SANAA, Yemen, April 4 (UPI) -- Two Yemeni soldiers and a Saudi army officer were killed in joint Saudi-Yemeni military maneuvers inside Yemeni territories, reports said Monday. Yemen's ruling General People's Congress party said on its Web site the troops were killed in accidents during preparations for maneuvers, which started Friday in the region of Murassas. The statement said one soldier died when his military jeep veered off the road and turned over. The second was killed during preparations, the Web site said without elaborating. It quoted Saudi sources as sating 1st Lt. Salman Shahwani died when his car burst into flame. It was not immediately known what caused the incident and whether friendly fire was the reason.
Spontaneous Vehicle Combustion?
Artillery, tank and air force units from the Saudi and Yemeni armies have conducted joint maneuvers for the first time as part of agreement to boost security and military cooperation between the two neighboring Arab countries.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/04/2005 9:06:00 AM ||
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JEDDAH — In a major reform within both the Saudi government and society, the Kingdom has announced plans to revamp its judiciary by setting up a supreme court in Riyadh, appeal courts in all its 13 regions as well as labour and commercial courts.
Also known as the "Saudi Prince Full-Employment Act".
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd bin Abdulaziz, issued a royal decree on Saturday endorsing the re-organisation plan for the judiciary proposed by the ministerial committee for administrative reforms. Justice Minister Dr Abdullah Al Asheikh said the new Judicial Law crowned other regulations passed by the government in recent years such as the Law of Procedure Before Shariah Courts and the Criminal Procedure Law. "This is a major development in the Kingdom's judicial history as it will strengthen judicial agencies and speed up the justice system," the Saudi Press Agency quoted the minister as saying.
They'll have all sorts of new ways of letting jihadis off the hook.
He said Shariah would remain the basis of the Kingdom's judicial system.
Well of course, can't have any of those modern ideas in the Magic Kingdom!
By taking many issues out of the hands of the strictly Sharia courts, this new measure introduces transparency and responsibility to the legal system. There's no question that Shariah will remain the principle upon which decisions are made.
"Relax, boys, the fix is in."
Putting the law into a more organised and structured forum, however, will provide better protection of individual rights as well as provide a more systematic route for appeals. This is a very big deal, according to the usual, unnamed observers. Al Asheikh said the Supreme Council of Judiciary, as per the new set-up, would take care of the administrative and human resource affairs of courts. "The judicial powers of the council will be transferred to the Supreme Court, which will be highest judicial body in the country," he explained. The new law abrogates the courts of cassation and calls for the establishment of appeal courts in all regions within a timeframe, Al Asheikh said. It approves the setting up of specialized courts such as labor and commercial courts to settle labor and commercial disputes. Under the new law, there will be general courts to deal with all conflicts except labor, commercial and family disputes and criminal courts to address crimes. Civil courts will handle family and personal conflicts. Al Asheikh said his ministry has set up special sections for reconciliation between defendants and plaintiffs to achieve peaceful settlement of conflicts.
Al Asheikh said the new sections would deal with marital and family disputes. "In the beginning they will look into applications for divorce, family visits and expenditure," he added. Divorce is a major social problem in the Kingdom. Courts register 25 to 35 divorce cases daily. An average of 16,000 divorces take place annually out of a total of 66,000 marriages. The minister quoted from the Holy Qur'an and Hadith to emphasise the importance of reconciliation.
"Go back to yer man, honey, or face the consequences!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/04/2005 12:27:05 AM ||
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#1
A deck chair shuffle and, as Dr Steve points out - a number of new Princely Appointments. Who gets the appointments will be interesting... or should I say which Clan gets the appointments...
With Wahhabist Shari'a still the "basis of the Kingdom's judicial system", the practical effect, outside of the House of Saud, will be zip.
MOSCOW - Kyrgyzstan's deposed president Askar Akayev tendered his resignation on Sunday at his country's embassy in Moscow in the presence of members of the Central Asian state's parliament. Many Kyrgyz see his formal resignation as key to ensuring full legitimacy for new elections provisionally scheduled for June.
Akayev signed documents on four points, he said. "One of these is that the president of the Kyrgyz Republic announces his early resignation," Akayev said at a brief news conference. "It has been decided to hold the actual ceremony of early resignation tomorrow."
International mediators had pressured acting leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev to allow Akayev to return to Kyrgyzstan and play a role in negotiating a political settlement after he was ousted in protests prompted by flawed parliamentary elections. But Bakiyev declined Akayev's requests to return, saying the new government would not be able to guarantee the ex-president's security.
Fancy that, some folks in Kyrgyzstan had some hard feelings for the guy.
Parliamentary Speaker Omurbek Tekebayev said on Saturday that Akayev had indicated he would be prepared to sign the resignation papers, a step which is required by law in order for new elections to be held. Tekebayev led the delegation which arrived in Moscow on Sunday and negotiated Akayev's signature.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/04/2005 12:41:56 AM ||
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Kyrgyzstan's deposed president Askar Akayev has tendered his resignation at his country's embassy in Moscow in the presence of members of the Central Asian state's parliament. Kyrgyzstan's deposed president Askar Akayev stepped down on Sunday at his country's embassy in Moscow in the presence of members of the Central Asian state's parliament. Akayev fled into exile in Russia last week after ruling his impoverished country for 14 years. Many Kyrgyz see his formal resignation as key to ensuring full legimitacy for new elections provisionally scheduled for June. Akayev signed documents on four points, he said. "One of these is that the president of the Kyrgyz Republic announces his early resignation," Akayev said at a brief news conference. "It has been decided to hold the actual ceremony of early resignation tomorrow."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Maybe not a great idea...
Turkish gunman mehmet Ali Agca, who attempted to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981, has said he wished to attend the funeral of the pontiff, RIA news agency reported quoting Turkish TV channel Haberturk.
Agca, who is currently servicing a sentence over different charges in an Istanbul prison, plans to ask Turkey's Justice Ministry for permission to leave for the Vatican, his defense lawyer has announced. Sure. We'll call you a cab. Want us to book your flight maybe?
Earlier it was reported that the Turk, who narrowly killed the Pope on May 13, 1981, was grief-stricken over the pontiff's death. Agca received forgiveness personally from Pope John Paul II who visited him in the Italian prison cell in 1983.
#1
Agca, I think that you better sit this one out. It is all peace, love, and forgiveness now at the Pope's funeral, but a pissed off 0.1% could tear you to pieces. I do not think that people want to see you there.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/04/2005 18:38 Comments ||
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#2
That he is breathing is an affront to peace and love. I'm not a Christian so, IMHO, forgiveness can take a phreakin' hike, lol!
#5
.com, forgiveness is the ONLY way to move on after someone has hurt you. The hurt has to go somewhere; and if you don't forgive, you're the one who gets ulcers. Also, Jesus didn't give us a choice in the matter: "If you do not forgive those who sin agianst you, neither will your heavenly father forgive you (Matthew 6).
I agree that Agca should stay out of this, but at least I understand why he wants to come.
You've said before that you don't believe in God. May I suggest that you read the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John, for historical purposes if not spiritual ones?
#6
mom - Easy, there. I've read the Old Testament, New Testament (King James, of course), the Qu'uran, the Dancing Wu Li Masters, the Upanishads, most everything TD Suzuki wrote in English, etc.
I get it. I get over shit without guilt or ulcers (never had one) because I expect to end arguments on the spot - refuse to leave the scene until it's settled, in fact. Internet shit's different, of course, because you can't reach out and reason - or strangle - the other person, unless they are willing - and that's damned seldom.
In real world personal affairs, I do not keep an account book. That's what women do - and it eats them alive. Males tend to get physical - and when the dust settles, they end up friends half (OK, 1/4) of the time. Women beat each other up with nasty words - and those wounds on the heart never heal.
I suggest you're talking to a man as if a woman. Not the same thing. If you and I got into a knock-down drag-out fight, I would do the only thing I've ever found effective regards women: walk away and never approach you again. You guys are NASTY and HIT BELOW TH BELT - cuz that's the way you're taught. I suppose Christian women, and I've had my share of interactions with them, should do as you suggest and, with me on the other side, it would work very very well. No fight. No foul. No accounting. BUT. That is not how it goes in the real world. You women, on average, do NOT forgive or forget or anything of the sort. So I walk away and leave it. They can stew if they wanna. They can scream and shout if they wanna. Or they can follow your advice.
When your advice doesn't work, is it because folks are bad Christians who say shit but can't do it? I dunno - they're your folks. I seem to have little in common with them. I demand settlement on the spot with men. With women who can't meet me in the middle I walk.
The Democrats' postelection war about what they should stand for is heating up again, with centrists challenging liberals to "real fights" within the party about staking out a tougher position against terrorism.
In an attack on the party's dominant left wing, anti-war base, and a warning for new Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean "to do no harm," the centrist-leaning Democratic Leadership Council said it is "a delusion to think that if we just turned out our voters, we could win national elections." Instead, the DLC called on the party to dramatically change its message to "recapture the muscular progressive internationalism of Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy and convince voters that national security is our first priority." "To win back the White House in 2008, our party must change. We must be willing to discard political strategies that may make us feel good but that keep falling short. We must finally reject the false choice between exciting our base and expanding our appeal, because unless we both motivate and persuade, we'll lose every time," said DLC founder Al From and President Bruce Reed in a new manifesto for their party.
