Two armed men disguised as Muslim women in burqas held up a bank in Sarajevo and got away with some $40,000, Bosnian police said on Tuesday. They said the pair entered a Union bank branch in the capital wearing head-to-toe black dresses and veils typical of women adhering to the orthodox Islamic code and trained guns on customers. They then made customers lie on the floor while the emptied the tills, police added.
"Everything happened in a moment. Two persons in black niqabs (burqas) came into the bank. I thought they were ladies," the Sarajevo daily Oslobodjenje quoted bank customer Mehmedalija Komarac as saying.
Women in burqas and men with long beards have become a common sight in the Bosnian capital in recent years.
If they insist on keeping this up, they should at least consult with the Afghan tribals, who generally have better color sense. Black definitely is NOT for every figure.
Posted by: lotp ||
07/05/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Sorta 'splains why the "Lions of Islam (TM)" like to keep their ladies in burkas. Sort of like get-away vehicles that "swish" Prius-like when they scurry away.....
#3
I said it before, as soon as they walk into a bank wearing a burqa they should be arrested. Banks, airports, even grocery stores should be off limits for anybody who refused to show his/her/its face.
#4
Full-length black body-bags should be banned, period. Enough incidents like this & they will be shot down on sight. May take a few more years & a few hundred/thousand more such incidents, though.
SEOUL - South Korea will start shipping oil to North Korea next week, an official said on Wednesday, a day after UN nuclear inspectors said the reclusive state had agreed to steps verifying a shutdown of its nuclear programme.
Under a disarmament-for-aid pact reached in six-country talks in February, impoverished North Korea pledged to start closing its Soviet-era Yongbyon reactor in exchange for 50,000 tonnes of heavy oil from its neighbour. The first shipment will start next week and the initial amount will be between 5,000 and 10,000 tonnes, a South Korean Unification Ministry official said.
South Korea started massive food aid to North Korea at the weekend, citing progress in the nuclear talks as the reason for resuming aid suspended last year after the North test-fired a volley of ballistic missiles. Pyongyang has been able to win these concessions even though it missed a mid-April deadline to start shutting its reactor.
Kinda makes you wonder why they'd ever shut the reactor: it's way too useful to them as an extortion tool.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Tuesday Pyongyang wanted some of the oil before starting to close Yongbyon, and Washington was not opposed to such a shipment.
If the SKors are going to cave completely, might be time to remind them that they can handle their own defense needs. Pull out another brigade and an air wing.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/05/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
South to send N Korea oil in nuke shutdown shakedown deal
Fixed, since I doubt said 'shutdown' will ever actually occur. So far the Norks haven't done anything except make (and then break) promises and they're getting food and oil again. Heluva deal for them. Willful stupidity by the Skors and our State Dept.
#3
It balances China and Russia in that part of the Pacific rim. It helps to protect Japan while Japan officially is limited in its defense forces.
For a long time, force equalled a lot of troops garrisoned there. Less so with e.g. smart weapons, stealth aircraft etc. And disentangling from there is a touchy issue.
#4
What's so touchy about disentangling there? I have not found much about the significance / utility of US ground forces in S Korea with respect to China, Russia & Japan.
CHANGES could be made to Australia's counter-terrorism laws dictating how long a person can be detained without charge, Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said today. Current laws allow authorities to hold a person without charge for a period of 48 hours.
The laws are being used in the case of Indian national Mohammed Haneef, who is being questioned in Brisbane this afternoon by Australian Federal Police officers and the chief inspector from London's Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Unit. The unnamed senior British officer flew in to Brisbane earlier today.
First class on BA, with a suitcase full of truncheons that won't have to be declared at customs ...
Dr Haneef, a registrar at the Gold Coast Hospital, is one of eight health workers arrested in connection with the plot and the only person detained outside Britain. He was arrested on Monday night at Brisbane International Airport and, with authorities receiving a court order for his detention on Tuesday, can be held without charge until tonight.
Mr Ruddock today said the counter-terrorism laws are under ongoing review, and did not rule out changes to the time frame for detention without charge. "There may well be some finessing of some issues," Mr Ruddock said on ABC Radio today. "There are also some outstanding reports, where there were additional factors raised, which the Government is giving consideration.
"So I would not foreclose further amendments.
"I'm not ruling anything out and I'm not ruling anything in."
PRIME Minister John Howard has addressed about 300 sailors on board the US navy aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, offering them a warm welcome to Sydney. Standing in front of a large US navy flag, The Navy Jack, Mr Howard spoke of the US navy's long association with Sydney.
"Australians and Americans have fought together in defence of freedom and against threats to our way of life on many occasions," he told the sailors. "We continued to do it today and work together around the world defending our way of life and fighting terrorism."
Directly after the speech, Mr Howard spoke with a number of the sailors who surrounded him and responded to his speech with an enthusiastic round of applause.
#1
It must be confusing to the sailors to fell welcome. I always felt tolerated - except during a port of call to Haifa.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/05/2007 1:44 Comments ||
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#2
SuperHose,
Its because we already know who are our real friends.
But dont worry, just wait a few years till the muslims do their thingi in Europe and possibly some other continents and when the US Navy "visits" again, the western refugees will throw flowers on them.
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
07/05/2007 4:32 Comments ||
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#3
The western refugees won't be throwing flowers, they'll be swimming or riding on anything that will float, begging to be fished out & given asylum. The scenes will be like those at Smyrna/Izmir in 1922.
"I left from Smyrna feeling deep shame just because I belonged to the human race"
George Horton
(U.S. Consul-General in Smyrna)
The French grudgingly wake up to the fact that they're at risk.
Were it not for the backdrop of gruesome designs and the gravest dangers, the latest jihadist attacks across the Channel could raise a smile.
Just to start off on the correct note for Le Figaro.
From the jet airliners launched into the face of triumphant capitalism
take that you filthy successfully competitive Anglos!
to the pathetic car used to crash into Glasgow Airport
which I lust after except there is no place to park and fuel is too expensive and I can't drive something with 8 cylinders, it's scary and my friends would never let me live it down if I bought from the Americans
the threat seems to have lost its audacity. But it would be wrong to smile, because the incompetence of the terrorist apprentices of London and Glasgow is matched only by their resolve, their indifference to their own death and to the lives of others.
Including moi - sacre bleu!
