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Today: 51 articles and 130 comments as of 15:27.
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Islamist militants behead Canadian man in Philippines
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
Ghani warns Pakistan, asks to act against Taliban based in Peshawar and Quetta
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..
said Monday that the government of Afghanistan is not expecting Pakistain to bring Taliban group to negotiations table, urging Islamabad to take actions against the myrmidon groups acting Afghanistan using the Pak soil.

He was speaking during a gathering in Afghan Parliament following a deadly attack in Kabul
...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the World and didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either....
last week which left over 400 people dead or maimed.

President Ghani further added that the leadership of the Talibs is based in Quetta and 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.
from where they coordinate and launch attacks in Afghanistan.

Emphasizing on Islamabad’s commitments to take military actions against the myrmidon groups pursuing violence in accordance with the QCG agreements, President Ghani warned that Afghanistan will approach the UN Security Council and other international organizations to lodge complaint if necessary actions are not taken.

Ghani further added that the Pak government should act responsibly in fight against terrorist groups, insisting that there should not be distinction between good and bad terrorists.

He said the Afghan government will take strict actions against those spilling the blood of the Afghan forces and civilians, vowing execution as punishment for the detained myrmidons.

Presenting religious justifications in the light of Koran to defend the Afghan people and country against the rebel groups, Ghani said the Taliban group will suffer in the battlefield and will eventually request for peace talks.

Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Africa North
New Libyan government takes over foreign ministry
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Libya’s new unity government on Monday took control of the foreign affairs ministry headquarters 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...
as it seeks to assert its authority over the violence-plagued country.

Mohammad al-Amari, a minister of state in the Government of National Accord, signed the documents passing control of the complex in the north of the capital to the new government, an AFP journalist said.

Since last Monday, the unity government has also taken control of the transport, social affairs, environment, and youth and sports ministries.

The international community sees the GNA as the best hope for oil-rich Libya, which has been roiled by turmoil since the 2011 ouster and killing of longtime ruler Muammar Qadaffy
...Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years until he was ejected from the gene pool by his indignant citizens...
"The ministries of religious endowment, planning, education and labor will be transferred (to the GNA) this week," Amari told AFP.

Libya’s State Council, the most senior consultative body created under a UN-brokered power-sharing deal in December, met for the first time on Friday.

The GNA has still not been endorsed by a vote of confidence from the internationally recognized parliament now sitting in Tobruk in the country’s far east.

However,
if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning...
on Thursday 102 MPs of the Tobruk parliament - a majority - expressed confidence in the new government despite the lack of a formal vote.

Libya’s warring rivals have come under intense international pressure to rally behind the unity government at a time when the country is grappling with a growing jihadist threat.

While the GNA has now having taken control of several ministries, these have yet to get down to work.

"As soon as the ministers take the oath of office, they can begin working from these ministries," Amari said.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Arabia
Saudi Arabia announces ‘Vision 2030’
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] 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...
will announce its "Vision 2030" on Monday, a comprehensive plan roadmap expected to include various economic and social aspects.

The vision is set to prepare the kingdom for an era in which it does not rely heavily on oil, as well as including a highly-anticipated National Transformation Plan (NTP).

Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is spearheading the roadmap, has previously said that NTP will include asset sales, tax increases, spending cuts, changes to the way the state manages its financial reserves, an efficiency drive, and a much bigger role for the private sector.
They've been trying to transform the nation for a while, but most of their people aren't interested in actually working for a living.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia

#1  Fat cats in an Arab society giving up power for the "good of the nation"? I can already smell the revolution in the air... The Royals better have their assets overseas, and aircraft at the ready.
Posted by: Vinegar Phitch3295 || 04/26/2016 2:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Let me stick my neck out on this one: in 2030 there will not be Saudi Arabia.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/26/2016 2:52 Comments || Top||

#3  Any word on whether you can get a cold beer in Mecca by 2030?
Just asking.
Posted by: Knuckles Snurt6275 || 04/26/2016 8:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Well, in the Mooselimb Hijri calendar, it's 1437.

Only 593 years to go.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 04/26/2016 8:22 Comments || Top||

#5  Anything like Mao's Five Year Plan?
Posted by: Pappy || 04/26/2016 10:52 Comments || Top||

#6  Back-yard stripper wells, communal halal kitchens, collective grain farm feed by fossil and desalinated water. Arab horses raised to run, sure why not.

