Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Sharon Stone aka Catherine Tramell in "Basic Instinct" aka Claire Mattson in "Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol" aka Ginger McKenna in "Casino" aka Lori Quaid in "Total Recall" (age 53)
British Special Forces in Afghanistan have seized a convoy of powerful Iranian rockets destined for Taliban fighters. The haul is the strongest evidence yet of a significant escalation in Tehran's support for the Taliban, military officials said.
The consignment of 48 rockets hidden in three trucks was intercepted last month after a fierce fire fight which left several insurgents dead in the remote southern province of Nimroz, bordering Iran.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said the British ambassador has raised the matter with officials in Tehran.
The 122mm rockets have twice the range and twice the blast radius of the Taliban's more commonly used 107mm missiles and have not been seen in action against Nato forces for the past four years. The rockets have a range of more than 12 miles and shower shrapnel to a radius of nearly 100 feet.
The 48 weapons had been deliberately disguised to appear manufactured elsewhere, but tests by weapons experts had determined they were from an Iranian factory.
Lt Col John Dorrian, a spokesman for Nato forces in Afghanistan, said the rockets had been found on Feb 5 and had been undergoing tests since then.
Nato officials have frequently accused elements within the Iranian revolutionary guard of supplying low levels of weaponry and training to the insurgency.
Diplomats believe Shia Iran has no desire to see the radical Sunni Taliban take power in Afghanistan, but instead are providing enough support to harass Nato.
Diplomats believe 5 impossible things before breakfast.
Last month, a senior American officer in Afghanistan said Iran wanted "to be in the game" and could increase its support "overnight" through well-established smuggling networks.
"This is a really significant indication of Iranian support for the insurgency," said one British military source. "I'm not aware that we have had so strong evidence as this in the past."
#1
Last month, a senior American officer in Afghanistan said Iran wanted "to be in the game" and could increase its support "overnight" through well-established smuggling networks.
That would be "well-established" and thriving cross-border smuggling networks run by corrupt Afghan Border Patrol, Afghan Army, and Afghan Police FOK'rs (Friends of Karzai) who extort hundreds of millions of USD each year...but who's activities remain OFF LIMITS due to US State Department tacit mandate. Welcome to the Stans.
#9
Hopefully the geopolitical aspects of the U.S. having significant military presence in Afgan and Iraq and surrounding Iran was NOT lost on Bush. In fact, that alone would justify both wars. Unfortunately, the demonization and BDS that passed as politics and media coverage effectively knee-capped the strategy. So, we are going to end up with a nuclear Iran, Muslim Brotherhood controlling Egypt (and Suez) and all sorts of other really wonderful, dangerous problems. What could-a, should-a been.
[Tolo News] The Taliban and other bad turban groups are to blame for 75% rise of civilian deaths in Afghanistan in 2010, a UN report says. A UN report shows there has been a big increase in Afghan civilian casualties in 2010 showing a 15% rise than the year before.
For some strange reason the AP hasn't picked up this Tolo News Special...
It is odd. Usually AyPee picks up the UN feed before the little local papers. D'you suppose the AP U.N. journalist has fallen ill?
According to the report, more than 2,700 Afghan non-combatants were killed in 2010.
The government and Nato forces are only blamed for 16% of deaths.
Wonder why Roooters isn't interested?
The report indicate 2,777 civilian deaths, 83% rise in abductions, 105% increase in assassinations, 588% and 248% rise in civilian killings in Helmand and Kandahar provinces, 26% decline in the number of civilian deaths caused by coalition and Afghan forces, 21% rise in the number of child casualties and 6% rise in the number of women casualties.
The increasingly mounting civilian casualties have raised widespread concerns in Afghanistan both in the government and among ordinary Afghans.
But strangely, they blame the US and not the Taliban...
The Afghan government strongly reacted to the recent 'mistaken killing' of nine kids in US forces' helizap in Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Binny's house in Chitral... , which followed apologies from the Commander of Coalition forces Gen. David Petraeus and US Defence Secretary Robert Gates.
A dramatic increase in liquidations and killings of women and kiddies made 2010 the bloodiest year in the Afghan war.
Assassinations rose to 462 cases, and there was a 105% increase in the assassinations of government officials, aid workers and civilians.
The threats have made Afghan government officials to take more security measures and restrict their movements even in the areas of their responsibility.
"An individual deciding to join a district shura (meeting), to campaign for a particular candidate, to take a job with a development organisation, or to speak freely about a new Taliban capo in the area, often knows that their decision may have life or death consequences," the report says.
The UN has said the suppression of individuals' rights also has political, economic and social consequences as it can impede governance and development efforts in Afghanistan.
Insurgents target government staff, politicians and tribal elders to disrupt the transition process to Afghan lead.
People including children were generally killed by roadside kabooms. Child deaths in 2010 rose to 21%.
As 2011 is already expected to be a bloody year and military operations by Afghan and foreign forces have been launched in different parts of the country to clear volatile regions of bad turbans, human rights ... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you... groups are concerned that civilians will continue to be victims in the war.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Versus
* TOPIX, DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > PAKISTAN GOVT. [reluctantly]ADMITS THAT MOST CIVILIANS KILLED IN US DRONE ATTACKS ARE TERRORISTS.
#2
NEWS KERALA > US FEAR OF TERRORISTS GRABBING PAK NUKES OVERLOOKS BIGGER THREAT OF WAR WITH INDIA [new Indo-Pak war], as induced by PAK ISI-CONTROLLED OR ARMED MILTERR GROUPS LAUNCHING NEW "MUMBAI" STYLE OR WORSE TERRSTRIKES INSIDE INDJUH.
ARTIC = Timelines between PAK-induced/ordered Terrstrikes agz different major targets inside India getting shorter and shorter while the collateral damages = casualties simul keeps getting bigger and bigger???
#3
Timelines between PAK-induced/ordered Terrstrikes agz different major targets inside India getting shorter and shorter
When the Indians finally get fed up with this rotten nonsense and give them the thrashing they so richly deserve, I shall stand on the sidelines and tut-tut with feigned concern. They might want to do it before Pakistain arms up with the help of their new BFF, China.
#4
government and Nato forces are only blamed in the UN report for 16% of deaths.
What percent of the civilian deaths the UN attributes to the US were actually Taliban whose partners survived to recover their weapons before the bodies were counted? Or innocent women & kiddies who were buried and the UN just had to take their word for it?
[Tolo News] Fifteen Islamic fascistihanded over their weapons and surrendered to government in Kunar Province, Afghan National Directorate of Security said in a statement on Tuesday.
The men were active in Laghman province fighting against the government in the province, added the statement.
The surrendered men have promised to work for peace in their province and help the government in the reconstruction process, the statement said.
Militants are active in most villages of Laghman province.
With the increasing operations of Afghan and foreign forces in the country, dozens of Islamic fascistihave laid down their arms and joined the Afghan grinding of the peace processor.
Afghan forces are due to take control of security across the whole country by 2014.
On Tuesday US Defence Secretary Robert Gates visited southern Afghanistan to meet troops ahead of the planned gradual withdrawal of foreign force.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
The surrendered men have promised to work for peace in their province and help the government in the reconstruction process....
.....until ISAF departs and the 'Chicago Community Org Plan' payments end, whichever comes first.
MOGADISHU The Somali pirates holding a Danish family hostage on Thursday killed eight Puntland government troops who were heading towards their mountain hide-out, security officials said.
Officials said forces from the northern Somali breakaway state where the seven hostages -- four adults and three teenage children -- are held were approaching the pirates' lair and were intercepted on the way.
