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531720 articles and 1856013 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 57 articles and 178 comments as of 16:01.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Syria Says U.S. Closure of Embassy Arbitrary, Illegal
Today's Headlines
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
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31 21:40 Rambler in Virginia []
--Tech & Moderator Notes
Posting on the Burg
A few simple reminders as we get into the new year:

  • We focus on the WoT and matters related to the WoT. That includes general thuggery around the world, such as Zim-bob-we, and the politics surrounding the WoT. The farther away it is from that, the less likely people here want to read it here on Rantburg. We assume y'all read other weblogs for the other news. Rantburg has been getting some posts that are -- frankly -- a distraction from what we want to cover. The more we get away from the WoT, the more we look just like any other blog, and that's not the point for us. We have an eclectic readership and we want to keep it that way.

    We do carry a fair bit of politics ('seedy politician') but even there the focus is on how that news relates to the fight against terrorism and the defense of the good. Fred likes to focus on the seedy angle of the pols; particularly useful when they're being sanctimonious about defending our country.

    Very simply: domestic issues in Australia, surface crawlers on Mars, and the general state of Tiger Woods' rehab shouldn't be posted here. Unless Fred does it in which case it's okay.
    I say this again in salmon color: we focus on the WoT!
  • Check for duplicates before you post. We've had a number of these lately, so please check on the Burg, particularly if it looks like 'breaking news'.
    I say this in salmon color as well: check for duplicates!
  • Provide a source URL for your post.. This goes into the 'source' box in the poster. If you don't provide a URL your post will be deleted. None of the moderators have enough time to look for the source of your post.

  • Shorter, not longer, titles. Remember, the URL does NOT go into the title box. Snarky and catchy titles are fine.

  • File it in the right place. If it's about the current insurrection in Yemen, don't file it under 'Great White North'.

  • Opinion pieces go into the 'Opinion' category. Tricky, eh? This includes blog pieces. Some exceptions exist: VDH, Lileks, and Marc Steyn can go into any appropriate category. All the rest go into Opinion. And that's not an invitation for other blog-owners to post stuff in Opinion just to advertise their own blog.

  • Your opinion is welcome. Opinion is also for your own original articles, for everyone, but especially for Rantburg regulars. If you have an opinion, post it here. And don't forget your byline. But DON'T just post a link to your blog -- if you're a blogger and want to cross-post, contact Fred.

  • Please format the post. Help us make posts readable. Think of it as a chance to teach English composition to the MSM. Delete the fluff and the stuff we already know. Some gentle editing to make a post readable helps all of us, especially the moderators who then don't have to go back and re-edit stuff.

  • No 'more at the link', no ellipses and no 'snips'. Readers assume you're editing the post to just the good stuff (see above). Therefore you don't need ellipses or [SNIP]'s to tell us that you edited the post. Since you gave us the source URL (right?) a reader can always go to the original. That means you don't need to say at the bottom, 'hit the link to read the rest'. The readers already know that.

  • Your in-line comments are in hilite (yellow) text. Use the 'HILITE' button. Start your comments on a separate line.
    If you do it will look like this. This is the ONLY acceptable format for your comments.
    Don't put a leading line space before or after, as illustrated. And don't bury it like this. Do not use italics instead of hilite. Do not insert FONT commands: Fred has already settled the proper font and size for your snark. And do NOT put your comments into blockquotes.

  • Strikout text can be placed in-line in the text. Some here complain when we use too much of it. Unless you've got a sure-fire 'mad-libs' winner, use strikeout text sparingly.

  • Don't embed pics from outside Rantburg. We have an ever-expanding library of pics (even after Fred cleans out the attic we have more than when we started). Embedding a pic with a URL takes bandwidth and it may upset the owner of the site from where you're getting the image. We'd love to allow users to upload images, but if we did we'd be dumping 100k erectile dysfunction ads and pictures of nekkid 40-year-old teen hotties all day and not have time for any posting of our own. Finally, outside posts also die as links can (and will) rot. A Rantburg image will be around as long as there's a Rantburg.

