[Tolo News] Tawab Ghorzang, the spokesman of the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG), on Wednesday announced that Gul Agha Sherzai, the Governor of Nangarhar province, has resigned from the post, in order to file his candidacy for the next spring's Presidential election. Gul Agha is a rapacious, dictatorial bastard. The Taliban got their start rescuing people from his clutches. Can we drone zap him on general principles?
Mr. Sherzai is the current Governor of Nangarhar province. He had previously served as the Governor of Kandahar province in the early 90s and from 2001 until 2003.
The resignation comes in after Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf resigned from the Lower House on Wednesday to contest the 2014 Presidential election.
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10/03/2013 09:55 ||
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I like the idea of having to resign your political position in order to run for office. Just think what would have happened to McCain and Kerry.
[Tolo News] Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, the leader of the National Coalition of Afghanistan (NCA), officially filed his nomination for Presidency with the Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Tuesday. Er. Muhammad Khan, the deputy head of the Hezb-e-Islami Party (HIP), and Hajji Muhammad Muhaqeq, the Chairman of the Hezb-e-Wahdat-e-Milli Mardom Afghanistan (HWMMA), also filed their candidacy for the post of First Vice-President and Second Vice-President, respectively.
Dr. Abdullah Abdullah is the first "Presidential heavyweight," who has filed his candidature 16 days after the commencement of the nomination filing process.
While speaking to the reporters, Dr. Abdullah said that a purposeful peace negotiation process, security and economic development will be his top working priorities, if elected as the President.
"Our mission is to unite Afghanistan. No one should resort to negative propaganda or selfish motives," said Dr. Abdullah.
Meanwhile, the HIP has assured the supporters saying that its alliance with the Jamiat-e-Islami Party (JIP) is a sustainable one and all disagreements between the two parties would be dealt with soon.
Dr. Abdullah and his two Vice-Presidential candidates were welcomed at the IEC by a large crowd of supporters from the HIP, HWMMA and JIP, who had gathered at the Commission to show their support for his candidacy.
After a series of deliberations, the HIP and JIP reached on an agreement to extend their support for the candidacy of Mr. Khan and Mr. Muhaqeq. Previously, Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal was considered for the First Vice-President's post, later, a consensus was reached and Mr. Khan was chosen as the First Vice-Presidential candidate.
"The parties, who have announced their support in the upcoming election, represent all the ethnic groups of the country. The alliance between the HIP and JIP aims to fight all the challenges of the country and guide the youths of the country," said Mr. Khan.
Muhammad Muhaqeq was one of the key members of the National Front Party (NFP), a party which is led by Ahmad Zia Masoud and Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum. However, in the final days of the nomination filing process, Mr. Muhaqeq ended his alliance with the NFP to join Dr. Abdullah's NCA.
"I think the new team is a comprehensive one and Afghans supports it. This team comprises of new and old political parties that worked together during "Jihad." The team will use its experience to fight all challenges," said Mr. Muhaqeq.
Only four days remain for the nomination process to come to a close, and news about more electoral heavy weights filing their nomination will be making news over the course of the next couple of days.
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10/03/2013 09:54 ||
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[Tolo News] Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf resigned from the Lower House on Wednesday, in order to file his candidacy for the next spring's Presidential election. Mr. Sayyaf said that Muhammad Ismail, the Minister of Water and Energy, will be his First Vice-President and the name of the Second Vice-President would be announced soon. Rasool Sayyaf was the mujaheddin commander most closely backed by the Saudis (i.e., closest to the Osama bin Laden turbans) during the war against the Soviets. If I recall correctly, the Abu Sayyaf group in the Phillipines is named for him.
Mr. Sayyaf has announced his candidacy a day after Dr. Abdullah Abdullah ... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... , the leader of the National Coalition of Afghanistan (NCA), officially filed his nomination for Presidency.
He is the second Parliamentarian to have resigned from the post, to contest the 2014 Presidential election. Hajji Muhammad Muhaqeq, the leader of the Hezb-e-Wahdat-e-Islami Mardom Afghanistan (HWIMA), tendered his resignation from his Lower House membership on Sunday and will contest for the post of Second Vice-President in the upcoming election. Mohaqiq was the leader of the Hazaras within the Northern Alliance.
"I want to file my nomination for Presidency. I am officially resigning from my Lower House membership. My goal is to serve the people and protect my country. I will do my best for the country," said Mr. Sayyaf.
It is being reportedly said that Mr. Sayyaf will go to the Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Thursday and submit his nomination papers.
Mr. Sayyaf while announcing his resignation said that if he wins the election, he will ensure that women's rights are protected in the country.
"Islam grants one right for the father and three rights for the mother. I will put in my best and fight for the cause of women," Mr. Sayyaf added.
