[Aljazeera] The Afghan Taliban has named one of its co-founders as the leader of its political office in Qatar, as part of a major reshuffle that comes as talks with the United States to end the 17-year war appear to gain momentum.
The appointment of Abdul Ghani Baradar on Thursday was announced as a meeting in Doha between the group's representatives and US special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad that was originally scheduled to last for two days entered its fourth day.
In a statement, the Taliban said the reshuffle in their team, which included new shadow governors for several Afghan provinces, was "taken to strengthen and properly handle the ongoing negotiations process with the United States".
It was not clear whether the talks in the Qatari capital were to continue on Friday, or how soon Baradar could join them.
"Baradar will soon fly to Qatar. He has been given the new position because the US wanted senior Taliban leadership to participate in peace talks," a senior Taliban official said.
Release from prison
Baradar is one of four men who founded the Taliban movement in Afghanistan in 1994. He served in several key positions when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996-2001.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Embattled Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. is receiving words of support from some unlikely places as he faces deadly protests calling for him to step down.
South Sudan won independence from Sudan in 2011 following decades of brutal fighting marked by the mass abduction and enslavement of children, scorched earth ethnic cleansing and famines. Yet now the former arch-enemies describe themselves as the best of friends, bound together by a desperate need for oil revenues and peace to allow them to flow.
"When your interest is so intertwined, you are like a conjoined twin," South Sudan’s oil minister, Ezekiel Lul Gatkuoth, told Rooters in the capital of Juba. "For us, the solution is not to remove Bashir, the solution is to improve the economy."
On Monday, Gatkuoth and his Sudanese counterpart jumped over a slaughtered cow, part of a traditional ceremony of welcome marking the start of increased production at Unity Oilfield near the two nations’ joint border, where less than a decade ago they fought tank battles against each other.
Some buildings were still pockmarked with bulletholes, and a large dark stain marked a place where a pipeline had been hit.
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01/25/2019 00:00 ||
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[Libya Observer] Elders and leaders of Misrata held talks with Chairman of Presidential Council Fayez Sarraj on Wednesday on the current political and security dilemma in the country.
During their meeting in Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , the Misrata delegation demanded Sarraj disclose names of the obstructors of security arrangements and dissolve the gangs that hinder implementation of the arrangements.
They also reiterated their utter rejection to the military rule and their aspiration for a modern democratic civil state, according to the Press Office of Sarraj.
"Misrata delegation expressed their support to the Presidential Council and its efforts to unify the country and end the political crisis. They also expressed support to the security and economic arrangements." The Press Office reported.
Misrata elders warned in a statement following the meeting that tension is growing in their city over the delay of security arrangements and the predominance of gangs in Tripoli, saying they will bear no responsibility for any reactions that may occur as a result of failure to meet their demands.
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01/25/2019 00:00 ||
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[Libya Observer] The front man for the self-styled army in eastern Libya, Ahmed al-Mismari, has called the UN envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame, an opponent to them and part of the Libyan crisis.
"Salame is trying to control and operate the Libyan status quo through Fayez al-Sirraj (Head of Presidential Council) and this is rejected." al-Misamri said in a presser on Wednesday.
The remarks came as a reply to the statement made by the UNSMIL, headed by Salame, about "deep concern of the UN" over the mobilization in southern Libya, which al-Mismari called "a holy duty."
"We are not waiting for any thanks from anybody. But the achievements we make should not be denied." He added.
He also said, directing his words at Salame, that they won't let Libya be like Leb; a country of militias and multiple governments, adding that they won't also let Libya fall into the hands of terrorists, Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...Qatar's colony in Asia Minor.... , which he said aim to take parts of Libyan lands.
The self-styled army led by Khalifa Haftar ...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... has been in control of Benghazi for several years now but in the last weeks, Haftar had to announce the state of emergency due to the chaos, security vacuum, crimes, and robberies that had gotten out of Haftar's forces hands.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/25/2019 00:00 ||
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[Libya Observer] The Prime Minister of the parallel "Interim Government" in al-Bayda, eastern Libya, Abdullah al-Thani has accused his government's Awqaf Authority of being a staunch follower of a certain religious sect and foreign agendas.
