he probably couldn't have been in the Army OR a reporter.)
Its clear that the govt offensive was focused on Basra. According to the WS, govt forces also did well in the smaller towns in the south - hilla, kut, etc. Where did the Mahdi army do best? In Baghdad. Where did the Mahdi army manage to launch dramatic counterstrikes? In the Green Zone, in Baghdad.
Where do most MSM reporters in Iraq live and work? Baghdad.
Where they were, they saw govt failure. The positive reports from the south came from coalition and Iraqi govt sources that the MSM didnt beleive (sometimes with some reason) One got a more positive view looking at the BBC, despite the BBC's known biases - why? because unlike everyone else, the BBC has a permanent presence in Basra.
#9
You're probably right, 'Hawk. I would just add that I think a lot of people in the press are spring-loaded to seeing Iraq as Vietnam, the Mahidis as brave peasant revolutionaries battling the imperialist oppressors, GWB as LBJ, and so on, and this colors their reporting. Probably more than they consciously realize.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/07/2008 10:28 Comments ||
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#10
"The Iraqi security forces were at their best in the smaller cities in Iraq's south. The Mahdi Army suffered major setbacks in Hillah, Najaf, Karbala, Diwaniyah, Amarah, Kut, and Nasiriyah."
Hmmm can you say Rat-lines? Attacking the hubs has long proven to be a successful strategy in the disruption and dismantling of weapons pipelines. Very recently the MNF/IA announced that they discovered the largest EFP cache found to date in al-Qasim. Dont look for the prudent warriors to boast about objectives in an ongoing operation even success in achieving ancillary objectives. And dont hold your breath for much in the way of any deeper analysis from the press. To do so would just make it more difficult to continue the al-Sadr three legged stool narrative. And after all, Pelosi and Mookie finally appear to have their calendars aligned for the upcoming Patraeus hearings.
#11
Where did the Mahdi army manage to launch dramatic counterstrikes? In the Green Zone, in Baghdad. Where do most MSM reporters in Iraq live and work? Baghdad.
And considering evidence that most of the strikes appeared to have been targeted/reconned well in advance, one would have to consider that the actual target was the MSM.
#12
The Leftist Dominant Media. Hordly anythign "Mainstream" about them anymore. And definitely not in the "News" business.
The press has become a propaganda machine, distorting and disguising things that are contrary to its leftist driven agenda.
The presses outright lying and suppression on the Iraq war is getting as bad as Communist China's press attempts to completely suppress news Tibet and the Olympic Torch protests.
NYT, CNN, CBS, et al: Up against the wall for failure to perform their duty to inform, not mislead, the public.
It is the day Sadr has called for a million muslim march against the US (and the govt).
He had probably beg or coerce at least 100,000 into marching but 1,000,000 is a pretty high figure. I wonder how exactly the press will spin it if he is short a few hundred thousand.
Not all, but most. Pinch and whoever runs McClatchy should be tried for treason and, when convicted, publicly executed. I won't open an article on any subject whatsoever that has an NYT origination point. Their credibility with me is so low, if those bastards wrote the sun would rise in the east tomorrow I'd have to get up to double-check. One of the most hopeful signs about the American scene is the hemorrhaging of cash and subscribers from the liberal press. It has shown me that there are far more people than I hoped for that have seen through their agenda-driven propagandizing and know them for what they are--America-hating leftists.
#17
what doesn't the press botch anymore? Their reporting has less credibility than the Enquirer these days. In fact, I would be more likely to believe the cover of the Enquirer than I would the headlines from the NYT or WaPo or any of their evil twins.
#18
Press? No such thing anymore. All agitprop. In fact, one or two use the agit and prop for their initials (AP and AFP... not sure what the F stands for... Agit-Fucking-Prop?).
Big step. Don't you think? How far will this go and how much further will Iran get involved in this latest twist? Time to make a martyr?
BAGHDAD, April 6 (UPI) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Sunday that Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr must disband his Mehdi Army. In an exclusive interview with CNN, the Iraqi official demanded that the radical Shiite leader immediately disband his forces, which recently clashed with the Iraqi military.