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10/03/2013 09:52 ||
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The history of the Afghan resistance to the Soviet invasion can be dated from the nineteen sixties and the intersecting lives of three members of the Muslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun): Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf, Burhanuddin Rabbani, and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. These three Islamist military leaders led the most active mujahideen forces that emerged following the Soviet invasion, and their influence continues to this day.
Theirs, not ours. Ours is closed and can't possibly meddle.
GAROWE, Somalia -- As presidential elections draw closer in Somalias northeastern state of Puntland, Federal Government of Somalia is campaigning to deny, the potential candidate and the incumbent Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole victory according to independent sources, Garowe Online reports.
The Somali Federal Government Presidents right hand man, a close presidential aide and State Minister for Presidency Farah Abdulkadir recently visited Minneapolis after returning from New York where a delegation led by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud attended UN General Assembly meeting last week.
Abdulkadir met Puntland politicians and businessmen at Duable Tree hotel in Minneapolis and he presented to the participants of the meeting his intention of intervening in the upcoming Puntland presidential elections according to some of the participants who spoke to Garowe Online on condition of anonymity.
Sources said that Abdulkadir requested the politicians and the businessmen to shore up every possible efforts of denying Farole victory by in turn telling that the incumbent Puntland President is an outstanding hindrance to Somali unity.
Puntland is an important part in Somalia and we like to forge good ties with it but President Farole doesnt comply with our willingness, he is an obstacle to Somali unity and wouldnt lead Puntland people to progress, President Hassans close aide was quoted as saying by the attendants.
The sources further disclosed that nearly 20 people joined the discussion and speaking at the meeting, the presidential aide revealed Federal Governments keenness to provide both technical and financial assistance with each and every contender who could garner support for Mogadishu-based Federal government from Puntland.
Meanwhile in Mogadishu, as Puntland gears up for the most hotly contested presidential election that is slated for January 2014, Somalia Federal Government also stepped up its domestic involvement by throwing its weight behind some presidential candidates whom it regarded as soft and flexible individuals.
Former TFG Prime Minister, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas who gave an interview to UK-based Somali TV stations Somali Channel and Universal TV- last week pointed out what he described looming threats of insecurity in Puntland, remarks that Puntland government called as ludicrous claims and Political comments .
In response to deliberate violations in the legitimate Provisional Federal Constitution (PFC) whose clauses and articles have been tampered with, Puntland withdrew cooperation from the Somali Federal Government on August 5.
The 66-seat-chamber of Puntland will be choosing the leader on the 8th of January 2014 in presidential election and the upcoming election would bring together, the current Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole and a number of rival politicians including Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gas who- in September 2012- lost election to current Somali Federal Government President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud after he competed against former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
Farole has bagged a big record as Puntland President for the past five years and has demonstrated prudent leadership, overwhelming majority of Puntland people confirmed in a poll conducted by Puntland-based independent station, Radio Garowe.
Farole administration has a pleasant record in power after visible changes in the areas of international relations, security, health and education emerged within the first three years of tenure.
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10/03/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Britannia on Wednesday said deadly protests over Sudan's fuel price hikes should serve as a warning of the need for political dialogue, amid concerns for people tossed in the clink Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! in the crackdown.
Simon Fraser, permanent under-secretary in London's Foreign Office, said in Khartoum that he hoped "these protests will be a warning to everyone including the government that the situation needs to be addressed."
Authorities say 34 people died after petrol and diesel prices jumped on 23 September when the government cut fuel subsidies, sending thousands into the streets in the worst urban unrest during President Omar al-Bashir Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. 's 24-year rule.
Activists and international human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... groups said security forces rubbed out at least 50 people, most of them in the greater Khartoum area.
At the end of a day-long visit to Khartoum, Fraser called for "an acceleration of a genuine process for comprehensive national dialogue."
"But that does require the commitment of all the parties, and in particular the government, to give confidence through its future actions," Fraser, who heads Britannia's diplomatic service and is senior policy adviser to Foreign Secretary William Hague, told news hounds.
Bashir called in April for dialogue with "all political powers" in his country, including armed rebels.
Along with insurgencies and an economic crisis, his ruling National Congress Party faces internal dissension.
Fraser met with government officials including Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Karti, as well as civil society workers and others.
"We are also expressing our concern about the large number of detentions which have taken place and which I believe are still taking place, including a number of journalists and political activists," Fraser said.
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10/03/2013 00:00 ||
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Britannia on Wednesday said deadly protests over Sudan's fuel price hikes should serve as a warning of the need for political dialogue
We've seen quite few examples of Britannia's own "political dialogue".
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Egypt's interim government decided Wednesday that insulting the flag and refusing to stand for the national anthem is an offense punishable by law.
The decree follows a media fracas sparked by reports that an ultraconservative Islamist sitting on a committee to amend the constitution refused to stand for a moment of silence honoring coppers killed on duty during a raid on a myrmidon stronghold last month.
It recalled earlier controversy over reports that members of the ultraconservative Salafi trend have refused to stand for the national anthem for religious reasons.