In a letter to the deputy prime minister, al-Thani said he would take strict measures to respond to the appointment and sacking orders made recently by the Awqaf Authority.
"The Head of the Awqaf Authority is individually making decisions without any consultation with the offices of the authority, which threatens nationality security." al-Thani added.
The Awqaf Authority had been for years sacking mosques' imams and preachers whose ideas were at odds with it, replacing them with others who share it the same ideologies.
Salafist-Madkhali ideology's followers - linked to and backed by Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... - have been controlling the Awqaf Authority in al-Bayda since its split from 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... 's headquarters in 2014.
The authority has been spreading the ideology since 2014 in eastern Libya, issuing many fatwas that helped break the well-knitted social fabric, such as the fatwa against the Ibadism doctrine in Libya saying Libyans mustn't pray behind an Ibadi Imam.
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01/25/2019 00:00 ||
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[PRESSTV] The leader of Yemen’s Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... Ansarullah movement says his country is determined to stand up to oppressive measures of Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and its regional allies, which are involved in an atrocious military campaign against the impoverished Arab country.
Addressing his supporters via a televised speech broadcast live from the Yemeni capital Sana’a on Thursday evening, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said, "The honorable people of Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... have decided to stand against oppression," calling upon Yemenis from all social strata to remain resilient in the face of existing challenges.
"We will continue our steadfastness until the aggression against us ceases. The enemy is doing its utmost because it is extremely frustrated after failure to occupy our country. Our armed forces have built great military capabilities at all levels -- land, sea and air," he said.
"The enemy launched an economic war against us in a bid to exert the maxim level of pressure. It, however, could not break the will of our people," Houthi said, adding, "The enemy seeks to use all methods to weaken the will of our nation in the face of its aggression."
He highlighted that those who chose to pledge loyalty to the Saudi-led military alliance stood with oppressors against the oppressed Yemeni nation.
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01/25/2019 00:00 ||
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[ArutzSheva] A federal US judge has let stand an Arkansas law requiring state contractors to pledge not to boycott Israel, ruling that such a boycott is not protected by the First Amendment, The Associated Press reports.
The ruling was handed down on Wednesday by US District Judge Brian Miller, who dismissed the lawsuit the Arkansas Times had filed challenging the 2017 law.
The newspaper had asked the judge to block the law, which requires contractors with the state to reduce their fees by 20 percent if they don’t sign the pledge.
The Times’ lawsuit said the University of Arkansas Pulaski Technical College refused to contract for advertising with the newspaper unless the newspaper signed the pledge. The paper isn’t engaged in a boycott against Israel, according to AP.
Miller wrote on his ruling that refusing to purchase items isn’t protected speech. He noted that the Times wouldn’t be barred from other protected forms of speech, including writing or picketing against Israel policies. And the reason I put this in WoT Operations and not politics is because
Absolutely true. But as this form of the soft jihad of the law does not directly involve bombs, bullets, blood, and death, it goes on Page 2: War on Terror Background/Politics.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A prominent American-born anchorwoman on Iranian state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
who was held in the US as a material witness was released from jail Wednesday evening.
Marzieh Hashemi, 59, was released from jail in Washington after being detained for 10 days, according to Abed Ayoub, an attorney with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
Hashemi, who works for the Press TV network’s English-language service, was detained by federal agents on January 13 in St. Louis, Missouri, where she had filmed a Black Lives Matter documentary after visiting relatives in the New Orleans area, her son said. She was then transported to Washington and had remained behind bars since then.
Hashemi appeared at least twice before a US District judge in Washington, and court papers said she would be released immediately after her testimony before a grand jury. Court documents did not include details on the criminal case in which she was named a witness.
Federal law allows judges to order witnesses to be detained if the government can prove that their testimony has extraordinary value for a criminal case and that they would be a flight risk and unlikely to respond to a subpoena. The statute generally requires those witnesses to be promptly released once they are deposed.