  • Submitting pics to the Burg. E-mail us the pic, but format it first. 250 pixels width for portrait, 300 for landscape or square. On a case-by-case basis, max 500 pixels (width of the yellow comments box) wide for charts, diagrams, and maps. Please compress: images should be under 20k if at all possible. It's not the single image we have to worry about, but 80 articles x 20k. Too many images will slow page load dramatically.

    And as always, thanks for all your support. You make Rantburg a special place.
  • Posted by: Steve White || 03/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  What about pretty girls?
    Posted by: Spoper de Medici8653 || 03/20/2014 1:32 Comments || Top||

    #2  Salmon?
    Posted by: gorb || 03/20/2014 1:41 Comments || Top||

    #3  Whatever happended to that old colour ti*y pink ?
    Posted by: Besoeker || 03/20/2014 3:14 Comments || Top||

    #4  Pretty girls and salmon color are accepted.... from the female side of the MODS.....
    Posted by: Sherry || 03/20/2014 3:20 Comments || Top||

    #5  Salmon, only slightly below a puce warning.
    Posted by: Steven || 03/20/2014 4:08 Comments || Top||

    #6  Special colors for Donk operatives and NSA gleaners?
    Just register at the front desk?
    Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/20/2014 9:12 Comments || Top||

    #7  There is no "WoT".
    Posted by: Omavising Ebbemp9815 || 03/20/2014 9:25 Comments || Top||

    #8  There is no "WoT".

    You must have (D) after your name.
    Posted by: Pappy || 03/20/2014 9:50 Comments || Top||

    #9  "We focus on WOT matters"
    Posted by: 9 Pan || 03/20/2014 11:23 Comments || Top||

    #10  There is no "WoT".

    Some folks just have a funny way of fighting it. Seems they'd rather fight the Tea Party.
    Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/20/2014 11:38 Comments || Top||

    #11  Perhaps we mean
    Appropriate and well intentioned kinetic and legal responses to man or woman or neutral caused or inspired disasters which lead to intimidation or injury or smaller government and or taxes.
    Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/20/2014 11:46 Comments || Top||

    #12  #11 Perhaps we mean

    Appropriate and well intentioned kinetic and legal responses to man or woman or neutral caused or inspired disasters which lead to intimidation or injury or smaller government and or taxes.


    BINGO! Now thats PC!
    Posted by: Omavising Ebbemp9815 || 03/20/2014 12:20 Comments || Top||

    #13  Posted by: 9 Pan

    My dear, you've lost half of your nym.
    Posted by: trailing wife || 03/20/2014 20:54 Comments || Top||


    How To Post A Link Or An Article
    Because Paul D. and rammer asked so nicely. :-) See also the article by Dr. Steve, above.
    When you open Rantburg, directly below the logo you will see:

    Post a news link || Post your own article


    If you want to post just the link, click on news link. If you want to add text from the article, your own thoughts or your thoughts as in-lines to the article text, click on your own article. A box will pop up. All below refers to this box.

    File under gives you two drop-down menus. The one on the left gives you a choice of geographical locations and other interesting possibilities. Click on one. The one on the right chooses the page where the article will appear: War on Terror Operations is for arrests, deaths, explosions and invasions; Wot Politix is for everything else WoT-related, including politics; the three remaining pages -- Non-WoT, Opinion, and Seedy Politicians are, I hope, self-explanatory. Click on one. If a moderator disagrees with your characterization, we'll change it before it's published.

    The article title -- or your improved version -- goes in the box labeled Title, the URL or article address goes in the box labeled Source. Your name or chosen nym goes in the longer box on the left underneath that. Please, please, please click on Preview up at the top left to make sure the result looks the way you hope, and please click on the title in the preview box to make sure it goes to the article as you intended. If not, close out the Preview box and fix whatever wasn't quite right. Generally an article with a non-working link will be deleted immediately. Once everything is to your satisfaction, click Submit to send it to the hopper for review and publication.