"Puntland armed forces clashed with pirates near Bandar Beyla and the information we're getting indicates that there were casualties," said Abdifatah Mohamed, a security official based in Bosasso. "Some of our soldiers were killed and one of our trucks was destroyed," he said, adding that communication with the remote area near Bandar Beyla was bad, making it impossible for him to confirm the number of dead.
"A reinforcement of 11 armed vehicles has left Garowe," the administrative capital of Puntland, he added.
Another security official who refused to be quoted, however, said eight Puntland troops were killed in the ambush.
Fourteen suspected pirates from Somalia and Yemen were indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury in Virginia on Thursday in connection with the hijacking of a yacht last month that resulted in the deaths of four Americans.
The Justice Department says 13 suspected pirates from Somalia and one from Yemen were indicted on a range of charges that include piracy, kidnapping and the use of firearms during a crime.
If convicted, the suspects could be sentenced to life in prison.
The indictment does not include murder charges against any of the suspected pirates. But it says that at least three of the defendants who were aboard the yacht shot and killed U.S. citizens. So...why no murder indictment?
#1
At a news conference on Wednesday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters that the Obama administration is determined to go after anyone who harms Americans anywhere in the world.
We will protect our citizens," he said. "We will do all that we can to make sure that they are safe. And for those who would engage in acts that put them at risk or result in the deaths of American citizens, they will be held accountable in American courts.
Holder was asked about the decision to prosecute alleged Somali pirates in U.S. courts, and whether he had a message for the pirates.
If you attack American citizens, you are going to be held accountable and we will put you in jail for extended periods of time," he said. "And we will consider other measures. We will seek ultimate sanctions where that is appropriate.
#2
I'm sure "extended periods of time" just scared the bejuebus out of them!
Wait - why doesn't the death penalty deter crime?
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/10/2011 18:21 Comments ||
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#3
Indict?
Oh, ferchrissakes - we're not going to stop the pirate problem until "indict" is spelled "s-h-o-t" or "h-a-n-g-e-d." >:-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/10/2011 19:32 Comments ||
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#4
why doesn't the death penalty deter crime?
Because that's why we lock ourselves up at night.
Because that's why we worry about our children out after sunset.
Because that's why we won't travel or transit certain parts of towns and cities.
THEY get to apply a death penalty without due process, appeal, or delay. Hey, we're just expendable and replaceable.
Now, tell me again why the death penalty doesn't alter behavior?
#5
If we are going to go to the expense of a trial and then the expense of life in prison, I'd just as soon send them back to Somalia and let them do life there. It's got to be worse than any prison in the US.
#6
Nimble, technically speaking given Life-expectancy over there, sending them back is a death sentence. One I support if by airplane at 10,000ft.
Posted by: Charles ||
03/10/2011 20:21 Comments ||
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#7
"And for those who would engage in acts that put them at risk or result in the deaths of American citizens ,and who aren't members of the Taliban or of the House of Saud, or of the House of Gaddafi etc, they will be held accountable in American courts."
An attempt by Somali security forces to free a Danish family from a pirate gang on Thursday turned deadly after the would-be rescuers walked into an ambush, a pirate and a security official said.
The Maersk Alabama was targeted again by suspected Somali pirates today, a U.S. official told ABC News. This is at least the third time pirates have targeted the Alabama.
The official said that four suspected pirates approached the ship in a skiff, and a hook ladder could be seen in the boat. When the skiff came within half a nautical mile, the ship's captain authorized warning shots to be fired. The pirates continued to approach, and the captain ordered aimed shots, which convinced the skiff to turn around and sail away.
Those shots likely were fired by contracted security on board, something that was added to the Alabama after the 2009 attack.
[The Nation (Nairobi)] A man identifying himself as a contractor has claimed innocence a day after police released his photograph and linked him to the al-Shabaab ... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader... terror group.
The police report said Mr Abdulrahman Mutua Daud coordinated communication between Somalia-based beturbanned goons and their "cell in Kenya." However, The infamous However... he admitted having been in contact with Juma, who lives in Somalia and is accused by police of being deeply involved in al-Shabaab operations there.
Mr Daud identified the man as his 25-year-old nephew.
He asks why police say he is on the lam yet he is in contact with anti-terrorism unit detectives since December 30, last year, when they nabbed him.
"They freed me after four days in jug. They told me to report at their offices after every two weeks. I've been there four times this year," Mr Daud told the Nation.
He added: "They even have my telephone number." Today, he plans to present himself to the police in the company of his lawyers.
His photograph was among three others circulated to the media by police, together with profiles of 10 men who police said belong to the group.
Recent converts to Islam had been recruited and trained in Somalia for future attacks against Kenya, but Mr Daud said he was born a Mohammedan.
"My parents were Mohammedans. I've never travelled to Somalia. I've never had any military training," he said.
The alert came just a week after the terrorist group affiliated to al-Qaeda threatened to attack Kenya. It read in part: "A recent operation to arrest these suspects was not successful and we are, therefore, appealing for the assistance of the public who may have information on their whereabouts."
When Mr Daud was nabbed, he was living with his sister, Juma's mother. He said he was born in Majengo, where he earned a living collecting rent as a house agent
"That business folded two years ago and now I'm in real estate. I'm involved in construction of houses," he said.
Police said those on their list were planning unspecified attacks in Nairobi and linked them to the Uhuru Park bombing as well as last year's blasts in Kampala in which 76 people were killed.
This article starring:
Abdulrahman Mutua Daud
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] The former leader of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat ... now known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb... (GSPC), now AQIM, Hassan Hattab was placed in a "safe place" while the former number two of the organization Abderezzak El Para, has been imprisoned, said the Algerian Minister of Justice Tayeb Belaiz.
"We started to implement presidential decrees (waiving the state of emergency.) Hassan Hattab was placed in a safe place while Abderezzak El Para was placed in jug Monday" after being heard by a judge, said Belaiz, whose remarks were reported Tuesday night by the news agency APS.
Hassan Hattab, who surrendered to authorities in late September 2007, had been excluded from the GSPC, who joined in September 2006 the terrorist network Al Qaeda of Osama bin Laden and renamed itself Al Qaeda in the Maghreb Islamic (AQIM).
He had opposed the rally and went to benefit from the Charter for National Reconciliation in February 2006, offering forgiveness to the Islamists against their surrender, according to the press.
Abderrezak El Para, his real name Amari Saifi, is the author of the kidnapping of 32 European tourists in 2003 in the Algerian Sahara.
He was delivered in 2004 to Algerian security services by Chadian rebels who had captured him, after Libyan mediation.
He has been waiting his trial, which was postponed several times due to the absence of the accused.
So far, the two men were "placed in administrative detention - that locks a person without trial, by the Ministry of the Interior as part of a state of emergency," told AFP Counsel Me Mokrane Ait Larbi.
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03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] Five people, including three members of one family were killed Tuesday by a roadside kaboom that went kaboom! in their vehicle in the region of Djelfa (270 km south of Algiers), reported Wednesday the Algerian press.
The kaboom occurred as a vehicle was carrying five people on a country road in Selmana, near Djelfa.
This attack, not claimed, is the deadliest in Algeria for more than five months.
The last major action attributed to armed Islamist groups in Algeria dates back to October 2010, when five soldiers were killed during a sweep in Kabylia (east).
A local leader of Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb, Bouher Mourad alias Abou Turab, was also killed Monday night by the Algerian army in Bordj Menaïel, according to several newspapers.
