Chad's President Idriss Deby Itno claimed a "stunning victory" over rebels on Wednesday and said government forces were in "total control" of both capital and country after fierce fighting in Ndjamena.
"We have total control not only of the capital but of the country," Deby told a press conference, the first he has addressed since the start Saturday of the weekend's battle for Ndjamena itself.
Clad in military uniform, he said there were "rebels who have fled, there are some still in Ndjamena disguised as civilians, there are some trying to get back to the border" with Sudan.
"We're at their heels and we shall catch them before they get back to Sudan," he said, adding that Chad was "attacked from abroad".
Deby was speaking after more than half an hour of talks with French Defence Minister Herve Morin, who arrived in Ndjamena on an unannounced visit to show support for its former colony in central Africa.
"Relations between France and Chad have always been fine," Deby said. "France did not fail in its commitments. France has strongly upheld its commitment regarding the aggression."
"We owe the stunning victory to valiant Chadian national forces," he added.
The rebels fell back from Ndjamena but warned civilians to flee ahead of a new assault, then said Tuesday they had agreed to a conditional ceasefire under strong diplomatic pressure.
"The (French) defence minister has come to talk to us and investigate the situation and see ... what we can do together to save Chad," Deby said. "France's support was a major help to us."
Rebels in Chad warned France on Wednesday against intervening militarily to support President Idriss Deby Itno's regime, as French Defence Minister Herve Morin made an unannounced visit to Ndjamena.
In the aftermath of weekend offensives in the capital, rebel forces have pulled back "to better camouflage themselves" about 70 kilometres (35 miles) from Ndjamena, rebel spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said.
"We warn France against all direct intervention; otherwise, things could very badly degenerate for it," Koulamallah told AFP by satellite telephone.
"It would risk losing face in Chad and endanger the lives of all its nationals in Africa."
Morin -- claiming that a column of rebel reinforcements was headed towards Ndjamena from the direction of Sudan -- said he was carrying a "message of support" from France to Deby, who he was to see later in the day.
"France will do what it has done before within the limits of international law and the rules that the president of the republic (Nicolas Sarkozy) has given the military for this operation," he told reporters.
Some activity was seen returning to some parts of the capital Wednesday, but most businesses were shuttered, as the Chadian Red Cross picked up more dead bodies from the dusty streets after recovering 27 corpses since the weekend.
General Mahamat Ali Abdallah, commander of government forces, appealed to the estimated 20,000 to 30,000 civilians who fled to neighbouring Cameroon to return, affirming that the government was in full control.
At stake in Chad is control of one of the poorest but most strategically situated countries in central Africa -- one with promising oil reserves and a pourous border with Sudan's remote and troubled Darfur region.
Sudan denies Chadian allegations that it is supporting the insurgency -- an allegation that Chadian Prime Minister Delwa Kassire Coumakoye extended Wednesday to Libya, another neighbouring state.
"It is Kadhafi who is contributing to arming these people," he said, referring to Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi. "They are armed by Sudan and supported by Libya."
Sarkozy said Tuesday that France -- with 1,450 troops and Mirage fighter jets stationed in Chad -- was ready to "do its duty" and intervene if need be to shore up Deby's government.
In a declaration Monday seen as a green light for potential intervention, the UN Security Council condemned the rebel attacks and called upon UN member states to support Deby's government if requested by Ndjamena to do so.
The rebels -- who last week crossed the width of Chad from their bases inside Sudan, and Monday threatened a fresh offensive -- responded Tuesday by saying they would agree to a ceasefire.
Deby has yet to speak publicly, but the French ambassador to Chad -- until 1960 a French colony, and still a keystone of French foreign policy in Africa -- said Chad's government controlled Ndjamena and its immediate surroundings.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, the ambassador, Bruno Foucher, said Deby -- in power since 1990 when he led his own insurgency -- had appeared "very confident" when he had spoken to him on Monday night.
In Brussels, the European Union earmarked two million euros (three million dollars) in humanitarian aid, but has suspended deployment of a mainly French EU force to protect Darfur refugees in Chad, together with locally displaced people and those fleeing strife in neighbouring Central African Republic.
"Conditions are still too chaotic to obtain a full assessment of the situation but what is clear is that many people are already suffering," said EU Development and Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel.
#2
not likely - the French can muster pretty decent commando forces, just no large army assets. The "strategic" retreat by the brave lions of Sudan prolly followed a description of the scenarios if they didn't.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/06/2008 19:47 Comments ||
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Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Abdel-Aziz Al-Khoja said Wednesday the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was not biased in favor of any group in Lebanon and stood at equal distance from all.
