The UN refugee agency has expressed concern over the mass arrest of Somalis and other nationals in Kenya as part of a security force operation to end attacks by militant Islamists.
I don't recall the UNHCR getting all worked up over all the people murdered by the shopping mall bomb blast. It might have slipped past them...
About 2,000 people have been arrested over the past week in the capital, Nairobi, a Somali diplomat said.
Kenya has vowed to flush out sympathisers of the Somalia-based militant Islamist group, al-Shabab. The group has carried out a spate of attacks in Kenya.
Kenyan police have been carrying out raids in Nairobi's mainly Somali neighbourhood of Eastleigh since three grenade blasts killed at least six people in the area last Monday. Police allege that Eastleigh has become a safe haven for al-Shabab, an allegation many residents deny.
Those arrested in the raids include women and children, reports the BBC's Tomi Oladipo from Nairobi. They are being held at a sports stadium and at various police stations in the city. Police are screening them to check their legal status, our correspondent says.
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said it had sought access to refugees and asylum-seekers who had been arrested in the raids.
It understood Kenya's security concerns, but it wanted to appeal to law-enforcement agencies to "uphold the rights of all those arrested and to treat them in a humane and non-discriminatory manner", UNHCR said.
Somalia's ambassador to Nairobi, Ali Americo, told the BBC Somali Service that he had discussed the arrests with Kenya's Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku at a meeting on Monday. Mr Americo said he had been informed that most of the 2,000 people arrested were Somalis.
Police spokesman Masoud Mwinyi told the BBC he did not know how many people had been arrested. However, the number was increasing as the security operation went on, he said.
Last week, Kenya's government ordered all Somali refugees living in towns to move into designated camps in a bid to end the attacks. President Uhuru Kenyatta said the operation would continue to protect Kenya from further attacks by al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda.
"We are not fighting any religion or community. Our fight is against criminals who kill innocent children, women and men going about their everyday activities, including praying," he said on Saturday.
Which is what the UNHCR, conditioned by the Palestinians, will never understand...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/09/2014 00:00 ||
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[Maghrebia] A group calling itself the "Shura Council of Islamist Youth in Derna" says it plans to impose Sharia law in the eastern Libyan town.
The jihadist group paraded through the coastal city on Friday (April 4th), AFP reported. Photos on the group's Facebook page show dozens of pickup trucks with heavily gunnies in uniforms, their faces obscured by masks.
With the absence of state institutions, the region is fertile ground for hard boy organizations looking to grow and thrive.
The Shura council declared their hostility to about anyone who, in their view, antagonises God and the Prophet.
Nahla Bashir, a housewife, noted that the General National Congress already acknowledged Sharia was the basis of legislation. "So what do these people want? I think they want to rule people with their own ideas," she said.
"We do not want brigades or a youth council for Derna," commented Abdullah, a 36-year-old from the city. "We want police and army and not masked youth riding SUVs with medium weapons."
Abdel-Hamid Salam, a 43-year-old merchant, said that if a group not belonging to the state was running a city it meant that the state was absent, leading it to fall prey to entities that could harm the country.
"We saw how these groups involved Libya in the operation of In Amenas in Algeria and even went beyond that to participate in the war in Mali with terrorist groups," Salam pointed out.
Just days after the declaration of Sharia law in Derna, a senior al-Qaeda leader in the town was found dead.
The body of Ali Abdallah Bin Taher (aka al-Far) was found on Monday (April 7th) on his farm. The al-Qaeda leader was allegedly involved in a number of liquidations in Derna.
Al-Far, the right-hand man of prominent al-Qaeda leader Sufian Ben Qumu, was best known for closing polling stations in Derna and preventing people from voting on election day on February 21st, 2014.
For its part, the new Derna intelligence agency grabbed credit for killing al-Far and vowed "to cleanse Derna of obscurantist hard boys".
A medical source confirmed that al-Far's perforated carcass was found at the western entrance of town and was taken to al-Harish Hospital. "He was probably killed outside Derna," the source said.