Pending the results of the British investigation, a connection is being made with a category of activists that has developed in Europe during the past five or six years. A spontaneous generation of "grassroots terrorists" attracted by the false splendour of sacrificial redemption, which, for some people, can forge links with the A-Qa'idah movement, but for others, not at all. When the head of MI5 - British domestic intelligence - Eliza Mannigham Buller, revealed a few days ago that her services had identified "200 groups or networks" in the country and were permanently monitoring "over 1,600 individuals," she was probably referring to this pool of activists.
And this profile is not specific to the other side of the Channel. In France, the Nancy fanatic arrested by the DST [Territorial Surveillance Directorate] in May was more or less the same kind of troublemaker.
More or less ... but let's not be too direct.
The man in question, a radicalized Franco-Algerian Islamist, had offered his services to Al-Qa'idah's Maghrebi branch, via Internet forums. And this contact was successful. He said he was willing to attack a police station or the headquarters of the 13th Paratroop Dragoon Regiment... "This shows that an isolated individual often needs to forge a link with the organization, both in order to secure endorsement of his action and because of the need for technical support," according to Louis Caprioli, the DST's head of antiterrorism from 1998 through 2008, now a consultant with Geos, a security firm. In Germany, the two young Lebanese that planned to cause carnage on board trains in summer 2006 were probably "cousins" in militant action of the suspects in Leeds, London, and Nancy.
Technically, standards are deficient.
... As regards motivation, the situation is more worrying.
Technically, standards are deficient. "The generation that went through the Afghan camps, for instance, were more expert," Louis Caprioli added; "they would spend three months firing Kalashnikovs. If they proved proficient, they were initiated into explosives handling during an additional three months. And if they were really talented, they were then taught to handle chemical components in order to manufacture them."
Young activists no longer feel either like Pakistanis or Algerians, or like British or French citizens. Even if they have only a rudimentary knowledge of Islam, they find refuge in a trans-cultural and transnational "Muslim" identity.
As regards motivation, the situation is more worrying. "You must never dismiss people, however clumsy, who are willing to commit an attack, whether a kamikaze one or not," Caprioli said. "This inevitably implies a great deal of commitment and conditioning." With third-generation immigrant militants, we almost always find a deep identity crisis. "Exposure to modernity does not protect against radicalization; on the contrary, it encourages it," Farhad Khosrokhavar, senior research fellow at the EHESS [School of Advanced Social Science Studies] recently explained. Young activists no longer feel either like Pakistanis or Algerians, or like British or French citizens. Even if they have only a rudimentary knowledge of Islam, they find refuge in a trans-cultural and transnational "Muslim" identity.
Marc Sageman, formerly of the CIA, explained that "signing up to the jihad is a more upward than downward phenomenon. Young volunteers put themselves forward."
French intelligence is worried about two phenomena - the increasingly rapid slide into violence by people who match this profile, and their spontaneous "volunteering." For a long time, people imagined Al-Qa'idah recruiters scouring the large urban public housing units to enroll militants. But this process is often reversed. Psychiatrist and sociologist Marc Sageman, formerly of the CIA, explained that "signing up to the jihad is a more upward than downward phenomenon. Young volunteers put themselves forward." EHESS research fellow Dominique Thomas confirmed that "the Londonistan second generation do not necessarily need to have been in contact with radical preachers. They want to be part of a global balance of power." As Islamologist Gilles Kepel put it, Bin Ladin is a "child of the videoclip" and all these youngsters derive from this promotion of terrorism the energy to go into action. Just as others have their own blog, they want to wage their own war.
Bin Ladin is a "child of the videoclip" and all these youngsters derive from this promotion of terrorism the energy to go into action. Just as others have their own blog, they want to wage their own war.
All the signs are that Al-Qa'idah can draw on two "armies" in Europe - that of the radicalized amateurs and that of more seasoned activists, who are becoming more discreet but who have not disappeared. "There are signs that the brains behind Al-Qa'idah have not abandoned major attacks," one intelligence source explained, "but repression is forcing then to be cautious, and they have time." Meanwhile, somewhat amateurish attacks enable it to maintain the fear, which is itself a minor strategic victory.
Bottom line: So long as the Europeans thought they only had to worry about the seasoned network, they could resist and criticize US efforts publicly while cooperating in private to a sufficient degree to feel more or less safe.
Now all bets are off and the banlieu car-b-ques are suddenly looking a whole lot less like "revolutionary hijinks for immigrant youth" - the kind all self-regarding leftists applaud - and a whole lot more openly worrisome. It's getting harder and harder to manage the news stories about the threat at home.
Welcome to the club, Paris.
Posted by: lotp ||
07/05/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I must confess, being the ignoramus that I am, that I had never come across the term "Islamologist" before. I Googled it and got mainly French references. The online dictionary asked me if I meant Eskimologist so at least I'm not alone.
#4
They are on the right of the French spectrum, at least. But I've read more than one article in Le Figaro that argued for regulation etc. to protect French industries.
WaPo registration required, so posted in full.
When the United States invaded Iraq more than four years ago, war opponent David Gross asked his bosses for a radical pay cut, enough so he wouldn't have to pay taxes to support the war. "I was having a hard time looking at myself in the mirror," Gross said. "I knew the bombs falling were in part paid with my tax dollars. I had to actually do something concrete to remove my complicity."
The San Francisco technical writer was making close to $100,000 a year. He didn't know exactly how big of a pay cut he would need to fall below the federal tax threshold, but later figured out he would have to make less than minimum wage. In any event, his employer turned him down and he quit. Gross, 38, now works on a contract basis, and last year he refused to pay self-employment taxes.
War tax resistance, popularized by Henry David Thoreau in the 19th century and by singer Joan Baez and others during the Vietnam War, is gaining renewed interest among peace activists upset over the Iraq war. "Clearly this year we definitely had more people calling, sending e-mails about how they decided to start resisting," said Ruth Benn, coordinator of the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee in New York.
Based on the committee's mailing list and reports from numerous groups it works with around the country, Benn estimates 8,000 to 10,000 Americans refuse to pay some or all of their federal taxes over war objections. Internal Revenue Service officials say they don't have figures for that specific category, but earlier this year reported an overall noncompliance rate of 16.3 percent and estimated the annual tax gap at about $345 billion. Peace activists are considering a mass tax resistance campaign next April to step up pressure to end the war in Iraq, Benn said.