Mohammad Ibrahim Mansour, a representative of the Salafi al-Nour party in the constitutional committee, has been quoted as saying that it is better to pray for those killed instead of standing for a moment of silence.
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10/03/2013 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Tunisia's main trade union said Wednesday that the government had notified it of "serious threats" to its leaders aimed at undermining its efforts to broker an end a lingering political crisis.
"The union's management has been informed of the existence of serious threats targeting its leaders... with the information coming from the relevant departments of the interior ministry," the UGTT said on its Facebook page.
The powerful trade union has been leading mediation efforts to end two months of political deadlock sparked by the liquidation in July of opposition MP Mohammad Brahmi, an attack blamed on radical Islamists.
It said the threats were designed to hamper the proposed "national dialogue" between Tunisia's Islamist-led government and the opposition to find a compromise and overcome the current impasse.
The UGTT gave no further details about the origin or nature of the threats.
It has previously accused the League for the Protection of the Revolution, a controversial militia with ties to the ruling Islamist party Ennahda, of attacking a gathering outside its headquarters, which left several unionists maimed.
Since Brahmi's murder, political activity in Tunisia has been ground to a halt, with the opposition demanding the ruling coalition's immediate resignation and calling for a nationwide campaign of protests.
Ennahda has agreed to step down and allow the formation of new government but only once a compromise has been reached on key political issues, notably the draft constitution.
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10/03/2013 00:00 ||
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[MAGHAREBIA] Tunisia holy mans are divided over whether to stage a general strike on Eid al-Adha.
On Monday (September 30th), the National Union of Tunisian Imams denied any plans to prevent festivities, while Abdessalam Atoui of the National Executive Committee of Mosques criticised strike organiser Fadhel Achour as "not a holy man but a muezzin at Zaytouna".
The issue arose last Wednesday, when Achour, the head of the imams' union, declared a "what Eid?" strike to protest "takfir ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... ist" trends at some mosques and the inaction by the religious affairs ministry to stop the phenomenon.
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10/03/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] The Moslem Brüderbund has denied defectors from the group met with government representatives.
"The Brotherhood is united and has no relationship with those invited to attend talks [with the interim presidency]," said the statement on Wednesday by the group's secretary general Mahmoud Ezzat.
"The conspiracies promoted by the military authority have not achieved their goals. They are rejected by the true youth of the Moslem Brüderbund."
On Tuesday, Ahmed El-Moslemany, the president's media advisor, met with Brotherhood defectors to discuss current state of affairs.
"The coup authority is making these claims [of defections] at the same time as [European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... foreign policy chief] Catherine Ashton's visit in order to show it is open to dialogue with different political forces."
"[Defections] is opposite to the reality of situation. There has been a continued campaign of arrests against the Brotherhood since the coup against the [legitimate president on 3 July]," the statement continued.
The Brotherhood reiterated that it would not withdraw its demand to end "the military coup" and for Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... to return to the presidency.
News reports on Tuesday said Ashton was working on a new reconciliation initiative with leading Brotherhood members Amr Darrag and Mohammed Ali Bashr.
According to Al-Ahram, the two senior figures will demand in a meeting with the EU official on Wednesday an end to the crackdown on its members and for those tossed in the clink ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... to be released, in return for an end to protests.
However, some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves... the 'Moslem Brüderbund Without Violence' movement, a small opposition grouping in the Brotherhood, said the interim government had no intention of conducting serious talks with the Brotherhood, and described the meeting between Ahmed El-Moslemay and alleged Brotherhood defectors members as "comic."
"The group that met with El-Moslemany has no relationship whatsoever with the Moslem Brüderbund. These people belong to anonymous parties aiming to defame the reformist current within the Brotherhood," the movement said.
"There will be no serious dialogue with the current regime except after all Moslem Brüderbund members are released and the 50-member constitution-amending committee is reconstituted," the movement added.
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10/03/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The Red Thingy warned Wednesday of growing humanitarian difficulties in Mali, where violence resurged last month between hard boyz and the military.
"The humanitarian consequences of the armed violence in the north of the country, combined with difficult weather conditions, are hitting civilians hard," said Christophe Luedi, head of the ICRC delegation in Mali.
"It's very hard for people to get enough to eat without outside help, or to earn what they need simply for their families to survive. If this situation persists, the result could be even greater dependence on humanitarian aid. The renewed outbreak of violence over the past few days can only exacerbate the situation."
The election of Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita last month brought with it hopes for a return to calm and democracy after 18 months of political chaos and violent unrest.
But festivities between rebel Tuareg group the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and the Malian army in the northern city of Kidal erupted just days after peace talks between the rebels and the government broke down.
So far this year, the Red Thingy has distributed food aid to over half a million people in Kidal, the other northern cities of Timbuktu and Gao and the central town of Mopti, many of whom were displaced by the conflict, to "help people meet their most urgent food needs and also regain some measure of self-reliance", the organization said in a statement.