"Many Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libya, Tunisia and Yemen, with the Libyan and Tunisian versions currently most active... leaders assembled at Derna hospital," said Adel Massoud, 48, a hospital worker. "The atmosphere was very tense, and there were high voices demanding retribution and Dire Revenge™ after their colleague from Derna was killed."
Youssef al-Mansouri, a 36-year-old teacher, said, "It's heaven's justice. Derna today is celebrating the end of a troublesome nightmare that has haunted it for a period of time. The tears of orphans and widows didn't go in vain."
"He was intimidating this town with his crime and weapons, which didn't show any mercy to either weak or strong people. He was killed after killing and wronging many people and after destroying multiple places," al-Mansouri added. "He's gone after receiving the punishment he deserves."
High school student Omaima Miftah, 17, shared the sentiment: "Thank God we've got rid of him in Derna. I hope the rest of 'rats' will have a similar fate."
"I wish God will not show him any mercy because he's unjust and killed a lonely woman at her home. Can this be called manliness? He's reaped what he had sown," 26-year-old housewife Amina Abdulrahman told Magharebia.
"He and his other hard boy colleagues who are hiding behind religion, although Islam has nothing to do with them, massacre people and blow up places," Abdulrahman added. "Is this how they want God's Sharia to rule?"
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
If they have oil in Derna independence won't last long. Egypt should be looking for a source of cash about now and htey have a lot of hardboys that could use some distraction.
#2
...Derna - dating back a millenium or so - has always been a pain in the a$$ for the assorted Deys, Bashaws, Sultans, Governors, Pharoahs, and forty-year-time-in-grade-Colonels who tried to run the place. It's always fought whoever said they were in charge, and has tended to be a hotbed of Mooselimb fundamentalism. When I wrote my book about the US Marine raid there in 1804, I was quite satisfied to get no closer than Google Earth, thank you very much.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/09/2014 20:12 Comments ||
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[Ennahar] The campaign manager of the candidate Abdelaziz Bouteflika for the presidential election of April 2014, Abdelmalek Sellal, said Monday in Sidi Bel Abbes, that the stability of the country was the most important achievement during the three terms of Bouteflika. These three terms, he said, were "successful" after a decade of murderous violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2014 00:00 ||
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Libya's parliament has asked Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni to form a new cabinet within one week, parliamentary spokesman said, Al-Jazeera reported.
"The General National Congress (GNC) appointed Abdullah al-Thinni as the prime minister under a condition of forming a government within week," Omar Hmeidan told Reuters news agency on Tuesday.
Once a cabinet had been formed, the congress would decide whether Thinni and his minister could stay until a general vote expected for later this year, he said.
Thinni's had earlier written to parliament asking for more powers and a longer mandate but denied media reports that it had resigned at a time of deepening turmoil that has hit the North African state's lifeblood oil exports.
The government in Tripoli has been strugging to enforce security across the country since the removal and death of Muammar Gaddafi nearly three years ago. Several armed groups which had fought against Gaddafi's rule have been seeking greater representation in the running of the government.
"The government refuses to continue as a cabinet in charge of day-to-day affairs with limited powers," and may resign, GNC spokesman Omar Hmidan said, quoted by the official Lana news agency.
Last month the GNC ousted prime minister Ali Zeidan after the military failed to prevent rebels from sending a tanker loaded with oil out from a port they have blockaded. The ship was later captured by US forces and returned to Tripoli.
Zeidan was temporarily replaced by former defence minister Abdullah al-Thani, whose government's mandate is renewable every two weeks until a permanent replacement can be appointed.
Government spokesman Ahmed Lamin confirmed the cabinet had requested wider powers but denied it had threatened to resign.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/09/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAILYPOST.NG] The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar's led Jama'atu Nasril Islam's had on Monday in Kaduna accused officers of the Nigerian Army of killing innocent Mohammedans under the guise of fighting 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 Secretary-General of the JNI, Dr. Khalid Aliyu, in a statement on behalf of the group expressed disappointment over the recent attack on Keana, Narasarawa state where innocent Mohammedans were killed.