Many tax protesters say they redirect the money they withhold to charities. Some, like Joanne Sheehan of Norwich, keep their income below taxable levels. "I don't see the point of working for peace and paying for war," Sheehan said. Sheehan? I wonder...
Gross said he now manages to live on about $15,000 per year by carefully tracking his spending. He acknowledged the tax resistance movement is too small to stop the war. "But I think what we're doing is showing the way for people in the anti-war movement," Gross said. "I can look myself in the mirror and say at least I'm not supporting it, at least I'm not part of the machine."
The IRS said that while taxpayers have a right to express their opinions, they still have an obligation to pay their taxes. Tax resisters place an undue burden on taxpayers who pay their fair share of taxes, IRS spokeswoman Dianne Besunder said.
John Ubaldi, spokesman for Move America Forward, which supports the military and the war on terror, said the government would not be able to function if everyone opposed to a program stopped paying taxes. "They're showing the terrorists that America is not committed," Ubaldi said.
The IRS considers it a frivolous argument when a taxpayer cites disagreement with the government's use of tax money as the reason for not paying taxes. A new federal law increases the penalty for frivolous tax returns from $500 to $5,000. The IRS says it investigates promoters of frivolous arguments and refers cases to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution.
Unlike the days when Thoreau was sent to prison in a tax protest against the Mexican-American War, modern war tax protesters rarely go to prison, according to tax resisters. The IRS may take their money from wages and bank accounts - with penalties and interest - after sending a series of letters. "They're very polite, which makes it a little boring," said Rosa Packard of Greenwich, a longtime anti-war tax protester.
But Randy Kehler, who has refused to pay federal income taxes since 1976 to protest U.S. military policy, was evicted with his wife from their home in Colrain, Mass., in 1989 for nonpayment of more than $45,000 in taxes, interest and penalties. Kehler was also jailed for nearly three months for contempt of court. Their tax fight was the subject of a 1997 documentary called "An Act of TreasonConscience," narrated by actor Martin Sheen.
War protesters have been pushing for a law called the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund that would allow designated conscientious objectors to have their income, estate, or gift taxes used for nonmilitary purposes. After years of efforts, they hope a Congressional hearing will be held on the proposal next year. "People fear the IRS more than they fear God," said Alan Gamble, executive director of the National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund. "They're paying under a tremendous burden."
I don't believe in transfer payements and government-run health insurance. How much can I save on My taxes?
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds ||
07/05/2007 08:53 ||
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#1
David Gross, you are a not particularly useful idiot and sucking up oxygen.
#5
He lives in the San Francisco area and lives on about $15K a year?
I wonder how much of his 'contract based work' is paid 'under the table' and thus, not reported to the IRS? I think both he and his employers could get in trouble.
#6
LOL The IRS goons are going to decen upon him like Rosie Odonnel on KFC. Thanks for playing our game "Who Is More Stupid" and your this weeks whinner.
#10
if he is not being carried by Mommy and Daddy and is in fact getting paid 'uder the table,' then when the IRS knocks on the door, they will have 2 counts (at least) to play with: not paying tax and tax evasion. Wasn't it Al Capone that got taken down by evading taxes?
#11
Yes, Big Al went down for tax evasion and for several years. Non-payment of taxes as a form of "social protest" has NOT been upheld by the US Supreme Court, so these fools can be gutted by the IRS at any time over this. One thing that will REALLY piss-off a government is someone who tries to deprive it of its taxes - and that holds true all over the world. This idiots ought to take a look at what happened to the "Fiat money is unconstitutional" crowd over non-payment of taxes : they lost everything of value, have liens on them for all future earnings, and several wound up doing time over contempt of court for comments made to federal judges.
#14
figured out he would have to make less than minimum wage.
More like four times the minimum wage. Hell, nearly half the households in the US don't owe or pay any Federal income taxes, and some get money back via EIC.
The Lal Masjid was described by security officials on Wednesday as a hub of militancy, with its clerics having covert links to Al Qaeda and the Taliban. But the two brothers who run the mosque also have known intelligence ties spawning conspiracy theories that President Pervez Musharraf encouraged them to play up tensions and make himself look indispensable to his US allies.
The brothers, Abdul Aziz and Abdul Rashid Ghazi, embarked on an apparent collision course with the government six months ago when their burqa-clad students started a Taliban-style anti-vice campaign. The mosque says it has around 5,000 male and 4,000 female students, ranging in ages from early teens to mid 20s. Most are from conservative northwestern Pakistan and the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan. But security sources said Taliban militants were using the sprawling compound to hide in, as were sectarian jihadis, or holy warriors, belonging to banned militant groups.
We had intelligence for some time now that militants were trained as suicide bombers at this complex, having a nexus with Taliban rebels hiding in our tribal areas, a senior security official told AFP. Several Taliban commanders lodged at the mosque during trips to the capital, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Officials also said some lower-level Taliban commanders were inside the compound as it was besieged on Wednesday, although this could not be confirmed.
The clerics and their late father, who founded the mosque, were proteges of the intelligence during the 1979-89 anti-Soviet jihad and later in supporting the Taliban rise to power in Afghanistan, officials said. After 9/11 the mosque became a focal point of anti-US and anti-Musharraf sentiment after the Pakistani military ruler abandoned the Taliban and aligned himself with Washingtons war on terror.
The changed scenario brought their relations with the intelligence services under stress. The gulf widened in 2003 when the clerics issued an edict against Pakistani troop operations targeting Taliban and Al Qaeda figures in the tribal areas. However some sections of the intelligence network continue to provide clandestine support to the clerics despite their hostility towards Musharraf, according to a security official and reports. Security sources say slain Afghan Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah also had links with the brothers.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2007 00:00 ||
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Residents of the city have mixed feelings regarding the governments operation against the Lal Masjid administration, a Daily Times survey learnt on Wednesday.
The government should have avoided the course it adopted to deal with the situation, said businessman Najibullah, adding that the government had deserted its policy of public welfare and had adopted the policy of violence.
Iqbal, a shopkeeper, said the government was proud of its policies meant for womens welfare, but that it had now opened fire on students and women. The government could have resolved the issue through dialogue, but there are few sensible people in the administration, he added.
