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Two men arrested over 'al-Qaeda inspired' plan to attack a Via Rail train in Toronto area
Today's Headlines
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 04/23/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Birthday Gam Shot

Angel Locsin [Pinoy][Filmography](age 28)



Design Label is Showing


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/23/2013 0:01 Comments || Top||

#2  I notice Marilyn has the sense to read the Defender.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 04/23/2013 4:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Is this Ping's daughter??
Posted by: 49 Pan || 04/23/2013 8:32 Comments || Top||

#4  I think we need a design review.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 04/23/2013 9:11 Comments || Top||

#5  I think Marilyn just looks at the pictures...
Posted by: Iblis || 04/23/2013 10:22 Comments || Top||

#6  ...and the DSTP has some great pictures.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 04/23/2013 11:16 Comments || Top||

#7  There are articles? :)
Posted by: CrazyFool || 04/23/2013 11:35 Comments || Top||


Africa North
French embassy in Tripoli hit by car bomb
A bomb exploded outside the French embassy in Tripoli, the capital of Libya, on Tuesday morning, the latest in a string of attacks on western diplomatic outposts in the north African nation still recovering from a 2011 armed uprising.

News reports from Tripoli said at least two embassy Gendarmes were injured in the blast, which took place on a quiet street in the upscale Gergarish district. Photos from the scene showed a burning car belching black fumes into the sky and a badly damaged embassy compound wall.

President François Hollande said in a statement: “France expects the Libyan authorities to shed light on this unacceptable act, to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice. This act is aimed via France at all those countries in the international community engaged in the fight against terrorism.”

The attack took place during a visit by a delegation of French lawmakers to the Libyan capital. Jean Glavany, a Socialist Party member of parliament, told a French broadcaster that one of the injured suffered grave wounds while the other was in good shape.

“Everything is devastated,” he was quoted as saying. “The explosion was felt in all the neighbourhood and windows were shattered even a few blocks away.”

Libya hailed France as a saviour during the 2011 Nato-backed uprising against former ruler Muammer Gaddafi. But the toppling of the former regime unleashed gangs of armed militants, some with hardline Islamist agendas and ties to al-Qaeda’s leadership in south Asia and northern Africa.
Posted by: tipper || 04/23/2013 05:18 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  AQ sent come kids over to express their dismay at the French hospitality in Mali.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 04/23/2013 10:15 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm guessing it's the local Salafists, not that there's much diffo between them and AQIM.
Posted by: Fred || 04/23/2013 10:29 Comments || Top||

#3  Their way of saying "Thank you for liberating us from Kadafi's oppression.".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/23/2013 13:32 Comments || Top||

#4  So that's how it's said in Arabic.

(at least the Libyan dialect...)
Posted by: Pappy || 04/23/2013 14:57 Comments || Top||


Tissemsilt blast wounds gendarmes
[MAGHAREBIA] A roadside bomb blast injured three Algerian gendarmes on Saturday (April 20th), APS reported. The improvised device exploded in Tissemsilt province, on the road between Bugtussle Theniet El Had and Booneyburg Youssoufia. Security services launched a search operation for terrorists in the nearby forests.
"I'm Mahmoud el-Houd! I takes from the rich to give to my bank account! I takes from the poor, too. And the middle class..."
Posted by: Fred || 04/23/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Africa Subsaharan
187 dead, 77 wounded in northern Nigeria clashes
[Al Ahram] Fierce fighting between Nigerian troops and suspected Islamists has killed 187 people and injured 77 others, a Red Thingy front man told AFP on Monday.

"So far, 187 dead have been buried, while 77 are under admission in hospitals. Over 300 houses were burnt down," Red Thingy front man Nwakpa O. Nwakpa told AFP of the massive shootouts that broke out Friday in the remote northeastern town of Baga

Nigeria's military clashed with suspected Islamist hard boyz in a remote northeastern village at the weekend, but casualty figures remained unclear, officials said on Monday.