It has also distributed seed for crops and animal feed to farmers and livestock herders.
While livestock were "suffering from a lack of water and grazing resources" in some parts of Mali, several thousand people had been hard hit by flooding in August during Africa's rainy season in other areas, the Red Thingy added.
Last year Mali was upended by a separatist rebellion and coup that toppled the elected president and allowed al-Qaeda-linked Islamist fighters to occupy the north before being ousted by a French-led military intervention.
The MNLA, which seeks autonomy for northern Mali -- which it calls Azawad -- took control of Kidal in February but the Malian authorities later reclaimed the city under a fragile ceasefire agreement.
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10/03/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] A Tunisian rights group on Wednesday accused the police of harassing the tiny Jewish community on the southern island of Djerba, saying it had come under a string of attacks.
"Tunisian Jews feel in danger, they are really afraid," Yamina Thabet, the president of the Tunisian Association Supporting Minorities, told a news conference after visiting Djerba.
According to testimonies from witnesses on the island, three "serious incidents" took place against members of the community in the past few weeks, which were marked by important Jewish festivals including Yom Kippur.
Thabet accused the police of forcefully interrupting a festive meal and seizing "a stolen cycle of violence without even checking the owner's papers."
She said the police then fired tear gas at the gathering and only left when a tourist bus approached, and denounced "harassment" by the security forces.
According to the testimonies, a man calling himself "the new Hitler" broke into the prayer hall of a Jewish school and assaulted one of the adults present, in front of the children.
Lawsuits have been filed against the man, who also reportedly assaulted two maidens of tender years, and who was tossed in the clink Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! for 24 hours. But there has been no mention of charges linked to his allegedly racist aggression.
Thabet said the Tunisian Jews were "fed up with being used during visits by politicians as evidence for the peaceful coexistence (between Moslems and Jews) and when the law is broken, they are the first victims of negligence" by the authorities.
The NGO has championed the rights of minority communities in Tunisia, since it was established after the revolution in January 2011, including homosexuals.
It has criticized the authorities in the past for their inertia towards anti-Semitic behavior, drawing attention in particular to the judiciary's failure to prosecute a holy man who called openly for a "divine genocide" of the Jews in a televised sermon late last year.
The country's Jewish community has seen its numbers fall dramatically in recent decades, from an estimated 100,000 at the time of independence in 1956 to around 1,500 now.
Earlier this year hundreds of worshipers made the annual pilgrimage to Djerba's Ghriba synagogue, thought to be the oldest in Africa, amid tight security after a suicide kaboom in 2002 that killed 21 people.
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10/03/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubaker al-Qirbi said on Wednesday that the exiled former South Yemeni president is living in Beirut under the protection of Hizbullah.
Qirbi's comments came as he was criticizing Ali Salem al-Baid in an interview in pan-Arab Al-Hayat newspaper.
"Al-Baid receives backing from Iran and Hizbullah," Qirbi said.
He added: "He lives in Beirut under Hizbullah protection."
U.S. envoy to Sanaa Gerald Feierstein had told Al-Hayat in March 2012 that the United States believes Hizbullah and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, are helping Iran to expand its influence in Yemen at the expense of the country's Gulf neighbors.
Baid, the last president of the region before union and a member of the Southern Movement is opposed to national talks that began in Sanaa on March 18 and still campaigns for southern independence.
Hardliners led by Baid are demanding negotiations between two independent states in the north and south.
Supporters of southern independence often stage demonstrations against the national dialogue, especially in Aden.
After the former North and South Yemen united in 1990, the south broke away in 1994, triggering a short-lived civil war that ended with the region being overrun by northern troops.
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10/03/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Azerbaijan on Wednesday accused Armenia of resettling Syrian refugees in a disputed territory the two have been fighting over for decades.
Azerbaijan's UN ambassador said the rival neighbor had started a "very dangerous process with unpredictable consequences" by moving Syrian Armenians into Nagorny Karabakh.
Armenia says it has accepted more than 10,000 ethnic Armenians but has not confirmed they have been moved to Nagorny Karabakh.
Armenian-backed separatists took Nagorny Karabakh from Azerbaijan in a war in the early 1990s that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives. A 1994 ceasefire ended major hostilities, but no peace accord has been reached and festivities regularly erupt. About 20 troops from either side have been killed on their frontier this year.
"We continue to receive the reports testifying to purposeful (Armenian) attempts aimed at encouraging some categories of Syrian refugees to move to other conflict affected areas," Azerbaijan's UN envoy Agshin Mehdiyev told a news conference.
"We have information that they already started it -- settlement of Syrian refugees in occupied territories -- and of course it is a very dangerous process with unpredictable consequences," added Mehdiyev, who is the UN Security Council president for October.