Salahuddin, a teacher, appreciated the action taken against the Lal Masjid and Jamia Hasfa administration, and said the Masjid had become a Masjid Zarar and that the government should have taken action against both brothers, Abdur Rasheed Ghazi and Maulana Abdul Aziz, for instigating the public to violence and portraying a negative image of Islam and Pakistan. He said the governments way of handling the crisis was neither mature nor well planned.
Qayyum, of Saddar, said the government bombed people in the Waziristan and Bajaur agencies, but that it had left some people on their own to do whatever they wanted. The government killed people in Frontier province and tribal areas to enforce its writ, but gave Lal Masjid students a free hand in their vandalism. This shows double standards on the part of the government, which should have treated all citizens alike, he added.
Rizwan Niaz, a student, said the Lal Masjid issue was a drama aimed at diverting public attention from other issues. He added, however, that the government had failed to direct its drama properly and that it had instead brought shame to itself.
Tahir Khan said both the Lal Masjid and government were responsible for the loss of lives as they could have managed their differences through dialogue. It was not such a big issue but the degree it reached was due to incorrect government policies and those the mosque administration.
Azhar said the MQM was on the loose in Karachi with the governments support and was playing with peoples lives. The government has ignored MQMs terrorism, but resorted to violence against madrassa students, he said, adding, It seems that President Musharraf has lost his wits and will do anything to prolong his rule.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
The government could have resolved the issue through dialogue, but there are few sensible people in the administration, he added.
True but what about a school full of suicide bombers? Oh, they're scott-free to do what they please.
#2
Rizwan Niaz, a student, said the Lal Masjid issue was a drama aimed at diverting public attention from other issues. He added, however, that the government had failed to direct its drama properly and that it had instead brought shame to itself.
Islamic scholars have rejected a claim made by Lal Masjid chief mullah Maulana Abdul Aziz that he has an indication from God to launch jihad and impose Sharia in the country.
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi told Geo news that such claims had no religious standings and they could not be used to legitimise illegal and un-Islamic actions. He said one could not impose ones own brand of Islam on the basis of indications one claimed to have received from God through dreams. He said only the state could announce jihad and qital, if need be. Only the Quran, Sunnah and Hadith are the sources to understand and interpret Islam, he said, adding that the Lal Masjid mullahs were misguiding people and using innocent students for their objectives. Maulana Rafi Usmai also disagreed with Aziz. He said Lal Masjid mullahs were not serving Islam and instead they were defaming it. He said Azizs claim had no importance.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2007 00:00 ||
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The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) on Wednesday denounced the governments operation against Lal Masjid students and demanded a judicial inquiry into Tuesdays clashes that killed 16 people. There should be a judicial inquiry into the Lal Masjid incident, which led to the loss of 16 precious lives, said MMA Deputy Secretary General Liaquat Baloch, adding that the MMA did not agree with the Lal Masjid clerics anti-vice approach.
He told reporters that the Lal Masjid issue could be resolved through dialogue, but whenever the dialogue was started some unknown forces sabotaged it. It is also the governments duty to stop un-Islamic practices in the city, he added. The government should have established its writ through dialogue instead of resorting to use of force like it did in Balochistan and the tribal areas, Baloch said.
He said the disturbance in Islamabad was due to President General Pervez Musharrafs wrong policies and that his removal from office could solve the problems.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2007 00:00 ||
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If Benazir Bhutto were to return to politics in Pakistan, she would stand up to militants, shut down madrassas where extremists recruit children, and work to boost the economy, the former Pakistani prime minister said on Tuesday.
It is a tall order, Bhutto acknowledged in an interview with The Associated Press, and depends on the willingness of Gen Pervez Musharrafs government to give in to her partys demands.
Bhutto said she was determined to return to Pakistan, though, after living for years in exile in London and the UAE. But she was unsure about doing so before elections this year.
Right now, the signs dont show that Pakistan is heading toward democracy, said Bhutto, who leads the Pakistan Peoples Party from exile. I wish I could be more optimistic. I wish my message could be more hopeful. I simply dont see the steps that are necessary. She has set no date for returning, but said her party needs her at home.
In Pakistan, though, she could face charges related to the corruption allegations, which she has said were never proven. That threat would need to be eliminated before she would return, she said. The government also would have to make certain concessions, including restoring a balance of power between the Parliament and the president, who now has the power to sack the prime minister and dissolve the legislature.
Pakistan also would need to show it can hold free and fair elections, she said. And Musharraf, if he wants to remain president, must give up his role as army chief something he appears reluctant to do.
Bhutto was critical of Musharrafs record, noting that in recent years, extremist elements have gained power, and more hard-line religious groups have won parliamentary seats. The state seems to have conceded its authority to militias, militants and Taliban groups in different parts of the country, and that worries me most.
Bhutto said her key concern was the economy, and noted that few jobs have been created from the international aid Pakistan has received since siding with the US after the September 11 attacks. In actual fact, poverty has increased, she said. Extremists play on the needs of the poor. They offer food, clothing (and) shelter in exchange for taking children at a young age.
If she returned, she said, she would make it a priority to dismantle terrorist cells and fight militants as a first step toward improving the economy. Unless we have stability in the country, were never going to invite the foreign investment that is needed to act as a catalyst for Pakistans economic growth, she said.
She also said a goal would be getting India and Pakistan to agree to disagree over their competing claims to the Kashmir region, and to focus instead on issues both countries faced.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I doubt she would have a chance in a fair election.
The pro Taliban side, the ethnic identity parties, the Musharraf party each have solid core voters probably adding up to over 60% of the vote and the solid core vote of liberal secularists in Pakistan is probably no more than 5% of the vote.
#3
It's the scarf, Pappy. She really must find a more attractive way to wear it. A different colour wouldn't hurt either -- the picture is entirely too much mutton dressed as lamb for my taste, even if she does have an American ivy league education.
President Gen Pervez Musharraf has said there will be no further talks or compromise with the administration of Lal Masjid and the two clerics that run the mosque and its madrassas must surrender, Online reports.
Chairing a meeting on Wednesday that reviewed the situation at the mosque, Gen Musharraf said the government would use all its resources to maintain its writ. He expressed satisfaction that several hundred madrassa students had surrendered, and directed the government departments concerned to pay for the education of the students who surrendered in other schools.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz briefed the president on his talks with Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who is trying to mediate between the Lal Masjid clerics and the government.
Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani, State Minister for Interior Zafar Iqbal Warraich and senior military officers also attended the meeting.