Their criticism has been heard many times during the past two decades in their continuing battle against the party's liberal establishment. But this time, they say, it will take a divisive, all-out political civil war to scrub the anti-war orthodoxy out of the party's agenda. "Shoring up our weakness will not come without real debate -- even real fights -- over national security and domestic priorities," they said in the DLC's Blueprint magazine. The sooner these fights take place, the better, they said.
"We should not shy away from them. It's far less important that Democrats come together now than on Election Day. And we are far more likely to be together on Election Day if we battle out our differences now."
In an "open letter" to their party last month, 17 DLC members led by Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana said Democrats had "to make clear to the American people that winning the war on jihadist extremism will be the Democratic Party's first priority this year and every year until the danger recedes." Although they acknowledged that for many anti-war Democrats "Iraq remains a difficult issue," they said, "It is essential that partisan enmity not obscure America's vital interest in helping the newly elected Iraqi government succeed."
But party liberals last week dismissed the DLC's advice as warmed-over Republicanism. "I can't tell the difference between the positions the DLC puts forward and Republican policy," said Jack Blum, counsel for the liberal Americans for Democratic Action. "I've read this before and I am not carried away by it. Nobody in the Democratic Party, and that most especially includes the liberals in the Americans for Democratic Action, opposes fighting the terrorists."
It's just that they can't decide, other than George Bush, who a terrorist is.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/04/2005 1:58:17 PM ||
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Waaaahhhh! Steve beat me to it, complete with the popcorn!
That's what I get for waiting. Damn work for getting in the way. :-(
Personally, I'm betting on the leftists. They fight nastier.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/04/2005 14:12 Comments ||
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Instead, the DLC called on the party to dramatically change its message to..
These guys sound like they still don't understand. It's not a matter of simply changing the message; national security has to be something they actually believe in. Sounding tough but not willing to wield and/or apply the big stick when the time comes to do so is NOT going to fly. Period.
#9
I like the almost daily rants about the Republican Party falling apart over the latest issue de jour. I don't know a single Conservative that is eager to join the Democrats. Hell even Jeffords stopped at the title Independent and not democrat. It's hysterical for the left to claim that if they only focused on "their message" that voters would flock to them. Just remember we evil NeoCons have to stick together.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/04/2005 15:38 Comments ||
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A split? I hope so. I'd like at least two viable presidential candidates to choose from next time. If the Dems could do put up a decent anti-terror candidate and learn to embrace capitalistic principles, they would at least have a chance of getting my vote.
#12
Nobody in the Democratic Party, and that most especially includes the liberals in the Americans for Democratic Action, opposes fighting the terrorists.
*snort*
I'd love to hear their definition of "terrorist". I have a feeling they leave out Islamofascists and include Republicans.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/04/2005 15:45 Comments ||
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"I can't tell the difference between the positions the DLC puts forward and Republican policy,"
... and the lefties dismiss the moderate Dems with a yawn.
#14
"a delusion to think that if we just turned out our voters, we could win national elections."
LOL! Deadly honesty. We really need our voters and their greatgrandfathers to vote, unless of course the current voter is black, in which greatgranddad can't vote because we just don't allow that.
#15
A true split in the Democrats might cause a split in the Republicans as centrists Republicans decide if they have more in common with Centrist Democrats or with the Religious right.
More likely than a split would be a defection of Democrats over to the greens, creating three parties. Two week lefties and the Republicans. This will give the Republicans wiggle room to move right because nobody is gonna vote Green in big numbers, they are just too whacked.
#16
"I can't tell the difference between the positions the DLC puts forward and Republican policy,"
An example of Parallax Error. He's so far to the extreme left that he can't tell between center-left and center-right.
"Nobody in the Democratic Party, and that most especially includes the liberals in the Americans for Democratic Action, opposes fighting the terrorists."
Oh, no. You simply oppose any method of actually fighting them. But you're cool with the concept.
Come to think of it, I don't even think that is correct. Why don't we poll the members of, oh, the CBC, and ask them about fighting terrorism. Let's ask Cynthia McKinney, re-elected to the House of Representatives as a Democrat. Is her positions less representative of the Democrat mainstream than that of Lieberman or Miller? Is that what you're saying?
#21
I think the vote against Rice was more political than anything else; Bayh has been a hawk on almost every other occasion I can think of. Also, in addition to Bayh and Lieberman, Clinton, Landrieu, Pryor, Lincoln, Salazar (I think) and most of the other southern/non-coastal western Democrats are at least relatively hawkish. Certainly as much so as the more moderate wing of the Republican Party (Hagel, Powell, the Sisters Of Maine, etc.)
#22
what yoda said. this is really a regional divide between the vermont/NE/left coast 'n' college town crowd and the rest of the country. Martin Frost in TX supported Bush on Iraq and would've made an excellent party chairman. plenty of other western and southern dems who take nat'l sec;y seriously and could lead the party back into the mainstream.
hillary gets it. and keep your eye on phil bredesen.
Former defense secretary Caspar W. Weinberger, ex-CIA director R. James Woolsey and 64 other retired arms control specialists and diplomats are lined up in support of John R. Bolton, whose nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has stirred controversy. In a letter being delivered today to Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, other committee members and congressional leaders, they said the attack on Bolton is really an attack on President Bush's policies. A hearing on the nomination is set for Thursday.
Last week, 62 critics of Bolton signed a letter calling for his rejection by the Senate, especially because of his opposition to several U.S. arms control treaties. Bolton supporters said his stance "reflects a clear-eyed necessity of the real limits" of accords with other nations that demand one-sided terms from the United States. They included Max M. Kampelman and Edward Rowny, arms control negotiators in the Reagan administration. The counterattack, organized by Frank J. Gaffney Jr., a Pentagon official in the Reagan administration, said Bolton "has distinguished himself throughout a long and multifaceted career." It suggested that critics of Bolton's positions on arms control treaties are "misdirected" because his views "are identical" to those of Bush and that "their differences seem to be with a man twice elected by the American people to design and execute security policies, rather than with one of his most effective and articulate officials in advancing those policies."
Posted by: Steve ||
04/04/2005 11:14:31 AM ||
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#1
Boy, I'll bet Monteagle, Spurgeon, Princeton and the boys are ,like, really really pissed...
#3
66:62 Outnumbered and outranked. I wonder how many Mrs. Monteagles are saying this morning, "Why on earth did you have to do that so publicly? I'm going to have to face Mrs. Weinberger on the tennis court/at the charity board meeting/over coffee today, and it will just be so humiliating!"
#4
This is not getting as much play as the country club gang. I think Steyn pegged these guys for the nobodies they truely are. I think some got posted to keep them out of trouble.
#5
I confess there was a period of time back in September 2001 when I thought the competition between the parties would be over who could whack the jihadis the hardest ("Brass knuckles? You wuss! Lemme show you what a real American can do with vise-grip pliers.") Geez, was I naive.
Posted by: Matt ||
04/04/2005 20:35 Comments ||
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First I've heard of this.
HILLSIDE, N.J. -- The largest anti-terror drill ever undertaken in the United States started Monday morning with police officers investigating a fake car accident on a college campus and health officials on the lookout for a mock biological attack.
What seems to have been a typically innocuous event will have growing ramifications. It is going to end up testing our health and law enforcement systems throughout the state of New Jersey," said Roger Shatzkin, a spokesman for the state's Office of Counterterrorism. "It's exciting to finally get this under way."
On Monday morning, officers swarmed around two sport utility vehicles and a sports car in a parking lot of a satellite campus of Kean University.
Reporters, briefed by officials as though a real attack were happening, were told that a phone tip led officers to a motor vehicle accident where car registrations did not match the vehicles. Meanwhile, doctors were expected to try to connect the incident to a fake patient who had been admitted to a hospital Sunday night with "flu-like symptoms."
The $16 million, weeklong drill is named "TOPOFF 3" for top state and national officials. In addition to the New Jersey attack, it is to include a fake chemical weapons attack in New London, Conn., starting Monday afternoon. All told, more than 10,000 people will participate, including in exercises that will involve officials in Canada and England as well as the United States.
The drills are being monitored by top U.S. Homeland Security officials from a command center in Washington, as well as regional centers in New Jersey and Connecticut.
The exact biological agent to be used in the fake attack was not announced; investigators at Kean University were expected to identify the substances after getting to the scene, just as they would have to do in real life.
Although no real weapons or bio-agents are being used, officials are to respond as if it's the real thing: flooding the area with investigators and first responders in haz-mat suits, sealing off the area, preserving evidence, dispatching fleets of ambulances to hospitals, and dealing with throngs of "victims" piling up outside emergency rooms. More than 8,500 people participated in similar exercises in Seattle and Chicago in 2003 that simulated a dirty bomb explosion and a bioterror attack. The first round, in May 2000, was in Denver and New Hampshire.
"It's a test of how well people are communicating with each other and whether the right people are getting pulled into this exercise," Shatzkin said. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the drill will shift to local hospitals, where hundreds if not thousands of mock "patients" will show up in various degrees of medical crisis. Some will be treated in emergency rooms and admitted; others might undergo triage and outdoor decontamination in parking lots, depending on what officials deem appropriate for the situation. "We will intentionally stress our emergency response systems to the point of failure so we can repair them," said Matt Mayer, acting executive director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness.