The violence involving armed Islamists has mourned Algeria for two decades but has significantly abated in the last five years. However, The infamous However... they persist in the regions of corpse-littered Boumerdes and Tizi Ouzou in Kabylia, in the east, and are assigned to groups claiming to belong to AQIM.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] The special forces of the national army have succeeded on the night from Monday to Tuesday to eliminate one of the most dangerous leaders of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, ... now known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb... a terrorist Bouher Mourad, alias "Abu Tourab", Emir of Saryate Al-Quds, acting on the axis of Bordj Ménaïl. His weapon, a Kalashnikov rifle, was recovered.
According to sources of Ennahar, the elimination of this terrorism has been held as part of an operation by Special Forces of the PNA in the region following information on suspect movements of the terrorist Bouher Mourad in recent days.
An ambush had been set in the region of Tala Oubrid in Bordj Ménaïl.
Abu Tourab was a member of the military commission of the phalanx "Ennasr" consisting of 12 terrorists. He led several criminal operations in the region throughout his activities within the terrorist organization.
According to the same sources, movement of this terrorist in the region of Bordj Ménaïl, specifically at the place of the ambush, was in the context of preparing for a terrorist operation, which the army managed to defeat.
Bouher Mourad, alias Abu Tourab was born in 1980 in Bordj Ménaïl. He joined terrorism in 1999 and was appointed emir of the Saryate after the death of its former emir Djemaâ Boualem.
The national army had succeeded in eliminating early last year, the terrorist Kamel Bourihane, aka "Kamel Bouhafs, communications officer, board member and coordinator of the wise among the heads of regions within the GSPC during an operation conducted in coordination with security forces, between the regions of Hizer and Tikedjda in the province of Bouira.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] Arab and western diplomatic sources have informed Asharq Al-Awsat that secret communications have been taking place with the Libyan government which aim to convince Libyan leader Colonel Qadaffy to step down from power. In addition to this, an official close to Colonel Qadaffy has denied that the Libyan leader has put forward any political deal to the opposition National Transitional Council -- led by former Libyan Justice Minister Mustafa Abdul Jalil -- agreeing to step down from power in return for the rebels guaranteeing him safe passage outside of the country, as well as legal immunity for any crimes he may have committed during his 42 year reign.
The Libyan official, who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat from Tripoli yesterday, said that the only deal that the Qadaffy regime had put forward to the National Transitional Council was a deal formulating national reconciliation and which aimed to stop the bloodshed in the country. As for the issue of Qadaffy stepping down from power, the Libyan official said that this is not up for discussion with any party, internally or externally. The official told Asharq Al-Awsat "let me reiterate what has been said before, Colonel Qadaffy is not a president or a traditional ruler that can step down or be removed from power, he [Qadaffy] previously said that if he were a president he would have thrown his resignation in the face of those who are calling for this."
The Libyan official also stressed that Colonel Qadaffy is not looking for a safe haven outside of Libya or a safe means of leaving the country, adding that Qadaffy will continue to remain in his position as the leader of the revolution.
In a recent interview conducted by Al-Saadi Qadaffy with an Arab satellite television channel, he accused his brother Saif al-Islam Qadaffy of failing to implement reforms ordered by their father. However the Libyan official told Asharq Al-Awsat that al-Saadi Qadaffy's statements had been taken out of context, adding that "this is part of an attempt to drive a wedge between the Qadaffy children and senior aides, but let me confirm to you that these accusations are not true." The Libyan official refused to comment about the reported gunfire heard coming from within the Bab al-Azizah stronghold in Tripoli last week, and rumors that this was part of a stand-off between Qadaffy's children.
A division within the Libyan National Transitional Council and its leader has also emerged. This council, which was initially established in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, was formed to govern the Libyan areas liberated from Qadaffy control, and is made up of a number of senior former Qadaffy regime figures, including its leader former Justice Minister Mustafa Abdul Jalil, as well as former Libyan representative to the vaporous Arab League Abdul-Monem al-Houni. Asharq Al-Awsat learnt that Jalil wants to give Qadaffy a 72-hour deadline to step down from power in return for legal immunity regarding the recent bloodshed in Libya, whilst other members within the Libyan opposition oppose such a deal and want to see Qadaffy nabbed and tried for crimes against humanity.
Tripoli has denied that Qadaffy has received any offers from the National Transitional Council and has scoffed at the idea of Qadaffy relinquishing power that he does not in fact possess. In response to this, senior member of the National Transitional Council Abdul-Monem al-Houni, told Asharq Al-Awsat "if Qadaffy, as he claims, is not serving as the legitimate president of the country, then the question that must be asked is: in what capacity does he hold the powers of a state president and order the killing of Libyan citizens?"
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Abdul-Monem al-Houni, told Asharq Al-Awsat "if Qadaffy, as he claims, is not serving as the legitimate president of the country, then the question that must be asked is: in what capacity does he hold the powers of a state president and order the killing of Libyan citizens?"
Ergo, the mistake was made to sanction Libya because it was controlled by a non-legitimate leader. Ex post facto leverage or something.
Maybe that is what everyone that works for him should think about during his removal.
#2
So what did the 'unsecret' Euro delegation do when Saddam was butchering the march Arabs just after the ceasefire of the first Gulf War? How many years did elements cheat on the restrictions in exports, take bribes, etc. Why should anyone really pay attention to such pleadings now?
[Maghrebia] Despite security conditions in Libya, many countries are still delivering humanitarian assistance. Supply trucks and ambulances arrived Monday (March 7th) from the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation in Dubai. Medical equipment and supplies also arrived from Hungary.
"We keep the supplies in storehouses and then distribute them in an organised way in the Eastern Region up to Ajdabiya and Ras Lanuf," Dr Ahmed Quwaidar said in Benghazi.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Ennahar] The Libyan opposition Tuesday rejected any possibility of negotiations with the regime of Muammar Qadaffy, demanding that the Libyan leader left the country while promising in this case not to initiate criminal prosecution.
Abdeljalil Mustapha, former justice minister who chairs the National Council set up to prepare for the transition, said the Libyan leader had not sent an emissary himself, but that lawyers of Tripoli proposed as intermediates for negotiations.
"He did not send anyone. Some people have proposed as intermediate to stop bloodshed and end the suffering endured by the inhabitants of Misrata", the third largest city, 150 km from Tripoli, the scene of fighting with heavy weapons, said by telephone Adbeljalil.
"These people are bully boy lawyers in Tripoli," he added.
"We're obviously in favor of ending the bloodshed, but he must first resign, then he should go, and we will not prosecute criminal charges against him," he added, without specifying whether that immunity was been suggested by the lawyers of Tripoli.
Earlier, a front man for the opposition had raised a proposal for negotiations on the part of Qadaffy's camp, and assured that the offer was immediately rejected.
"I think there was an attempt by people of Qadaffy with the National Council. It was rejected," said Mustafa Gheriani, responsible for media relations at the headquarters of the opposition, installed in the court of Benghazi.
"We will not negotiate with him. He knows where Tripoli airport is and all he has to do is to leave and stop the bloodshed," he added.
Another opposition representative, speaking on condition of anonymity, ... for fear of being murdered... told AFP that a mediator had approached the National Council on Monday but there would be no discussion until Mr. Qadaffy leaves the country.
The Libyan opposition, fighting for three weeks against the regime, controls much of eastern Libya, and some towns in the west. Saturday, the National Council said it was the "sole representative of Libya."
The advance of the snuffies on the front was stopped in recent days by the regular army, who also conducted deadly attacks with heavy weapons in several towns in the west.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] A fighter plane carried out an attack Wednesday at about one km from the refinery of the Libyan city of Ras Lanuf, held by the orcs, where heavy fighting ... as opposed to the more usual light or sporadic fighting... was under way, according to an AFP journalist on site.
The aircraft flew at low altitude before firing between the refinery and the Mediterranean coast. It was not possible to determine immediately whether the raids had caused casualties or damage.