The The Great Heap Forward
Posted by: Shipman || 04/26/2016 17:14 Comments || Top||


Europe
Austrian far-right triumphs in presidential vote with 36%
[AlAhram]
It's an almost entirely ceremonial post, but a sign of things to come. The Green party candidate came in second with 20%
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Far right?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/26/2016 2:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Three kinds of people -

1. The vast majority of normal, liberal, progressive, regular folks
2. Far right wackos
3. Hitler

So I guess that puts Stalin in group #1.
Posted by: Bobby || 04/26/2016 13:45 Comments || Top||

#3  They used to be Haider's party, before he pulled a Sharon and decamped along with his cronies in government to found a new party. When Haider was in charge, they played footsie with the League of the North and were characterized as neo-fascist by the international press, but even when they had Haider and his "hey, at least the Nazis had full employment" bullshit, it was still a libertarian-ish sort of "European liberal" party.

I think "Far right" in this context doesn't mean much more than Euroskeptic and anti-open-borders.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 04/26/2016 14:01 Comments || Top||

#4  Far right in the European sense of not being left of center. Like National Socialism, for example.
Posted by: SteveS || 04/26/2016 14:03 Comments || Top||

#5  When this guy was elected to the Austrian Parliament, he wore a cornflower.

Sounds innocent, right?

Well, in the early 1930s, when the Nazi party was illegal in Austria, clandestine members of the Nazi party wore a cornflower in lieu of the illegal swastika.
Posted by: European Conservative || 04/26/2016 20:30 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
PKK Warns Turkey Rebels Will 'Escalate the War'
[AnNahar] The Kurdish rebel PKK movement is ready to step up its fight against The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
in response to Ankara's blistering military campaign, its leader warned in a BBC interview released Monday.

Since the collapse of a two-year ceasefire with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) last year, Turkish government forces have been carrying out operations against the group in the southeast of the country.

PKK leader Cemil Bayik said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
was "escalating this war".

"The Kurds will defend themselves to the end, so long as this is the Turkish approach -- of course the PKK will escalate the war," he told the British broadcaster.

Erdogan said this month that 355 members of the security forces had been killed in fighting as well as over 5,000 PKK members -- although this could not be independently verified.

Its rebels are accused of trying to create a separate Kurdish state within Turkey -- but Bayik denied it.

"We don't want to separate from Turkey and set up a state. We don't want to divide Turkey. We want to live within the borders of Turkey on our own land freely... The struggle will continue until the Kurds' innate rights are accepted," he said.

The PKK was ready to escalate the conflict "not only in Kurdistan, but in the rest of Turkey as well", he added.

Erdogan "wants the Kurds to surrender. If they don't surrender, he wants to kill all Kurds. He says this openly - he doesn't hide it," Bayik said.

The PKK launched a bloody insurgency against the Turkish government in 1984 seeking independence, beginning a decades-long fight for greater autonomy and rights for Kurds which has left 40,000 dead.

It later watered down its demands to seek instead more autonomy with cultural and language rights. Jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan called a truce in March 2013, but tensions over the Syrian conflict kickstarted the violence last year.

Erdogan has proposed stripping Turkish citizenship from supporters of Kurdish rebels and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is trying to alter Turkey's constitution, to allow prosecutions of pro-Kurdish politicians accused of "terrorist propaganda".
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
Another Minnesota man pleads guilty in Islamic State case
[IsraelTimes] 21-year-old student joins five other suspects in accepting a plea deal, admits to conspiring to provide material support to terror group

Another Minnesota man pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to provide material support to the 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....
group.

Hamza Naj Ahmed, 21, changed his plea in US District Court in Minneapolis. He had been scheduled to go on trial with three other men next month.

Ahmed’s plea comes 11 days after another defendant, Adnan Abdihamid Farah, accepted a plea deal, the Star Tribune reported.

Ahmed pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and to financial aid fraud. The college student was accused of using a $2,700 school loan to try to join the Islamic State.

Prosecutors will move to dismiss the remaining charges, including conspiracy to murder outside the United States, at Ahmed’s sentencing, for which a date has not been set. He faces up to 15 years in prison on the conspiracy to provide material support charge and up to five years on the financial aid fraud charge but avoided a possible life sentence with his plea.