The Iraqi prime minister applauded his country's military forces for their efforts in those violent clashes and denied reports that neighboring Iran helped bring about a cease-fire.
CNN reported Maliki has the backing of top Iraqi political leaders to bar all followers of Sadr from engaging in the Iraqi political process if the dismantling of the cleric's militia does not begin.
Posted by: DK70 ||
04/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The necessary next step. Iran can't do much. They can give covert aid, but not enough to make much of a dent in the government's use of force.
Posted by: ed ||
04/07/2008 6:34 Comments ||
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#2
FOX NEWS AM > BASRA MYTHS > IRAN's role in Basra ceasefire - No evidence has yet been found that anyone from IRAQ went to IRAN TO DISCUSS ANY KIND OF CEASEFIRE WID SADR, NOR TO GET HIM TO UNILATER ORDER A CEASEFIRE vv MAHDI ARMY MILITIA IN BASRA. ROLE OF IRAN IS UNCLEAR AT THIS TIME.
#3
NPR reported this evening that young ayatollah-in-training Master Sadr is currently consulting with Sistani and someone equally important in Iran about whether he should immediately disband his Mehdi Army.
(KUNA) Commander of the law indisposition operations in Baghdad General Abboud Kumber on Sunday said that gunmen either have to hand over their weapons of various kinds volantarily or be prosecuted.
"Don't make us come UP there!"
Kumber urged militants in a press conference held here to turn in all their light, medium and heavy weapons in order to avoid legal consequences, revealing that those who surrender their weapons would be granted a financial reward. He added that those who violate this order would be prosecuted and their weapons would be onfiscated. He called on gunmen to take advantage of the grace period given by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to the militants to hand over their arms, warning at the same time that the Iraqi forces would be determined to disarm the militants by force.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2008 00:00 ||
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I was shocked, shocked, I tells ya!
RAMALLAH, West Bank - A top aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he will resign after being caught at a border crossing with 3,000 contraband cell phones in his trunk. They were...for the children, I swear it. Rauhi Fattouh said Monday that he was unaware of the smuggling last month at the Israeli-controlled border crossing into the West Bank. "Really. They ain't mine. Somebody put 'em in my trunk."
But he says he will assume moral responsibility and resign as Abbas' envoy. His driver has been charged with smuggling. But...can I keep the phones?
In 2005, Fattouh briefly served as interim Palestinian president. He also was once the Palestinian parliament speaker. ...and now he has street cred.
Ma'an Jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi expects to win the next Palestinian Presidential, an interview published on Sunday reports.
The Italian newspaper La Stampa spoke with Barghouthi in his cell in Israel's Hadareim prison. "Once Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] resigns, I will run in the presidential election, and I will win thanks to Fatah support," Barghouthi said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has often mentioned Barghouthi as a potential successor.
Meanwhile the London-based pan-Arab Al-Hayat newspaper reports that senior Hamas leader Khalid Mashaal will travel to Cairo soon in order to seal a prisoner exchange deal with Israel. Barghouthi is high on Hamas' list of prisoners it wants freed in exchange for the release of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. "Palestinians in 2006 voted against the collapse of the peace process, against renewed occupation of the West Bank, and against corruption within Fatah. However, it was Fatah who convinced Hamas to take part in the previous elections as they are part of the Palestinian people," said Barghouthi, commenting on Hamas' victory in the 2006 parliamentary elections.
In response to a question about the Annapolis conference and renewed peace negotiations with Israel, Barghouthi said the Israelis "continue to construct settlements, to confiscate lands, to try to transform Jerusalem into a purely Jewish city, and to suffocate the Palestinian economy." "What Hamas did in Gaza is obscene, and weakens the Palestinian cause. The peoples unity is all we have, our history. If we dont act, the divisions will destroy us. Hamas must restore Gaza to the president, Abu Mazen, and come to an agreement on a new government with a security apparatus without factions and fix the date of the elections in 2008. We are at a crossroad and Israel isnt helping us: with their politics of aggression they think they can crush us, and instead it strengthens the hardliners within Hamas," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2008 00:00 ||
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[3 views]
Top|| File under: Fatah
#1
Oh, and bring some bolt cutters next visit.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/07/2008 0:20 Comments ||
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#2
What sort of a message are we saying if Barghouthi is released?
