[NBsee News] NEW YORK — A one-time associate of Osama Bin Laden died in New York on Friday while awaiting trial for allegedly plotting the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Abu Anas al-Libi, 50, was captured in Libya by U.S. commandos in Oct. 2013 and brought to New York where he was due to stand trial. He had been wanted for more than a decade and there was a $5 million reward for his arrest. Al-Libi had pleaded not guilty.
The al Qaeda terror suspect has been in poor health and suffered liver disease as a result of hepatitis C, according to published reports.
In a court filing, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said that al-Libi was taken from the Metropolitan Correctional Center to a New York hospital on Wednesday "due to sudden complications arising out of his long-standing medical problems." Bharara added that al-Libi's condition "deteriorated rapidly" and he died on Friday.
[AnNahar] Fires at seven storage tanks at one of Libya's main oil terminal have been put out, officials said Friday, nine days after they were set off by a militia rocket.
A rocket fired on December 25 by Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn ...aka Fajr Libya, the Islamist operation launched to counter that of General Khalifa Haftar (Operation Dignity). It is made up of the Libya Shield militia (Misrata and Moslem Brotherhood), Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (Moslem Brotherhood), and Tripoli Brigade (close to Abdul Hakim Belhaj, head of Al-Watan party). Financing and moral support come from Turkey and Qatar... ), a coalition of Islamist-backed fighters, ignited the first fire which then spread to six other tanks at al-Sidra oil terminal.
"The fires have been extinguished in all seven tanks that were ablaze after raging out of control for nine days," said Ali al-Hassi, security front man for the so-called "oil crescent" in eastern Libya.
Around 70 volunteer firefighters helped put out the flames with help from employees from local oil companies under tough conditions, while pro-government forces and militias fought nearby, Hassi said.
Al-Sidra is one of Libya's key oil terminal with Ras Lanuf and Brega also in the "oil crescent."
There are 19 storage tanks at al-Sidra with a total capacity of 6.2 million barrels of oil.
Experts have said Libya's oil production dropped to less than 350,000 barrels per day from 800,000 previously, since festivities around the export terminals erupted on December 13.
Fighters from Fajr Libya, which controls much 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... , as well as second and third cities Benghazi and Misrata, have been trying to seize al-Sidra and Ras Lanuf terminals.
Hassi said poke of "huge" losses encountered due to the fires, but gave no estimates.
On Monday, Libya's internationally recognised government approved a $6 million (4.9 million euro) deal with a U.S. firm to send experts to extinguish the fires.
"At least that money has been now saved since we managed to put out the fires locally," said Hassi.
More than three years after strongman Muammar Qadaffy ...Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years until he was ejected from the gene pool by his indignant citizens... was toppled and killed in a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... -backed revolt, the country remains awash with weapons and powerful militias, and has rival governments and parliaments.
The militias who had have been trying to seize control of the oil terminals have launched attacks from the city of Bin Jawad, east of al-Sidra.
On Friday, Hassi said that Bin Jawad had been declared "a closed military zone" by the army command, ahead of an offensive against the militias.
"The Libyan army is preparing to launch a military assault to clean up the city of gang who have been using it as a launchpad to attack oil installations," said Hassi.
[AnNahar] Kenya's High Court on Friday suspended key parts of a controversial new national security law pending a full examination of the legislation.
High Court Judge George Odunga announced that the application of eight sections of the new anti-terrorism law would be suspended because they raised concerns over human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... The move follows a legal challenge by Kenya's opposition, who had argued that the east African nation was at risk of becoming a dictatorship.
The security bill was passed by parliament last month after a debate that sparked brawls between governing coalition and opposition MPs, and was signed into law by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
It hands Kenyan authorities sweeping powers to crack down on terror suspects -- including holding suspects for nearly a year without charge -- and threatens journalists with up to three years behind bars if their reports "undermine investigations or security operations relating to terrorism".
The suspended clauses include the threat to journalists, a ceiling on the number of refugees allowed to be in Kenya, as well as definitions on what constitutes support for terrorism.
The government argues the measures are necessary to confront a wave of attacks by Somalia's al Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab holy warriors, and that amendments giving the courts more oversight over the police and intelligence services make it constitutionally sound.
[Ynet] Survey highlights rise in anti-immigrant, anti-Moslem sentiment among Germans, as Merkel stresses country must welcome people fleeing conflict, war.
One German in eight would join an anti-Moslem march if a rapidly-growing protest movement organised one in their home towns, according to an opinion poll published on Thursday.
The survey highlighted growing support in Germany, as in other European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... countries including Britannia and Sweden, for parties and movements tapping into voter fears that mainstream politicians are too soft on immigration.
Some members of Chancellor Angela Merkel ...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom... 's conservative bloc worry that they risk losing support to the euro-sceptic Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has shifted its focus to immigration, and many of whose members back the PEGIDA protest movement ? Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West.