Staff report adds: The prime minister also chaired a federal cabinet meeting on Wednesday to discuss the Lal Masjid issue. He said at the meeting that the government had tried its best to resolve the issue through dialogue, but the Lal Masjid clerics had taken this as a weakness and now the time for talks was over.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani said no timeframe for the Lal Masjid operation could be given as the situation is changing rapidly with every passing moment. He said use of force was still an option to free the childrens library occupied by madrassa students.
He said no major breakthrough was made in the talks between Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly (NA), and Lal Masjid mullahs.
He said the forces involved in the operation against Lal Masjid would decide when and if to relax the curfew.
The cabinet also approved a set of new initiatives to combat extremism and militancy in FATA, PATA and adjoining districts.
Interior Ministry spokesman Brig (r) Javed Iqbal Cheema told reporters that government had not launched a full-fledged operation against Lal Masjid students to save lives and give them a chance to surrender. We are trying to minimise the loss of lives. We are trying to facilitate all those who want to surrender, he said.
State Minister for Information Tariq Azeem said the government would grant amnesty to all Lal Masjid students who surrender and leave the mosque peacefully, including all women and children. However, he added that there would be no amnesty for the two cleric leaders of the mosque.
He said that Rs 5,000 would be given to each student who surrendered so they could return home.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
no compromise, but instead some travelling money....i call BS.
watch his hands, not his lips.
Must've been a slow news day yesterday, since this is front-page WaPo hand-wringing. Nice title, eh? I couldn't beat it. Woes and fears and Iraq all in the headline.
They left out "concerns"
Tossed in a double-dose of ennui, however ...
U.S. diplomats in Iraq, increasingly fearful over their personal safety after recent mortar attacks inside the Green Zone, are pointing to new delays and mistakes in the U.S. Embassy construction project in Baghdad as signs that their vulnerability could grow in the months ahead. 44 words in the first sentence. That ought to catch your eye, unless you fell asleep reading it.
A toughly worded cable sent from the embassy to State Department headquarters on May 29 highlights a cascade of building and safety blunders in a new facility to house the security guards protecting the embassy. The guards' base, which remains unopened today, is just a small part of a $592 million project to build the largest U.S. embassy in the world.
The main builder of the sprawling, 21-building embassy is First Kuwaiti General Trade and Contracting Co., a Middle Eastern firm that is already under Justice Department scrutiny over alleged labor abuses. First Kuwaiti also erected the guard base, prompting some State Department officials in Washington and Baghdad to worry that the problems exposed in the camp suggest trouble lurking ahead for the rest of the embassy complex.
The first signs of trouble, according to the cable, emerged when the kitchen staff tried to cook the inaugural meal in the new guard base on May 15. Some appliances did not work. Workers began to get electric shocks. Then a burning smell enveloped the kitchen as the wiring began to melt.
All the food from the old guard camp -- a collection of tents -- had been carted to the new facility, in the expectation that the 1,200 guards would begin moving in the next day. But according to the cable, the electrical meltdown was just the first problem in a series of construction mistakes that soon left the base uninhabitable, including wiring problems, fuel leaks and noxious fumes in the sleeping trailers.
"Poor quality construction . . . life safety issues . . . left [the embassy] with no recourse but to shut the camp down, in spite of the blistering heat in Baghdad," the May 29 cable informed Washington.
Such challenges with construction contracts inside the fortified enclave known as the Green Zone reflect the broader problems that have thwarted reconstruction efforts throughout war-torn Iraq. More quagmire at link...
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/05/2007 11:48 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
Shoulda let Halliburton do it. That would have raised a different stink than an electrical fire, though...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/05/2007 14:00 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Indeed. The primary reason for Kellog Brown Root getting the original no-compete task order in Iraq in the first place (2003) was that they had the world wide contract for embassy security construction and Halliburton the parent co had the current 5 year world wide logistical support contract to which task orders could be added. As a side effect, they also had a lot of personnel w/ security clearances.
#3
"Any Israeli concession will not only not reduce the threat, but will increase it," he said.
Israel long ago exceeded the number of concessions needed from her.
"The result of Israeli concessions today will hurt not only Israel's interests and those of the West, but those of moderate Arab regimes in the region," he added.
At least someone remembers how appeasing terrorism just garners more of it.
Israel must treat the Hamas-run Gaza Strip as an "enemy entity" and should "disengage" from providing water, electricity and other supplies to the volatile coastal strip where an estimated 1.4 million people live.
Finally, someone with enough courage to hold the Palestinians in Gaza responsible for electing Hamas.
As 'moose, others and myself have noted, the only "land for peace" deal that's ever going to work is one that involves permanently confiscating more Palestinian territory with every single attack they make upon Israel. The Palestinians must be made to watch in horror as their terrorists erode the small footprint that they already have. Attaching a physical penalty to terrorism is the only functional approach.
Palestinian government employees loyal to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas stood in long lines outside banks in Hamas-ruled Gaza on Wednesday to collect their first full salaries in 15 months.
The salary payments to workers in Gaza and the West Bank were a boost to Abbas in his power struggle with Hamas, which took control of Gaza by force last month. Abbas has since fired the Hamas-led government and said civil servants who sided with the Islamic militants will not be paid.
Since Hamas won Palestinian elections in March, 2006, the Palestinian government's 165,000 government employees, half of them members of security forces, received only sporadic and partial payments because of an international aid boycott on the militants.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
The virtually total closure imposed on the Gaza Strip since Hamas's takeover in June has almost destroyed the Palestinian economy and threatens to turn its 1.4 million residents into charity cases, Gisha, the Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, charged in a report released Wednesday.
Israel has completely shut down the Karni crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, which was the primary artery for the import and export of almost all commercial items including goods and raw materials. Since the closure, import of humanitarian goods has been allowed through the Kerem Shalom, Sufa and Erez crossings, but their capacities are highly limited, according to the report.
The new policy, which, according to Gisha, is aimed at bringing the Hamas government to its knees, has exacerbated the already dire economic plight of the population.
Seventy-five percent of Gaza's factories have shut down because of the closure. The rest are operating on borrowed time, until the stocks of raw materials are exhausted.
Eighty-five percent of the population is already dependent on food aid from international organizations and the number is growing.