According to the JNI, it is totally unacceptable for the military in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states to continue to kill innocent Mohammedans in the name of fighting terrorism.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The governor of China's restive region of Xinjiang wrote on Monday that Islamist snuffies were trying to ban laughter at weddings and crying at funerals, as he appealed to people to stamp out the "tumour" of extremism.
Xinjiang has been beset by violence for years, blamed by the government on snuffies and separatists.
Exiles and many rights groups say the real cause of the unrest is China's heavy-handed policies, including curbs on Islam and the culture and language of the Mohammedan Uighur people who call Xinjiang home.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2014 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] The US Senate passed legislation on Monday seeking to bar Iran's proposed UN ambassador, Hamid Abutalebi, from entering the United States. The legislation, introduced by Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, would prevent "known terrorists" from entering the United States to serve as UN ambassadors.
The Democratic-controlled Senate passed the measure by a voice vote.
The possibility that Abutalebi may have played a role in the 1979-1981 hostage crisis has outraged some of the US Embassy workers held by the Iranians for 444 days.
[Ynet] United States said on Tuesday Iran has the ability to produce fissile material for a nuclear bomb in two months, if it so decided, as Tehran and six world powers swung into a new round of talks in Vienna on resolving their atomic dispute.
Talks anticipated to take about three months, nobody added aloud.
"I think it's public knowledge today that we're operating with a time period for a so-called 'break-out' of about two months. That's been in the public domain," said US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... to a Senate hearing.
There is no hell deep enough for this man and his master. I wish I knew how to cuss.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/09/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
As said before, IRAN + NUCPROGS are effec safe until sometime this Summer 2014, as the US + NATO-EU want Iran's help to defeat the Qaeda Boyz + aligned now jihading-n-insurgencing' in the ME.
How much safer after Summer 2014 depends on the potency of Iran's anti-Qaeda, etal. counterterror efforts.
[DAWN] SIRAJUL Haq's election as the 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... 's new emir raises some questions about the party's policies at a time when the government is holding talks with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain. At issue is the JI's attitude towards terrorism -- terrorism not as a theory but as the mode of war for enforcement of Sharia worldwide.
This 'jihad' has made gunnies target the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai to London's Tube and buses to Times Square, the weapons ranging from AK-47s to a terrifying war tool -- suicide kaboom.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] As the deadline of Taliban offered ceasefire ends on April 10, the proscribed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) has accused the government of violating the truce and said the latter has also failed to accept their three demands.
The turban outfit, reiterating its rhetoric of ceasefire violation by the government, said that the TTP is following the truce but its activists are being targetted throughout the country in different operations carry out by security forces.
Shahidullah Shahid, the central front man of the Pak Taliban, said in a statement on Tuesday that the decision on further extending the ceasefire would be taken after expiry of the deadline, on April 10.
He said that so far the government has not given any response to the TTP demands and direct talks between the two committees are yet to happen with just two days to go before expiry of the ceasefire deadline.
On Saturday while announcing release of further 13 Taliban prisoners, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told news hounds that next round of direct talks with the TTP shura will be held soon and the number of released prisoner would rise to 30 before that. The government released 19 prisoners earlier this month.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The Supreme Court has decided to treat the report from Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui on March 3 attacks on F-8 district courts as confidential.
On Monday, a three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, observed that the report by the Islamabad High Court judge was not a public document. It also asked the local representatives of the bar association to go through the report, but they were not allowed to make it public.
Justice Siddiqui was appointed the head of the inquiry commission, the same day when the district court attacks took place.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2014 00:00 ||
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Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday instructed all government ministries to cease civilian and economic cooperation with the Palestinian Authority in the wake of the crisis in negotiations between Israel and the PA.