Earlier, a series of major kabooms were followed by huge flames and fireballs in the sky above the refinery As-Sidra.
According to a witness working as a laborer in another oil facility in the region, an oil pipeline was hit.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] Libyan forces loyal to Muammar Qadaffy closed in on rebels in the western city of Zawiyah on Wednesday, surrounding them with tanks and snipers in the main square, a resident and a rebel fighter said.
"We can see the tanks. The tanks are everywhere," a rebel fighter told Rooters by phone from inside Zawiyah, the closest rebel city to the capital Tripoli.
"They have surrounded the square with snipers and tanks. The situation is not so good. It's very scary. There are a lot of snipers," said a resident.
With the international community still hesitant about how to respond to the crisis in Libya, a counter-offensive by Qadaffy loyalists has halted a rebel advance in the east and left others stranded in the western cities of Zawiyah and Misrata.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Dean Acheson ... made it clear that Washington believes that imposing a no-fly zone is a matter for the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society and should not be a U.S.-led initiative.
The rebel fighter in Zawiyah, named Ibrahim, said forces loyal to Qadaffy were in control of the main road and the suburbs. Rebel forces still controlled the square and the enemy was about 1,500 meters (yards) away, he said.
Ibrahim said there were army snipers on top of most of the buildings, shooting whomever dared to leave their homes.
"There are many dead people and they can't even bury them. Zawiyah is deserted. There's nobody on the streets. No animals, not even birds in the sky," he said.
A government front man said troops were mostly in control of Zawiyah, but there was still a small group of fighters. "Maybe 30-40 people, hiding in the streets and in the cemetery. They are desperate," he said in Tripoli.
Foreign news hounds have been prevented from entering Zawiyah, 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, and other cities near the capital without an official escort.
Rising casualties and threats of hunger and a refugee crisis have increased pressure on foreign governments to act, but many were fearful of moving from sanctions alone to military action. President Barack B.O. Obama has faced criticism for being cautious.
"We want to see the international community support it (a no-fly zone)," Clinton told Sky News. "I think it's very important that this not be a U.S.-led effort."
NO-FLY ZONE
British Prime Minister David Cameron ... British PM Cameron describes himself as a modern compassionate conservative and has spoken of a need for a new style of politics that doesn't involve calling people names. He has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's probably not. He has also claimed to be a liberal Conservative, and a very tall short person. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has urged politicians to concentrate on improving people's happiness and general well-being, instead of focusing solely on financial wealth, which is easy for a stockbroker's kid to say. Ask him to lend you ten quid and see how that works out. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... , who talked with President Barack Obama about a no-fly zone by telephone, told the BBC planning was vital in case Qadaffy refused to step down in response to the popular uprising that erupted mid-February.
"I think now we have got to prepare for what we might have to do if he goes on brutalizing his own people," he said.
In the telephone call, the two leaders "agreed to press forward with planning, including at NATO, on the full spectrum of possible responses, including surveillance, humanitarian assistance, enforcement of the arms embargo, and a no-fly zone."
Britain and La Belle France are seeking a U.N. resolution to authorize such a zone to ground Qadaffy's aircraft and prevent him moving troops by air. Russia and China, which have veto power in the U.N. Security Council, are cool toward the idea, which could require bombing Libyan air defenses.
Hafiz Ghoga, front man for the rebel National Libyan Council, said in the rebel base of Benghazi in eastern Libya:
"We will complete our victory when we are afforded a no-fly zone. If there was also action to stop him (Qadaffy) from recruiting mercenaries, his end would come within hours."
In the east, much of which is under rebel control, warplanes bombed rebel positions around the oil port of Ras Lanuf where the front line is shifting, with rebels in 4x4 trucks mounted with weapons engaging the army in strike and counter-strike.
Revolutionary euphoria seemed to have dimmed. "People are dying out there. Qadaffy's forces have rockets and tanks," Abdel Salem Mohamed, 21, told Rooters near Ras Lanuf on Wednesday. "You see this? This is no good," he said of his light machinegun.
Air strikes hit rebels behind the stretch of no man's land desert between Ras Lanuf and Bin Jawad, 550 km (340 miles) east of Tripoli. The towns are about 60 km (40 miles) apart on the strategic coast road along the Mediterranean Sea.
Pro-Qadaffy troops who had besieged the rebel-held city of Misrata left on Tuesday, driving east toward Sirte with other forces coming from Tripoli, a resident said. There had already been reports Sirte had been reinforced from the south.
SET ON SIRTE
Sirte, hometown and a stronghold of Qadaffy, lies on the road to the emerging front that divides the country along ancient regional lines, with oil facilities in the middle, and has become a symbolic prize targeted by the rebels.
Qadaffy has said rebels were drug-addled youths and al Qaeda-backed terrorists, and said he would die in Libya rather than surrender. One of his sons said if Qadaffy bowed to pressure and quit, Libya would descend into civil war.
Qadaffy and his entourage made a dramatic visit to a Tripoli hotel where foreign journalists were staying late on Tuesday and gave interviews to French and Turkish television.
Early on Wednesday, Libyan television broadcast a speech, recorded a day earlier, by Qadaffy to tribal leaders in Tripoli, his fourth televised address since the uprising began.
Returning to familiar themes, the Libyan leader said the rebels wanted to pave the way for a new colonial era that would allow Britain, La Belle France and the United States to divide up the country and control its oil wealth.
Representatives of the Libyan opposition met EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in Strasbourg and planned to speak at the European Parliament on Wednesday.
Mahmoud Jebril, head of the crisis committee of the National Libyan Council, said the EU should recognize the council as the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people.
EU states agreed to add the $70 billion Libyan Investment Authority to a sanctions list on Tuesday. The embargo already covers 26 Libyans including Qadaffy and his family.
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03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] The Libyan people will take up arms against Western powers if they seek to enforce a no-fly zone in the country's airspace, Muammar Qadaffy said.
Britain and the United States have discussed an internationally backed no-fly zone as a contingency plan in case Qadaffy refuses to step down in response to the popular uprising that erupted mid-February.
"If they take such a decision it will be useful for Libya, because the Libyan people will see the truth, that what they want is to take control of Libya and to steal their oil," Qadaffy said in an interview broadcast by Turkey's state-run TRT news channel on Wednesday.
"Then the Libyan people will take up arms against them," Qadaffy said. The interview was conducted in Arabic and aired with Turkish subtitles.
President Barack B.O. Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron ... British PM Cameron describes himself as a modern compassionate conservative and has spoken of a need for a new style of politics that doesn't involve calling people names. He has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's probably not. He has also claimed to be a liberal Conservative, and a very tall short person. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has urged politicians to concentrate on improving people's happiness and general well-being, instead of focusing solely on financial wealth, which is easy for a stockbroker's kid to say. Ask him to lend you ten quid and see how that works out. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... agreed in a telephone call "to press forward with planning, including at NATO, on the full spectrum of possible responses, including surveillance, humanitarian assistance, enforcement of the arms embargo, and a no-fly zone."
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Edmund Randolph ... has made it clear that Washington believes any decision to impose a no-fly zone over the oil-producing desert state is a matter for the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society and should not be a U.S.-led initiative.
Qadaffy repeated earlier claims that the revolt was inspired by foreign al Qaeda cut-throats who have paid young men and freed prisoners to fight with them.
He said Western governments and media had been fooled by al Qaeda propaganda into believing that government forces had unleashed violence on Libyan people.
"I'd have to be mad to shoot at peaceful demonstrators. I'd never have done that. "No, no! Certainly not!"
"I'd never have allowed anyone to be shot," he said in an interview with La Belle France's LCI television.