The festivities broke out in the fishing village of Baga on Lake Chad, leaving scores of buildings burnt, according to an official who toured the area on Sunday with regional governor Kashim Shettima.

The military front man for the Borno state, Lt. Colonel Sagir Musa told AFP that media reports that some 180 people could have died in the festivities were "extensively inflated."

Scores of residents fled when the fighting broke out on Friday and had still not returned on Sunday, said the governor aide, who requested anonymity.

Although there were signs of heavy damage from the fighting, officials have not yet said how many died in the festivities.

"There could have been some casualties, but it is unthinkable to say that 185 people died," Musa said, when asked about media reports.

"On my honour as an officer, nothing like that happened." He declined to offer a specific figure.

Nigeria's security forces have a history of downplaying casualty figures in the conflict with Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
, the Islamist group based in the Borno state which has left several thousand people dead.

Resentment of the military is high in some communities and locals have in the past given inflated deaths tolls while accusing the military of indiscriminately killing civilians during their operations.

Locals reported that the festivities began when the military surrounded a mosque housing suspected Islamists.

Boko Haram has said it is fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria's mainly Mohammedan north, but the group's demands have shifted repeatedly.

The Islamists have used the Borno state capital of Maiduguri as a base, but scores of hard boyz have reportedly fled to more remote corners of the state following a crackdown by security forces in the capital.
Posted by: Fred || 04/23/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Arabia
Three Saudis Jailed for Plot to Kill Americans
[An Nahar] A special anti-terror court has sentenced three Saudis to six years in jail each for a plot to kill U.S. nationals at the height of a campaign of al-Qaeda attacks in the kingdom between 2003 and 2006, a witness said.

The court in Riyadh issued its ruling late on Sunday, said a witness at the hearing during which two other men were acquitted.

The three convicted were found guilty of having "supported the actions of the deviant group and planned the liquidation of seven Americans in the kingdom," the court ruled, using the official term to designate al-Qaeda.

It said they also planned to enter Iraq "to carry out terrorist acts."
Posted by: Fred || 04/23/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Bangladesh
2 Buddhist temples attacked
[Bangla Daily Star] Mystery shrouds arson attacks on Buddhist temple and orphanage at Patiya, and looting and vandalism at another temple at Boalkhali in the last three days.

The incidents, carried out in similar fashion, have sent shock waves through the Buddhists in the areas. They hark back to September last when two temples were vandalised at Kolagaon union in Patiya. Also that month, fanatics destroyed 18 Buddhist temples, monasteries and more than 50 houses at Ramu upazila in adjoining Cox's Bazar district.

On Saturday, a fire broke out at Dhatu Chaittya Bihar under Mukut Knight village in Patiya around 3:00pm.

Suman Sri Vhikhu, chief monk of the temple, told The Daily Star that it was an arson attack, but he did not know who were behind it.

Suman said he was at Patiya Sadar to buy some religious books for the temple when the arson took place.

"When I returned, I found all valuables, including my laptop, TV and furniture in my room of the temple, gutted by the flames," he said, adding that the Sramons (junior monks) and villagers doused the fire later on.

None of the neighbourhood could also say who set fire to the temple.

Around the same time the following day, the temple's orphanage was burned down. Again, no one knew who committed the arson.

Posted by: Fred || 04/23/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: HUJI


2 Shibir men held in capital
[Bangla Daily Star] Law enforcers have jugged
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
two leaders of Islami Chhatra Shibir
... the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh...
including its education secretary at Mohammadpur in the capital on Monday.

The arrestees are: Mobarak Hossain, education secretary of Shibir, student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
, and Russell Ahmed, a member of Shibir central committee.

A team of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab)-2 raided a house in Mohammadpur and made the arrest, said Capt Ovisheikh Ahmed of Rab.