In New Jersey, all 21 counties and 82 hospitals have roles to play, as do state police, hazardous materials teams, emergency management personnel, and police, fire and emergency responders. A virtual television news network will help officials test how they would get information to the public during a crisis. Among the "patients" taking part will be 10 computerized, life-size dummies that can be programmed to mimic the symptoms of various ailments.
PHOENIX (AP) - The Minuteman Project - an effort by citizens who have volunteered to patrol the Mexican border for illegal crossers and smugglers - has already borne fruit even before its official launch. Participants helped federal agents make 18 arrests near Naco, authorities said Sunday. The volunteers were surveying the border to familiarize themselves with the area before starting their regular, monthlong patrols Monday. "You observe them, report them and get out of the way," said Mike McGarry, a spokesman for the project that will concentrate on 23 miles of the San Pedro Valley. McGarry said about 200 people would be in place for Monday's patrols, although human rights activists and some authorities have questioned whether the project will attract as many volunteers as organizers expect. Law enforcement officials said the volunteers were keeping the peace, despite concerns they might become confrontational with immigrants. Many of the volunteers were recruited over the Internet and some plan to be armed.
"Everything seems to be going well," said Carol Capas, a spokeswoman for the Cochise County Sheriff's Office. The Arizona-Mexico border is considered the most vulnerable stretch of the 2,000-mile southern border. Of the 1.1 million illegal immigrants caught by the Border Patrol last year, 51 percent crossed into the country at the Arizona border. In addition to the 18 arrests, volunteers reported another illegal immigrant after he wandered onto the campus of a Bible college near the community of Palominas, where about 100 Minuteman participants were staying. The man walked in and said he needed food and water. Volunteers helped him and notified federal agents, who picked him up, McGarry said. The man was weary from traveling but did not need medical attention, Border Patrol spokesman Andy Adame said.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/04/2005 8:52:30 AM ||
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..although human rights activists and some authorities have questioned whether the project will attract as many volunteers as organizers expect.
Who the hell cares what the number of volunteers are going to be? As long as the job gets done, it doesn't matter whether there's several hundred or several thousand volunteers.
A U.S. Defense Department study has determined that Muslims in the Middle East do not yearn for freedom.
Thank you for today's statement of the obvious. We seldom yearn for the fruits we've never tasted.
A Pentagon advisory board has released a report that asserted that Muslims in dictatorial regimes do not seek freedom as those in countries that had been dominated by the Soviet Union after World War II. The board said that unlike those who lived in East Bloc states, Muslims do not see the United States as their liberator. "There is no yearning-to-be-liberated-by-the-U.S. groundswell among Muslim societies -- except to be liberated perhaps from what they see as apostate tyrannies that the U.S. so determinedly promotes and defends," the Pentagon board said in a report.
Most of the guys who want to do away with the apostate tyrannies want to replace them with devout tyrannies.
The 102-page report by the Defense Science Board reviewed U.S. information policy toward the Arab and Muslim world as part of an effort to stem the tide of anti-Americanism. The board concluded that Washington has failed to adequately explain its diplomatic and military policy to Muslims around the world.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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We seldom yearn for the fruits we've never tasted.
3 words, Master Fred: Patti Ann Brown
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/04/2005 9:30 Comments ||
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#2
If this is true, explain Lebanon.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
04/04/2005 9:36 Comments ||
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#3
Glad to see somebody has some sense of reality left.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2005 10:31 Comments ||
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#6
Waitasec. There is a subtle parse in here: "There is no yearning-to-be-liberated-by-the-U.S...", could also mean that they *want* to be liberated, not just with a destructive invasion--which is common sense, if you think about it. And it also may be particular to the U.S., that is, Syria, for example, has deep ties with the French; whereas they only know about Americans via hateful propaganda. So they would probably favor some kind of mythical "French liberation", as if such a thing could happen. But to *assume* that they don't want to be liberated at all may be way too much to assume.
#7
No real surprise here. People in dictatorships don't give their honest opinions. Note also that the Pentagon hires all kinds of anti-American types to do studies for it, so that it can get to know the enemy's arguments.
#9
So let's check with Moslems who live in the West.
Hmm. The West is FULL of people who religiously believe that freedom is worthless, or (for the purposes of someone wanting to convince Moslems that western-style freedom is worthwhile) can be used to justify honor killings of their own.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
04/04/2005 12:17 Comments ||
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#10
So, I guess, it is not a matter of "People in dictatorships don't give their honest opinions." but rather a matter of Moslems rejecting the values of liberal democracy.
Phil, are you familiar with the term local attractor?
#13
#11
The point, IMO, you can't go from Moslem culture to Liberal Democracy. First, you've to completely erase Moslem culture---say a 100 year when only women are allowed to hold official posts + first cousins marriages are a capital offense.
...In Lebanon, the first step of this strategy was skillfully pulled off by US deputy assistant secretary of state David Satterfield. He successfully negotiated a four-cornered truce between the anti-Syrian opposition Druze and Christian leaders and the pro-Syrian and Hizballah camps. These accords...were fashioned in two unprecedented encounters no one had dreamed possible between two unlikely pairs: the Druze leader Walid Jumblatt who sate opposite Hizballah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, and the Maronite Christian Patriarch, Archbishop Nasrallah Sfeir who shortly after returning from Washington, faced the anti-Syrian camp's archenemy, President Emile Lahoud.
The interlocking accords had two immediate effects:
1. Syria finally buckled and decided to remove its troops from Lebanon, including intelligence and radar units, without further delay.
2. All four interlocutors agreed to Maronite General Michel Aoun, 63, returning from his Paris exile to Beirut and backing him for president to succeed Lahoud after the general election. As head of a military government, Aoun was banished by the Syrians 14 years ago. Monday, April 4, Aoun announced in Paris he would be returning home in five weeks when the Syrians were out of the country.
DEBKAfile's Paris sources report that President Jacques Chirac has ordered the French diplomats and intelligence services working with American opposite numbers in Beirut to prepare a hero's welcome for the returning exile.
But the reconciliation steps have created some negative anomalies too:
A. The Hizballah terrorist group will keep its arms, notwithstanding the second half of Security Council Resolution 1559 which calls for the disarming of Lebanon's militias. The Jumblatt-Nasrallah deal hinged on a waiver for the Hizballah terrorist group, allowing it to stay armed for an unlimited period. This spiked ball was rolled into Washington's court. Picking it up could derail the entire boldly-conceived system of accords for Lebanon's post-Syrian future.
B. Shelving the Hizballah disarmament issue also left in place the Iranian Revolutionary Guards units which are present in Lebanon as an integral part of the Hizballah. The same applies to Iranian undercover agents in the country under the Hizballah umbrella.
C. The Druze and Hizballah leaders are willing to defy Washington in order to postpone the May election. This delay threatens to delay indefinitely the momentum of political transition from a pro-Syrian to a pro-Western regime - which is why US officials keep on harping on the importance of Lebanon's election taking place on time in May. Monday, April 4, Bush stated firmly once again that the May election must go forward on schedule.
D. As in Iraq, American diplomacy cut the Sunni Muslim factions out of the new political reconciliation equation with the predictable effect of putting their backs up. That explains why the pro-Syrian Sunni prime minister Omar Karame keeps on refusing to follow the scrip and step down to make way for a new government.
Because nothing in the Middle East is ever plain sailing, the usual do-gooder intelligence veterans are busy stirring up the Lebanese pot too. In the third week of March, a US-British team got together in Beirut with a joint Hizballah-Hamas group. The Hizballah was represented by Lebanese MPs Mohammed Rayad, Hussein Khalil and Ibrahim Fainash; Hamas, by Mussa Abu Marzook and Osama Hamdan.
On the American team were ex-CIA officers who went to work for think tanks after their retirement, led by Graham Fuller, who was associated for some years with Rand Corp but not any more. The British contingent was led by Alistair Crooke, who in the early years of the Palestinian terror war acted for MI6 and the European Union in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He no longer acts for either. The third senior member was Dr. Beverley Edwards, an American Islam expert, who teaches at British universities.
Hizballah and Hamas went hand in hand to this meeting because all sides shared the hope of engineering a coupling between political solutions for the Hizballah in Lebanon and he Palestinian Hamas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The two Islamist terrorist groups seemed to believe the American-British delegates were the secret messengers of vice president Richard Cheney. They enthused over what they perceived as their first contact with the Bush administration.
Our Washington sources stress that nothing is further from the truth. Washington sent no delegation and would not in any case join hands with the British or pursue any political initiative that could place its vital understanding and cooperation with France on Lebanon at risk...
#1
I dunno, I'd be inclined to stay out of this. Let Chirac get entangled in this web of BS and take the fall if things go astray. In the meantime, we can stand on the sideline to see how it all plays out, and simply state that our desire is for Lebanon to decide its own path, preferably a freely chosen one.
France on Saturday condemned the recent series of explosions in Lebanon as an "intolerable" attempt to destabilize the country and said it hopes those responsible will be brought to justice. Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said Syria must completely withdraw its troops and intelligence officers from Lebanon to ensure the upcoming elections are free and democratic.
"Intolerable," is it? That means you're not going to tolerate it. When's the Foreign Legion going to arrive in Beirut?