PEGIDA is holding weekly rallies in the eastern city of Dresden, and attracted more than 17,000 people to a Dec. 22 rally. A few small marches have taken place in other towns, and it plans to stage further rallies in other German cities.
In her New Year address, Merkel urged Germans to turn their backs on PEGIDA's leaders, calling them racists full of hatred, and said Europe's biggest economy must welcome people fleeing conflict and war.
The latest poll of 1,006 people by Forsa for Germany's Stern magazine found 13 percent would attend an anti-Moslem march nearby. It also found 29 percent of people believed that Islam was having such an influence on life in Germany that the marches were justified.
While two thirds of those polled believed the idea of an 'Islamisation' of Germany was exaggerated, many Germans are concerned about the numbers of asylum seekers, many from Syria, pouring into the country.
Partly in response to its Nazi past, German asylum rules are among the most liberal in the world. The number of asylum-seekers arriving in Germany surged to about 200,000 in 2014, four times the numbers in 2012. Net immigration has hit a two-decade high.
AfD leader Bernd Lucke criticised Merkel's New Year address in comments due to appear in Friday's edition of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) paper, accusing her of disrespecting citizens. A New Year address should unite rather than divide people, he said, accusing Merkel of branding all those who joined PEGIDA marches as anti-immigrant without listening to their views.
He said he saw no place for anti-immigrant sentiment in Germany, but that problems should be discussed properly to stop such views taking hold.
[DAWN] Awami National Party founded by Abdul Wali Khan in 1986. Part of the PPP-led cabinet 2008-13. The ANP is considered left wing, advocating for secularism, democratic socialism, public sector government, and economic egalitarianism.... central general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Thursday declared Punjab a training centre for holy warriors and their criminal masterminds and demanded that the government begin a decisive action against terrorist outfits in the province.
He was speaking at the ?Shuhada Amn Qaumi Conference? here at Nishtar Hall on Thursday.
The Jamaat-e-Islam had organised the event to pay homage to 150 people, mostly children, massacred by the Taliban at the Army Public School and College 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. on Dec 16.
Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, JUI-S chief Samiul Haq ...the Godfather of the Taliban, leader of his own faction of the JUI. Known as Mullah Sandwich for his habit of having two young boys at a time... and leaders of various political parties were in attendance.
Mian Iftikhar told participants that terrorism could not be eliminated from the country until an operation began against terrorist organizations in Punjab.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/03/2015 04:02 ||
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#1
Too True. Many jihadi organisations are operated out of southern Punjab.
Posted by: paul ||
01/03/2015 16:58 Comments ||
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[DAWN] The federal government filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday an appeal against the Islamabad High Court?s verdict suspending detention orders of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged criminal mastermind of Mumbai attacks.
The appeal was jointly filed by Additional Attorney General Mohammad Waqar Rana on behalf of the government through the secretary interior, district magistrate of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and Senior Superintendent Police of Islamabad.
?Without prejudice to the case registered against the respondent (Lakhvi) under the Pak law, he is accused in an offence committed outside the country,? the appeal said, adding that the country had international obligations which exclusively fell within the executive domain dealing with ?external affairs of Pakistain? as set out under Article 10(4) of the Constitution.
On Dec 29, the IHC had granted conditional release of Lakhvi by suspending his detention orders issued by the Islamabad district administration soon after an anti-terrorism court (ATC) had granted him bail on Dec 18.
A day after the high court?s decision to suspend the detention orders, a civil judge gave Lakhvi?s custody to Islamabad police in connection with a six-year-old ?kidnapping? case.
Lakhvi has been behind bars since Feb 19, 2009 after an FIR was registered with the FIA?s Special Investigation Unit (SIU) for allegedly training turbans and facilitating the Mumbai attacks on Nov 26, 2008, in which 166 people were killed.
The government?s appeal argued that it was a well settled law that in external matters courts followed the footsteps of the executive and never sat on appeal over the latter?s decision.
?In such issues the courts always exercise judicial restraint.
Therefore, the provisions of West Pakistain Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance 1960 under which Lakhvi was detained should not be read with Article 10(4) of the Constitution,? it contended.
The appeal said the high court had passed the suspension orders in a complete misreading of the law while ignoring relevant facts and circumstances of the case. Thus the high court had acted without jurisdiction and erred in law by failing to take into account that Lakhvi had an alternative remedy which he availed himself of by making a representation to the federal government, it said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/03/2015 04:00 ||
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[Dawn] ISLAMABAD: Troubled by the low conviction rate of suspected hard boyz before trial courts and the high number of government appeals dismissed by the superior courts, the attorney general’s (AG) office is on the hunt for criminal law experts.