An Israeli government official said that in response to "Palestinian violations," Israeli government ministers were directed to refrain from meeting their Palestinian Authority counterparts.
[Ynet] Economy Minister Naftali Bennett slammed comments made earlier by US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... , according to which the announcement of settlement construction in East Jerusalem led to a collapse in talks. Kerry told the senate that: "700 (settlement) units were approved in Jerusalem and then poof..." talks began to falter.
In response, Bennett said: "For years there was an attempt to block construction in Jerusalem by blasts and kabooms, but it didn't happen. Construction in Jerusalem is not a 'poof', it is Zionism and we will never apologize for it."
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry suggested on Tuesday that Israel's announcement of plans to build about 700 housing units in East Jerusalem was the proximate cause for the near collapse of its peace talks with the Palestinians, Reuters reported.
Good gawd, the man's idiocy knows no bounds...
However, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Kerry was not seeking to blame Israel for the impasse in the talks, which appear close to breaking down ahead of the April 29 date by which Kerry had hoped to reach a peace agreement.
Really? Not blaming Israel? Then why bring it up you moron! You're supposed to be a diplomat!
Unlike me...
Any hint that the United States was blaming Israel was likely to upset Israeli officials. Both sides are sensitive to suggestions that they are at fault for the talks unraveling and they typically try to shift responsibility to the other side.
Testifying before Congress, Kerry said both sides had taken "unhelpful" steps in recent days and that he hoped they would find a way to resume serious negotiations, noting that they held a lengthy meeting on Monday.
Among the steps were Israel's failure to release a fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners as promised, its announcement of tenders to build 708 new housing units in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of a Palestinian state, and the Palestinians signing 15 international agreements, including the Geneva Conventions on the conduct of war, last week.
"Both sides, whether advertently or inadvertently wound up in positions where things happened that were unhelpful," Kerry told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Really Jahwn? Pray tell, what were the Palestinian actions that were unhelpful? I notice that you didn't itemize those...
"Unfortunately, the (Palestinian) prisoners weren't released on the Saturday they were supposed to be released, and - and so day (one) went by, day two went by, day three went by, and then in the afternoon, when they were about to maybe get there, 700 settlement units were announced in Jerusalem, and poof, that was sort of the moment," he said.
"My hope is the parties will find a way back. We're working with them to try to do so, but they have to make that fundamental decision, and I hope they will," he said.
"The ... bitter irony is that at this particular moment, this fight is over process, it's not over the substance of the final status agreement, it's over how do you get to the discussion of the final status agreement," Kerry said.
Kerry last week scrapped plans to visit Jerusalem for talks with the parties and said he was returning home for a "reality check" on what might be possible, saying it could not be an open-ended process. He made the point more baldly on Tuesday.
"There are limits to the time the president and I ... can commit to this, given the rest of the agenda, if they're not prepared to commit to actually be there in a serious way," he said. "So, we'll see what happens in the next days."
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/09/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
We have a friend in Israel, John. They are a democratic and effectively prosperous society with a Free Press and Western Values. IF we choose to have a real and genuine friendship with an ALLY, John, we need to have their best interests at heart. We DON'T need the palestinians as an ally, they spit on us and danced and passed out Candy when Osama ( PTUI ) hit New York. The Palestinians are a phony garbage people. We have NO future with a Palestinian State.
YOI are a total failure in not supporting an ALLY and a Democracy, John. Go stick your head in the toilet.
#4
Why is the US Secretary of State still running interference for a Soviet Russian ally?
Why not put this entire 'Peace Process' on hold while letting every party know, unofficially, that this is a consequence of Russian actions?
What would be the downside?
[Ynet] Complicated military procurement scheme keeps Israel dependent on US foreign aid for at least another decade.
Despite recent tensions in relations between Israel and the United States, defense officials in the Jewish State are confident enough in the strength of the alliance to take on debt based on the expectation of future military aid.