    If you decide to submit an article instead of just a link, it gets even more fun. Do all the stuff listed above, copy and paste the text you want into the Text box, and go to town. The symbols in the bar across the top are all there for you to use. Most are intuitively obvious, I think, but there are two options for highlighting (you probably want to use the simple yellow one on the left at first, and graduate to the yellow lined box on the right later. The "world sitting on chain links" will give you an in-text hyperlink: just highlight the words you want to hold the link, click on the icon, and paste the URL into the box that appears. Highlight the text and click on Translate to get Fred Pruitt's pre-programmed in-lines. Play with things, and click on Preview to see what it looks like. When you're happy with the result, click on Submit.
    Posted by: trailing wife || 03/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


    Africa Horn
    Shaboobs hit Mog again
    Subsequent to the night before when Al-Shabaab carried out an horrific attack killing heads and officials from the Somali Government and AMISOM peacekeepers in the Buloburde district of Hiiraan, more fighting occurred last night in the district.

    This struggle was very burly and during the fight, light and heavy weapons were used although the casualties and losses have not been specified. The armed groups that assailed the Government troops and AMISOM in Buloburde, immediately fled the scene of the clashes.

    It was only yesterday when the innocent people injured in the previous nights' attacks were brought to Mogadishu to receive dire medical assistance.
    Posted by: Steve White || 03/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


    Uganda warns of Shabaab fuel tanker attacks
    KAMPALA, Mar 18 -- Uganda warned Tuesday that Somalia's Al-Qaeda linked Shabaab insurgents were planning to use fuel tankers as bombs, one day after Kenya thwarted a "massive" car bomb attack. Both Uganda and Kenya are key contributors of troops to the African Union force fighting the Shabaab in Somalia, and the Islamists have carried out major attacks in both countries in retaliation in the past.

    "We have received credible information to the effect that Al-Shabaab are planning to blow up fuel trucks in Kampala to cause extensive damage to people and property," Ugandan police chief Kale Kayihura said in a statement. "The public is asked to be very vigilant and help the police and report any suspicious movement or activity".

    Shabaab bombers killed at least 76 people in Uganda's capital Kampala in 2010.

    On Monday, Kenyan police arrested two men driving a vehicle packed with explosives in the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa. Top Kenyan coastal government official Nelson Marwa said Tuesday the two men arrested had been preparing a "massive attack". Foreign special forces were part of the operation to stop them, he said.

    "The two were tracked from Somalia by both Kenyan and foreign forces," top local government official Nelson Marwa said Tuesday.
    Posted by: Steve White || 03/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


    Africa North
    Bomb defused inside Alexandria court
    [Egypt Independent] Bomb squads managed to defuse a bomb inside the Alexandria First Instance Court in Manshiya.

    The province's security chief, Amin Ezz Eddin, had received information that a suspicious device was found inside the building. People were completely evacuated from the facility before agents found the bomb.

    The device was composed of two tubes containing explosive substances with a timer attached.

    Search is underway at nearby judicial facilities for other similar potential findings.
    Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

    #1 
    Posted by: Besoeker || 03/20/2014 4:05 Comments || Top||


    Brotherhood students demonstrate in Kafr al-Sheikh and Cairo
    [Egypt Independent] According to the state-run MENA news agency, hundreds of Al-Azhar University students belonging to the Moslem Brüderbund staged demonstrations in front of the main building in Nasr City on Wednesday, calling it the "Second Azhar Intifada."

    Security forces prevented the students from going out of the campus to demonstrate in the street and disrupt traffic.

    The demonstrators launched fireworks, rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud against the administration and the army, and flashed the Rabaa sign.

    Meanwhile in Banha University, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported demonstrations by Brotherhood students in front of the faculties of medicine on the anniversary of the March 2011 referendum.

    Campus security deployed extra personnel to face the demonstrations.

    In Abu Zaabal, Brotherhood protesters formed a human chain on the Khanka road, raising pictures of ousted President Mohammed Morsy and the victims of the Rabaa al-Adaweya sit-in dispersal. They rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud against the army and the police and engaged in altercations with the residents of the area.

    For his part, Qalyubiya Governor Mohammed Abdel Zaher raised the state of emergency, canceled all vacations and took measures to secure facilities against the Brotherhood demonstrations.

    Police also stepped up security in the governorate and on the Cairo-Alexandria Delta road.

    According to the official Al-Ahram newspaper, Brotherhood students at Cairo University who are affiliated with the "Students against the Coup" movement staged demonstrations and posted them live on the Internet with their mobile phones.

    They raised the al-Qaeda flag, rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud against the police, and demanded the release of their colleagues.