The United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... recognizes Nagorny Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. But Azerbaijanis fled after the war and the population is now almost completely ethnic Armenian. In the absence of a peace accord, Azerbaijan and Armenia have rearmed in recent years.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov raised the Syrian Armenians in a speech to the UN General Assembly last week. The two governments regularly clash over Nagorny Karabakh at the annual UN summit.
"The latest reports on the transfer of Syrian Armenians into the Nagorny-Karabakh region and other seven adjacent occupied districts of Azerbaijan ... provide yet more evidence of Armenia's deliberate policy of annexation of Azerbaijani lands," Mammadyarov said.
Armenia's UN mission did not immediately answer calls about the Azerbaijan claims.
Armenia's Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan told the General Assembly last week that his country was "alarmed" by the crisis in Syria.
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10/03/2013 00:00 ||
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A leading U.S. research institute says North Korea has clearly restarted an aging nuclear reactor it had begun to dismantle as part of an international agreement in 2007.
The U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University Wednesday said new commercial satellite imagery provides conclusive evidence that the plutonium reactor at Yongbyon is discharging hot wastewater into a river through a new drain pipe.
Last month, the institute reported signs that the antiquated Yongbyon reactor likely had begun operations, despite Russian warnings that doing so could lead to catastrophe on the Korean peninsula. At that time, Russian diplomatic sources described the reactor as in a "horrific state" of disrepair.
The Norks need plutonium, so they're going to make plutonium. It's that simple...
The new disclosure comes as U.S. experts met with North Korean officials to discuss resuming stalled international talks about Pyongyang's nuclear program. That London meeting came just hours after the United States and South Korea signed an agreement meant to provide greater deterrence against North Korea's nuclear weapons.
It was not immediately clear Wednesday how or if the new Yongbyon evidence will impact any future multi-lateral talks.
With Champ? Hardly at all...
The North originally shut down the Yongbyon reactor six years ago, under an aid-for-disarmament deal worked out under the six-party format.
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10/03/2013 00:00 ||
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A list of goods banned for export from China to North Korea seems to have been approved from the very top of the Chinese regime, the New York Times said Monday.
"The list appeared to have been approved at the highest levels of the Chinese government. Either the Politburo, or the group's seven-member Standing Committee, the apex of Chinese power, gave the green light," the paper said.
"Both Chinese and Western analysts called the export ban an important development -- if it is implemented fully," it added. "The publication of the banned items for export was described by these experts as a sign of further exasperation, and a desire for China to fall in line with the United Nations sanctions that it voted for earlier this year."
Back on Sept. 23, the Chinese ministries of commerce and of industry and information technology, the General Administration of Customs, and China Atomic Energy Authority published a 236-page document including the list of banned exports to the North.
Roger Cavazos of the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability, who specializes in Sino-North Korean relations, said, "China was targeting important aspects of North Korean nuclear programs, including the ceramics needed to protect a warhead as it re-entered the earth's atmosphere atop a missile."
"Despite the North's underground tests of crude nuclear devices, experts say it has not yet tested a vehicle that can withstand the heat of re-entry, an important step in building a deliverable nuclear bomb," the paper added.
"Since China's new leader, Xi Jinping, came to power earlier this year, Beijing has been tougher toward North Korea on its nuclear abilities," it said. "The diplomatic opening between the United States and Iran on Friday would give China another opportunity to 'put the squeeze' on North Korea."
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10/03/2013 00:00 ||
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#2
Flew into San Diego this morning, passed over the 32nd street fleet tied up; normally the ships have many worklights blazing as repairs are done; I saw not one such light on any ship today.
#3
DoD commissaries have also been shuttered. The majority of these stores turn a handy profit, which offsets the costs of commissary workers and also funds vital support programs for needy military members and their families.
I'm sure EBT havens such a Walmart and Kroger are celebrating in silent, hopeful of the day DoD commissaries are closed entirely.
#5
He did. Don't know if the DoD bill covered all this. Wonder why not.
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#6
MCCS (they run the Marine Exchanges and base recreational services) also sent a significant percentage of their 'nonessential' employees home. Considering that they are non-appropriated funded, I'll take the high road and assume that they're battening down the hatches and watching their pennies.
#8
Re: #3: NASWI Commisary was open for the last time this past Tuesday; Mrs. Ret. stopped in to stock up and was told that not only were the staff in there for free ( ???) but whatever perishable goods weren't sold by the end of the day would be thrown away. She was also told that re-supply trucks were being turned around and that once this was over, might take as much as 2 weeks to fully restock.
#9
Commissaries were primarily for supporting the old mess/dining facility operations. Their function was expanded to include what we have today as the facilities were already in place. While a service charge/tax/fee is applied to the sales which includes a chunk for building and modernization of those facilities to accommodate the demand, it doesn't fully cover the operation. Cutting back to essential is to the point of only supporting base/post dining facility operations which many have been outsourced on the installations.