Six defendants have now pleaded guilty. A tenth man is on the lam, believed to be in Syria.

The three remaining defendants -- Guled Ali Omar, Mohammed Abdihamid Farah and Abdirahman Yasin Daud -- have pleaded not guilty
"Wudn't me."
and are scheduled to go on trial May 9.

The FBI has said about a dozen people have left Minnesota to join turban groups fighting in Syria in recent years. In addition, since 2007 more than 22 men have joined al-Shabaab
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
in Somalia.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Trump is an idiot!!!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/26/2016 2:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Charges downgraded from 'conspiracy to commit murder' to 'financial aid fraud'? Where was TREASON?

Oh, he isn't an American? Just enjoying his tax funded stay here as a student, telling stories about his friends and fantasy life?
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/26/2016 10:28 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm kinda partial to stripping citizenship after the jail term. But that's just me.
Posted by: Pappy || 04/26/2016 13:19 Comments || Top||

#4  How about strip their citizenship then send them to Syria?
Posted by: gorb || 04/26/2016 13:22 Comments || Top||

#5  How about strip their clothes and turn them loose in a Minnesota winter?
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 04/26/2016 15:12 Comments || Top||

#6  First I mess up with the nim, then I confuse "lose" with "loose" probably because of my arthritic fingers not to mention an arthritic mind. I should just quit and drink my damn coffee.
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 04/26/2016 15:14 Comments || Top||

#7  First I mess up with the nim, then I confuse "lose" with "loose" probably because of my arthritic fingers not to mention an arthritic mind. I should just quit and drink my damn coffee.

FIFY Cs.

I got the same problems and that always seems to work 8^)
Posted by: AlanC || 04/26/2016 15:50 Comments || Top||

#8  Oasis el Wobegon, where the wymens are in bags and all the children hate the jooooooooooz.
Posted by: Shipman || 04/26/2016 17:17 Comments || Top||


9/11 truth poses ‘existential threat’ to Israel: Analyst
[Iran Press TV] The recent media frenzy over 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...
’s possible role in the September 11, 2001 attacks is aimed at distracting people from much deeper involvement of Israel as the truth would endanger the Tel Aviv regime’s existence, an analyst in Idaho says.

Mark Glenn made the remarks in an interview with Press TV over US Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders
...The only openly Socialist member of the U.S. Senate. Sanders was Representative-for-Life from Vermont until moving to the Senate for the rest of his life in 2006, assuming the seat vacated by Jim Jeffords...
’ recent calls on the American government to expose Saudi Arabia’s role in the 9/11 attacks that killed some 3,000 people.

On Sunday, Sanders urged the US to address the "root cause" of the attacks, voicing support for Senate legislation that would allow families of terror victims to sue Saudi Arabia in federal court.

"I believe that the entire operation is one that is rooted in distracting people away from what the truly problematic elements are with regards to 9/11," Glenn said.

"Let’s keep in mind that 9/11 took place fifteen years ago and since that time we are now involved in the fourth presidential election cycle and yet only now, fifteen years later, suddenly we have people talking about Saudi Arabia’s role," he added.
Glenn further explained that Sanders and others feel compelled to address the issue not for the sake of revealing the truth but because Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump opened "the can of worms" months ago.

Trump has said that the 9/11 could have been prevented by the US government. He has also brought up the issue of the 28 pages of a congressional report on the attacks that have been kept secret by the White House for over 13 years.

Describing Trump’s comments as "cryptic" and "confusing," Glenn said the real estate magnate is basically threatening to "start certain discussions that are going to make certain people very uncomfortable," in case they continue to oppose his candidacy.

"And I believe this revolves all around Israel’s role in 9/11," he noted.

"This entire operation that Saudi Arabia is being center-staged as the true subject of these 28 pages that have been kept hidden from the American people, this is just, as I said, an operation aimed at distracting people away from the more damning and problematic information where Israel is actually the centerpiece of the discussion," the analyst continued.