    The Faculty of Engineering Student Union called on all students to join the demonstration.

    Administrative security separated the demonstrators from the other students.
    Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

    #1  Practically from its inception, and now for more than 80 years the Muslim Brotherhood has sought to infiltrate and control the "professions". It has heretofore been rather unsuccessful among engineers, so this report is a surprise.
    Posted by: Thrusotch and Tenille7340 || 03/20/2014 10:13 Comments || Top||

    #2  It has heretofore been rather unsuccessful among engineers, so this report is a surprise.

    Mr. Morsi was an engineering professor in the U.S. before he went back to run for president, Thrusotch and Tenille7340. Perhaps he enforced a change in the rules when he was in office.
    Posted by: trailing wife || 03/20/2014 21:08 Comments || Top||


    Former Interior Ministry Undersecretary kidnapped
    [Libya Herald] The former Undersecretary at the Interior Ministry, Al-Bahlul Al-Said, was reported abducted this evening in Tripoli according to a Security Directorate official. He said that two vehicles forced Al-Said to stop his car. Gunmen then seized him and drove off.

    There is confusion as to where the incident took place. The Security Directorate official said the Airport Road. However, another re
    Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


    Arabia
    Bahrain Jails 11 'Bomb-Makers' for 15 Years
    [An Nahar] A Bahrain court handed 15-year jail sentences to 11 defendants after convicting them of "manufacturing bombs for terror purposes", the official BNA news agency reported.

    The High Criminal Court tossed in the clink
    ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
    another defendant for five years on similar charges at Tuesday's hearing, BNA quoted prosecutor Nawaf al-Awadhi as saying in a statement.

    Bahrain, home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, remains deeply divided three years after a quashed Shiite-led uprising, with persistent protests sparking festivities with police, scores of Shiites tossed in the clink
    ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
    on "terror" charges and reconciliation talks deadlocked.

    The 12 defendants were charged with "possessing weapons, ammunition and explosives as well as manufacturing bombs for terror purposes," said Awadhi.

    The group smuggled ammunition and bomb-making materials into the country and hid them on a farm, the statement said.

    They planned to target members of the security forces and public figures to "spread chaos and terror" in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.

    According to the statement, some of the defendants had confessed to their involvement in the plot while others of the group remain on the lam.
    Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


    Iraq
    Iraq Violence Kills 30 Nationwide
    [An Nahar] Violence across Iraq, including shelling and festivities in a turban-held city on Storied Baghdad's doorstep, killed 30 people on Wednesday amid a protracted surge in bloodletting with polls looming next month.

    The bloodletting also maimed dozens more as the authorities struggle to grapple with the country's worst unrest since 2008, when it was just emerging from a brutal Sunni-Shiite sectarian war that killed tens of thousands and displaced countless others.

    The violence, in which more than 2,000 people have died already this year, has been primarily driven by discontent in the minority Sunni Arab community, that alleges mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led government and security forces, and by the civil war raging in neighboring Syria.

    In Wednesday's deadliest incidents, shelling by government forces in Fallujah and festivities in and around the city killed 15 people and maimed 40, according to Ahmed Shami, the chief medic at the city's main hospital.

    The violence erupted just after midnight and continued through to the morning in northern, eastern and southern neighborhoods of the city. It was unclear how many casualties resulted from the shelling, and how many from the festivities.

    Security forces have periodically shelled neighborhoods of Fallujah in recent months, arguing that they are targeting anti-government fighters holding the city.

    Tribal leaders in the city confirmed the doctor's account.

    "After midnight, shelling first targeted several areas... and festivities also happened," said Mohammed Saleh, a leader of the Bijari tribe.

    Mahmud al-Zobaie, a leader of the Zoba tribe, added: "There are many people killed and maimed, and many homes have been damaged because of the shelling."

    Fallujah has been outside government control since forces of Evil overran it and parts of nearby Ramadi, capital of the predominantly Sunni surrounding province of Anbar, in early January.

    Security forces have managed to wrest back control of Ramadi but a stalemate has persisted in Fallujah,
    ... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperity or a really nice place to raise your kids...
    just a short drive from Storied Baghdad.

    Attacks elsewhere in Iraq killed 15 others, security and medical officials said.