#4
So whaddya in for, Marwan? As usual, Ma'an doesn't say. Smuggling cellphones? Illegal use of fireworks? Mass murder? Dancing with a mailman? Jaywalking?
It's one of them? Which one?
#9
Marwan's just one reason why it's stupid for the Israelis not to have the death penalty. Samir Kuntar is another. I'd not only execute that Kuntar son of a bitch myself, I'd pay for the privilege. The sooner that bastard is dead and in Hell with the rest of his Paleo murderers, the better.
"It is part of the misery of Arab life that the 'sheikhs of excommunication' have the right to excommunicate and declare apostasy against intellectuals, while no one has the right to sue these 'sheikhs' in court. This contradiction is a travesty of Arab law, for you have the right in Arab law to sue someone who insults you and slanders you, but you do not have the right to sue a person who declares you an infidel, which is the most serious and the most dangerous accusation! And why?
"The reason is that the religious sheikhs are placed above the people and have immunity, which prevents their being prosecuted. Several years ago 'Imam University' in Riyadh granted a Ph.D. 'with distinction' to a Saudi researcher who, in his doctoral thesis, declared 200 Arab intellectuals prominent proponents of modernity, rationality and enlightenment to be infidels. He said 'they are infidels and it is legal to kill them,' and not one of these accused intellectuals is able to demand justice for himself!
"Imagine the misery, absurdity, and contradictions in the Arab world when one person is able to excommunicate all of the Arab reformists in a Ph.D. thesis without any of them having the right to go to court against him!"
"And if an ignorant person believed what that researcher wrote and assassinated one of the scholars who was labeled and infidel, because the researcher made the shedding of his blood licit, there is no legal blame on the researcher who instigated the crime and misled the killer.
"It is time for Arab states to make declarations of apostasy (tafkir) a crime, just as murder is a crime, and an issue of great gravity not to be left to the unilateral declaration of an individual sheikh. We must have legislation to govern this matter to prevent anarchy and protect the dignity and reputation of the Muslim and his family...."
#3
"...We must have legislation to govern this matter to prevent anarchy and protect the dignity and reputation of the Muslim and his family...."
-------------
#4
They miss the obvious, a counter-fatwa calling for the death of those who call for death. Push the nonsense to extremes so much that it is laughed at, by turning it into a public exercise in cursing.
"He is an heretic eater of pork and copulator of she-asses. Flies gather around as he wipes himself with the right hand with which he holds the Koran. The lice between his toes reject the smell of his unwashed, heathen feet that he cleans only with the licks of a dog's tongue. Camels reject him from the odor of his Jewish beard..."
(Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa Sunday condemned the assassination of a senior minister and vowed to eradicate terrorism in the country. Rajapaksa said in a statement that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) "has repeated its brutality targeting a leader of the Catholics and Christian communities of Sri Lanka, who played an important role in bringing about greater understanding among different communities."
An LTTE suicide bomber killed Highway and Road Development Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle who was the chief guest of a road marathon in Weliweriaya, about 19 km northeast of the capital Colombo, around 7:30 a.m. (0200 GMT). Fourteen people were also killed and 83 others were injured in the explosion, the Ministry of Defense said. K. A. Karunarathna, a former national marathon champion and South Asian marathon gold medalist and Luxman Alwis, a national athletic coach were also among those killed.