There is a severe shortage of raw materials including flour and sugar for domestic and industrial consumption. The price of flour has increased by 34 percent, powdered milk by 30% and rice by 20%.
Israel has erased from its computers the customs code used to identify goods entering Gaza and issued orders not to release them until further notice. This policy has cost Palestinian importers $1.5 million in the first two weeks of the closure, including fines paid for the use of rented containers, breach of contracts and damage to goods stored in warehouses for extended periods of time, the organization said.
The policy has also paralyzed agricultural exports from Gaza to Israel, the West Bank and other countries.
According to Gisha, Israel still occupies Gaza despite the disengagement largely because it controls all the land border crossings and controls and prohibits access to the area by air and sea. Therefore, Israel is obliged by international law to protect the civilian population under its control.
"Instead," Gisha charged, "it has adopted a policy of collective punishment, in violation of international humanitarian law, which explicitly provides that no person shall be punished for a deed he did not commit."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Well, Gaza has borders with Egypt and a sea coast. Go complain to the Egyptians. Typical crap of laying a trip on Israel. Israel needs to turn off the electric power and advise Hamas to find other sources of fresh water, as the valves into Gaza will be turned off in the near future.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/05/2007 4:32 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I think the Pali's are getting a lesson in modern economics.
It's a simple market forces kneejerk reaction by Israel.
Since the major Hamas goods exported to Israel were KASSAM ROCKETS a market glutt was created for this type of merchandize. Israel has therefore decided to close the border passes in order to prevent a total collapse of ther Kassam Rocket Industry which would totaly annihilate the (non-existant) Pali economy.
As a matter of fact, we have also decided to export back to Gaza aimilar products (Artillery shells, HELLFIRE missiles and plain good old 7.62 mm ammo) courtessy of the IAF and IDF.
So you see, we are simply allowing market forces free play - while hoping to give the HAMAS "democraticaly elected" Gov'mint a free lesson in the old "Cause and Effect " theory :)
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
07/05/2007 4:46 Comments ||
Top||
#3
The Gaza Strip has an economy? Who knew?
Posted by: Mike ||
07/05/2007 6:34 Comments ||
Top||
#4
The price of flour has increased by 34 percent, powdered milk by 30% and rice by 20%.
They've got a long way to go to catch up with Zim-Bob-way, but I know they can make it with Allah's help.
#5
My Sympathy Meter reads a much greater number, albeit with a negative sign.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds ||
07/05/2007 9:15 Comments ||
Top||
#6
"...threatens to turn its 1.4 million residents into charity cases, ..."
Um, did I miss something here? Haven't they ALWAYS been charity cases? Isn't that what they've been bitching about all along, that since they elected Hamas, they haven't been getting their handout???
#12
This is a reverse of the blockade of the Straits of Tiran tht lead to the Six Day War.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/05/2007 13:50 Comments ||
Top||
#13
You know, money doesn't just evaporate, it's spent somewhere.
Where do the Gazans buy groceries?
Does Israel provide water free? Gasoline, motor oil, tires, furniture, etc. they have to get it from somewhere (No snarks please about all going to the widows and orphans ammunition fund, you have to have food to live.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/05/2007 19:22 Comments ||
Top||
#14
I believe the Palestinians are in the habit of letting their bill paying fall in arrears, Redneck Jim. If I recall correctly, the Israeli government has paid over money to the utility companies on more than one occasion.
#15
The virtually total closure imposed on the Gaza Strip since Hamas's takeover in June has almost destroyed the Palestinian economy and threatens to turn its 1.4 million residents into charity cases, Gisha, the Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, charged in a report released Wednesday.
The article then goes on at length detailing Palestinian misery with great care. Miraculously, the author neglects to mention exactly why Israel has closed the borders. As is so often the case, Israel's own survival is entirely disregarded if it is at odds with Palestinian welfare (in every sense).
At least Ya'alon has sufficient courage to loudly announce the possiblity of Gaza's utilities being shut off:
Israel must treat the Hamas-run Gaza Strip as an "enemy entity" and should "disengage" from providing water, electricity and other supplies to the volatile coastal strip where an estimated 1.4 million people live.
The deleterious effects of electing Hamas must be seared into the Palestinians' collective memory with a white hot branding iron. Israel will have few such golden opportunities in the future.
A rat's average weight is some 350 grams with its gluteal hindquarters accounting for some 120 grams total.
Therefore a rough conversion between Give-A-Shits and Rats' Asses would represent a ratio of some 4.2 pounds per grunt-like-action into approximately one quarter of a pound of rodent-related-rear-end. This renders a minimum 16:1 ratio which we can safely curtail to a 10:1 measure in order to account for irritable bowel syndrome and other such human ailments.
The High Court of Justice on Wednesday rejected an appeal against transfer of four Jordanian infiltrators serving life for killing soldiers to complete their terms in Jordan, according to a court document. They were expected to be sent to Jordan on Thursday.
Three of the men infiltrated Israel from Jordan carrying weapons in November 1990 and got into a firefight with IDF troops that killed Capt. Yehuda Lifshitz. The other killed Sgt. Pinhas Levy in a separate incident. The attacks took place before Israel signed a peace accord with Jordan in 1994.
In February, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he had accepted a request from King Abdullah II of Jordan to send the four back to Jordan, where they would serve out their prison sentences. At the time, a Jordanian official said legal issues still had to be worked out.
A government official said Israel has received an assurance from Jordan that the four, who are currently serving life sentences in Israeli jails, would serve at least 18 more months in prison in Jordan.
The court ruled, as it has in other petitions against prisoner exchanges or releases, that the question involved security and diplomatic considerations which were the responsibility of the government and regarding which the court did intervene.
While voting with the other members of the panel, Justice Elyakim Rubinstein said he did not feel the court must always reject petitions against prisoner exchanges or releases and sharply criticized the state for not telling the court openly that the terrorists would likely be released after 18 months in a Jordanian prison.
Almagor, the organization that petitioned the court along with the mother of one of two soldiers killed by the terrorists in 1990, charged that "the Israeli public would pay the price for the release of the terrorists by having lost the power to punish and deter terrorism."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: al-Tawhid
#1
"Released after eighteen minutes" seems much more likely.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/05/2007 19:41 Comments ||
Top||
The kidnappers of Cpl. Gilad Schalit have transferred him to the custody of Hamas, Abu Mutfana - a leader in the Dogmush family Army of Islam - said Wednesday in an interview broadcast on Channel 10. Abu Mutfana, who spoke on television with his face obscured by a kaffiyeh, called on Schalit's family to "pressure your government to release the Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim prisoners held in Israeli prisons." Otherwise, Abu Mutfana warned, the Dogmush family Army of Islam "would take action."