The elite forces also seized some books on jihad from the possession of the Shibir leaders, the Rab official added.
Posted by: Fred || 04/23/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami

#1  Apparently only members of the Bangla Communist Party get the RAB's famous recover-the-shuttergun treatment.
Posted by: Pappy || 04/23/2013 12:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Students get the #4 truncheon.
Posted by: Muggsy Mussolini1226 || 04/23/2013 12:37 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
2 die in Reynosa

For a map, click here. For a map of Tamaulipas state, click here

At least two unidentified suspects in their 20s were killed in an armed confrontation with a unit of the Mexican Army, according to Mexican news accounts.

However, a Mexican blogger identified as Valor por Tamaulipas claims that six armed suspects were killed and a Mexican army rifleman was wounded in the firefight which occurred Monday afternoon at around 1640 hrs.

In a press release posted on its official website, the Tamaulipas state Procuraduria General de Justicia del Estado or attorney general said that the two armed suspects were travelling aboard a Nissan Titan pickup truck when it crossed paths with a Mexican Army road patrol in El Olmito colony.

The suspects were identified as Julio Enrique Ramirez Rios and Janer Francisco Cano, both from Reynosa. Soldiers also seized six rifles at the scene in the aftermath.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com
Posted by: badanov || 04/23/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


8 die in La Laguna

For a map, click here. For a map of Coahuila state, click here. For a map of Durango state, click here

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of eight individuals were killed or found dead in the La Laguna region of Mexico since Friday, according to Mexican news accounts.

Two unidentified men in their 20s were found shot to death and abandoned in a Volkswagen sedan Monday, according to a news report which appeared on the website of Yancuic.com The victims were found between ejidos Valle Eureka and 18 de Marzo in Gomez Palacio municipality in Durango state, each shot once in the thorax and head.

Elsewhere in Gomez Palacio, one unidentified armed suspect was killed by Durango state police in an exchange of gunfire, according to a news account which appeared on the website of El Siglo de Torreon news daily.

Somehow a patrol of the Policia Estatal encountered suspects who were travelling aboard two vehicles, a Chevrolet Aveo sedan and an SUV on Bulevar Ejercito Mexicano near the Expo Feria de Gomez Palacio fairgrounds.

However, according to a Facebook post by Codigo Rojo Laguna, the SUV has been carjacked by a local drug gang headed by an individual identified only as TONY.

In the gunfight the remaining gang members, some of whom are claimed by Codigo Rojo Laguna to be minors, escaped. Most of the encounter took place in Tierra Blanca colony.

Meanwhile in Torreon in Coahuila, three individuals were found shot to death, according to a news account which appeared on the website of El Diario de Coahuila.

The find was made near the intersection of calles Ninos Heroes and Fourth in Jose Ayup Tedy colony.

The victims were identified as Maria Luisa Flores Reyes, 45, Francisco Huerta, 46, and Antonio Valero Valero Parrilla, 20. A total of fifteen .223 caliber spent shell casings were found at the scene.

Separately, according to a Facebook posting by Codigo Rojo Laguna, armed suspects said to be associated with the Sinaloa Drug Cartel were seen at at least two bars, presumably in Gomez Palacio municipality. The suspects had been intimidating bar patrons with physical threats.

Friday, two more dead were found in Torreon in Coahuila, according to separate reports which appeared on the website of Vanguardia news daily.
  • An unidentified man in his 20s was found shot to death Friday night near the intersection of Periferico Raul Lopez Sanchez and Calle Francisco I Madero in Nueva Laguna Norte colony.