Next shoe to drop is those outsourced operations being put on the backs of the enlisted once again which means missions will not be done because 'housekeeping' of installations and facilities do need to be done but without to old levels of manpower to accomplish them.
#10
A check of the Army and Air Force Exchange System website says they'll remain open during the shutdown. It's a non-appropriated fund activity. It'll provide the base equivalent of a 7-11 for food, diapers, etc with the commissary shuttered.
#11
Next shoe to drop is those outsourced operations being put on the backs of the enlisted once again which means missions will not be done because 'housekeeping' of installations and facilities do need to be done but without to old levels of manpower to accomplish them.
Already happening here. First time I've heard "sweepers" called in two decades.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A U.S. federal judge revisited on Tuesday a decades-old court settlement restricting how the New York Police Department conducts surveillance, reported UK-based newspaper the Guardian.
The dispute was re-examined due to accusations by civil rights lawyers who claim the department is breaking the rules by monitoring Musselmens.
The dispute centers on the Handschu decree which was put in place in the 1960s and 70s in response to surveillance used against war protesters but was relaxed in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The decree was relaxed following attacks that killed over 3,000 people on U.S. soil to allow police to freely monitor political activity in public places.
"I've come to think of this case as a volcano that's asleep most of the time ... but every now and then blows up," the Guardian reported District Judge Charles Haight as saying at the start of a hearing in federal court in Manhattan.
The outcry stems from the NYPD's monitoring of Musselmens which includes surveillance where they eat, study and worship as part of its counterterrorism efforts, reported the Guardian.
A city lawyer, Peter Farrell, told the federal judge on Tuesday that the police department launches investigations based on evidence of legitimate threats, not religion.
"It's undeniable that New York City remains at the center of the threat by Islamists who have been radicalized to violence," he said.
The "Handschu" decree refers to a 1985 court settlement that set strict rules concerning time limits for investigations, the kinds of records police could keep and created a body to oversee such investigations.
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[Dawn] Chief Minister 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... Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch announced to convene an All Parties Conference (APC) to initiate formal dialogue with the bully boy groups in the province.
Dr. Baloch spoke at length in DawnNews program "Faisala Awam Ka" on Wednesday night regarding the plight of earthquake survivors and security situation in Balochistan, Pakistain's sparsely populated and the most backward province.
"We do not want any bloodshed, rather we stand for peace and development," he said.
He said a jirga comprising tribal elders and key politicians would be sent to all Baloch separatists groups and sectarian bully boy organizations to hold a dialogue regarding the situation in Balochistan through political means. He further informed that the APC will comprise all political groups and tribal elites of Balochistan province.
CM Balochistan said his province faced complicated issues like recovery of mutilated dead bodies, missing persons and displacement of people from Dera Bugti and Kohlu districts.
"We will approach everyone to pave the way for political settlement," he explained, adding that use of force has not produced any results in Balochistan, which has been under the grip of violence for last more than a decade.
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10/03/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] The Pak Taliban on Wednesday insisted US drone strikes in the country's northwest must stop before they will consider peace talks with the government.
The main Pak political parties last month backed a government proposal to seek negotiations with the bad boys, who have been waging a bloody insurgency against the state since 2007.
The main umbrella Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) faction responded with a list of preconditions, including a government ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops from the tribal areas along the Afghan border where the gunnies have hideouts.
TTP front man Shahidullah Shahid told AFP any ceasefire must include an end to US drone attacks in the tribal areas, which have been targeting suspected Taliban and Al-Qaeda gunnies since 2004.
"A ceasefire alone is not sufficient. The stoppage of drone strikes is essential, otherwise, if drones continue to strike, we will not accept the ceasefire," Shahid said.
The Pakistain government publicly criticises the strikes as counterproductive and a violation of illusory sovereignty, but Washington considers them an effective tool in the fight against militancy.
The TTP's demand adds a new challenge to the already bleak prospects for talks, hit hard by three attacks in a week in the northwestern city of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. , which killed 142 people, the vast majority civilians.
The scale of the violence shocked Pakistain and prompted vehement denials of responsibility from the TTP central leadership.
Past peace deals with the Taliban have quickly broken down and been sharply criticised for allowing the gunnies time to regroup before fresh attacks.
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10/03/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's party finished third behind an opposition movement in the autonomous Kurdish region's parliamentary polls, shaking a decades-long duopoly on power, according to final results released Wednesday.
Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and Kurdish region president Massud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party have long dominated politics in the three-province region in northern Iraq.
But while the KDP came first with 38 seats, the opposition Goran movement claimed 24 seats to finish second ahead of the PUK, which obtained 18, according to results announced at a news conference in the regional capital Arbil.
As no party won an absolute majority in the 111-member Kurdish legislature, a coalition government will be formed.
In the Kurdistan region's last parliamentary vote in 2009, the KDP and PUK ran on the same list and finished first, while Goran, a breakaway faction of Talabani's party, came second.