Rajapaksa said this act "will not weaken our resolve to eradicate terrorism from our midst, and bring peace, harmony and democracy to all our people." He also called on the people "to be calm and collected in the face of such extreme provocation by the forces of terror."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2008 00:00 ||
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Lebanon MP Mustafa Alloush, a member of the Mustaqbal Parliamentary Bloc, said Saturday witnesses to the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri face death threats. Allloush, in a newspaper interview, accused the so-called "regional axis" of seeking to assassinate such witnesses. The phrase regional axis, in Lebanese political parlance, refers to Syria and Iran. Such an axis, according to Alloush, "could also chose some personalities that could become witnesses and assassinate them one way or the other."
Israel, according to Alloush, "could launch war on Lebanon." Probably so, but I'd call that one of your less pressing worries.
"Lebanon would not be spared in any war that would spark in the region due to the nature of Hezbollah and its affiliations," Alloush added. Perhaps if the effect is war with Israel, you should look to the cause, which is Hezbollah?
In a related development Mohammed Zuhair Siddiq, a major Syrian witness in the assassination of Lebanon's former PM Rafik Hariri, had mysteriously left his self-chosen exile in France to an unknown destination, the daily newspaper as-Safir has reported. Siddiq had implicated Syria in the Hariri crime. Damascus had denied the charge.
This article starring:
Mohammed Zuhair Siddiq
Mustafa Alloush
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2008 00:00 ||
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[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
(Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday held talks with visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora on the latest developments in Lebanon, the official MENA news agency reported.
Following talks with Mubarak, Seniora said it was natural to come to Egypt and consult with Mubarak when Lebanon is in a critical stage. Seniora said Lebanon believes in the need to move forward with the presidential election process, voicing his hope to reach an agreement on a three-point Arab initiative to help resolve the Lebanese political crisis.
This article starring:
Fouad Seniora
Hosni Mubarak
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2008 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
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.
(Xinhua) -- Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday called on Taliban militants to give up resistance, return home and take part in the reconstruction process of their war-torn country. "Taliban are part of this soil and we want them to return home," he told newsmen at his Palace after attending the recently concluded NATO summit in Bucharest. 
Many Algerians listened to al-Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri's recent audiotape with dismay, particularly over the language he used to justify terrorist operations against Algeria and other Muslim nations. 
General Homeland Direction DGSN has finished the elaboration of the project of the new counterterrorism unit which it is to be launched sooner to substitute the dissolved central judicial police department; well informed sources told El Khabar.
(Xinhua) -- Kim Jong Il, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), made a second inspection of the army in recent days as ties with South Korea deteriorate, the official news media reported on Sunday. Kim inspected a recruit training subunit under Korean People's Army (KPA) Unit 776, urging the newly-enlisted soldiers to firmly train and become "ardent revolutionaries and reliable fighters," the KCNA news agency said. 
The United States is no closer to achieving its goals in Iraq than it was a year ago but a quick military withdrawal could lead to massive chaos and even genocide, according to a report released Sunday by a U.S. think tank. The U.S. Institute of Peace report was written by experts who advised the Iraq Study Group, a panel mandated by Congress to offer recommendations on U.S. policy in Iraq in 2006.
The U.S. Republican Party's presumptive nominee for president, Senator John McCain, says Iraq's military performed "pretty well" during its recent assault in the southern Iraqi city of Basra despite mixed results of the battle. McCain made the comment in an interview with Fox News Sunday. He said such an assault would have been unthinkable just nine months ago.
SRINAGAR A major body of Indias leading entrepreneurs said yesterday that investment flow into Jammu & Kashmir has registered a 10 time-high in the wake of a "remarkable improvement" shown in its security situation in recent years.
The revival of almost-defunct Muttahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) is difficult, if not impossible, unless all members of the National and provincial assemblies from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) an MMA component party quit their offices.
VIRTUALLY EVERY MEDIA OUTLET declared the Basra operations a military failure before a week had passed. A New York Times headline blared that the "Iraqi Army's Assault on Militias in Basra Stalls" on March 27, two days after the launch of operations. Two days later--just four days after operations began--Britain's Independent noted that "the Iraqi army and police have failed to oust the Mahdi Army 
Ma'an Jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi expects to win the next Palestinian Presidential, an interview published on Sunday reports.
(Xinhua) -- Egyptian President 