  • A man in his 20s was shot and later died while receiving medical attention. Martin Alejandro Ruiz Soto, 20, was brought into an Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) clinic by two relatives who said the victim was shot near the intersection of calles Juarez and Adolfo Lopez Mateos in ejido Zaragoza by a shooter travelling aboard a motorcycle with another driver.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com
Posted by: badanov || 04/23/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  the SUV has been carjacked by a local drug gang headed by an individual identified only as TONY

And squealed on by a bargirl known only as ROSITA?
Posted by: Pappy || 04/23/2013 14:59 Comments || Top||


Europe
Spain holds two North African 'al-Qaeda suspects
Spanish police have arrested two North African suspects thought to be linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

An Algerian identified as Nou Mediouni was arrested in Zaragoza, northern Spain, the interior ministry said.

The other suspect, a Moroccan named Hassan El Jaaouani, was arrested in Murcia in the south.

They have "a similar profile to the two suspects who carried out the Boston attacks", the ministry said. French police had helped to track them down.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is among several Islamist groups fighting French and West African troops in Mali.

It is not clear whether the pair arrested in Spain are suspected of planning any attacks. Their similarity to the Boston marathon bombers was not explained in the ministry statement.
Posted by: tipper || 04/23/2013 09:21 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Great White North
Two men arrested over 'al-Qaeda inspired' plan to attack a Via Rail train in Toronto area
[National Post] The RCMP locked away
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
two men Monday in connection with an "al-Qaeda-inspired" plan to attack a Via Rail train in the Toronto area, which they said could have led to innocent people being killed or injured.

An international investigation disrupted the scheme before there was an "imminent threat" to the public, said James Malizia, an RCMP assistant commissioner, told a news conference.

The two accused, Chiheb Esseghaier, from Montreal, and Raed Jaser, from Toronto, were charged with conspiring to carry out an attack and commit murder at the direction of or in association with a terrorist group.

The men are not Canadian citizens but police refused to say how they came to be in this country or where they are from originally.

The plot was to derail the train somewhere in the Toronto area, and the two accused had allegedly been watching trains and railways in preparation.

The plan received "direction and guidance" from an element of al-Qaeda based in Iran, said the force, refusing to elaborate. That connection with the Islamic terrorist organization made the plot particiularly significant, said Asst. Supt. Malizia.

However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
officers said there was no evidence the plan was in any way "state-sponsored."
Posted by: Fred || 04/23/2013 13:15 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


India-Pakistan
Many hurt in Kharadar grenade attack
[Dawn] Nearly a dozen people were maimed when unidentified suspects hurled an bomb near a bakery in Kharadar on Sunday night, police said.

The police officials added that the incident took place on Younghusband Road in the old city area near Mehran Bakery.

An bomb was hurled at a shop near the bakery at a time when a number of people were present there, said a duty officer at the Kharadar cop shoppe.

The grenade left many of them maimed, he added.

The police shifted all the victims to the Civil Hospital Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
where they were admitted for treatment.

Following the incident, tension gripped the locality and there were reports of some incidents of intense firing in the
neighbourhood, the police said.

The bomb disposal unit after examining the scene of the blast said that a hand grenade was used in the attack.

"Immediately it was not clear if the attack was directed against the shop or the grenade was hurled on the road," said SSP of City Ahmed Jamal ur Rehman. He added that investigation was under way to find a clue to the attackers and it was too early to arrive at any conclusion.

Two IEDs found

As many as two improvised bombs (IEDs) were found in a graveyard in Landhi on Sunday night, the police said.

The IEDs were of one and two kilograms in weight, respectively, the police added.

The IEDs were found in a graveyard in Muzaffarabad Colony.

The bomb disposal unit arrived at the scene and defused the IEDs.

A senior police officer said that a few months ago a deputy superintendent of police had been killed and many others were maimed in twin bombings.
Posted by: Fred || 04/23/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Militants target BNP-A leader in Balochistan
[Dawn] Militants targeted the vehicle of Central Secretary General Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
National Party (Awami), Asadullah Baloch in Panjgoor town of Balochistan on Monday, levies said.

Levies sources told Dawn.com beturbanned goons had planted a remote controlled bomb on the road side in Khudaban area of Panjgoor.