The PUK has faced increasingly tough competition from Goran as well as Islamist and Communist groupings in its home base of Sulaimaniyah -- challenges exacerbated by the prolonged absence of Talabani, who has been in Germany recovering from a stroke since the end of last year.
The election campaign ahead of the September 21 vote centred on calls for more to be done to fight corruption and improve the delivery of basic services, as well as on how the energy-rich region's oil revenues should be spent.
Iraqi Kurdistan enjoys a high level of autonomy from Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... , and the regional parliament has passed laws on a wide range of issues.
Kurdistan also operates its own security forces and visa regime.
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10/03/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and Twitter chairperson Jack Dorsey have exchanged tweets about internet censorship in the Islamic republic.
"Good evening, President. Are citizens of Iran able to read your tweets?" Dorsey asked Rouhani on Tuesday.
Social media sites have been blocked in Iran since 2009 when they were used to mobilise anti-government protests.
Dorsy received an unexpected reply from Rouhani: "Evening, @Jack. As I told [CNN's Christine Amanpour], my efforts geared 2 ensure my [people] comfortably b able 2 access all info globally as is their #right."
Rouhani's visit to New York to attend the UN annual general assembly this week boosted hopes of a diplomatic rapprochement between the US and Iran.
In his speech to the General Assembly, Rouhani voiced his country's willingliness to start nuclear negotiations. "Peace is within reach," he said. He also held a phone call with US President Obama, which was considered the first between Iranian and American heads of government since the 1979 Islamic revolution, according to AFP.
In a further step, Rouhani told CNN: "the crime the Nazis created toward the Jews is reprehensible and condemnable," acknowledging the Holocaust, unlike his predecessors.
Iranian overtures have been welcomed by the US but eyed with distrust by others, particularly Israel. Seems like only a couple months ago that Short Round was frothing at the mouth.
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10/03/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Western governments are considering allowing Iran to continue some uranium enrichment, as part of a possible deal to resolve a decade-old dispute that Tehran says it wants to reach within six months, a senior EU diplomat said.
The new stance - a reaction to President Hassan Rouhani's overtures to the West - would mean easing a long-standing demand that Iran suspend all enrichment, due to concerns Tehran could be developing nuclear weapons.
In an interview with Rooters, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said: "I believe part of the game is that if the Iranians prove that whatever they are doing is peaceful, it will, as I understand, be possible for them to conduct it."
"It's conditional. It is not a done deal, but nevertheless it is a possibility to explore," he said. "Thanks to this rapprochement. How it will look, we don't know."
Lithuania holds the rotating presidency of the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... until the end of this year, giving Linkevicius a closer insight into many internal policy debates.
A series of UNSecurity Council resolutions call on Iran to halt enrichment. One of them demands "full and sustained suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities."
Iran has refused to comply, saying its membership of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty (NPT) gives it the right to pursue peaceful nuclear technology. That refusal has drawn several rounds of UNand Western sanctions.
Rouhani, a relative moderate elected in June, has reiterated Iran's insistence that it does not seek nuclear weapons, but has promised to clear up international concerns, hoping for an easing of sanctions that have hit its ability to export oil.
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#1
Baby Assad "winning" in Syria = Iran "winning" on its NucProgs = China "winning" in ECS + SCS + India in East Asia = ... ...
Iff China can "rent 5% of [debt-ridden]Ukraine" for China-centric agriculture + meat production, it can most certainly demand or do the same wid the Debt-ridden, Debt-loving USoAmerika + its Debt-ridden, Debt-loving US Govt.
Again, CHINESE PERTS, MILBLOGGERS > NO NEED FOR MAJOR CHINA-US WAR AS ALL CHINA NEEDS TO DO IS DEMAND THAT THE US PAY ITS DUES TO CHINA - IFF THE US CAN'T, THEN CHINA HAS THE RIGHT TO DEMAND THAT THE US TRANSFER SOVEREIGN TERRITORIES OVER TO CHINA IN LIEU OF DEBT PAYMENT.
ITV, THE MASSIVELY ENDEBTED USA HAS NOWHERE + NO ONE TO BORROW FROM EXCEPT FROM CHINA, WHICH IN TURN GIVES CHINA THE CLEAR ADVANTAGE AS PER DISPUTED TERRITORIES + GEOPOL/GEOSTRATEGIC CONCESSIONS.
As wid any World Nation-State, China has the right to wage war to defend territories it already deems as its own [Taiwan, Diaoyus/
Senkakus, South China Sea]; just as China as Creditor also the right to wage war to collect on unilateral or aymmetric debt owed from other sovereign nations.
CHINA'S DEBT IS US$776.OBILYUHN, WHILE THE US' IS US$16.8-$17.3TRILYUHN.
CHINA HAS LR ICBMS THAT CAN HIT CONUS ON EITHER COAST - SYRIA, IRAN, TAIWAN + JAPAN + PHIL + ASEAN DON'T.