    North of the capital in Ishaqi, four coppers were killed and four others were maimed when they tried to investigate a parked car that had a booby-trapped corpse inside.

    When they opened the car door, the explosives-rigged body went kaboom!, two coppers said.

    A bombing and shootings in and around Storied Baghdad, meanwhile, killed seven people, and attacks in the restive northern provinces of Nineveh and Kirkuk killed four.
    Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant


    Southeast Asia
    Three local officials unhurt after bombing in southern Thailand
    A well-known local official and two other local leaders escaped unhurt when their vehicle was hit by a bomb in Pattani province on Tuesday night.

    Police said the blast took place about 10:30 p.m. as the three were traveling in a car. The vehicle was crossing a bridge near a school when a bomb buried nearby was detonated. The explosion was premature and damaged only the front of their vehicle. The three men inside escaped unhurt.

    Meanwhile, A 60-member security force yesterday sealed off a village in Yala province and detained a 27-year-old man for questioning in connection with three gun attacks this year. The unit, a combined force of soldiers, rangers, police and local administrators, raided four houses where the suspects wanted for the shooting incidents were reportedly hiding.

    The suspect, who was not identified pending further interrogation, denied any involvement in the shootings that killed five people. Authorities believe the killing of a former special branch police officer in Yala province on Monday, whose body was also set on fire after he was shot, was the work of the same gunmen who earlier gunned down a military ranger on Jan 2 and three rubber latex buyers on Feb 22.

    An examination of bullets collected from the scenes shows they were fired from the same gun. Warrants have been issued for the arrest of four more people in connection with the shootings. They are identified as Dorapah Sahama, Kaya Jehni, Adnan Hami and Abdullormae Hayiwani.
    Posted by: ryuge || 03/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


    Syria-Lebanon-Iran
    Syria Air Force Pounds Damascus Suburb, Breaking Truce
    [An Nahar] Syria's air force bombarded a suburb northwest of Damascus on Wednesday, killing seven people and violating a truce that had been in place since October, a monitoring group said.

    "Seven men have been killed in air strikes targeting the edges of Qudsaya, and an eighth man was rubbed out by an army sniper," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

    Among the dead were an unknown number of anti-regime activists, said the Britannia-based group.

    Rebels in Qudsaya had reached a truce with the regime in October, after which rebels and pro-regime local militia set up joint checkpoints there.

    Mohammad Ali, an activist in Qudsaya, told AFP via Skype: "We don't know what's going to happen next. We are in the dark."

    He also expressed concern
    ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended...
    over any further escalation as the truce has allowed thousands of families fleeing other areas of strife-torn Syria to take refuge there.

    Amateur video showed a huge plume of smoke rising over the town as the roar of a fighter jet was heard followed by a series of kabooms.

    Speaking to AFP, a security source denied there had been any air strikes at all.

    Farther north, Syria's army backed by Leb's Hizbullah
    ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
    and paramilitary forces took over a small village in the Qalamoun area on the Leb border, four days after seizing the rebel bastion of Yabrud.

    "Army units took over Ras al-Ain, southwest of Yabrud, killing a large number of terrorists," said state news agency SANA, using the regime term for rebels.

    The Observatory also said fierce festivities were raging in nearby rebel-held Rankus.

    A security source told AFP the army's goal was to secure the Leb border by taking over Flita, Ras al-Maarra and Rankus.

    That would seal off rebel supply lines for weapons and fighters, but also crucial routes for food and other supplies to civilians in besieged areas of Damascus province, including Eastern Ghouta, activists say.

    On Monday, the Observatory said two children had died in Eastern Ghouta because of food and medical shortages amid dire living conditions caused by the regime siege.

    Elsewhere, the army entered Al-Hosn in the central province of Homs and was fighting for control of the famed Krak des Chevaliers crusader fortress, a security official told AFP.

    "The army entered Al-Hosn and took two districts of the village. It is bombarding areas around the Krak des Chevaliers to take control of the castle," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity
    ... for fear of being murdered...
    .

    In the south, rebels took control of the central prison in Daraa province, freeing an unspecified number of prisoners.