Barnier also said France - Lebanon's former colonial ruler - "condemns with the greatest firmness" the latest bombing on Friday in Broumana, a mountain resort overlooking Beirut and the Mediterranean coastline, which injured seven people. The explosion was the fourth in almost two weeks to hit a Christian area, where support for the anti-Syrian opposition is high. The bombings are aimed "at destabilizing Lebanon and the democratic and political process that is underway in this country," said the French foreign minister. "Light will have to be shed on the identities of those responsible for this latest attack and the others," said Barnier, speaking after a meeting in Paris with visiting Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Qidwa.
Funny thing that — not "funny ha-ha," though — there've been four bombings. Not a single suspect has been named. There hasn't been a word about a clue being found. They do better investigations than that in Somalia, always assuming there's an investigation being done...
Barnier said France is "watching intently" the discussions in the United Nations on setting up an international inquiry to determine who ordered and executed the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Typical French gas bagging. "Nothing to see here move along."
#6
french cant hardly ignore the bombings and still claim to be the protectors of the Maronites, or anyone else in Lebanon for that matter. Its way too early to send in the FFL - theres no real disorder yet that the Leb Army cant handle. It would provide an excuse to Hezb to go on resisting against the Maronites and their "imperialist" friends. At this point its important to keep the Syrian withdrawl going. When thats done the undercover Syrian leave behinds will work with Hezb to retain Syrian/Iranian influence, to prevent the Hezb being disarmed, and perhaps to stir up violence. First line of defence is Leb Army, local pols, and covert ops by France, US and other friendly parties. If that fails it would be necessary to form an intervention force - which would HAVE to include muslims as well as FFL, to deal with Sunni and perhaps Druze (let alone Shia) sensibilities.
#7
And after that sequence of events, LH, do you imagine that France will suddenly identify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization? It's all fine and well to project the sequence of events-it may well proceed as you descrive--but wouldn't the French schizophrenia on Hezbollah remain a part of that sequence?
If the answer is they would change their public stance on Hezbollah, then great, we might actually have an ally back. If the answer is no, then France's willfulness would be one of the "root causes" of terrorism in Lebanon, wouldn't it (if appeasement is viewed as a root cause)?
Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi voiced alarm about developments in Lebanon on Saturday after talks with Syrian leaders about the quickening troop withdrawal by the Islamic Republic's key Arab ally. Kharazi expressed the "Iranian government's concern and growing fear" about developments since the February 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in a Beirut bomb blast blamed by the Lebanese opposition on Syria and its local allies. In Lebanon, Friday night's blast triggered a wave of reactions among officials, who harshly denounced the attack, describing it as an attempt to destabilize the country's security. President Emile Lahoud said the wave of bombings striking the country was aimed at insinuating Lebanese security forces could not control the security situation, and damaging the country's economy and commerce. Lahoud said the bombings aimed at "doubting the ability of the Lebanese security forces to maintain law and order in the country." He also accused the enemies of Lebanon of attacking the country's stability and targeting national unity by spreading fear and panic among citizens. Lahoud added: "Such tactics will not terrify the Lebanese, who are now determined, more than ever, to maintain their national unity and solidarity."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Hmmmm...
Did he make like a "rrrriiinging" sound or a "buzzzzzzing" sound?
"You know how short attention spans can be, especially in the Muddle East. Put the elections off long enough and who the hell knows what you'll get..."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2005 00:00:00 ||
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The UN Security Council is set to vote on a draft resolution to form an international probe into the murder of late Premier Rafik Hariri early this week, as reports indicated Lebanon is seeking some amendments to the draft resolution.
"Yasss... We'd like to strike the word 'investigation' and replace it with 'cheese.'"
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan met with the Lebanese delegation to the UN, headed by Ambassador Boutros Assaker, on Saturday and discussed the draft resolution currently under examination by UN experts. Reports stated that one amendment Lebanese authorities are seeking to introduce to the draft resolution is the removal of the expression in the preamble "terrorist act," and the use of "bombing" in its place.
"Or you can replace it with something else. We don't mind. As long as it's replaced..."
But sources close to Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud told The Daily Star that the minister insisted Lebanon had not made such a demand.
"Who? Us? Did we say that?... Nahhh!"
The sources said: "Hammoud strongly denies making such a demand, and insists Lebanon considers Hariri's murder a terrorist act." France and the United States introduced the draft resolution last week to initiate an international investigation into late Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2005 00:00:00 ||
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April 4, 2005: American infantry are beginning to fear that the U.S. Air Force will take away their UAVs. And therein lies a very curious situation. After half a century of losing out to the U.S. Air Force in the competition for budget dollars, the American Army is making a major comeback. Ironically, it's all about technology. The air force has always touted its mastery of high tech as a reason to get more money than the army. But the cheap and abundant tech has created new devices, namely smart bombs, UAVs and "smart binoculars," that are putting a lot of airmen out of business.
Let's start with the smart bombs. For nearly a century, if a soldier wanted a bomb delivered accurately, he had to call on a highly skilled fighter-bomber pilot to fly low and put that bomb on the target. Smart bombs changed all that, especially the GPS guided bombs (JDAM). Now all the guy on the ground has to do is use a pair of "smart binoculars" to; A-see the target in the binoculars, and B-press a button to activate the laser rangefinder to get the range, and C-also calculate the GPS coordinates (the binoculars also carry GPS). A cable runs from the smart binoculars to a radio, which, at the D-press of another button, sends those coordinates to an air force bomber 2-4 miles overhead. The coordinates are fed into a smart bomb, and E-the pilot pushes a button to release the bomb, and a few minutes later, the bomb lands on those coordinates. This procedure is putting a lot of air force pilots out of a job. That's because this smart bomb approach doesn't require a lot of highly trained fighter-bomber pilots. One heavy bomber (like a 40 year old B-52) overhead can carry several dozen smart bombs. All the pilot has to do is circle the battlefield and push the bomb release button when the G.I.s send up another request.
It gets worse. Traditionally, the guys on the ground, talking to the pilots overhead, where themselves pilots, spending a few years serving as a "Forward Air Controller" (FAC). The theory behind this was that, "it takes a pilot to know what a pilot can hit." Made sense when pilots had to come down low and fast to drop a bomb on a target he might only glimpse for a few seconds. That's not done any more. It's too damn hard, exposes the fighter-bomber to ground fire, and often puts the bomb on friendly troops. The smart bombs are a lot more reliable and accurate. The ground troops like that. Much less "friendly fire" from above. And the smart binoculars do most of the hard work. The army wants to take advantage of this by using more FACs, and wants to train army officers and NCOs to do this sort of thing. The air force refuses. The stated reason is that only pilots can do this right, FACs must have a Top Secret clearance (few ground combat officers and NCOs even have a lower Secret clearance), and the army proposal to use computer simulations to train FACs is simply unacceptable. The real reason is that army FACs means the air force could lose over 5,000 FAC jobs (many of them fighter pilots) and over a billion dollars from their budget. Also unpalatable is the idea of some army sergeant sending orders to an air force pilot to push a button. But the army knows that they cannot make the most of the new smart bomb, and smart binoculars technology unless they have more FACs.
It gets still worse. UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) have finally come of age because of several new technological trends coming together. For example, cameras have gotten smaller, digital and more powerful. Model aircraft technology, long a commercial hobby kind of thing, has developed some very reliable and sturdy little aircraft designs. Computer networking has made huge advances, with wireless transmission of large volumes of data (like live video feeds from an overhead UAV, to a combat officer's laptop below) easy and reliable. All of a sudden, every infantry company commander has his own little air force of mini-UAVs. Battalion, brigade and division all have UAVs as well. Larger and longer ranged ones, of course, but equally cheap, reliable and totally under the control of their army users. No need for the air force to run as many expensive aerial reconnaissance missions any more. This one really hurts, as the military first used aircraft for reconnaissance. But over the years, the air force never really got the knack of customer service. The air recon photos too often didn't get to the army commanders in time. The army, with their UAVs, doesn't care any more. But the air force is getting nervous about another budget cut to remove unneeded aerial reconnaissance aircraft.
And just to add insult to injury, the army is arming some of its larger UAVs with Hellfire (and other) missiles. This has got the air force thinking about trying to invoke "The Key West Treaty" (a 1950s agreement by the army not to fly anything with wings, if the air force would supply all the air support the army needed.) The air force is reluctant to try that, as all those infantry officers would not let go of their UAVs without a big fight. And at the moment, those army combat officers are the heroes.
So where does this leave the air force? In trouble, but not without a plan to turn it all around. The air force now proposes to take control of all UAV development. This means that the army and marines will pay a lot more, and wait a lot longer, to get UAVs that don't do the job as well as the ones they are currently scrounging up on their own. A major bureaucratic fight is underway. It's not much reported on, but it's a matter of life and death for army combat troops. At the moment, it's even odds as to which side will win.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/04/2005 9:22:29 AM ||
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#1
I thought the Key West Treaty was not to arm anything with wings....