"If the American people were to find out what happened and how Israel was directly involved in 9/11, it would obviously change the political landscape vis-à-vis America and her support for Israel" in such a radical way that would be considered an "existential threat" to the Tel Aviv regime, he concluded.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  I'm happy when nutcases expose themselves to the world. I'm unhappy when too many in the world nod along. We need to bring back shame.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 04/26/2016 15:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Another example of the Internet letting a village idiot leave his village.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 04/26/2016 21:26 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
PTI MPA killed over political rivalry, TTP claim false: KP police
[DAWN] Malakand police on Monday claimed that Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
(PTI) minority MPA Soran Singh was killed over political rivalry, and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain's (TTP) claim to have killed him is false.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Malakand Azad Khan in a presser claimed that a fellow PTI leader Baldev Kumar was behind the murder of Soran Singh as he wanted to avenge political rivalry.

"Baldev Kumar wanted to contest the election instead of Singh... after failing to get the party ticket, Kumar planned the murder," said DIG Khan.

The officer said police had tossed in the slammer
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
six people in connection with the murder including Baldev and the assassins hired to kill the PTI politician, and registered cases against them.

DIG Malakand further said that anti-terrorism clauses have been included in the cases as the murder invoked fear among the people of the area and minority community.

Answering a question about the police security provided to the slain MPA, the officer said Singh always refused to keep police guards with him in Buner, "as he felt safe enough in his hometown".

Police had arrested Baldev on Sunday from Barikot tehsil of Swat
...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat...
and shifted him to an unspecified location for interrogation.

Sardar Soran Singh, special assistant to chief minister KP on minorities’ affairs and an MPA, was bumped off in a assassination near Pir Baba in Buner district on Friday. TTP had grabbed credit for the liquidation.

Elected to the provincial assembly on a reserved seat and a Sikh by faith, the dear departed was revered by minorities for promoting interfaith harmony, installing boxes in the streets to collect torn pieces of sacred scriptures, and promoting the country’s soft image through speeches.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Iraq
DNA tools needed to identify Yazidis slaughtered by ISIS: Iraqi lawmaker
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iraq’s only female Yazidi politician has said that documentation of ISIS’ "genocide" against her own people is continuing, but far more needs to be done.

Vian Dakhil, who is known for her fervent plea over the plight of the Yazidi minority group whom she belongs to, said that efforts to identify bodies found in more than 20 mass graves have been hampered for a simple reason: there is no DNA testing equipment in Iraq’s northern autonomous Kurdish region.

The killing of between 2,000 to 5,000 men in a northern town known for its Yazidi population after a surprise attack by ISIS turbans in August 2014 has now become known as a Sinjar massacre. While the men were killed, thousands of women and kiddies were taken and enslaved by ISIS. Other fled to the nearby Mount Sinjar.

"We do not have specialized equipment and medical material specialized to test DNA of the corpses found in the mass graves," said Dakhil. The politician is a member of the Baghdad parliament’s Kurdistan Alliance.

"There needs to be DNA testing to prove the identity of these victims," she said.

Due to the need, the parliamentarian said that Kurdistan’s regional government in Erbil has asked Iraq’s health ministry for help.

While the Baghdad ministry "expressed their willingness," she said, actions still fall short.

Iraq’s capital has recently witnessed large protests urging the prime minister to push forward with reforms to tackle corruption.

"It seems they are busy with many other things."
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
‘Relative quiet’ prompts Israel to end months of closure on Palestinian town
[IsraelTimes] Main entrance to Hebron-area village of Bani Naim was blocked in the wake of festivities between IDF, local residents

After nearly seven months of an Israeli-imposed closure, the IDF on Sunday reopened the main entrance to a Paleostinian village in the West Bank, the army announced on social media.

The main road connecting the town of Bani Naim to the nearby city of Hebron
...a.k.a. Hamas Central in the West Bank...
was closed last October in the wake of violent festivities between local Paleostinian residents and IDF soldiers.

According to Hariz Safadi, the area director for Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the road was reopened due to the "calm that prevailed" in the town recently.

COGAT, Safadi said, would "continue to introduce new developments in Hebron in light of the relatively quiet situation." He added that the IDF branch tasked with Paleostinian civil affairs was "interested in taking steps to make residents’ life easier."

Safadi made the announcement on COGAT’s al-Munasek -- Arabic for "the coordinator" -- Facebook page on Saturday evening.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Terract in 5..4..3
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/26/2016 2:46 Comments || Top||

#2  I give it a week, max.
Posted by: SteveS || 04/26/2016 12:01 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
ISIS releases new recruiting video
Crappy food, no wimminz, constant aerial bombardment, plenty of room to advance...
[ARA News] ERBIL – Radical group of the Islamic State (ISIS) on Monday released a new propaganda video calling on youngsters and elderly Muslims to join its ranks and back its cause against the western coalition.