    Speaking to AFP via Skype, Abdullah al-Qarazi, a rebel commander from the area, said the operation "was successful because all the (armed opposition) factions in the area worked together".

    In the north, warplanes launched air strikes against several rebel areas of Aleppo, which has come under sustained aerial bombardment since December, killing hundreds of civilians, said the Observatory.

    It added that in Hasakeh in the northeast, 20 members of the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
    ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original...
    (ISIL) were killed in fighting against Kurds.
    Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


    Five Detained Syrians Confessed to Belonging to Terrorist Network
    [An Nahar] The General Security announced on Wednesday that Syrian detainees it had jugged
    Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
    on Monday confessed to belonging to a terrorist network, reported the National News Agency.

    It said that the five Syrians, who had entered Leb illegally, confessed to transporting a booby-trapped vehicle from Syria to Leb.

    The suspects transported a pickup truck, on behalf of the Nusra Front, from Syria's town of Yabrud to the outskirts of the Lebanese region of Arsal.

    The suspects have since been referred to State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr for further investigations.

    The General Security added that it will not "hesitate in pursuing terrorist organizations," saying that it will continue its efforts in coordination with the other security forces.
    Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


    Intermittent Clashes Break out in Tripoli as Gunmen Target Army Vehicle
    [An Nahar] Clashes in the northern city of 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...
    renewed on Wednesday between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.

    Voice of Leb radio (93.3) reported that festivities erupted at Syria Street during the funeral of Omar al-Ahmed, who died of wounds he sustained during the latest round of fighting in the city.

    VDL (100.5) also said a few sniper shots were targeting al-Mallouleh and the Abou Ali roundabout, while an RPG landed near Souk al-Qameh and another on al-Omari Street.

    A military vehicle was also targeted in the unrest, reported LBCI television.

    It added that First Sergeant Omran Habous was maimed by sniper gunshots fired from al-Rifa area in Jabal Mohsen.

    A member of al-Khodr family from Jabal Mohsen was also injured by the sniper shots.

    The Tripoli festivities erupted on Thursday after the death of a resident from Jabal Mohsen.

    Prime Minister Tammam Salam had announced on Tuesday that a comprehensive security plan will be proposed for Tripoli, while rejecting the lawlessness in the city.
    Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


    Hizbullah in Possession of 'Dangerous' Nusra Front Documents
    [An Nahar] Hizbullah
    ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
    is in possession of documents belonging to terrorist groups containing maps on roads in Beirut's southern suburbs, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported.

    The road maps of the Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front contained signs, the daily said.

    It did not explain how the Shiite party was able to seize the files. But said that Hizbullah was also in possession of papers that had "dangerous information" on al-Nusra Front and its supporters and financiers.

    They will be made public at the appropriate time, the daily said.

    Hizbullah has also information that 15 booby-trapped vehicles have entered Leb through "illegal and secret crossings" after the fall of the central Syrian town of Yabrud to government troops, al-Joumhouria said.

    The fall of the strategic town came after months of fighting in the mountainous Qalamoun region between Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
    Horror of Homs...
    's forces and Hizbullah fighters on one side and the rebels, mostly Islamist bad boy groups, on the other.

    The rebels fleeing Yabrud have infiltrated Leb's northeastern town of Arsal, whose residents support the uprising against Assad.
    Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra

    #1  Dangerous Documents

    Grave Danger

    Is there any other kind?
    Posted by: lord garth || 03/20/2014 9:05 Comments || Top||

    #2  a Kenyan Birth Certificate?

    /sarc....kinda
    Posted by: Frank G || 03/20/2014 9:37 Comments || Top||

    #3  SUNDAY, SUNDAY AT LEBANON SPEEDWAY!!! DEMOLITION DERBY!!! ALL(ah) CRASHES ALL(ah) THE TIME!!!! SUNDAY!!!!!


    Preparing the battlespace for more red on red.
    Just keep it all north of the border and I'll get the pop-corn ready.
    Posted by: AlanC || 03/20/2014 10:51 Comments || Top||


    Four Rockets Strike Bekaa's Hermel, al-Aqidiyeh
    [An Nahar] Four rockets struck two areas in the Bekaa region on Wednesday, causing no casualties.