#2
The Key West Agreement of 1948, served as the basis for defining the functional boundaries of each service. The key points of the Key West Agreement were:
- the Navy retained the Marine Corps (and the Corps'aviation arm for close air support), its own naval air arm to support sea battles, its own aircraft for air transportation, control of antisubmarine warfare, and the sealift support for the Army
- the Army maintained responsibility for operations on land including ground-based air defense but gave up ownership of close air support as well as both strategic and tactical airlift and sealift
- the Air Force gained responsibility for the Army's close air support, as well as strategic and tactical airlift, and maintained primary responsibility for strategic aerial warfare and defense of the United States against air attack
Posted by: Steve ||
04/04/2005 12:13 Comments ||
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The trend has been moving this way for years. The Air Force is moving into an Air and Space force. It started with the Air Force taking over space command and the advent of cruise missles. The Navy and Air Force still control the cruise missles, but they were a forshadowing of the UAV to come. Now that the grunts can control the UAVs, the roll of the jet as an air-to-ground attack aircraft is lessening. There will be a need for the A2G for a while yet, as fixed and hardend emplacements are still beyond the ability of the UAVs at this time (that WILL change). With UAVs and the attack helos, the Army pretty much has tactical air strikes wrapped up. The Air Force will still be around in the Tactical air buisness for a long time, but its days are numbered. I see them getting into strategic attacks using long range bombers that have a low earth orbit capability and all space based weapons. Maybe even using low earth orbit lifters to carry an armored striker division to do a combat drop on an enemy position. w00t!
#8
Actually, I have never read starship troopers. The low earth orbit delivery system is something that military planners are thinking about now. No need for bases in other countries, cheaper to operate, can drop a combat division anywere in the world in 8 hours, no long transit times or attacks from subs on ships... It gives me and most other military planners the giddies just thinking about it.
(I am actually really into BattleTech as Sci-Fi, since the vast majority of stuff they have can be made now. Only fusion engines, FLL drives and low-orbit vehicles are things we can't make right now.)
April 4, 2005: The F-22s salvation from massive program cuts (from 277 to 179 planes) is becoming more likely. This is due to a variety of factors, some political, some in terms of capability, and some of which are logistical.
The big factor is the fact that the Air Force's current tactical fighters are not getting any younger. The average age used to be low — less than ten years. The Air Force is instead looking at an average age of 27 years old per aircraft — despite modernization plans. This is not good news. Old airplanes have a lot of flight hours. Unlike airliners, a percentage of these flight hours are often spent pushing the envelope of an airplane's performance. Making 9-G turns is not conducive to a long service life for an airplane. Things wear out faster. The edge-of-the-envelope moves take their toll, and in some cases (like India's force of MiG-21s), aircraft fall apart. There is another reason older aircraft are a pain for the Air Force: They require much more maintenance. Often, the maintenance takes longer due to being more extensive. This costs money and time — not to mention stretching maintenance personnel. The man-hours and money spent to completely overhaul an older F-15C could be used to operate newer F-22s.
There are other reasons. The manufacturing base is needed, and this is presented by both the Air Force (which needs aircraft) and politicians (who want jobs in their districts). The Air Force also is wanting a means to keep new aircraft coming in case there are delays in getting the F-35 into production (which was the case with the F-22). If the older plans (for 277 aircraft as opposed to 179) are followed, it will add $10.5 billion to the program cost making each of the 98 F-22s on the chopping block cost about $107 million each. This is why Northrop was able to offer a guaranteed fixed price of $500 million per plane for 20 additional B-2s. In that case, Congress declined to buy them. Older aircraft production lines (for the F-15 and F-16) are still in place, albeit they now are primarily building the F-15 and F-16 for export orders. Often, these aircraft are being customized — an F-16 variant for Israel will have a much different electronics suite than one for Singapore. South Korea is buying a variant of the F-15E, which will be customized for that country.
Finally, older aircraft have restrictions placed on them. Currently, over two thousand planes in the Air Force are operating under flight restrictions of one sort or another. This is not so much done to avoid losing aircraft, but to protect the pilots. Training a pilot takes years, and costs millions of dollars. Plus, experienced pilots have knowledge that is at times, irreplaceable. Ask country that has fought an air war in the last century. While this often escapes the notice of many, it is a consideration the Air Force keeps in mind. A new F-22 will cut maintenance costs and will be more reliable than aging aircraft, and this will make 277 new F-22s a better option than continuing with the F-15C.
Posted by: Steve ||
04/04/2005 9:11:26 AM ||
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Oh, and China.
I am getting worried about the shrinking of our military. To some extent, the more powerful weapons compensate, but sometimes, numbers really do count. Yes, we have to have (part of) our military structured to fight the current war, but I don't want us to lose the possiblity of anything anything else.
#2
Jackal,
Speaking of a shrinking military,I read recently where Germany plans before end of decade to keep only @350 MBTs and same amount of APCs. That soft power thing better work!
Posted by: Stephen ||
04/04/2005 21:51 Comments ||
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Da, Comrade Stephen, the Rhine is lovely in the spring and we can drive there in two days.
ALGIERS — Algerian human rights groups yesterday called for an independent investigation into the detentions and subsequent disappearances of more than 6,000 civilians at the hands of security forces during the 1990s.
They rejected a much-awaited report this week by a government commission which laid the blame on agents acting individually during a war on militants. "Unfortunately there is no political will to search for the truth. These disappearances were not isolated incidents," National Association of the Families of the Disappeared (ANFD) President Lila Iril said. "We want an independent commission with all the powers at its disposal to be able to call on anyone for questioning, even the highest authorities," Iril said.
More than 6,000 civilians, which the commission said were wrongly suspected of having ties to rebels, are feared dead. Human rights groups said the controversial report handed to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was flawed, as the government appointed commission had no legal power to carry out an in-depth probe or bring anyone to court.Â
Well, there's this UN team investigating events in Lebanon. They're not doing much right now, and you might borrow them to ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/04/2005 12:34:52 AM ||
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Begging your indulgence, I'd like to rewrite AFP's lame headline:
"al-Zarqawi tries and fails to distract attention away from historic democratic process in the heart of Arabia, also ensures infidel army will stay put and kick his ass some more. Insh'allah."
Ah, that feels much better.
Iraq's new parliament has elected a Sunni Muslim speaker, ending two months of bitter sectarian wrangling. On Sunday, MPs chose Sunni Arab Hajem al-Hassani as speaker and Shiite Hussein al-Shahrastani and Kurd Aref Tayfur as his two deputies, after their initial attempt ended in shambles last Tuesday when 16 Sunni Arab MPs refused to back the Shiites' preferred candidate for speaker. The vote came even as parliament's Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni blocs remained far from agreement on a new governing coalition amid intense jockeying over the cabinet line-up, more than two months after the historic elections.
So they're giving up and going home then, right? Er, no:
The meeting unfolded in a giddy schoolyard-like atmosphere as dozens of MPs mingled and walked to the front of the assembly to vote inside Baghdad's fortified administrative enclave. Results were marked on two whiteboards. But the mood was undercut by the fact that Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish MPs largely voted along sectarian lines, with many deputies voting for only one of the posts and not all three.
The horror. Elected representatives voting their conscience. Truly, we're done for!
Just 241 of the parliament's 275 MPs attended the session but those that did grinned and whistled to each other as they cast their ballots.
Fred loaned me his abacus, plus the square root of 17, and I figger nearly 88% of Parliament showed up for the party. But apparently it's not legit unless all 275 show up at bayonet point and vote in lockstep, just like the good old days under Uncle Sammy.
Hassani, a member of outgoing president Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar's Iraqiun list, served in the interim government as industry minister and broke with his old associates, the Islamic Party, last November over its position on the US-led offensive in Fallujah. Shahrastani, a nuclear scientist and Shiite moderate, spent a decade in the prisons of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime over his refusal to work on Iraq's atomic weapons programmes. Tayfur is a member of the politburo of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and a veteran rebel fighter. Hassani was drafted in as an 11th-hour compromise acceptable to both sides after Shiites objected to Sunni Arab MP Mishaan al-Juburi, citing his alleged links to Saddam's regime. "Against all odds, Iraqis voted despite the absence, or the intentional sidelining, of an important segment of society," said Hassani in his acceptance speech, referring to Sunni Arab voters who largely boycotted the election. MPs adjourned until Wednesday when Hassani said they would focus on electing a president and two vice presidents, who will in turn formally nominate the prime minister and his cabinet. But the UIA's candidate for the premiership Ibrahim al-Jafaari hinted there were still disagreements over the new government line-up despite optimism from others in his alliance. "There is disagreement and I hope there would be disagreement because this is part of the dynamic of the new Iraq going forward," Jafaari said. The task has been complicated by a desire by Kurds and Shiites alike to include Sunni Arabs and the eagerness of Kurds to bring in the secular list headed by outgoing prime minister Iyad Allawi to temper the influence of the religious parties that dominate the UIA.
Well done, ladies & gents, well done.
Posted by: seafarious ||
04/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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"Against all odds, Iraqis voted despite the absence, or the intentional sidelining, of an important segment of society," said Hassani
Maybe it's just me, but I think this has to be the most blatant example of stupidity yet to come out of Iraq. It just boggles.
As one of the moron Sunnis who "intentionally sidelined" themselves, this goes well beyond irony, lol! It was blind self-inflicted stupidity. Indeed - you mental midget - the elections succeeded in spite of you and yours, Hassani, and proved how unimportant the Sunnis actually are. You should be extremely happy that the Shi'a and Kurds decided to allow your pitiful pathetic block of socially and politically arrogant and retarded buffoons any positions at all, much less something of real authority.