Sources in the AG’s office told Dawn that none of the government’s top legal advisers, including Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt, PM’s Special Assistant Barrister Zafarullah Khan, Khawaja Zaheer and former federal minister Zahid Hamid – are experts in criminal law.
Over the past seven years, over 2,000 suspected hard boyz have been acquitted by the courts as government agencies and the prosecution failed to prove the cases against them.
AG Salman Aslam Butt, the principal law officer, specialises in corporate cases or company-related matters. He was a partner in Hamid Khan’s Lahore-based law firm Cornelius, Lane & Mufti. Before his appointment as the AG, he was representing the Sharif family in corruption cases against them.
Continued on Page 49
[Dawn] ISLAMABAD: The All-Party Conference convened by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... on Friday decided to amend the Constitution to provide for trial of terror suspects by military courts for a period of two years.
The amendment endorsed by the APC will be known as the 22nd Amendment. It will be tabled in the National Assembly on Saturday and in Senate on Tuesday.
The proposed amendment bill calls for amending Article 175 of the Constitution (Establishment and Jurisdiction of Courts) and the First Schedule of the Constitution, which contains laws exempted from operation of Article 8 (1) and (2) ? the clauses pertaining to fundamental rights.
[Ynet] The US State Department said on Friday that the Paleostinian application to join the International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... will have "implications" for US aid to the Paleostinian Authority.
"It should come as no surprise that there will be implications for this step, but we continue to review," the official told Rooters.
"US assistance to the Paleostinian Authority has played a valuable role in promoting stability and prosperity not just for the Paleostinians, but also for Israel as well," the official added.
Washington sends about $400 million in economic support aid to the Paleostinians every year. Under US law, that aid would be cut off if the Paleostinians used membership in the International Criminal Court to make claims against Israel.
While President Barack Obama Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though.... supports an eventual independent Paleostinian state neighboring Israel, US officials have argued against unilateral moves like Friday's, warning they could set back the grinding of the peace processor.
"We are deeply troubled ...meaning it might require more than two 'tuts'. If the other side responds at all it's known as a 'tut for tat' and it's worth 20 diplomatic points.. by Paleostinian action regarding the ICC," a senior State Department official said.
In a move that heightened tensions with Israel, the Paleostinians on Friday delivered to UN headquarters documents on joining the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and other international treaties.
The chief Paleostinian observer at the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... , Riyad Mansour, and UN front man Farhan Haq confirmed handover of the diplomatic documents at the world body's headquarters.
"This is a very significant step," Mansour said. "It is an option that we are seeking in order to seek justice for all the victims that have been killed by Israel, the occupying power."
The UN press office issued a statement saying the Paleostinians had delivered documentation to join 16 international treaties. "The documents are being reviewed with a view to determining the appropriate next steps," it said.
The Hague-based court looks at cases of severe war crimes and crimes against humanity, such as genocide.
According to the Rome Statute, the Paleostinians will become a party to the court on the first day of the month that follows a 60-day waiting period after depositing signed and ratified documents of accession with the United Nations in New York.
The ICC move paves the way for the court to take jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed in Paleostinian lands and investigate the conduct of both Israeli and Paleostinian leaders over more than a decade of bloody conflict. Neither Israel nor the United States belongs to the ICC.
Mansour said the Paleostinians have also formally requested retroactive ICC jurisdiction "with regard to the crimes committed during the last war in Gazoo." He was referring to Israel's 50-day war against Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,gunnies in the Gazoo Strip this past summer.
Regarding the threat of possible US sanctions for joining the ICC, Mansour said: "It is really puzzling when you seek justice through a legal approach to be punished for doing so."
[AnNahar] An Iraqi politician has revealed that authorities in Baghdad were seeking to recover around 2 billion dollars of Iraqi money found in a bunker in rural Leb.
That would pay for a nice chunk of anti-ISIS warmaking...
The MP, who is a member of the parliamentary integrity committee, told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat published on Friday that the appropriations committee was able to return 1 billion dollars of money frozen in several countries.
The committee is now seeking to recover the cash found in Leb and frozen money in the Sultanate of Oman.
It is believed that ministers in former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's cabinet were involved in smuggling the cash, which was earmarked for the reconstruction of Iraq.
Not Saddam Hussein's legendary stash, then? A pity.
A U.S. official said in October that he did not know how around 1.2 billion dollars to 1.6 billion dollars of cash got to Leb.
Stuart W. Bowen Jr., a friend from Texas of ex-President George W. Bush, said: ?Billions of dollars have been taken out of Iraq over the last 10 years illegally,? he said. ?In this investigation, we thought we were on the track for some of that lost money. It?s disappointing to me personally that we were unable to close this case, for reasons beyond our control.?
Bowen was in 2004 appointed to serve as a special inspector general to investigate corruption and waste in Iraq.
Before his office was finally shut down last year, Bowen believed he might have succeeded, but only partly, in that mission.