The source said that a huge blast occurred when the convoy of Asad Baloch, who is a former provincial minister, reached Khudaban.

Levies said Asad Baloch was unharmed during the attack. However,
there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened...
Asad Baloch's vehicle was damaged.
Posted by: Fred || 04/23/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Iraq
Iraqi Sunni protest clashes in Hawija leave many dead
[BBC.CO.UK] More than 20 people have been killed in festivities between security forces and Sunni Arab protesters in northern Iraq, officials say.

Violence erupted when security forces raided an anti-government protest camp in Hawija, near Kirkuk.

Two Sunni ministers said they were resigning in protest over Tuesday's raid.

It was the worst violence between security forces and Sunni protesters in recent months.

Tens of thousands of Iraqis in Sunni-dominated areas have been protesting against Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party....
, accusing his government of discriminating against them.

The government denies the accusations and says that protesters have been infiltrated by turban groups.
Posted by: Fred || 04/23/2013 13:19 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Clashes at Sunni protest site in Iraq kill 23
Clashes erupted in northern Iraq when security forces raided a rally site used by Sunni demonstrators early on Tuesday, killing at least 23 people and wounding dozens in an escalation likely to enrage protesters who have been rallying against the government for months.

The fighting broke out in the town of Hawijah, about 240 kilometers (160 miles) north of Baghdad. It is one of several overwhelmingly Sunni communities that have been the site of anti-government protests. The rallies began in December and are presenting a stubborn challenge to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-led government.

There were conflicting reports on the casualties.

Iraq's Defense Ministry said 20 people whom it described as "militants who were using the demonstration as a safe haven" were killed, along with an army officer and two soldiers. Another nine members of the military were wounded, the ministry said in a statement. It initially described those killed as members of al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath Party.

Sheikh Abdullah Sami al-Asi, a Sunni provincial official from Hawija, said the fighting began early in the morning when security forces entered the protest area and tried to make arrests. He said scores of people have been wounded or killed.

The provincial health director for the area, Sidiq Omar Rasool, said earlier in the day that 14 people were killed and more than 50 people were wounded.

On Friday, a checkpoint jointly run by the police and army near Hawija came under attack, and militants seized a number of weapons before retreating into the crowd of protesters, according to the Defense Ministry.

That led to a standoff, with security forces at times trying to negotiate with local and tribal officials the handover of those involved in the raid.

The Defense Ministry said it warned demonstrators to leave the protest area before moving in early Tuesday, and that large numbers of protesters left the site. As Iraqi forces tried to make arrests, they came under heavy fire from several types of weapons, and were targeted by snipers, according to the Defense Mininstry account.

Security forces detained 75 people and seized multiple weapons, including machine guns, hand grenades, knives, daggers and swords, the ministry said.

A United Nations spokeswoman in Iraq, Eliana Nabaa, urged both sides to avoid further violence.

"Stop immediately the use of weapons," she said.

Protests against the Shiite-dominated government began in western Iraq in December following the arrest of bodyguards assigned to Sunni Finance Minister Rafia al-Issawi. The rallies quickly spread to other areas that are home to Iraq's minority Sunni Arabs, including Hawijah.
Posted by: tipper || 04/23/2013 06:39 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Three killed as bomb rips through Thai naval base
Three servicemen, including a top bomb disposal expert, were killed when a bomb they were inspecting exploded inside a Thai naval base Monday. An explosives team had previously tried to disarm the bomb and had declared it safe to handle.

Investigators now believe the bomb was rigged with multiple trigger mechanisms, a tactic which they say is highly unusual for terrorists insurgents in the region. Six other military personnel were injured in the blast.

The 25-kilogram bomb tore through the bomb disposal unit's working area beside the marines' Special Taskforce building. Two of the marines died at the scene, and an air force officer died on the way to hospital.

Security officers had discovered the device planted near a bridge as they were removing anti-peace talk banners which had been been hung up in several locations in the southernmost provinces.