Human rights activists estimate more than 1,000 people have been killed since the uprising began in mid-February.
Qadaffy also complained that the U.N. Security Council was bypassing its own processes to act hastily against Libya.
Returning to accusations that al Qaeda was to blame for the violence, Qadaffy said the international community should realize the consequences.
"The world will change its attitude toward Libya because Libyan stability means the security of the Mediterranean Sea. It will be a huge disaster if al Qaeda takes over Libya," the Libyan leader told TRT.
"Al Qaeda would flood Europe with immigrants. We are the ones who prevent al Qaeda from taking over control. They would drag the whole region into chaos... Al Qaeda would take over North Africa."
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03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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Unfortunately for the US-NATO/EU, IMO Uncle Muammar is dead-on in most of his assessments as per THIRD-PARTY/TERTIARY CONSEQUENCES TO HIS FORMAL DEPARTURE FROM POWER. There will be some kind of extant power vacuum which the US-NATO/EU may not be able to deter, control, or forestall.
AS LONG AS MUAMMAR SEES NO POSITIVE OR BENEFICAL SUPPORT FROM THE WEST, HE WILL HAVE NO QUALMS ABOUT PUNISHING THE WEST VIA NOT STOPPING ANY MASSIVE INFLUX OF [illegal]REFUGEES TO EUROPE NOR ANY LONGER OPPOSING RADICAL ISLAM, + RESTARTING LIBYUH'S DEFUNCT NCUPROGS. He's going to show the West "the Bird", Finger andor Nose, + tell it to go fix its own problems/issues wid Radical Islam + Nuclear Iran + Other [rising oil prices?] by itself.
[Iran Press TV] British military experts say the UK lacks the capacity to patrol a no-fly zone over Libya where its dictator Qadaffy is killing innocents to consolidate his rein.
This is while Prime Minister David Cameron ... British PM Cameron describes himself as a modern compassionate conservative and has spoken of a need for a new style of politics that doesn't involve calling people names. He has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's probably not. He has also claimed to be a liberal Conservative, and a very tall short person. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has urged politicians to concentrate on improving people's happiness and general well-being, instead of focusing solely on financial wealth, which is easy for a stockbroker's kid to say. Ask him to lend you ten quid and see how that works out. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... has said that his country was ready to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya to stop more bloodshed in the country.
"We have to prepare for what we might have to do if he goes on brutalizing his people. I don't think we can stand aside and let that happen", said Cameron.
However, The infamous However... a prominent London-based defense think-tank said that without switching resources from Afghanistan the UK could not contribute enough aircraft to stop Qadaffy attacking revolutionary forces inside his country.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... the UK is enforcing a wide-scale cut in its fleets of warplanes as part of a military shake-up to slash the country's defense budget.
The experts with the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) say the West is unable to impose a no-fly zone even though there were enough jets.
"It is difficult to see how it could generate the tankers, the intelligence-collecting aircraft and also the surveillance aircraft to support it without having to redeploy those assets from supporting the campaign in Afghanistan or counter-piracy operations," said Brigadier Ben Barry, senior fellow for land forces at the IISS.
Douglas Barrie, the IISS's military aerospace analyst, said the logistical requirements for a no-fly zone would severely stretch the West's capacities.
"These have been implemented in the past both in Bosnia and Iraq but of course there is a cost both in terms of the fuel bill alone and also in terms of the assets you have to deploy from elsewhere," he said.
The IISS is publishing its annual report on the strength of world's armies, in which it warns that cuts to defense budgets in the West had accelerated a military shift toward other countries, especially China.
The development came as a US official poured cold water on the proposal to impose a no-fly zone over Libya irrespective of the fact that pressure was mounting on President B.O. to act.
"The kinds of capabilities that are being used to attack the rebel forces and, indeed, the population will be largely unaffected by a no-fly zone," said US Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder.
Many other US government officials have also voiced skepticism over the efficacy of a no-fly zone.
"We can save many more lives with humanitarian relief and other efforts than through a no-fly zone," said one official.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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Yep, so do I get my Monster Burger now or do I have to wait until 2015-2020 unitl it goes Solyent???
#2
OTHER NET > IISS > Libyan NFZ = "Saddam Hussein II/Saddamist Iraq II" in Libyuh = MORE BRUTAL RANDOM, ORGANIZED KILLINGS OF CIVILIANS[includng en masse'], + POLITICAL-LEGAL REPRESSIONS + $$$ BILYUHNS SPENT IN MANPOWER + MILWARES + RECCE TO ENFORCE SAID NFZ.
And perhaps the greatest reason of all, AFTER ALL OF THE ABOVE THE US-ALLIES MAY STILL END UP SENDING IN GROUND FORCES ANYWAY IN DIRECT INVASION + OCCUPATION [Kuwait-Iraq], OR "PEACE-KEEPING" [former Yugoslavia].
* US SENATOR RICHARD LUGAR = NFZ in LIBYUH is tantamount to an "ACT OF WAR".
At a time when the ISLAMIST-JIHADIST NUCLEAR THREAT [Nuc Militancy-Terrorism] IS ALSO ADVENT.
Any decision to impose a no-fly zone over battle-torn Libya should be taken by the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society and "not the United States", U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Frederick T. Frelinghuysen ... said.
"I think it's very important that it is not a U.S.-led effort because this comes from the people of Libya themselves, This doesn't come from the outside, this doesn't come from some Western power or some Gulf country saying 'This is what you should do'," Clinton told Sky News late on Tuesday.
"We think it is important that the United Nations make that decision... We want to see the international community support it."
Crisis could be protracted
Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy ... an Arab institution for 42 years ... are trying to suppress a revolt against his 41-year rule.
Clinton said the crisis could be protracted.
"We've called for Colonel Qadaffy to leave. We believe that he has totally given up any legitimacy to power. When a leader turns against his own people, that is the end. But we know that there is a long road ahead for being able to try to resolve this."
"We'd like to see this resolved peacefully. We would like to see him (Qadaffy) go peacefully. We would like to see a new government come peacefully," Clinton said.
"But if that's not possible, then we are going to work with the international community. Now there are countries that do not agree with that and we think it's important that the United Nations make this decision, not the United States. So far the United Nations has not done that," she said.
Asked about the possibility of lifting a recently imposed arms embargo on Libya and supporting the rebels, Clinton said:
"Everything is being looked at. It is difficult in the midst of this civil conflict that's going on now to even know how you would do that, because right now it's not clear what part of the country is actually under rebel control."
Western allies divided
Britain and La Belle France are working on a U.N. Security Council resolution establishing a no-fly zone over Libya which they could put forward if they believed conditions warranted it.
But Western allies still appear divided over the wisdom of a no-fly zone and how it would be implemented, and there are doubts over whether China and Russia would support a Security Council resolution authorizing such a zone.
Pressed on whether the United States would support a no-fly zone, Clinton said: "We are going to support the efforts that are being made because we think that the people of Libya themselves have to be supported and we know how difficult this struggle is."
U.S. President Barack B.O. Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron ... British PM Cameron describes himself as a modern compassionate conservative and has spoken of a need for a new style of politics that doesn't involve calling people names. He has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's probably not. He has also claimed to be a liberal Conservative, and a very tall short person. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has urged politicians to concentrate on improving people's happiness and general well-being, instead of focusing solely on financial wealth, which is easy for a stockbroker's kid to say. Ask him to lend you ten quid and see how that works out. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... agreed in a telephone call on Tuesday to press forward with planning on a range of possible responses to the Libyan crisis, including a no-fly zone, the White House said.
Clinton's remarks echoed earlier comments from British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
"There must be a demonstrable need that is accepted broadly by the international community, as well as the strong international support that would come from that," Hague said.