According to a Defense News report, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon has received government backing to purchase $2 billion in Pentagon-approved arms and aircraft, including the troubled V-22 tilt-rotor Osprey.
After months of internal dialogue in the Finance Ministry and negotiations with the Pentagon's defense contractors, Israel will enter into a US-approved deferred payment plan (DPP) to purchase the military equipment.
The Defense News report quotes US and Israeli officials saying Israel would only pay interest and fees until the current military aid package expires in September 2018, while the principal on the loan would be covered by a new aid package promised by President Barack Obama My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it... , which would extend the annual foreign military financing (FMF) aid until 2028.
When Obama visited Israel in March 2013, he committed to opening talks regarding an extension of the 10-year agreement signed in 2007 with his predecessor, President George W. Bush.
Bilateral talks on the extension have only made preliminary progress according to US and Israeli sources, and a final aid package is unlikely to materialize before the end of Obama's second term, said the Defense News report.
While there are a number of variables that could factor in to the amount of aid Israel will receive, the Defense News report quotes former Israeli ambassador to the US, Danny Ayalon, as saying it was reasonable for the Israeli government to expect the extension of the foreign military aid, based on a wide-ranging congressional support for the Jewish State.
One Washington source told Defense News that the complicated financing arrangement required a "leap of faith" by all the actors involved in the deal, as the DPP approved means the US will pay defense contractors for the arms long before the new aid package for Israel is approved.
A leap of faith, indeed, given that Secretary of State Kerry yesterday announced his expectation that Iran would have nuclear weapons within two months.
Expected or hoped?
But the "leap of faith" was a step too far for some officials in the Finance Ministry, who were concerned that taking on debt without any guarantees of future aid was too risky.
It took a letter of intent to support the DPP from Washington to help the Defense Ministry push the arrangement through the Israeli government, according to Defense News.
With the DPP approved, Israel can begin the lengthy procurement process for the V-22 Ospreys, a principal part of the military aid offered by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel when he visited Israel in April 2013.
Hagel's plan to assure Israel's qualitative military edge was originally criticized for being premature, as most of Israel's FMF funding was spent on advanced F-35 jets, KC135 refueling tanker planes, and heavy troop carriers, according to the Defense News report.
Since Hagel's visit, representatives of the Israeli and American governments have been involved in negotiations with defense contractors, the Pentagon, and the State Department; when the DPP is finalized, sources from both countries expect Israel to become the first export customer for the V-22, said the Defense News report.
The Israeli procurement of the tilt-rotor plane could influence other players in the defense procurement industry to take the gamble on the transforming plane, said the report, as well as net the US economy more than $1 billion.
#1
"Taking on Debt widout any guarantees of future aid would be too risky" > Yuuuupp, OWG Globalism or no OWG Globalism, CO-Superpower or no Co-Superpower, THE "GREAT GAME" GOES ON AGZ ANY + ALL COMERS.
That said, I'm not sure that a) the Osprey is a useful platform for the Israelis and b) this isn't more of an aid package for the US defense contractors than for Israel.
[Beirut Daily Star: Region] A threatened, but averted, American missile strike to punish Syria's government for a chemical weapons attack last summer would not have been powerful enough to change the course in the Syrian civil war, Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... said Tuesday, in an attempt to deflect criticism that the U.S. hasn't done enough to stem the violence there.
Under pointed questioning by a Senate panel he used to chair, Kerry said the scrubbed strike would have been limited, and would have been aimed only at preventing Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... from delivering more chemical weapons to his forces.
"It would not have had a devastating impact by which he had to recalculate, because it wasn't going to last that long," Kerry told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "Here we were going to have one or two days to degrade and send a message. ... We came up with a better solution."
That solution, Kerry said, was to negotiate an agreement with Russia to lean on Assad to ship out and destroy his government's chemical weapons stockpiles, considered to be one of the largest in the world. That agreement came after a frantic few days after President Barack Obama I am the change that you seek... initially threatened to launch a missile strike in response to the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack. Obama pulled back because he decided congressional approval was necessary first.