The navy's EOD team was called to defuse the bomb. They severed the electrical circuit inside the home-made device, and believed it disarmed. The bomb was then taken back to base for further inspection, where it later detonated.

Another bomb went off in Narathiwat province Monday. The device had also been placed near an anti-peace talk banner. Lt Kraisak Rotkanthuk, who had been removing the banner when the bomb went off, suffered a leg wound.

The two spots where the bombs were planted were among 64 locations in Narathiwat where anti-peace talk banners were raised Monday. In Yala province, 16 similar banners were found in six districts. The banners were also raised across parts of Pattani province.

The banners, written in Malay, read: "Peace will not occur if talks are not held with the real owners."

Meanwhile, five people, including two children, were wounded Monday in attacks thought to have been carried out by terrorists insurgents.

Aduean Dolo, his seven-year-old son, and a nine-year-old girl were wounded by a bomb blast as Mr Aduean was driving a pickup truck in Narathiwat. Investigators said the home-made bomb was most likely meant to hit a passing military convoy.

In Pattani, Napharat Sani and her sister Wanphen Inthongkaeo were shot and wounded in a drive-by attack as they were riding a motorcycle.
Posted by: ryuge || 04/23/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Two kidnapped Syrian bishops freed: church official
[REUTERS] Kidnappers freed two Syrian bishops on Tuesday who had been kidnapped in the northern city of Aleppo, a church official said, but the identities of their kidnappers remained uncertain.

"The two are on their way to the patriarchy in Aleppo," Bishop Tony Yazigi told Rooters in the capital Damascus
...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world...
Yazigi, a relative of one of the kidnapped bishops, did not say who was behind the kidnapping of Greek Orthodox archbishop Paul Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim.
Posted by: Fred || 04/23/2013 13:20 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Hizbullah Leads Fight in Syria's Qusayr
[An Nahar] Elite fighters from Hizbullah, a staunch ally of the Syrian regime, are leading the fight against rebels in the region of Qusayr in the central province of Homs, a watchdog said on Monday.

"It's Hizbullah that is leading the battle in Qusayr, with its elite forces," Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Agence La Belle France Presse.

"It's not necessarily fighters coming from Leb. It's Hizbullah fighters from Shiite villages on the Syrian side which are inhabited by Lebanese," he said.

Over the weekend, Syrian regime forces retook control of a string of strategic villages in the region, which is along the border with Leb.

That raised fears among rebels that the town of Qusayr itself, a stronghold of the uprising, could fall into government hands.

The Observatory said fighting was raging Monday morning between rebels and Hizbullah fighters around several other villages in the area, leaving two rebels dead.

The area is of key strategic importance because it runs along the border with Leb and is near the route running from Damascus
...The capital of Iran's Syrian satrapy...
to the coast.

On Sunday, the main opposition National Coalition urged Hizbullah to "immediately withdraw its forces from Syrian territory", adding its involvement in Syria's conflict "could drag Leb and the region into an open-ended conflict with disastrous consequences".

In the past, Hizbullah has insisted that its members fighting in Homs province were Shiite residents of Syrian border towns engaged in self-defense against rebel forces. The group has not commented on the intensified fighting near Qusayr.

Fighting in the area has spilled over into Leb, with rebels reportedly targeting border towns inside Leb in response to Hizbullah involvement in the conflict.

Elsewhere in Syria, the Observatory said eight regime security forces were killed when rebels, including from the jihadist Nusra front, detonated a car and fuel tanks at a government checkpoint and security outpost in Damascus province.

On Sunday, 116 people were killed throughout the country, including 39 civilians, 46 rebel fighters and 31 regime forces, said the Observatory, which relies for its information on a network of activists and medical staff on the ground.
Posted by: Fred || 04/23/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Leb: Tripoli Mob Tortures Man 'Suspected of Being Syrian Agent'
[An Nahar] A group of young men on Monday captured a man they suspected to be a Syrian intelligence agent in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
and handed him over to Lebanese army intelligence, as reports said he was "tortured."