Republican senator John Maverick McCain ... the former presidential candidate and even more former foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution... later told BBC's Newsnight program that the U.S. should consider immediate action.
"People are being massacred. Isn't it an obligation that the world has to stop a mad dictator from massacring his own people?" asked the 2008 presidential candidate.
"If we don't have the military capability to take on their defenses and their air force, then we have wasted a great deal of American treasure. We can handle the Libyan air force and defenses, I know we can," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
I don't think "the world" gives a good crap, Johnnie.
#2
...and there are doubts over whether China and Russia would support a Security Council resolution authorizing such a zone.
Ummm...no not really. There's no "doubt" that either, if not both, China and Russia would veto a Libyan NFZ resolution. And the Madam Secretary knows it. Never the less, it's a good way to appear all measured and diplomatic while her boss tries to figure out which decision will make him look best.
#3
On minor benefit from all this leadership vacuum is that the rest of the world, including the Europeans themselves, see how empty the West is absent the US. Since we are now afraid to made any decisions beyond saying things are unacceptable and lifting our presidential chin in a look of imperious arrogance, the Euros and the rest of the people begin to see the chaos and danger that lurks in a world without a leader. I'm not sure we shouldn't just reinvent the Monroe Doctrine, pull everybody back into our hemisphere, and give the ChiComms and the Russian plutocrats and the Eurocrats the stage and see the gordian knot they make.
We're broke, and its time to fix things at home. The Wisconsin display is a clear message how much clean up on aisle America we need to do.
I think we are about to revisit the 60's as the Dems suddenly see the cash cows begin to choke and the leftie knives actuall come out.
[Maghrebia] The six Persian Gulf states on Monday (March 7th) called for a no-fly zone over Libya, AFP reported. "The Gulf Co-operation Council [GCC] demands that the UN Security Council take all necessary measures to protect civilians, including enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya," the bloc said in a statement.
"We call on the international community, especially the UN Security Council, to face their responsibilities in helping the dear people," United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan said at an emergency GCC ministerial meeting in Abu Dhabi. GCC states Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Soddy Arabia and the United Arab Emirates reached their decision after the Libyan regime "totally refused to allow aid" to reach civilians.
Also Monday, NATO stepped up aerial surveillance. "The decision was made to indeed increase the surveillance of the NATO-AWACS capability to make it 24/7, to have a better picture of what's really going on," US Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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Potent suff that Lybian crude. The lack of which makes one forget all about those pesking backbone and spinal disorders.
CAIRO -- Saudi police opened fire Thursday to disperse a protest in the mainly Shiite east, leaving at least one man injured, as the government struggled to prevent a wave of unrest sweeping the Arab world from reaching the kingdom.
The rare violence raised concern about a crackdown ahead of more planned protests after Friday prayers in different cities throughout the oil-rich kingdom. The pro-Western monarchy is concerned protests could open footholds for Shiite powerhouse Iran and has accused foreigners of stoking the protests, which are officially forbidden.
Despite the ban and a warning that security forces will act against them, protesters demanding the release of political prisoners took to the streets for a second day in the eastern city of Qatif. Several hundred protesters, some wearing face masks to avoid being identified, marched after dark asking for "Freedom for prisoners." Oh joy. $5/gal gas here we come.
[Dawn] A group of citizens in the United Arab Emirates petitioned the rulers Wednesday to allow a popularly elected parliament, signaling that demands for leadership overhauls raging across the Middle East have also reached the oil-rich Gulf federation.
Bahrain has been gripped by a three-week uprising, and smaller rallies for greater political freedoms have taken place in Kuwait, Oman and even Soddy Arabia.
There are no official opposition groups in the Emirates, which is a union of seven sheikdoms. Activists who advocate change have until now been largely idle during the region's unprecedented political unrest.
The petition, signed by 130 pro-reform supporters, was a sign that Emiratis now too are acting on the inspiration by the Egyptian and Tunisian revolts. It demands the ruling system changes, gives them a say in the running of the country and a share in its oil wealth.
"By putting these demands forward at this time we wanted to send a message that cannot be missed: We have some demands for political reform and democracy, too," said Ahmed Mansour, an Emirati human rights ... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you... activist and a blogger.
The petition was addressed to the Emirates' president and the ruler of the oil-rich capital Abu Dhabi, Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The petitioners demanded "a comprehensive reform of the parliamentary system" and "free elections for all citizens."
They also called for constitutional reforms and the granting of legislative powers to an elected parliament.
The Emirates' current parliament is based in Abu Dhabi and serves as an advisory body. Its 40 members are either directly appointed by the ruling sheiks or elected by citizens hand-picked by the rulers to vote.
Abu Dhabi's Al Nahyan family controls the Emirates' vast oil riches and holds most government positions. Al Nahyans also have considerable influence over the other six city-states, including the deeply indebted boomtown of Dubai.
Political parties and rallies are banned in the Emirates. Migrant laborers from Southeast Asia have staged street protests against low wages and poor working conditions during Dubai's construction frenzy, but all rallies ended in a police crackdown that included jailing and deporting thousands of workers.
Activists have complained of stepped-up harassment in the past year even as the conservative Mohammedan federation, where Dubai and Abu Dhabi pride themselves in a Western outlook, showcases itself as an economic and cultural powerhouse.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2011 that the human rights situation has sharply deteriorated in the United Arab Emirates with the authorities prosecuting and jailing activists who advocate political reforms and greater press freedoms.
The report also said authorities have stepped up monitoring of blogs and social media, which played a key role in the uprisings that brought down the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt and have served as an inspiration for political activists across the Middle East.
"Unfortunately, the UAE government is ignoring the historical developments in the Arab world and continues arresting people just because they express support for the Egyptian revolutionaries," Mansour said.
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03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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[Arab News] Protesters gathered outside Kuwait's main government building Tuesday to demand sweeping changes on how the oil-rich country is run as another Gulf state joined the surge for reforms around the Arab world.
Security forces stood by as hundreds of demonstrators moved into an area outside a building holding key offices including Kuwait's emir and the prime minister, who is accused by pro-reform groups of stifling political freedoms and muzzling dissent. The initial crowd was limited, but protest organizers had to switch venues after police blockaded the central Safat Square in Kuwait City.
Although the protests mark the first in Kuwait since the stunning Arab uprisings, the oil-rich Gulf nation is no stranger to political showdowns. Kuwait has the region's most powerful parliament and opposition politicians have waged open battles against the ruling system, including nearly bringing down the prime minister two times with no-confidence votes.
One of the protest slogans: "Leave! We Deserve Better!" Others waved banners saying "New country with a new prime minister." The planned rallies were timed to dovetail with the return of parliament from a nearly monthlong recess.
One of the first acts was the swearing-in of the new interior minister, whose predecessor was dismissed in January following an uproar when a suspect accused of illegal liquor sales was beaten to death in police custody.
But the main target of Kuwait's opposition remains the prime minister, Sheik Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah, a nephew of Kuwait's emir. Protesters also seek to break the exclusive grip on power by the ruling family, which holds all major government posts and controls the oil riches in the world's fourth-largest producer.
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[Asharq al-Aswat] The Yemeni government escalated its efforts to stop mass protests calling for the president's ouster on Tuesday, with soldiers firing rubber bullets and tear gas at students camped at a university in the capital in a raid that left at least 98 people maimed, officials said.
The army stormed the Sanaa University campus hours after thousands of inmates rioted at the central prison in the capital, taking a dozen guards hostage and calling for President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, after serving as a lieutenant colonel in the army. He had been part of the conspiracy that bumped off his predecessor, Ibrahim al-Hamdi, in the usual tiresome military coup, and he has maintained power by keeping Yemen's many tribes fighting with each other, rather than uniting to string him up. ... to step down. At least one prisoner was killed and 80 people were maimed as the guards fought to control the situation, police said.