Obama had earlier threatened that Assad would face consequences if he crossed a "red line" by launching deadly chemical weapons against his own people. The U.S. says more than 1,400 Syrians were killed in the Aug. 21 attack, although human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... groups have reported a lower corpse count of below 1,000.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Becuz, ya know,"devastating" milstrikes is how Battles + Wars are won, + "WINNING" BATTLES + WARS IS JUST NOT GOOD GLOBALISM!
OWG GLOBALISM = LIMITED WAR = WHERE ONE CANNOT EVAR!? CONFIRM OR DENY "VICTORY".
"Limited War" is what Putin is effec doing agz the US + NATO-EU vee the UKRAINE-CRIMEA CRISIS - IT IS VERY LIKELY ALSO WHAT CHINA WILL SIMILARLY DO AGZ THE THE US-ALLIES IN EAST ASIA + PACIFIC.
* TOPIX, WORLD NEWS, BHARAT RAKSHAK > US THREATENS CHINA WID RUSSIA-STYLE SANCTIONS, iff it attempts any Crimea-style unilateral military -led takeover of foreign sovereign territory, i.e. Japan + PHIL + ASEAN.
VERSUS
* OTOH DRUDGEREPORT > [Christian Science Monitor] CHINA WARNS IT CANNOT BE CONTAINED AS US DEFENSE SECRETARY [Hagel] VISITS.
IOW, China m-u-s-t geopol expand.
WID US CONSENT OR SILENT ACQUISENCE???
* BIGNEWSNETWORK > [World Tribune] STUDENTS PROTESTERS [anti-China,Trade Pact]WARN CHINA WOULD DO TO TAIWAN WHAT RUSSIA DID TO CRIMEA.
[Beirut Daily Star: Region] Presidential election fever in the southern province of Swaida has generated tension after Druze religious figures attacked a campaign rally featuring blaring music and a woman dancing in traditional dress.
Anti-regime activists from the city said the incident took place Friday, when some two dozen religious leaders, or mashayekh, were informed about the rally taking place in front of the provincial governor's office in the Druze-majority city.
They hurried to the location and discovered a small number of Baath Party members and intelligence operatives looking on as the woman, holding a picture of President Bashar Assad, was dancing to the accompaniment of loud music played from a public address system.
An activist told The Daily Star that the mashayekh, some of whom were armed, assaulted the gathering, wrecked the tent and audio equipment and escorted the woman away.
He said that the mashayekh first heard that a "religiously observant" woman had decided to dance in public holding the picture of the president, but when they arrived, they discovered that the woman seemed to suffer from a mental disability and might have been coerced into taking part.
"They took particular exception to the sight of a woman wearing traditional, or 'religious,' clothing," he said. "They don't want religion to be exploited for such purposes."
The tent and loudspeakers for the mobilization in support of Assad's re-election were set up again the following day and lower-key rallies have continued, the activist said.
"There have been mediation efforts to calm the situation between the mashayekh and the intelligence bodies, but these have failed up to now."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2014 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] Iran delivered 30,000 tons of food supplies to Syria on Tuesday to help the government deal with shortages due to the civil war, state media said.
All pallets no doubt earmarked for supporters of Assad. For all the others it's "root hog, or die". All the others who haven't already fled to refugee camps in the surrounding countries, anyway.
As the announcement came that the massive shipment arrived at a Mediterranean port, state TV also reported that government forces had made further advances against rebels near the capital, Damascus.
The aid is part of Iran's broader support for Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... as he prepares to run for a third presidential term while his troops battle rebels seeking his overthrow.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/09/2014 00:00 ||
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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.
[DAWN] SIRAJUL Haq's election as the 
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry suggested on Tuesday that Israel's announcement of plans to build about 700 housing units in East Jerusalem was the proximate cause for the near collapse of its peace talks with the Palestinians, Reuters reported.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