A person familiar with the matter said Hashemi had fulfilled her obligation as a material witness and was released. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The News Agency that Dare Not be Named on condition of anonymity.
Hashemi is a US citizen and was born Melanie Franklin. She lives in Tehran and comes back to the United States about once a year to see her family, usually scheduling documentary work in the US, her son said.
Asked whether his mother had been involved in any criminal activity or knew anyone who might be implicated in a crime, Hossein Hashemi said, "We don’t have any information along those lines."
He didn’t immediately respond to a call seeking comment on Wednesday. Press TV issued a statement Wednesday, saying, "Marzieh Hashemi and her family will not allow this to be swept under the carpet. They still have serious grievances and want answers as to how this was allowed to happen. They want assurances that this won’t happen to any Moslem - or any other person - ever again."
The network said Hashemi would remain in Washington for a protest Friday.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/25/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
Asked whether his mother had been involved in any criminal activity or knew anyone who might be implicated in a crime, Hossein Hashemi said, We don’t have any information along those lines.""
Curious non-denial
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/25/2019 10:57 Comments ||
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#2
Asked whether his mother had been involved in any criminal activity...
Answer hazy. Ask again later.
Question: Is it common for someone to be jailed as a material witness? Ima guessing some flight risk was involved here.
[DAWN] An antiterrorism court in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... on Thursday declared Naqeebullah Mehsud and three others innocent and quashed the cases filed against the four accused who had been killed in a staged police encounter by notorious encounter specialist former SSP Rao Anwar and his team.
The ATC-III judge in his order declared the police encounter "fake" and observed that the statements of witnesses and the forensic reports have not supported the allegations levelled in the FIRs lodged against Naqeebullah, Mohammad Sabir, Nazar Jan and Mohammad Ishaq after their killing in a staged shootout in Shah Latif Town of Karachi in January last year.
While accepting the police report, the court ruled that the cases were disposed of for being false.
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01/25/2019 00:00 ||
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[Jerusalem Post] Notwithstanding the continuous story of Israeli airstrikes on Iranian-affiliated targets across Syria, another interesting claim emerged in Iraqi media last week.
Iraq emerges as a potential target for Israel as it steps up efforts to eliminate the Iranian land bridge to the Levant.
Recent Israeli airstrikes prove that air defense systems supplied to Syria by Russia are not enough to repulse Israeli aggression against Iranian targets in this country, but this may not be the end of the story. Israel may soon change the course of action to strike Iranian targets beyond Syria’s borders and launch aerial campaigns in Iraq where the airspace is defenseless and the political vacuum is too deep for the government to claim territorial sovereignty.
Russian S-300 air defense systems are waiting to be tested in the ongoing Syrian-Israeli conflict, and according to recent news, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) did not employ these systems to repel Sunday’s large-scale air raid by Israel on various Syrian and Iranian positions in southern Syria. SAA had used S-200 missiles to mistakenly target a Russian jet in September 2018, and Russia announced the subsequent delivery of the more advanced S-300 missile launchers along with new radar systems to Syria. Although the Syrian government and Russia claim that Syrian air defense systems have successfully concluded the mission by intercepting the majority of Israeli missiles said to be fired from the Lebanese airspace, it remains obscure whether the famous S-300 systems are capable of defending Syria against an advanced and technological nation like Israel.
Notwithstanding the continuous story of Israeli airstrikes on Iranian-affiliated targets across Syria, another interesting claim emerged in Iraqi media last week that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned the central Iraqi government of potential Israeli airstrikes against Shi’ite militia groups in that country. Iraqi news outlets alleged that Pompeo made it clear to Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi that the US government would refrain from taking action should Israeli missiles start raining on Iranian targets inside Iraq.
Iraq’s test with Iranian-vetted militia groups that have gained access to the Iraqi parliament as the second largest bloc in the final elections of May 2018 has been a rather challenging one for the world and the central Iraqi government alike. Former prime minister Haider al-Abadi’s last policy attempt was designed to bring the militia groups closer to the government as he sought to sack the national security adviser responsible for militias, Falih al-Fayyadh, and replace him in this position by himself. Fayyadh, who does not see any necessity to hide his connections to Iran, regained this position under Mahdi, and was even nominated to become the interior minister. The dispute over Fayyadh created a political deadlock as Iraq is still waiting for someone to become its interior minister to deal with the world’s most fragile security situation.