Bowen said he talked to al-Maliki about the missing money and his discovery of the bunker and that the ex-PM never took any action.
In addition to the cash, there was said to be approximately 200 million dollars in gold belonging to the Iraqi government.
Israel is looking at ways to prosecute senior Palestinians for war crimes in the United States and elsewhere in response to Palestinian steps to join the International Criminal Court, an Israeli official said on Saturday.
#1
Yes, lets go to court against a people with a disproportionate number of lawyers. Once again, the Paleos demonstrate their sheer tactical and strategic genius.
[IsraelTimes] ?Sister?s Role in Jihad? handbook for snuffies advises indoctrinating infants, banning TV and teaching toddlers to aim
An radical Islamist guide for mothers advises its readers on how to raise children to become jihadis by starting their indoctrination when they are babies, telling them appropriate bedtime stories, teaching them to play darts and banning television because it teaches ?random violence.?
The ?Sister?s Role in Jihad? has been posted online to jihadist websites, the Daily Mail reported on Thursday.
Details of the book were described by the US-based Middle East Media Research Institute in advance of an upcoming report on how radical Islamists indoctrinate children.
Training should start as early as possible, the book recommends, as even toddlers can be led astray.
?Don?t underestimate the lasting effect of what those little ears and eyes take in during the first few years of life!? the book says.
Teaching jihad should be made fun, according to the guide, and television should be banned because ?it mostly teaches shamelessness, anarchy, and random violence.?
Viewing jihadi websites, telling children jihadi bedtime stories, and encouraging them to play darts to improve their aim are all encouraged.
?As we move into 2015, al-Qaeda and its affiliates, ISIS, and other jihadi groups worldwide continue to invest a lot of effort in indoctrination of the next generation of fighters,? said Steven Stalinsky, the executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute.
?No matter what happens in Iraq and Syria in the near future, the next generation ? the children of [Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... ?caliph? Abu Bakr al-] Baghdadi and grandchildren of [Osama] bin Laden ? have already been brainwashed to hate the West and to strive for jihad and martyrdom,? he said.
It is not known who penned the guide, but according to the report it has been posted to various jihadist websites along with gruesome images of children holding guns, or in some cases, severed heads.
Target practice with toy guns is also recommended, although mothers should ?make it very clear who their target should be, and who their target should not be.? However, there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly... real guns, if there are any in the home, are best kept out of reach.
?They have been trained on the battlefield and know how to create bombs and suicide belts and to behead and crucify the innocent,? Stalinsky said. ?This is something we must be prepared for and understand.?
[Ynet] Tens of thousands of Islamist terror group's supporters offer ghastly suggestions in coordinated response to Jordanian campaign in solidarity with captive pilot's family.
The radical Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... terror group has shown its murderous colors again after capturing a Jordanian pilot flying a mission for the US-led coalition, by asking social media users how they should murder the captive.
The group's supporters on social media have been using the hashtag "Suggest a way to kill the Jordanian pilot pig" to crowd-source creative solutions to murder First Lieutenant Muath al-Kaseasbeh, who was shot down over Syria and captured by the ruthless radicals.
The active hashtag, which has garnered thousands of shares and tweets by the group's activists and their supporters, has exposed horrific methods to torment the Jordanian pilot to death.
According to news website Vocativ, which identified the increased use of the hashtag, the myriad ways suggested included beheading, burning alive, pummeling with a tractor, and "impalement." And if one hashtag wasn't enough for the Islamic State supporter, another ? WeAllWantToSlaughterMuath ? has been mentioned over 11,000 times.
The jihadi hashtag campaign was a response to the much wider campaign run by supporters of the Jordanian pilot and his family. Since he was taken captive last week, hundreds of thousands of Arabs have tweeted using the hashtag WeAreAllMuath, in which they share their prayers for the captive Jordanian.
The campaign was even adopted by Queen Rania, who uploaded a photo to instagram in solidarity with the captive, and Jordan's official television channel, which broadcast a picture of Muath alongside the hashtag.
Muath married last summer and only finished flight school in recent months. His father, Youssef, also urged the public to support the family. "I pray that Allah will plant mercy in their hearts and they will release him."
He implored Jordan's King Abdullah "to return my son to me. We all sacrifice for our country and for the honor of the king." The father said he was notified that the king was following the affair and dedicating special efforts to saving his son's life.
First Lieutenant al-Kasaesbah was born in 1988 and lived in the city of Al Karak south of Amman. In 2006, he began his studies at the Royal Jordanian Air Force Academy. Al-Kasaesbah completed his studies in 2009 and joined the Jordanian Air Force. Before his summer wedding, he made pilgrimage to Mecca and then joined the coalition against the Islamic State.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/03/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
Dying in bed, killed in his 90's by a jealous husband.
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.
International Criminal Court