What a lame and convoluted thing is the Arab mind when it comes to logic, cause & effect, and not making a fucking fool of yourself with utterly inane statements. He'll be a real peach for the reporters looking for goofy sound bytes. Off to a sterling start, methinks.
We interrupt the non-stop coverage of the Pope's death and funeral to bring you this message from the small-souled:
The Arab world's leading satellite television channels have been giving unprecedented coverage of the death throes of Pope John Paul II, provoking anger from Islamic extremists. Qatar-based Al-Jazeera, famed for screening "exclusive" videotapes from Islamic militants including Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, was among the first to announce the pope's death. On Sunday it continued providing widespread coverage of his life and death, as did Dubai-based Al-Arabiya. Both Al-Jazeera and Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya transmitted live from the Vatican over the past few days, with blow-by-blow accounts from their correspondents at the Vatican, in Rome and at holy sites in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The two stations, along with many others throughout the Arab world, aired several documentaries about John Paul II and his various appeals for peace and dialogue between all faiths and civilizations. They also highlighted images of the pope during his historic visit to the Palestinian territories and Israel in March 2000 when he was warmly welcomed at the Palestinian refugee camp of Dheishe, near Jesus's traditional birthplace of Bethlehem in the West Bank.
Arabs throughout the region assiduously followed the pope's numerous initiatives, including his unrealized desire to go to Iraq before the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 to see how Iraqis suffered under international sanctions. But radical Islamists, who advocate the expulsion of non-Muslims from Islamic countries, have been using Islamist Web sites to vent their anger at Arab television stations for according the pope such importance. One such user lashed out at Al-Jazeera, saying viewers were "annoyed" with extensive reports eulogizing the pope, who the user described as an "old tyrant."
"What is mortifying is that this hooligan channel pretends [to defend] Islam," added the user, who wrote under the name Muhib al-Salihine on the Islamic News Network, a site often used by Islamist militants operating in Iraq. "What is more humiliating - I think that it was Al-Arabiya channel - is that the imam of a mosque ... praised the memory [of the pope]," said Seri Eddine le Libyen on the same site. "I have started to hate Al-Jazeera for the multiplicity of information on the grieving" for the pope, said another user.
In Lebanon, the Al-Manar satellite television of the Shiite group Hizbullah, interrupted its programs after the announcement of the pope's death to broadcast live from the Vatican. Four other private Lebanese stations and the public Tele-Liban did the same. In Iraq, the public television station Iraqiya also interrupted programming on Saturday night to announce the pope's death.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Simply amazing.
I think we could give them something to really not like. Leno's monolouge.
#6
god bless the pope he was a good man and we can all mourn him muslim or not
Posted by: its just me ||
04/04/2005 10:38 Comments ||
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Notice this was a fringe bunch - kinda like an Islamic DU (which is coming closer and closer if you look at the real DU and its hate-filled little totalitarians).
#8
Lots of changes in this world, folks. If an Arab tv news outlet spins some turbans near warp speed, THAT itself is something. I think that the airing of the death of the Pope by Al J is a significant event. Initiating turban spins is an unintended benefit.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/04/2005 11:29 Comments ||
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#9
Actually, I would move the needle of the Acme Surprise Meter to 2.5 just for the coverage of the Pope. Turban spins get a 0.0001, of course.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/04/2005 11:32 Comments ||
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#10
"Well, we do still need 1000 infidel heads to pile at the Pope's feet in his tomb..."
#15
Notice this was a fringe bunch - kinda like an Islamic DU (which is coming closer and closer if you look at the real DU and its hate-filled little totalitarians).
#16
Notice this was a fringe bunch - kinda like an Islamic DU (which is coming closer and closer if you look at the real DU and its hate-filled little totalitarians).
Leaders from Chad, Egypt, Libya, Nigeria and Sudan are to meet for a summit on 20 April in Egypt to discuss the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur, the Egyptian foreign minister said on Sunday. Foreign Minister Ahmad Abul Gheit said that the summit, to take place in the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Shaikh, would "try to give a push to efforts for a solution" in the strife-torn region. Abul Gheit said that Egypt wanted the "continuation and completion of the Abuja peace talks" to end the conflict between the government and rebels, which has displaced two million people since it began in February 2003. Peace talks between the rebel groups in Darfur and the government are being sponsored by the African Union in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, but have yet to make progress. The talks were suspended last year after accusations by each side that the other was not abiding by the terms of an April ceasefire agreement they signed in the Chadian capital, Ndjamena.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei yesterday urged the United States to be tough on Israel on settlements. "The American administration cannot remain silent about the actions of the Israelis who are seeking to impose a new reality on the ground," Qorei said after a meeting at his offices in Ramallah with Consul General David Pearce, the United States' top diplomat for East Jerusalem. "It must take a clear position over the three settlements which Israel wants to annex," he added. Qorei was referring to the settlements of Maale Adumim, Gush Etzion and Ariel which his Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon has pledged will remain an integral part of Israel.
The Bush administration is in theory opposed to any settlement growth as a violation of the US-backed road map plan which commits Israel to a complete freeze to all settlement activity. But in recent days the US position has been somewhat muddied by a flurry of statements in reaction to Israel's announced intention to build up Maale Adumim, the largest of all the settlements.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei yesterday urged the United States to be tough on Israel on settlements.
Sorry guys, but y'all need to get your own house in order before even thinking of offering up advice on this matter.
A delegation of more than 100 former rebels arrived in the Sudanese capital yesterday to begin implementing a peace deal signed with the government in January that ended Africa's longest civil war. Commander James Wani who heads the delegation from south Sudan is the most senior member of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement to go to Khartoum since the war began in 1983. "We are here to boost our partnership with the (ruling) National Congress and to revitalize our contacts with all political forces in the country," SPLA Secretary-General Wani told journalists.
Three months of meetings will begin with thrashing out a new constitution to form the basis of a power-sharing government between Khartoum and the former rebels, senior SPLM official Yasir Arman told Reuters. Arman and Nhial Deng are due to stay in Khartoum for that time to head the talks and Arman said meetings had already begun. The SPLM team arrived early this morning and would send delegations to offices in the south after three days, Arman said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Lots of fanfare, billions of dollars spent and not much to show. When donor countries meet in Kabul this week, from today to Wednesday, President Hamid Karzai's new government will plead for more control over the purse strings in order to inject pace into economic reconstruction, involve more Afghan firms and prioritize infrastructure and poverty reduction programs.
On the eve of the Afghanistan Development Forum, Karzai issued a stinging rebuke to non-government organizations (NGOs) "for squandering the precious resources that Afghanistan received in aid from the international community." The president met ambassadors and representatives of the United Nations and donor countries to explain why the cabinet gave its blessing last week to a draft law barring NGOs from tendering for government projects. The government said yesterday it had agreed to set up a joint task force with donors to review policy toward NGOs. "We had a responsibility toward the Afghan people, as well as the taxpayers in the donor countries, to stop NGOs that are corrupt, wasteful and unaccountable," he said, while also praising the "good work" of those NGOs serving the country's development and humanitarian needs.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Lol! Karzai's gonna "out" some of the phoney BS NGOs? Cool! There has been very little bashing of the bad NGOs and I think it's probably long overdue for a thorough shake-out. Any time there are pots of money on display, there are asshats who'll steal, skim, or waste it. And the NGOs are not anointed of any Supreme Being - many are just as riddled with shitheads as any other organization spending Other People's Money. Some do a good job and some don't do much of anything except enrich themselves and cronies in schemes.
It will be interesting to see which countries and NGOs squeal the loudest, eh?
#2
This is gonna spike the Swedish unemployment rate.
Posted by: ed ||
04/04/2005 7:53 Comments ||
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#3
stinging rebuke to non-government organizations (NGOs) âfor squandering the precious resources that Afghanistan received in aid from the international community. Wow! The good news just doesn't stop.
Hamas and Hizbullah have signed a cooperation accord. The leaders of Hamas and Hizbullah met on April 1 in Beirut and signed a statement declaring their war against Israel as legitimate. The meeting of Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas political chief Khaled Mashaal ended with a joint call against disarming their groups. For its part, Hamas said the reduction in the Palestinian insurgency campaign in the West Bank and Gaza Strip depended on the halt of Israeli attacks and the release of all Palestinian prisoners. "Hamas will not be committed to remain calm if Israel fails to meet its demands," Hamas said in the statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Seems to me the political winds have changed. If these guys do anything unpleasant if their "demands" aren't met (the hallmark slogan of a terrorist group), the world won't be as forgiving.
I know. We had it yesterday, but that was just the headline. And the injured count has doubled. And we need a good Monday morning laff...
Hundreds of radicals protesting against the participation of women in a marathon race hurled stones and bricks at competitors, and clashed with police in eastern Pakistan yesterday, leaving at least 18 people injured, police said. About 2,000 men, women and children were taking part in the three-kilometer race when more than 200 supporters of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), launched their attack, police official Arif Mushtaq said.
Three kilometers is a pretty short marathon. But I guess we know what they mean...