The ISIS-linked Wilayat al-Khayr media center in Deir ez-Zor [in Syria’s east] released a propaganda film under the banner “Youngsters and Elderly”, showing two ISIS membersــ a youngster and an elderly manــ sending messages to the Muslims all over the world, inciting them to join the radical group, including young and elderly men.

Pro-ISIS activists circulated the new version on the social media under the banner “Youngsters and Elderly”, calling on teenagers and elderly men to join ISIS jihad against “enemies of Allah”.

The version flashes between the two persons who keep citing Quranic verses as proofs for the legitimacy of joining the Caliphate’s military, even if they are too young or too old.

In broken Arabic, an old man ــwho seems to be Moroccan nationalــ narrates his journey to Syria in order to join fighting there, as the commentator indicates on the tape that jihad is a must on adults and youngsters alike ــderived from the Quranic verse “Be prepared as youngsters and elderly”. He vowed that the American warplanes would never scare “the soldiers of the Caliphate”.

Then a 14-year-old boy appears saying he joined ISIS ranks at the fighting front of the Deir ez-Zor’s airbase and he chose to be a suicidal member in the group’s ranks as he has already registered his name, and his turn came by now to carry out a jihadi operation.

The boy pointed out that the loss of the town of Shaddadi [in Hasakah province] and the historic city of Palmyra [in central Syria] is not very important, but “committing to the Caliphate’s rules is much important,” he argued.

Then the commentator calls on everyone to join ISIS in order “to support widows, orphans and the oppressed”.

The old man appears again concluding that he will not forgive his sons who did not join the jihad and that he is ready “to die for the sake of Allah”.

Observers believe that the group has received painful blows during the past few months, especially after the US-led coalition forces intensified airstrikes against its command centers and vital resources in Syria and Iraq. ISIS tries to compensate its losses through releasing new propaganda videos in a bid to recruit as many people as possible.
Posted by: badanov || 04/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Obama, European leaders urge Syria parties to respect truce
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] President Barack Obama
Republicans can come along for the ride, but they've got to sit in the back...
and the leaders of Germany, Italia, Britannia and La Belle France on Monday called on parties in the Syrian war to respect an agreement to cease hostilities and make peace talks work, the White House said in a statement.

"They called on all parties to respect the cessation, ensure humanitarian access, and contribute to the success of the Geneva talks on political transition," the White House said after the meeting of the leaders in Hanover, Germany.

"They also called on those with influence on the parties to the conflict to press them to refrain from any actions that put the cessation and political talks at risk," it said.

The leaders also agreed on the "strong and urgent need" to help Libya grow its economy and build up the capacity of its security sector to counter the threat posed by ISIS, the statement said.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  When you come right down to it, the only thing standing in the way of a truce is the war and fighting and stuff.
Posted by: SteveS || 04/26/2016 0:13 Comments || Top||

#2  "Otherwise we'll unfriend you on Facebook."?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/26/2016 2:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Obama, European leaders urge Syria parties to respect truce

Gee, why didn't anyone here at the Burg think to propose this genius solution?
Posted by: gorb || 04/26/2016 13:25 Comments || Top||

#4  Why didn't anyone here at the Burg think to propose this genius solution?

Not many of us graduated from Harvard?
Posted by: Pappy || 04/26/2016 14:44 Comments || Top||


Iran threatens US with legal action over frozen funds ruling
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iran threatened Monday to take legal action in the International Court of Justice against the United States if $2 billion in frozen funds are "diverted" to compensate victims of attacks.

On Thursday, Tehran said the US Supreme Court’s decision to deduct $2 billion from its frozen assets to compensate American victims of "terror" attacks amounted to theft.

"We hold the US administration responsible for preservation of Iranian funds and if they are plundered, we will lodge a complaint with the ICJ for reparation," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said.

He was speaking at a joint news conference with visiting Macedonian counterpart Nicolas Poposki.

The US Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that Iran must hand over nearly $2 billion in frozen assets to survivors and relatives of those killed in attacks blamed on the Islamic republic.