#2
US SecDef Hagel repor is now saying that the Bammer Admin's new rapprochement or engagement wid IRAN is not tantamount to "surrender"???
D *** NG, DOES RADICAL ISLAM = GLOBAL/NUKULAAR JIHADIS KNOW???
Iff "post-US", "Mahanist" China sees the score as Hard Boyz - 4, Obama/US - 0, why shouldn't they see a positive outcome vee Obama for their particular agenda vee TAIWAN, KOREAS, SENKAKUS/DIAOYUS, OKINAWA?, SOUTH CHINA SEA + TIBET, ETC.???
[An Nahar] The March 14 General Secretariat stressed in a statement on Wednesday that forming a cabinet is a national and constitutional responsibility, and called on President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... and PM designate Tammam Salam to line up one that is free from the restraints of Hizbullah and based on the Baabda declaration.
After their weekly meeting, the secretariat stressed that Hizbullah's involvement in the Syrian crisis have "burdened the Lebanese and linked their destiny to the turmoil in Syria following the party's inclusion on the list of terrorism in Europe, the Gulf, and the U.S."
On the latest deadly festivities that erupted on Saturday between Hizbullah and the Shiyyah clan in Baalbek, March 14' statement said that the incident calls for a full state control and authority in order to limit illegitimate arms and restrict their possession to the state.
Moreover, March 14 hailed Suleiman's initiative where he voiced hope on Friday that Hizbullah would withdraw its fighters from Syria immediately as per the Baabda declaration that calls for disassociating Leb from regional conflicts, and to maintain Leb's best interest.
"Hizbullah's withdrawal from Syria will have a positive impact on the economic and political sectors," the statement added.
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10/03/2013 00:00 ||
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The Obama administrations credibility on intelligence suffered another blow Wednesday as the chief of the National Security Agency admitted that officials put out numbers that vastly overstated the counterterrorism successes of the governments warrantless bulk collection of all Americans phone records. Credibility? What credibility ?
Pressed by the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee at an oversight hearing, Gen. Keith B. Alexander admitted that the number of terrorist plots foiled by the NSAs huge database of every phone call made in or to America was only one or perhaps two far smaller than the 54 originally claimed by the administration. Only one or two? They must be fresh in your memory. Please tell us about them if you would.
Gen. Alexander and other intelligence chiefs have pleaded with lawmakers not to shut down the bulk collection of U.S. phone records despite growing unease about government overreach in the program, which was revealed in documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
There is no evidence that [bulk] phone records collection helped to thwart dozens or even several terrorist plots, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat and committee chairman, told Gen. Alexander of the 54 cases that administration officials including the general himself have cited as the fruit of the NSAs domestic snooping.
These werent all plots and they werent all foiled, he said. How many instances of monitoring in support of Law Enforcement, specifically the FBI and DoJ were there? Oh, too tough a question? Sorry.
Mr. Leahy and Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., Wisconsin Republican and author of the USA Patriot Act, which the government says allows bulk data collection, are working on a bill to roll back that authority.
In a summary they floated to colleagues Wednesday, the men said they would end bulk collection and require the NSA to show that the data it is seeking are relevant to an authorized investigation and involve a foreign agent.
The two lawmakers also proposed a special advocacy office with appellate powers to be part of the proceedings in the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and requiring the court to release secret opinions that lay out major interpretations of law.
Mr. Leahy, who has been a chief critic of the NSA, asked Gen. Alexander to admit that only 13 of the 54 cases had any connection at all to the U.S., Would you agree with that, yes or no?
Yes, Gen. Alexander replied in a departure from normal practice. Ok, so where did the "54 cases" originally put forth come from General ?
Administration officials giving testimony to Congress, even when asked to confine themselves to a simple yes or no, rarely do. Standard practice for lawyers and politicians, nothing new here.
In response to a follow-up question, Gen. Alexander also acknowledged that only one or perhaps two of even those 13 cases had been foiled with help from the NSAs vast phone records database. The database contains so-called metadata the numbers dialing and dialed, time and duration of call for every phone call made in or to the U.S.
Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper denied that the number of plots foiled should be the sole metric by which the success of the program is measured. I think theres another metric here thats very important. I would call it the peace of mind metric. 'Peace of mind' would be your earlier statement that indicated none of this was taking place at all.
He explained that the agency also could use the database to satisfy itself that global terrorists abroad did not have connections or associates in the U.S., and that attackers like those at the Boston Marathon were not part of a wider international plot. Is that your nose experiencing another growth spurt ?
Gen. Alexanders dramatic concession is the latest in a series of recent, or recently revealed, intelligence misstatements that have embarrassed the Obama administration. No worries. He'll not be going under any bus, I can assure you.
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.
[Al Ahram] Azerbaijan on Wednesday accused Armenia of resettling Syrian refugees in a disputed territory the two have been fighting over for decades.