A mob "beat up and tormented a Syrian man after they suspected that he belongs to the Syrian intelligence," al-Jadeed television reported.

"A man indentified as Y. Y. was captured at al-Nahhasin market while he was using his cellphone at the hands of young men from the area, who forced him to show them his ID," al-Jadeed said.

"When they found a Syrian intelligence ID in his possession, they stripped him off his clothes, beat him up, put a rope around his neck and dragged him in the street after they wrote slogans on his body," the TV network added.

The mob then handed him over to Lebanese army intelligence agents, it said.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shouting match, the spittle had reached unprecedented levels...
state-run National News Agency said a group of young men captured a "security suspect" at the traffic light on Azmi Street and handed him over to army intelligence.
Posted by: Fred || 04/23/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Over 100 Dead in Army Capture of Syria Town
[An Nahar] More than 100 people have been found dead in a town near the Syrian capital of Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...
after a five-day operation to retake the town by regime troops, a watchdog said on Monday.

"There are 101 deaders who have been identified in Jdaidet al-Fadl, which was taken completely by the army on Sunday. The victims are 10 women, three children and 88 men, including 24 rebels," Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Agence La Belle France Presse.

On Sunday, the group said it has confirmed the deaths of at least 80 people killed during shelling on the area, fighting and in summary executions.

The organization distributed several gruesome videos shot by activists showing bodies that bore signs of torture or mutilation.

An activist in Damascus said Sunday that all communication, water and electricity had been cut off in Jdaidet al-Fadl, adding that some of the corpses were "found in one of the hospitals" in the town.

She said some of the bodies had been beaten, and others burnt.

Since last year, the army has tried to root out rebels positioned southwest and east of Damascus, in a bid to secure the capital.
Posted by: Fred || 04/23/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Archbishops Yaziji, Ibrahim Abducted in Aleppo, Driver Killed
[An Nahar] Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo Youhanna Ibrahim and Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo and Iskanderun Boulos al-Yaziji were kidnapped on Monday at the hands of gunnies near the northern Syrian city, Leb's state-run National News Agency reported.

Archbishop Ibrahim picked up Archbishop Yaziji in his car from a village on the Turkish border and his deacon was driving the vehicle, NNA said.

"When they arrived at the outskirts of the city of Aleppo, an gang intercepted them and forced them to step out of the car, killing the driver and abducting archbishops Ibrahim and Yaziji," the agency added.
Posted by: Fred || 04/23/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring



Who's in the News
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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2013-04-23
  Two men arrested over 'al-Qaeda inspired' plan to attack a Via Rail train in Toronto area
Mon 2013-04-22
  Al Qaeda intelligence chief reported killed in drone strike
Sun 2013-04-21
  Egypt Police Arrest 39 in Cairo Clashes
Sat 2013-04-20
  Got him! Dzhokhar in custody
Fri 2013-04-19
  Boston: 1 suspect dead, 2nd on loose jugged
Thu 2013-04-18
  Pakistan's Musharraf flees court to avoid arrest
Wed 2013-04-17
  Boston Bombing Suspect Identified, Arrest Made
Tue 2013-04-16
  Feds seek suspects, motive in Boston bombings
Mon 2013-04-15
  Pair of Explosions Hit Boston Marathon
Sun 2013-04-14
  16 killed in attack on Somali Supreme Court
Sat 2013-04-13
  Bomb Near Iraq Mosque Kills Seven
Fri 2013-04-12
  Saleh’s son removed from military posts
Thu 2013-04-11
  Germany: 4 charged in assassination plot
Wed 2013-04-10
  Al-Nusra Syria Rebels pledge allegiance to leader of al-Qaeda
Tue 2013-04-09
  N.Korea Pulls Workers Out of Kaesong Complex

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