These included the 1983 bombing of a US Marine barracks in Beirut and the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in 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...
The decision affects more than 1,000 Americans.

The official IRNA news agency on Monday cited Zarif as saying in English that if such a ruling were applied, it would be "misappropriation" of Iranian funds.

"We have announced since the beginning that Iranian government does not recognise the US extra-territorial law and consider the US court ruling to blockade Iranian funds null and void and in gross violation of the International Law," he said.

The US court’s decision comes at a time of hopes for better ties between longtime foes Tehran and Washington, following a nuclear agreement last year between Iran, the United States and five other major powers.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Obama sends more Special Forces to Syria to help battle Islamic State
[IN.REUTERS] President Barack Obama
I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money...
announced on Monday the biggest expansion of U.S. ground troops in Syria since its civil war began, but the move was unlikely to mollify Arab allies angry over Washington's cautious approach to the conflict.
Can't have the entire thing fall apart on Champ's watch. We'll apply just enough pressure to get us thru January.
The deployment of up to 250 Special Forces soldiers increases U.S. forces in Syria roughly six-fold and is aimed at helping militia fighters who have clawed back territory from 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....
in a string of victories.

Defense experts said giving more fighters on the ground access to U.S. close air support could shift the momentum in Syria. But a senior member of the Saudi royal family who asked not to be identified dismissed the decision as "window dressing."

In announcing the deployment, Obama emphasized the importance of sustaining the gains made in the fight against Islamic State, although he cautioned that the U.S. forces would not be spearheading the battle.

"They're not going to be leading the fight on the ground, but they will be essential in providing the training and assisting local forces as they continue to drive ISIS back," he said in a speech in the German city of Hanover, using an acronym for Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIS.

Obama was speaking on the last stop of a foreign tour that has taken him to 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 Britannia.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2016 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Well, if they're in Syria, they're are not in USA. Just saying.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/26/2016 2:54 Comments || Top||

#2  These guys wearing boots?
Posted by: AlanC || 04/26/2016 7:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Pentagon tap dances around 'boots on the ground'
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 04/26/2016 9:34 Comments || Top||

#4  Is this the same 250 (with supportive security) proposed last month, or another batch?
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/26/2016 9:57 Comments || Top||

#5  Another batch; the other 250 was supposed to going to Iraq.
Posted by: Pappy || 04/26/2016 11:06 Comments || Top||

#6  My question as well. Suppose the former had something to do with the artillery strike mentioned yesterday?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 04/26/2016 11:20 Comments || Top||

#7  While I generally disapprove of Obama's policies, I personally like a "hands off" in the Middle East. If they want to kill each other off, why put Americans in the middle to be killed off for nothing?
Posted by: Tom || 04/26/2016 12:06 Comments || Top||

#8  Agree Tom, but, only if we can build a fence around it and keep them all where they belong.
Posted by: AlanC || 04/26/2016 15:51 Comments || Top||

#9  Israel is building fences around its bit...
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/26/2016 22:18 Comments || Top||



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Tue 2016-04-26
  Islamist militants behead Canadian man in Philippines
Mon 2016-04-25
  Top Taliban leader killed in a special military operation in north of Afghanistan
Sun 2016-04-24
  Islamist militants suspected in slaying of professor in Bangladesh
Sat 2016-04-23
  Mali arrests suspected criminal mastermind of hotel terror attack
Fri 2016-04-22
  U.S. Ups Pressure on IS with first B-52 Bomber Strike
Thu 2016-04-21
  Taliban military commission chief killed in Afghan intelligence operatives raid
Wed 2016-04-20
  Chotoo gang surrenders to Army, releases hostages
Tue 2016-04-19
  Hundreds wounded in Kabul suicide attack
Mon 2016-04-18
  Ivory Coast Attacks 'Number Two' Arrested in Mali
Sun 2016-04-17
  Dozens of Hezbollah militants 'accidentally' killed in chemical attack
Sat 2016-04-16
  UK police arrest 5 in terror probe
Fri 2016-04-15
  Sharia police preacher faces terrorism charges
Thu 2016-04-14
  SSS announces arrest of another ‘top Boko Haram terrorist’
Wed 2016-04-13
  Belgian police arrest 3 in Paris terror attacks investigations
Tue 2016-04-12
  Saudi FM: Red Sea islands have returned to the kingdom

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