Abu Mutfana stressed that the cross-border raid near Kerem Shalom in which Schalit was abducted over a year ago had been carefully planned by his family group in cooperation with the Aksa Martyrs Brigades and the Popular Resistance Committees. The Dogmush family Army of Islam, Abu Mutfana said, had been holding Schalit but had handed him over to Hamas because they had been "busy with other things."
However, a Channel 10 commentator said that Hamas had offered Abu Mutfana's family group money and weapons in exchange for Schalit. Overnight Tuesday, the Dogmush family Army of Islam released BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, who was kidnapped in Gaza nearly four months ago.
In response to Johnston's release, Abu Mutfada told Hamas that their victory celebrations wouldn't last long. "You're banging your drums as if Alan Johnston were a capo soldier in the Dogmush family Army of Islam that you freed from the American tyrants' jails," he said. Abu Mutfada said that the Dogmush family Army of Islam had freed Johnston of its own free will, and not because the Barzini clan went to the mattresses of pressure to do so by Hamas.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2007 00:00 ||
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[0 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
SRINAGAR, India (AFP) - He has become the face of Muslim fury: an angry young man whose bushy beard and fiery-eyed scowl take centre stage at nearly every pro-Islamic demonstration in Indian Kashmir. Shakeel Bhat, 31, has been displaying his teeth and shaking his fist over anything from Salman Rushdie's knighthood to Danish cartoons, becoming a photographers' favourite and earning himself the nickname "Rage Boy" in online columns and blogs. One American columnist has dismissed him as a "professional Muslim protester," while other bloggers have also held him up for ridicule as a person who appears to be very easily enraged about anything.
But Bhat, the man behind the angry face, said he could take any kind of criticism in his stride. "Whatever I do, I do for Allah and the Prophet Mohammed," said Bhat, who admits to having been an armed militant between 1991 and 1994 with a pro-Pakistan rebel group. "I can't resist injustice. I protest for all the oppressed Muslims in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan," he told AFP.
Bhat dropped out of school in his early teens, and quickly found his way into the armed struggle against New Delhi's disputed hold over part of the scenic Himalayan region. The nearly 18-year-old conflict has left at least 42,000 people dead, nearly a third of them civilians. After escaping scores of police raids, Bhat finally spent three years behind bars -- a lucky escape from the Indian army's "catch and kill" tactics of the 1990s.
While he no longer carries a weapon, Bhat said he was still fuming about the Indian army's often suffocating presence in Kashmir -- where there is one soldier for every four civilians -- and what he sees as a wider international conspiracy against Muslims. "If my photographs get published across the world, it is because my emotions are real and my looks are not deceptive. The photos show the anger inside," said the full-time demonstrator, who when off the street looks distincly modest and a little shy. Bhat has been detained more than 300 times since he first took to the streets of Srinagar in late 1997. He even travels to other parts of the picturesque Kashmir valley to vent his Islamist anger.
"Police have registered 40 cases against me for taking part in the protests and I have to shuttle from one court to another to defend myself. I've been in almost every police station," he laughed, clutching a plastic bag full of court papers. Although not a Shiite Muslim, he says his inspiration is Iran's late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
?
"I sometimes leave my home and return days later after being in police lock-ups," said Bhat, whose family run a handicrafts business. "My family members are very supportive. They know I am not doing anything wrong. I am doing what every Muslims needs to do."
Apart from drawing ridicule from bloggers, Bhat has even inspired one American neoconservative website to push "Rage Boy" merchandise -- including T-shirts, beer mugs, mouse pads. "I don't believe this! I have no knowledge about all this. Why do they do it?" demanded Bhat, who says he has no idea how to use a computer and the Internet.
C'mon, Shakeel. You have Priceline bookmarked, you crazy cat.
Bhat also shrugged off his rather unflattering "Rage Boy" nickname. "I don't need any titles. I am a simple Muslim. Yes, I get enraged if someone, somewhere makes derogatory remarks about our religion or Prophet," he said. "The Koran is my driving force. I will come out on streets as long as Muslims are victims of oppression, even if it leads to my death."
Posted by: Seafarious ||
07/05/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
soon he'll be a used car lot barker: "Islamic Rage Boy's. He's CRAZY! It's all GOTTA GO!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/05/2007 0:36 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I will come out on streets as long as Muslims are victims of oppression, even if it leads to my death.
Cool beans. I'll leave it up to our Marines to arrange the meeting.
#3
So lemme get this straight Rage Boy. Muzzies are "oppressed" when someone says anything about their religion that you don't like?
I guess the millions of Christians, around the world, that you sons of bitches routinely persecute, behead, mutilate, imprison, torture, etc, don't count as oppression.
Ah hell with it, I was gonna say more, but go F*ck yourself muzzies. There. Are you angry now?
#4
Hindus have lived in Kashmir for thousands of years. During the present conflict, over 400,000 Hindus had to escape from their own homeland. I don't suppose "Rage Boy" sees anything wrong with that.
#13
He is truly the typical muzzie male. Uneducated, no skills and mad at the world for not handing itself to him on a silver platter.
Gee... he sounds like a liberal.
#19
The nearly 18-year-old conflict has left at least 42,000 people dead, nearly a third of them civilians.
This is from an interview with Gary Saxena, the Governor of J+K state, responding to Perv
Q. He also claims that more then 70,000 people have been killed in Kashmir.
A. I do not know who gave him those figures. According to statistics that were made available to me, 13,600 people lost their lives in the last 14 years. Of these 10,000 were killed/massacred by terrorists in various incidents of violence. Rest 3,600 lost their lives in crossfire between the security forces and the terrorists. I am telling you these figures because each body was identified.
I must tell you that the security forces lost 3,600 personnel and killed over 16,700 terrorists since 1989. Seventy per cent of these were foreigners.
Q. What kinds of arms and ammunition have been seized during the operations?
A. The Indian Army and paramilitary forces have seized over 25,000 Kalashnikovs, 325 sniper rifles, 1,000 machines guns, 1,800 rocket propelled grenade launchers, 4,000 rocket launchers, 10,000 land mines, 50,000 hand grenades, 30 tonnes of explosives, 7.5 tonnes of RDX, 10,000 revolver pistols and 4,000 wireless sets.