The attackers, wielding sticks and throwing stones, blocked the race course and chased competitors away as they approached a sports stadium in Gujranwala, a city about 200 km southeast of the capital Islamabad, where they were expected to finish race, Mushtaq said. The attackers also set fire to cars and broke windows nearby.
Sticks and stones, do in fact, break your bones. And setting your car on fire adds insult to injury...
Policemen who tried to protect the runners also came under attack, he said, adding that officers fired gunshots into the air and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the attackers. Eighteen people, including eight policemen, were reported injured in the violence. It was unclear if any of the competitors were injured, but Qazi Hameedullah, a lawmaker from the six-party religious coalition who allegedly led the protesters, was among the wounded, Mushtaq said.
Seriously, I hope. Is he on life support, maybe?
He said police detained 25 people for their involvement in the attacks, but did not say if Hameedullah was arrested. Mushtaq said MMA activists resented female participation alongside men in the sporting event, and they wanted to get inside the stadium to attack participants. "If the attackers had managed to get inside the stadium it would have been a disaster," Mushtaq said.
Sounds like it was anyway...
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Plumbing the depths of insanity and, not to be redundant, digging like mad.
#3
After years of listening to news reports on the mental derangement known as "Radical Islam":
- Allan worshiper throws acid in daughter's face to maintain the "honor" of his name;
- Allan worshiper kills daughter for (you fill in the blank);
- Allan worshiper kills wife/sister for (you fill in the blank);
- Jihadis raping young male recruits;
- Allan worshipers...yadda yadda yadda.
#5
OS, well, yeah....we must respect cultural differences. This might give women the idea that running from a beating instead of sitting there and taking it is ok.
Besides, what if one of these chicks can run faster than a man? How....humiliating.
#6
Maybe I've got a skewed perspective but is this the oft touted tolerant faith at it's best! Would it be ok if they ran with chaperones and in burkas? Can I get a fatwa please somebody? Women running in a road race is a pretty awful isn't it.
#7
A three kilometer race is a long race when they are throwing rocks and hitting you with sticks. Like running a gauntlet. What the hell is in the water over there?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/04/2005 11:13 Comments ||
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#8
Seems I saw soethiong awhile back of woen being forced to wear Burkas in a tennis match.(Not 100% sure tho).
In which we note progress of a sort. The Paleo security problems are evaluated without once blaming Israel.
After weeks of hesitation, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has finally made moves to challenge the powerful militant groups sowing chaos across the West Bank.
See: Whirlwind, reaping the.
In the end, he was spurred into action by domestic concerns, including an audacious rampage by gunmen through Ramallah and the very real fear of impending electoral defeat, rather than by persistent U.S. and Israeli demands that he crack down on armed groups.
See: Doctrine, Bush.
"The Palestinian Authority has been crippled and it's become very evident to the people," Palestinian political analyst Hani Masri says. "It reached a point where people were wondering what value is there in having a leader." On Saturday, Abbas forced out West Bank security chief Ismail Jaber — a corruption-tainted patron of some of the militants — and said he would forcibly retire hundreds of senior officers. This was seen as a strong signal that he is serious about security reform and no longer willing to tolerate militants' defiance. Abbas has picked Nablus security commander Maj. Gen. Nadal Asoli as Jaber's replacement, security officials said Sunday on condition of anonymity because a formal announcement had not been made. Asoli is the commander of security forces in Nablus. He returned from exile in Tunis with Yasser Arafat in the mid-90s. Unlike Jaber, Asoli's name has not been mentioned in corruption allegations.
"We'll always have Tunis, Yasser!"
Lacking an independent power base, Abbas had resisted taking on the militants since he was elected in January to head the Palestinian Authority after Arafat's death. He hoped instead to co-opt them into the Palestinian security forces. However, the militants, who have hoarded power during four years of fighting with Israel and have established de facto gang rule in many West Bank towns, resisted and openly challenged Abbas' authority. Last month, militant leader Zakariye Zubeydi brazenly challenged Palestinian security chief Nasser Yousef for entering the West Bank town of Jenin without first getting the secret password his permission. Yousef exploded in anger when Zubeydi fired a rifle outside police headquarters while he held meetings inside. He demanded the militant's arrest, then quickly backed down and let him go. Other militants broke into the main jail in Gaza in February and killed three prisoners there as part of a clan feud. Palestinians are becoming fed up with the lawlessness in their streets, and Abbas has little choice but to tackle the problem quickly if he wants his Fatah Party to have any hope of winning July parliamentary elections. Convinced Fatah is corrupt and ineffective, many Palestinians are turning to the militant Hamas group.
Hamas gunnies or Fatah gunnies, now there's a conundrum for the average Paleo voter...
To make matters worse for Abbas, many of those running rampant and challenging his power are actually members of Fatah or the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group affiliated with Fatah. Some of the militants also are members of the very security forces expected to stop them. "This chaos is harming the Palestinian Authority and Fatah totally, and if they don't reform now, you can say farewell to Fatah," Masri said. "Hamas is powerful, and Fatah is fighting a battle with itself and is at the same time unable to bring law and order to the streets."
It's a feature, not a bug.
Nabil Amr, a legislator close to Abbas, said restoring order has become "a national demand."
Posted by: seafarious ||
04/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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"It reached a point where people were wondering what value is there in having a leader." No, it has reached the point where the peepul realize they are getting no benefit at all for the very high Corruption Tax levied on them by Abu Abbas (didja notice how nobody seems to be using his nom de guerre Abu Mazen any more?). For that matter, they have begun to question whether the Corruption Taxes paid to the various other terrorist groups and factions are yielding any benefit to them either.
#4
Convinced Fatah is corrupt and ineffective, many Palestinians are turning to the militant Hamas group.
What's the matter with these idiots? Can't they find someone or organize a group that can impose some sort of law and order that isn't tainted by an association with terrorism???
The government is having second thoughts about yielding to tribal chief Akbar Bugti's demands that the army withdraw from Sui and the Frontier Corps from Dera Bugti. The demands were made at a meeting between Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Akbar Bugti in Dera Bugti on March 25.
These issues will figure prominently in the meeting between Chaudhry Shujaat and Akbar Bugti to be held today (Monday), official sources told Daily Times on Sunday. Shujaat had assured Akbar Bugti in their March 25 meeting that the government would seriously consider his demands, but before leaving, asked the tribal chief to reconsider his conditions, sources said. "The government's top guns have told Shujaat that the army will keep guarding the Sui installations and the FC removal from Dera Bugti is also out of the question for security reasons," sources said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak appears prepared to confront opponents who have demanded his resignation. Egyptian officials said the Mubarak regime would not allow opposition protests without a license. They said the regime was concerned that the protests would mushroom and turn violent. "It is permitted to express views," Cairo Security Director Maj. Gen. Nabil Ezabi said. "But if we are getting to the stage of [people] getting used to violations, then the principle must be that legal regulations must be implemented." Officials said opposition groups have been holding unlicensed protests in Alexandria, Cairo and Mansoura. They said licenses would be issued by authorities to groups that could ensure non-violent demonstrations.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) on Sunday advised the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) to quit the government in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) if it opposed opposition leader in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani's participation in the National Security Council (NSC) again.
"We will have to seriously consider quitting government if we cannot solve people's problems. They can be solved only if we talk to the federal government and attend the NSC meetings," JUI-F provincial naib ameer Qari Fayyazur Rehman told Daily Times after chairing a party meeting. "If we are not interested in the solution of people's problems, what is the logic in holding on to power? It is better to the quit the government," the JUI-F official, who is also a member of the National Assembly, said. The JUI-F went a step further to demand Fazl's participation in the NSC. Earlier, it was insisting on Durrani's presence at the NSC. When asked why is the JUI-F asking for Fazl's participation, Qari Fayyaz said, "It is better to demand so many things. At the end of day, at least one demand is met."
The MMA Supreme Council will decide on the JUI-F demands in a meeting tomorrow (Tuesday). The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) is opposing Durrani's participation in the NSC meetings, saying, "There is no need to go back on the MMA's stance on the issue."
Fazl's staying bought. I think...
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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If former information minister Mushahid Hussain is to be believed, the days of India bashing in Pakistan are over. Instead, there is a near universal consensus on securing lasting peace with India. "There is no constituency in Pakistan, political or otherwise, which is pushing for a confrontation with India," Mushahid, secretary general of Pakistan Muslim League (PML), said in an interview here.
Dead! Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar, and Qazi — all dead!... Oh. They're not?
Mushahid, as he is popularly known, was here as part of a PML delegation - the first from a Pakistani ruling party to visit India.
Is there a reason he's a former information minister?
Former prime minister Shujat Hussain led the team. Alluding to the seemingly unstoppable tide of people-to-people contacts between India and Pakistan, Mushahid, who at age 29 became the youngest editor of The Muslim newspaper, spoke eloquently about a generational change towards India. He is also chairman of the foreign relations committee of Pakistan's Senate. "There is a huge difference in the atmospherics for peace. There is a radical change in the mindsets of not only the people but also the leaderships of both countries. Peace dividend is already paying off. The new rapport is evident in all spheres, be it culture, commerce and cricket. The momentum is simply unstoppable," he stressed.
"Unless you want to take a bus from Muzaffarabad to Srinagar, of course..."
Pitching for "bold and radical solutions" to issues still dividing the two South Asian neighbours, he said: "We need visionary politicians who can take bold and unpopular decisions, if the need be."