Yemen has been rocked by weeks of protests against Saleh, inspired by recent uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia that drove out those nations' leaders. Saleh, a key U.S. ally in the campaign against al-Qaeda, has been in power 32 years. In a sign that the protests are gaining traction, graffiti calling for Saleh to step down surfaced Tuesday in his birthplace, village of Sanhan, for the first time since the protests began.
Students at Sanaa University have been sleeping on campus since mid-February, shortly after the start of the protests calling for the country's president to step down.
Medical officials said many of the 98 people maimed were at death's door. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information. Witnesses reported seeing armored vehicles and personnel carriers headed to the area of the university.
"It's a massacre," said opposition front man Muhammad Qahtan. "It is a crime by security troops against students engaged in a peaceful sit-in."
Demonstrations also continued elsewhere in the country. In the southern port city of Aden, a crowd of women joined a demonstration after a young protester was shot in the head and critically maimed during a rally there the previous day.
Tens of thousands erupted into the streets in the Ibb province, calling on the government to bring to justice those responsible for a deadly attack there Sunday. Opposition activists blamed "government thugs" who descended on protesters camped out on a main square. One person was killed in that violence and 53 people were hurt.
Even before Yemen was hit by the wave of protests, the country was growing increasingly chaotic with a resurgent al-Qaeda, a separatist movement in the south and a Shiite rebellion occasionally flaring in the north.
Seeking to head off the protests, Saleh called for national dialogue after meetings Monday with the country's top political and security chiefs. The state-run news agency said the conference would be held Thursday and would include thousands of representatives from across Yemen's political spectrum.
But opposition leader Yassin Said Numan said there would be no dialogue unless Saleh agreed to step down by year's end.
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At least two suspected Al-Qaeda Orcs and similar vermin were killed and another maimed in Yemen's northern province of Sa'ada during an exchange of gun fire between an gang from Al Ates tribe in Ktaf district.
Ali Naser Al-Tes and Abdullah Hassen Al-Tes were killed and Aref Saleh Rashed was maimed during the fighting between the two sides. No more details were reported.
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[Al Jazeera] Scottish police have nabbed a 30-year-old man in connection with a botched suicide kaboom in Stockholm, the Swedish capital, last December.
The man, said to be a foreign national, was jugged following a dawn raid in Glasgow, Scotland, on Tuesday.
A police statement said the arrest "relates to allegations that this individual has been involved in aiding terrorism activities outside Scotland", but added there was "no evidence" to suggest he posed a risk to Scotland.
Taimour Abdulwahab al Abdaly, an Iraqi-born Swedish national, went kaboom!" and injured two others in an apparent attempt to target Christmas shoppers in downtown Stockholm on December 11, 2010.
It is believed he was intent on attacking a train station or department store, but the explosives he was wearing detonated prematurely.
In January, the director of Iraq's anti-terrorism unit said al Abdaly, who lived in Sweden in the 1990s, had received explosives training in the northern Iraqi city of djinn-infested Mosul.
Investigators into the bombing had been studying a link to Britain, after it emerged that the attacker studied sports therapy at the University of Bedfordshire in Luton, Britain, where he graduated in 2004.
Days after the attack British police searched a property in southeast England, thought to be where 29-year-old al Abdaly had lived with his wife and three children, but no arrests were made.
Swedish Sherlocks, who previously said they were looking for a second or third person who could have helped al Abdaly, reported that they had co-operated with Scottish police in the probe.
"The arrest in Scotland is a result of the Scottish police investigation and a co-operation between Scotland and Sweden within the framework for international legal assistance, as well as a good cooperation between prosecutors and the police authorities," Sapo, the Swedish intelligence agency, said in a statement.
"The investigation so far shows that there may be a connection between the nabbed person and the terror crime in Stockholm on December 11, something the continued investigative work in Scotland will have to show," it added.
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Sixteen individuals were murdered in drug and gang violence in northern Mexican states, including the shooting death of three city employees of Guadalupe, Chihuahua. For a map, click here
An unidentified man was shot to death Tuesday in Juarez. The victim was pursued by armed suspects near the intersection of calles Cetufa and Anis in the Ampliacion Aeropuerto colony when he was shot numerous times with an AR-15 assault rifle.
An auto repair shop was torched in what reports suggest was related to extortion. The building near the corner of calles Ciruela and Henequen in the El Granjero colony was adjacent to a church. No one was reported hurt in the arson. Reports also say that several establishments have been victims of extortion by organized crime in the colony.
Three men were shot to death and a fourth was wounded in a shooting in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Tuesday night. Ricardo and Cesar Alquizo, 30 and 22, and Raul Gonzalez Portillo, 23, died at the scene on calle Rio Rhin while the fourth unidentified man escaped the area.
Three men were shot to death and two others was wounded in two separate incidents in Parral, Chihuahua Tuesday night.
One unidentfied man were shot to death and another was wounded in a Mitsubishi sedan in front of a taco stand at about 1820 hrs. The victims were near the corner of the Durango road and Calle del Libramiento in the Prolongación Independencia colony when a scuffle broke out and shots were fired. Several AK-47 and 9mm spent cartridge casings were found at the scene. Inside the sedan was found a .40 caliber automatic pistol with eight rounds, suggesting it was an intergang dispute.
Two men were shot to death aboard a Volkswagen Jetta near a Walmart store. Antonio Martinez SolÃs Dan, 26, and Gerardo Rojas Miguel Rios were shot by armed suspects aboard at least two vehicles. The victims returned fire, but were overcome by assault rifle fire. An abandoned Toyota Camry sedan was found nearby with damage from gunfire. Several AK-47 assault rifle and .38 Super spent cartridge casings were found at both scenes. Reports suggest this shooting was also gang related.
Three Guadalupe, Chihuahua city employees were shot to death Wednesday. Rodolfo Ramirez, 40, Gabriel Escobar and Manuela Lara Rodriguez were part of the city sanitation department, and were working in a park on Calle Chihuahua when armed suspects shot and killed them.
An unidentified man was found dead in Hermosillo, Sonora Tuesday. The victim was found near the intersection of calles Delicias and Paseo Florido in the Las Quintas Nueva Galicia colony.
Two unidentified men were found dead on a highway near Hermosillo, Sonora Tuesday. The victims were found on Highway 26 hands bound with tape, and partially decomposed.
An unidentified man was found beaten to death in Tijuana, Baja California. The victim was found on Calle 16th in the El Pipila in the La Presa delegation.
An elderly man was found strangled to death in his residence in Mexicali, Baja California. Rodolfo Garcia Orozco, 83, was found in his residence's bathroom on Calle Numancia in the Villas del Rey colony by family members. Reports suggest the murder was in connection to a home invasion.
An unidentified Baja California PolicÃa Estatal Preventiva agent shot and killed a suspected robber Tuesday night in Tijuana, Baja California. The unidentified officer apparently intervened in an armed robbery of a taco stand on Avenida Acueducto in the Sanchez Taboada delegation, and shot one of three robbers, after the gang fired on him.
An kaboom went off Wednesday at a bus stop close to the training center for Russia's FSB security service in Moscow, without causing casualties, the national anti-terror committee said.
"An bomb went off at a bus stop at Michurinsky Avenue where the FSB academy is located," a committee front man told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"At the same time it is too early to say if the blast was directed at the academy," he added.
The national anti-terror committee is part of the FSB.