This speaks about the kind of assistance terrorists groups have been getting from Inter Services Intelligence.
While he no longer carries a weapon, Bhat said he was still fuming about the Indian army's often suffocating presence in Kashmir -- where there is one soldier for every four civilians -
BS.
There are 340,000 Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir. Only 80,000 troops are involved in Counterinsurgency duty.
About 160,000 are assigned to the borders where they defend against several Pak armored corps and the Chinese PLA forces as well as infiltration across the LOC.
Another 100,000 sustain the logistics train to the Himalaya.
So the J+K State Police actually outnumber the Indian army COIN troops.
"Suffocating" ? Only to the Pak divisions waiting across the LOC.
Posted by: John Frum ||
07/05/2007 17:47 Comments ||
Top||
#20
That seems rather a lot of weaponry for a home-grown insurgency. Or even a non-home-grown low level war of conquest.
#22
#10: "I'd like to set him on fire and kick him in the balls."
What makes you think he has any, JM honey?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/05/2007 17:58 Comments ||
Top||
#23
Anyone else immediately picture that scene out of "Airplane!" where they all line up to slap the hysterical woman?
Remember as the camera Panned down the line the last folks had big wrenches and baseball bats?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/05/2007 19:36 Comments ||
Top||
#24
"Bhat, whose family run a handicrafts business. 'My family members are very supportive.'" ... "'anger inside,' said the full-time demonstrator, who when off the street, looks ... a little shy.'"
Hmmmmm - lessee.
Doesn't work at something productive - check.
Supported by Sponges off Mommy and Daddy - check.
Consistantly angry dork with no social skills - check.
Islamic Rage Boy is a Leftard!
Gee, I didn't know they had basements in India.... :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/05/2007 20:38 Comments ||
Top||
The chief prosecutor at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Carla Del Ponte, is expected to be succeeded by Serge Brammertz, UN officials in The Hague and in New York said.
Brammertz, a Belgian criminologist, has been invited to take up the prosecutor's post at the UN tribunal in The Hague in December, when his mandate in Lebanon expires, the officials said Wednesday. Brammertz, seen as the strongest candidate for the job, has accepted, the officials said. He could not be reached immediately for comment.
Del Ponte's second term expires in September, and she has said she wants to step down. She has been asked to stay on until the end of the year, or at least until her successor is able to take over, said the officials. Last Wednesday, in an interview in the office she has occupied for almost eight years, Del Ponte said she would be willing to stay on but was awaiting formal approval from the Swiss government, still nominally her employer since her days as the Swiss attorney general.
Just go already.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Jeebus. Is that a picture of Carla, Serge or Al Franken as an enraged Stuart Smalley?
Posted by: ed ||
07/05/2007 6:57 Comments ||
Top||
#2
...Nah. That's Jerry Springer in drag.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/05/2007 8:09 Comments ||
Top||
Only an agreement among outside powers can resolve a paralyzing political struggle between Lebanon's parliament-backed government and Hezbollah, allied to Syria and Iran, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said on Wednesday. "We have to wait for regional circumstances to be favorable for an independent Lebanon," Jumblatt ( pictured right) , a prominent supporter of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government.
Asked about prospects for a conference of rival Lebanese politicians in Paris next week, he said: "If the French, with their contacts with the Iranians, can fix up a Lebanese dialogue in Paris, and somewhere behind the scenes the regional actors agree to stabilize Lebanon, why not?"
France hopes the meeting will promote renewed dialogue between the bitterly divided Lebanese camps and pave the way for agreement on a new president, due to be elected later this year. But the 57-year-old politician gave no hint of optimism during an interview at his home in Beirut, accusing Syria, Iran and their Shi'ite Hezbollah allies of fomenting chaos in Lebanon after failing to topple Siniora's cabinet by other means.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
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.
Two armed men disguised as Muslim women in burqas held up a bank in Sarajevo and got away with some $40,000, Bosnian police said on Tuesday. They said the pair entered a Union bank branch in the capital wearing head-to-toe black dresses and veils typical of women adhering to the orthodox Islamic code and trained guns on customers. They then made customers lie on the floor while the emptied the tills, police added.
SEOUL - South Korea will start shipping oil to North Korea next week, an official said on Wednesday, a day after UN nuclear inspectors said the reclusive state had agreed to steps verifying a shutdown of its nuclear programme. 
The Lal Masjid was described by security officials on Wednesday as a hub of militancy, with its clerics having covert links to Al Qaeda and the Taliban. But the two brothers who run the mosque also have known intelligence ties spawning conspiracy theories that President Pervez Musharraf encouraged them to play up tensions and make himself look indispensable to his US allies.
If Benazir Bhutto were to return to politics in Pakistan, she would stand up to militants, shut down madrassas where extremists recruit children, and work to boost the economy, the former Pakistani prime minister said on Tuesday.
President Gen Pervez Musharraf has said there will be no further talks or compromise with the administration of Lal Masjid and the two clerics that run the mosque and its madrassas must surrender, Online reports.
Palestinian government employees loyal to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas stood in long lines outside banks in Hamas-ruled Gaza on Wednesday to collect their first full salaries in 15 months. 
The virtually total closure imposed on the Gaza Strip since Hamas's takeover in June has almost destroyed the Palestinian economy and threatens to turn its 1.4 million residents into charity cases, Gisha, the Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, charged in a report released Wednesday. 
The High Court of Justice on Wednesday rejected an appeal against transfer of four Jordanian infiltrators serving life for killing soldiers to complete their terms in Jordan, according to a court document. They were expected to be sent to Jordan on Thursday. 
The kidnappers of Cpl. Gilad Schalit have transferred him to the custody of Hamas, Abu Mutfana - a leader in the 
The chief prosecutor at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Carla Del Ponte, is expected to be succeeded by Serge Brammertz, UN officials in The Hague and in New York said.
Only an agreement among outside powers can resolve a paralyzing political struggle between Lebanon's parliament-backed government and Hezbollah, allied to Syria and Iran, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said on Wednesday. "We have to wait for regional circumstances to be favorable for an independent Lebanon," Jumblatt ( pictured right) , a prominent supporter of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government.