"We're thinking of leasing some. Know any good candidates?"
Ahead of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's visit to India April 16, Mushahid gave a strong hint that the trip might acquire a summit-like complexion where all issues, including Kashmir, could be discussed. "Musharraf took a bold step when he announced last year Pakistan's readiness to move beyond UN resolutions," he said, and cited it as an example of "out-of-box thinking" on Kashmir. "He is serious about solving the Kashmir problem. His initiative has given Kashmiris a voice."
Does that mean he's going to dissolve Lashkar e-Taiba? Or will he continue talking sweetness and light while the Bad Boyz continue tossing grenades toward all and sundry in Kashmir?
More praise for Musharraf follows. "We have a president in uniform, but he is a democrat at heart. There is more freedom in Pakistan under the rule of Musharraf. We are the freest country in the Islamic world.
"... which really isn't saying that much."
"There are no more holy cows in Pakistan. People are free to criticise, say what they want, make fun of people in power."
"And the people in power are free to kill them. It's a state of total freedom, like you've never seen!"
Alluding to the US decision to sell F-16s to Pakistan, Mushahid allays apprehensions that this is yet another sign of American "favouritism" towards Islamabad. "The US needs both India and Pakistan. It's no longer a question of playing one against the other. This is why we need to shed this obsession with America and concentrate on real problems like poverty and unemployment facing both countries.
"Mukkerjee! Eat your chapatis! Think of the starving children in Pakistan!"
"Awww, Mom! They can have mine if they're that hungry! I'm full!"
"Internal threats are more real. Like India, Pakistan is trying to come to grip with the forces of sectarianism and extremist ideology, including those having links with Al Qaeda."
"Unlike India, we're slowly losing control of all of our territory as holy men and warlords hold contests to see who can chew off the biggest pieces for their personal fiefdoms."
A strong proponent of nuclear deterrence, he firmly believes that the possession of nuclear facility has bolstered national self-confidence and has created what he calls "the balance of power" in South Asia. "I am convinced that nuclear deterrence is effective. It precludes the possibility of a war between the two countries."
"... even though we've been on the razor's edge of it at least twice in the past three years."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/04/2005 12:01:33 AM ||
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Interesting, but of course no one controls or even has the ear of ALL of the numerous PakiWaki factions. Won't the first Kashmiri attack, such as on the Buses of Doom, send this to the bottom of the digital bird cage?
If one of the experts (Are you there Dan, Paul, Fred, or ?) want to make a case regards this, I'd be very happy to hear it. Peace seems to be the last agenda item for any of the parties in the game.
I didn't mean you had to believe in the article content, heh, I just wanted to know if any of youze guyz thought this made sense -- or was just more of the noise that emanates from PakiWakiLand.
LAHORE: Provincial ministers have condemned the disruption of a race in Gujranwala by Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal activists, saying "no civilised society permits disruption of peaceful and healthy recreational activities".
Quick, Ethel! My pills! A Pak pol said something that made sense!
"Now when the national economy is strengthening and democracy is taking root in the country, some anti-democratic forces have become active to disrupt this process for the achievement of their selfish designs," said ministers Arshad Khan Lodhi, Raza Ali Gillani and Chaudhry Zaheeruddin, according to a press release issued by the Punjab Directorate General of Public Relations. "These stalwarts of negative politics should understand that the country can ill afford violence and negative politics and the government will not allow such elements to have a free hand. We advise the opposition leaders to present their points of view in parliament and play a positive role for the success of the democratic system," they said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2005 11:58:21 PM ||
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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.
SANAA, Yemen, April 4 (UPI) -- Two Yemeni soldiers and a Saudi army officer were killed in joint Saudi-Yemeni military maneuvers inside Yemeni territories, reports said Monday. Yemen's ruling General People's Congress party said on its Web site the troops were killed in accidents during preparations for maneuvers, which started Friday in the region of Murassas. The statement said one soldier died when his military jeep veered off the road and turned over. The second was killed during preparations, the Web site said without elaborating. It quoted Saudi sources as sating 
JEDDAH — In a major reform within both the Saudi government and society, the Kingdom has announced plans to revamp its judiciary by setting up a supreme court in Riyadh, appeal courts in all its 13 regions as well as labour and commercial courts.
Kyrgyzstan's deposed president Askar Akayev has tendered his resignation at his country's embassy in Moscow in the presence of members of the Central Asian state's parliament. Kyrgyzstan's deposed president Askar Akayev stepped down on Sunday at his country's embassy in Moscow in the presence of members of the Central Asian state's parliament. Akayev fled into exile in Russia last week after ruling his impoverished country for 14 years. Many Kyrgyz see his formal resignation as key to ensuring full legimitacy for new elections provisionally scheduled for June. Akayev signed documents on four points, he said. "One of these is that the president of the Kyrgyz Republic announces his early resignation," Akayev said at a brief news conference. "It has been decided to hold the actual ceremony of early resignation tomorrow."
PHOENIX (AP) - The Minuteman Project - an effort by citizens who have volunteered to patrol the Mexican border for illegal crossers and smugglers - has already borne fruit even before its official launch. Participants helped federal agents make 18 arrests near Naco, authorities said Sunday. The volunteers were surveying the border to familiarize themselves with the area before starting their regular, monthlong patrols Monday. "You observe them, report them and get out of the way," said Mike McGarry, a spokesman for the project that will concentrate on 23 miles of the San Pedro Valley. McGarry said about 200 people would be in place for Monday's patrols, although human rights activists and some authorities have questioned whether the project will attract as many volunteers as organizers expect. Law enforcement officials said the volunteers were keeping the peace, despite concerns they might become confrontational with immigrants. Many of the volunteers were recruited over the Internet and some plan to be armed. 
A U.S. Defense Department study has determined that Muslims in the Middle East do not yearn for freedom.
France on Saturday condemned the recent series of explosions in Lebanon as an "intolerable" attempt to destabilize the country and said it hopes those responsible will be brought to justice. Foreign Minister 
Iranian Foreign Minister 
The UN Security Council is set to vote on a draft resolution to form an international probe into the murder of late Premier 
Iraq's new parliament has elected a Sunni Muslim speaker, ending two months of bitter sectarian wrangling. On Sunday, MPs chose Sunni Arab 
Leaders from Chad, Egypt, Libya, Nigeria and Sudan are to meet for a summit on 20 April in Egypt to discuss the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur, the Egyptian foreign minister said on Sunday. Foreign Minister Ahmad Abul Gheit said that the summit, to take place in the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Shaikh, would "try to give a push to efforts for a solution" in the strife-torn region. Abul Gheit said that Egypt wanted the "continuation and completion of the Abuja peace talks" to end the conflict between the government and rebels, which has displaced two million people since it began in February 2003. Peace talks between the rebel groups in Darfur and the government are being sponsored by the African Union in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, but have yet to make progress. The talks were suspended last year after accusations by each side that the other was not abiding by the terms of an April ceasefire agreement they signed in the Chadian capital, Ndjamena.
Palestinian Prime Minister 
A delegation of more than 100 former rebels arrived in the Sudanese capital yesterday to begin implementing a peace deal signed with the government in January that ended Africa's longest civil war. Commander James Wani who heads the delegation from south Sudan is the most senior member of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement to go to Khartoum since the war began in 1983. "We are here to boost our partnership with the (ruling) National Congress and to revitalize our contacts with all political forces in the country," SPLA Secretary-General Wani told journalists.
Lots of fanfare, billions of dollars spent and not much to show. When donor countries meet in Kabul this week, from today to Wednesday, President Hamid Karzai's new government will plead for more control over the purse strings in order to inject pace into economic reconstruction, involve more Afghan firms and prioritize infrastructure and poverty reduction programs.
Hamas and Hizbullah have signed a cooperation accord. The leaders of Hamas and Hizbullah met on April 1 in Beirut and signed a statement declaring their war against Israel as legitimate. The meeting of Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas political chief Khaled Mashaal ended with a joint call against disarming their groups. For its part, Hamas said the reduction in the Palestinian insurgency campaign in the West Bank and Gaza Strip depended on the halt of Israeli attacks and the release of all Palestinian prisoners. "Hamas will not be committed to remain calm if Israel fails to meet its demands," Hamas said in the statement.
Hundreds of radicals protesting against the participation of women in a marathon race hurled stones and bricks at competitors, and clashed with police in eastern Pakistan yesterday, leaving at least 18 people injured, police said. About 2,000 men, women and children were taking part in the three-kilometer race when more than 200 supporters of the 
The government is having second thoughts about yielding to tribal chief 
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak appears prepared to confront opponents who have demanded his resignation. Egyptian officials said the Mubarak regime would not allow opposition protests without a license. They said the regime was concerned that the protests would mushroom and turn violent. "It is permitted to express views," Cairo Security Director Maj. Gen. Nabil Ezabi said. "But if we are getting to the stage of [people] getting used to violations, then the principle must be that legal regulations must be implemented." Officials said opposition groups have been holding unlicensed protests in Alexandria, Cairo and Mansoura. They said licenses would be issued by authorities to groups that could ensure non-violent demonstrations.
If former information minister 
LAHORE: Provincial ministers have condemned the disruption of a race in Gujranwala by 