Such kabooms are a near daily occurrence in the North Caucasus where Russian forces are fighting beturbanned fascisti but are relatively rare in Moscow.
The kaboom comes after a blast in January killed 37 people and maimed more than 100 in Moscow's busiest airport. After a lull of several years, suicide kabooms returned to Russia last March when two female jacket wallahs from the Caucasus killed 40 and maimed dozens on the Moscow underground.
One of those two underground blasts occurred near the FSB headquarters in central Moscow that some experts have said was hardly a coincidence.
Russia's leading Islamist rebel Doku Count Doku Umarov has claimed both attacks and vowed to make 2011 "a year of blood and tears."
After Wednesday's blast police heightened security measures around Moscow and the city's police chief went to the scene, Interfax quoted a police front man as saying.
Citing a source in law enforcement, Intefax said the bomb was stuffed with nuts and bolts.
"It looks like jihad boys," the source said, adding however that radical nationalist groups could also be involved.
The source also told Interfax the blast might be a maneuver to draw police attention away from a "more serious crime," another signature tactic of beturbanned fascisti fighting the Russian security forces.
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03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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Here are words that you never thought you'd hear a Pakistani general utter about the drone strikes that batter Pakistan's tribal areas: "A majority of those eliminated are terrorists, including foreign terrorist elements."
That would be yawn-worthy if it came from the CIA, which never misses an opportunity to credit its drone strikes with taking out al-Qaeda and its affiliates. But it was the main message of an official briefing from Maj. Gen. Ghayur Mehmood in Miram Shah. He's the commander of Pakistan's Seventh Division, charged with leading troops in North Waziristan.
"Myths and rumours about US predator strikes and the casualty figures are many," Mehmood said, according to Dawn, "but it's a reality that many of those being killed in these strikes are hardcore elements, a sizeable number of them foreigners."
He even brought stats. According to the general, "about 164″ drone strikes have occurred since 2007 -- the New America Foundation tallies 226 since 2004 -- have killed "over 964 terrorists." Of those, 793 were Pakistanis and 171 were foreigners, "including Arabs, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Chechens, Filipinos and Moroccans."(Filipinos? Huh.) Only "a few civilians" have been killed, he said.
[Dawn] Police say they have nabbed four Talibs after a shootout, but four alleged bully boyz beat feet.
Senior police official Mohammad Aslam told news hounds Wednesday that police raided the group in Bloody Karachi after receiving a tip. The Islamic fascistiwere believed to be planning attacks in the city.
Police showed news hounds four hooded men who they said were the suspects. They also displayed an explosives-laden sucide jacket, assault rifles and other weapons they said they recovered during the late Tuesday encounter.
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03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] IG Punjab Javed Iqbal said the bad boy network behind the Faisalabad blast has been traced but this group has no connection with Punjabi Taliban, Geo News reported.
The police chief said one suspect was nabbed from the spot and upon his information two of his associates were also apprehended, which eventually led to the whole network. The group, he maintained, wanted to the target offices of secret agencies.
However, The infamous However... when asked as to which group might be involved in this activity, the IG said it's premature to establish something in this regard.
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03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] At least four persons including two political activists and ten other people were maimed in incident of murders in separate parts here in metropolis on Tuesday, Geo News reported.
Imran Afridi was rubbed out in Qasba Colony who was reportedly an activist of provincial committee of a political group.
Unidentified gunniesshot up passenger bus in Banaras Colony, killing one persons and injuring another four.
Munawwar Iqbal was bumped off near Johar Complex in a firing incident which police termed a murder incident.
Mushtaq was killed and two other men were maimed in Bheem Pura area by unidentified gunnies following which the situation in the area turned tensed.
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03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan
[Al Jazeera] A roadside kaboom in east Storied Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, has killed an army general, while violence in other parts of the city has left 13 others maimed, officials say.
Taha Ahmed Samir, a brigadier-general who headed training for Iraq's air force, was killed when a military convoy he was in was hit by a blast in al-Kanat street, an interior ministry official told the AFP news agency.
Two other soldiers were maimed in the kaboom.
A separate blast in the Karradat Mariam neighbourhood, on the edge of Storied Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, left five people maimed, the official said.
He said that another kaboom in Baab al-Muadham in central Storied Baghdadmaimed four other people.
On a street in the city's east, a policeman and a civilian were maimed by a bomb, a police official said.
While violence has dropped dramatically since its peak in 2006 and 2007, attacks remain common, especially in Storied Baghdad.
In another development on Wednesday, hundreds of Iraqi workers rallied in central Storied Baghdad, calling for improved salaries and better economic conditions.
The demonstration came after thousands of Iraqis had taken to the streets in recent days to protest against corruption, unemployment and the lack of public services.
At least 14 people were killed on February 25, which had been dubbed a "Day of Rage" by protesters.
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03/10/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] The Abu Zuhri family on Tuesday accused Egyptian State Security of executing Yousif Abu Zuhri, brother of a Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,front man, in October 2009.
At a presser in Gazoo City, family members said they had received new information from two Gazoo residents recently released from Egyptian prisons.
The former detainees said Yousif Abu Zuhri was brought to the interrogation center in Egypt's Nasr City where they were being held. On October 10 2009, interrogators tortured Abu Zuhri with electric shocks for an hour until he died, the ex-prisoners said,
Hamas front man Sami Abu Zuhri said his brother did not die of ill health as claimed by Egyptian security at the time, but was rather tortured to death.
"The recent testimonies revealed all ambiguities about the martyrdom of Yousif Abu Zuhri," he said.
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[Ma'an] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,' armed wing announced the death of a fighter on Tuesday, saying in a statement that the 20-year-old was killed in a "jihadist mission in the Rafah district."
The man was identified as Abed Al-Hamid Naser Abu Ghali from Rafah refugee camp. The statement from the Al-Qassam Brigades said Abu Ghali joined the group in 2007 as a 16-year-old, and would be buried following a funeral procession on Wednesday.
Israeli news site Ynet reported Wednesday that a tunnel between Egypt and Gazoo collapsed overnight, killing one man, and also said planes were seen flying over the Strip after an kaboom.
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#1
WAFF > ARMY OFFICIALS SAY THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO CONTROL A NON-VIOLENT TUNISIA-STYLE MASS UPRISING IN WEST BANK. Israeli IDF's "JUDEA & SAMARIA DIVISION" | [Haaretz] IDF PREPARING FOR MASS CIVIL UPRISING IN WEST BANK.
IDF surprised by the sudden breakout of "Jasmine" Mass Protests in various ME Arab States, hence did not anticipate a need for any "Jasmine" contingency plan.
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.
handed over their weapons
al-Shabaab
[Ennahar] The special forces of the national army have succeeded on the night from Monday to Tuesday to eliminate one of the most dangerous leaders of the 
leader Colonel Qadaffy to step down from power. In addition to this, an official close to Colonel Qadaffy has denied that the Libyan leader has put forward any political deal to the opposition National Transitional Council -- led by former Libyan Justice Minister Mustafa Abdul Jalil -- agreeing to step down from power in return for the rebels guaranteeing him safe passage outside of the country, as well as legal immunity for any crimes he may have committed during his 42 year reign.
[Ennahar] A fighter plane carried out an attack Wednesday at about one km from the refinery of the Libyan city of Ras Lanuf, held by the
Hillary Clinton
David Cameron
leader Muammar Qadaffy
John 
CAIRO -- Saudi police opened fire Thursday to disperse a protest in the mainly Shiite east, leaving at least one man injured, as the government struggled to prevent a wave of unrest sweeping the Arab world from reaching the kingdom.
President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
[Al Jazeera] Scottish police have 
Doku 
[Dawn] Police say they have 
Punjab
[Ma'an] 