    Two rockets fired from the Eastern Mountain Belt on the Lebanese-Syrian border landed in agricultural fields in the al-Aqidiyeh area near the central Bekaa town of Beit Shama, causing no casualties, state-run National News Agency reported.

    Earlier on Wednesday, two rockets from Syria hit the eastern town of Hermel.

    The two rockets reportedly landed near the Hermel public hospital. No casualties were were reported.

    Meanwhile,
    ...back at the comedy club, Boogie sadly admitted that he was a better peeping Tom than he was a comedian...
    Free Leb radio said that Syrian jets carried out an Arclight airstrike on the outskirts of the eastern border town of Arsal.

    Earlier, Voice of Leb radio (93.3) reported that Syrian warplanes flew over the villages of Shadra and Mashta Hammoud in the northern district of Akkar

    Arsal has a long shared border with Syria, stretching along much of Damascus province and part of Homs province.
    Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


    15 Syrians, Including al-Nusra Members, Arrested at Arsal Checkpoint
    [An Nahar] Fifteen Syrian nationals, including members of the turban al-Nusra Front, were locked away
    ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
    Wednesday in the Bekaa border town of Arsal, according to state-run National News Agency.

    NNA said the men were arrested at the army's Wadi al-Shaab checkpoint in Arsal for entering Leb with "fake identification papers."

    The detainees will be referred to the Military Police for further investigations, according to the agency.

    On Tuesday, five Syrian nationals were arrested in the Akkar town of Shadra for entering Leb illegally.

    And on Monday, the army arrested two Lebanese and 19 Syrians in Wadi Khaled for entering Leb with a Kalashnikov rifle, two guns, ammunition, 30 mobile phones, a laptop and various foreign currencies in their possession.
    Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra


    Soldier Killed as Israel Bombs Syria Army after Golan Attack
    [An Nahar] Israel launched air raids against Syrian army positions early Wednesday and issued a stark warning to Damascus just hours after a bomb on the occupied Golan Heights maimed four Israeli soldiers.

    The Syrian army said one soldier had been killed and seven others maimed in strikes on its bases in the Quneitra region, which it denounced as "acts of aggression" that endangered regional stability.

    The bombing marked the most serious escalation along the ceasefire line with Syria since the 1973 Middle East War, with Israel's defense minister warning that Damascus would pay a "high price" for helping Death Eaters bent on harming the Jewish state.

    Although there was no claim of responsibility for Tuesday's roadside kaboom which targeted soldiers patrolling the Israel-Syria ceasefire line, Israel has raised the alarm about increased activity there by Leb's Hizbullah
    ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
    , calling it a "new threat" for the Jewish state.

    Militants from the powerful Shiite movement, who fought a bloody war with Israel in 2006, are now fighting alongside the Syrian army against rebels seeking to overthrow the Damascus regime.

    Following the Golan attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel would act "forcefully" to defend itself, with the air force making good on his pledge several hours later.

    The pre-dawn strikes targeted a Syrian army training facility, a military headquarters and artillery batteries, the Israeli army said.

    "Our policy is clear: we hurt those who hurt us," Netanyahu told ministers on Wednesday.

    Tuesday's attack, which injured four paratroopers, one severely, was the third such incident in two weeks along Israel's northern frontiers.

    Two previous attempts to strike soldiers along Israel's northern borders on March 5 and March 14 were blamed on Hizbullah.

    "We see the Assad regime as responsible for what is happening under its authority, and if it continues to cooperate with terror elements who seek to harm Israel, we will make it pay a high price," Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said in a statement.

    "We will react with determination and force against anyone operating against us, at any time and any place, as we have done tonight," he said.

    Calm returned following the strikes although three Israeli tanks could be seen positioned along the ceasefire line, just southeast of the Druze town Majdal Shams, an AFP correspondent said.

    In the town, which is populated by Druze residents many of whom are fiercely loyal to Damascus, there was anger over the Israeli raids.

    "It was an unacceptable act," said Ali Abu Saleh, a man in his 30s with an outsized moustache, accusing Israel of trying to topple Assad.

    "Israel has no right to strike inside Syria," agreed bookshop owner Sagar Abu Slah. "It's a Syrian internal war. Israel shouldn't interfere but nor should Hizbullah."
    Posted by: Fred || 03/20/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



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