Reports that the US was concerned about a possible Israeli aerial campaign against Shi’ite militias in Iraq emerged as the debate on the government’s control over militias continue. The only known fact within the dramatically complicated political stalemate of Iraq is the notion that the Iraqi government has given up the race to control the militias, and the current picture is about not losing the government to Iranian militias entirely.
Lebanon II?
Posted by: Besoeker ||
01/25/2019 03:05 ||
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#1
it remains obscure
What a delicious phrase. I must find occasion to use it.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] An Israeli court has seized a Jerusalem property partly owned by late Paleostinian leader Yasser Arafat, holding it as collateral against a civil suit for damages against the Paleostinian Authority.
A copy of the ruling by the Jerusalem district court made available to AFP on Wednesday named "the estate of the late Yasser Arafat" as respondent.
"A temporary lien is granted on property owned by the respondent," said Tuesday’s judgement.
It said any future request to lift the order would be given a fresh court hearing and that the Arafat estate had 30 days to appeal.
Israeli NGO Shurat Hadin requested the lien so the Arafat asset in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem could serve as collateral for a pending civil claim for damages against the Paleostinian Authority (PA), the Paleostine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Arafat estate, by eight families of victims of Paleostinian attacks.
"This move is one step closer towards justice for the victims and their families," Shurat Hadin head Nitsana Darshan Leitner said in a statement.
She said that the lien was necessary because if the suit succeeds, collection of damages was likely to be difficult.
"We will not allow a situation in which the Arafat estate can own land in the heart of Jerusalem while avoiding paying damages to his victims," she said.
"Yasser Arafat was the grandfather of modern terrorism, responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women and kiddies."
Arafat, who led both the PA and the PLO, died aged 75 in a French hospital on November 11, 2004, with Paleostinians accusing Israel of having poisoned him.
The Israeli government firmly denies the allegation.
His body was exhumed in 2012 for tests but a subsequent French investigation found no proof of poisoning.
Swiss experts, however, said they found high levels of radioactive polonium on his personal effects.
Arafat’s nephew, Nasser al-Qidwa, said on Wednesday that the Jerusalem court ruling was "unacceptable."
The property in question covers about 2,700 square meters (29,000 square feet) on the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem’s walled Old City and its al-Aqsa mosque complex.
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01/25/2019 00:00 ||
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[Al Jazeera] Gazoo's rulers Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", have rejected a fresh tranche of Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... i funds, accusing Israel of imposing new conditions on the money entering the blockaded Paleostinian territory.
So both the PA and Hamas have rejected funds? Glory hallelujah — I never thought this day would come!
The rejection of the expected $15m on Thursday raised fears of fresh tensions along the Gazoo-Israel border, ahead of weekly protests on Friday.
"We refuse to receive the third Qatari grant in response to the [Israeli] occupation's behaviour and attempts to evade the agreement," Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas's deputy head in Gazoo, told journalists on Thursday.
Al-Hayya did not mention the specific conditions that were changed but said Israel was playing politics with the funds ahead of upcoming elections.
Qatari aid to Gazoo expected in coming days, says report
Under an informal agreement struck in November, Gulf state Qatar has sent $15m a month into the strip.
The payment would have been the third of six planned tranches, totalling $90 million, in connection with the truce.
The funds to pay salaries of Hamas employees and support impoverished residents of Gazoo are in exchange for relative calm along the border, where protests have taken place since March 2018.
Israel's permission is required since the cash must be delivered via its territory.
Reporting from the Gazoo Strip, Al Jazeera's Charles Stratford said: "This reference to political blackmail, as Hamas is calling it, comes during election season in Israel".
"Hamas are refusing to accept these conditions because Israel is demanding that if these funds come through, there has to be a halt to protests."
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01/25/2019 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.
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...
[PRESSTV] The leader of Yemen’s 
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