Khoja said in a statement the media which made allegations to the contrary were wrong because one of the Saudi principles is "not to interfere in the internal affairs of any state." He added the Kingdom's policy has always been non-interventionist and made it clear his country's wish is for the Lebanese to come out safely of the current political stalemate.
He pointed out that Saudi Arabia always strives to restore order in the Arab world by dealing with any dispute causing splits.
"It is not fair to involve the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in internal disputes, " he said and stressed his country's track record is the best proof of the accuracy of this statement.
Saudi Arabia has played a key role in Lebanon's post-war reconstruction and in helping the Lebanese overcome their political differences.
THE Army has run out of machine guns, The Sun can reveal. The crisis is unlikely to be solved before JUNE, a leaked report reveals. British troops "desperately" need 400 of the jumbo 0.5in calibre heavy machine guns the weapon most acutely missed. The Army has also run out of the 7.62mm GPMG and Minimis.
Supply has collapsed partly because of a dispute with the manufacturers, Manroy which also provides weapons to Saudi Arabia.
The leaked report prepared for the Armys command centre in Wilton, Wilts reveals that generals have urged the Ministry of Defence "to prevent Manroy delivering Saudi weapons ahead of our requirement".
Generals asked the US to help but were snubbed by the Pentagon who have dubbed British colleagues "The Borrowers". The report says: "We are trying to get 400 guns transferred from the US. However, the material was provided by US DoD and they are not prepared to release them. MoD-level engagement is needed to try and get these released."
The crisis is having a crippling effect on training in the UK with all available spares being rushed to war zones. Almost HALF the Minimi Light Machine Guns used at Catterick and Brecon are also out of commission.
The report adds: "The original spares package was inadequate and usage has been far above that expected. As a result stocks are very fragile."
Tory MP and ex-Army officer Patrick Mercer said last night: "Thank God the Army have still got their bayonets it looks like they may be all theyll have left. This could have been dealt with months ago. Yet again, our fighting men are being imperilled by MoD incompetence."
Last night an MoD spokeswoman insisted: "We have enough guns for operations. We recognised a need to increase overall supply and took steps to address this." By giving welfare to polygamist Muslims.
#4
Darth has it about right. Once again, as a Brit, I find this plain embarrassing. And from a US perspective, these are your BEST allies?
Posted by: Peter Carroll ||
02/06/2008 10:56 Comments ||
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#5
British troops, historically among the best ever. This has to do with those whose charge is procurement and logistics and hopefully not a purposeful emasculation of the army; what could we cut which seem innocuous but will do harm - but I would shudder at that thought. Cancel the order to SA and others and get those guns on-line yesterday.
I hope the UK takes this as "Thank God we are not fighting the Soviet Bear at the beaches." and gets their act together instead of polygamy handouts and free cliterectamys (sp?).
BTW Peter Carroll, do I understand correctly that as long as the multi-marriage is in a country where it is legal it transfers? What keeps them from visiting, say Pakistan, as they do already for a bride and coming back with 3 instead of just 1?
#6
I'm guessing the reason for the Pentagon's alleged refusal is that there is a deep pattern of failing to fund the MOD, a pattern that Browne openly encouraged under Blair and promised to accelerate now that he's PM.
IIRC a senior MOD official resigned a while back over this issue.
The involvement of the Saudis is important, as it has been acknowledged that the UK paid bribes to land defense sales to the Sauds. Those who have been paid to buy products from you do not respect you enough to stand aside and let you take your deliveries first, it would seem.
#7
Same pattern of defense procurement as in the 1930's. IIRC it took some of Churchill's best efforts to have even the relatively small number of Hurricanes and Spitfires they did have - with which they managed to hold the Luftwaffe to a near-draw for that first critical 18 months or so.
#8
Generals asked the US to help but were snubbed by the Pentagon who have dubbed British colleagues "The Borrowers". The report says: "We are trying to get 400 guns transferred from the US.
No problem. Just ask Prince Andrew to wave his magic wand.
#10
We are trying to get 400 guns transferred from the US. However, the material was provided by US DoD and they are not prepared to release them.
Anyone know what this means? Does this mean the HMGs in the UK but the Pentagon says the Brits can't play with them? If the British need any supplies, just give it to them. The US don't need to be like the quarter-masters at Isandlwana. It will only get us all killed.
BTW, I didn't know the British made .50 cal machine guns. I thought only the US and Belgians did. Could be they are refurbishing M2s from US stocks. That would make sense from "the material was provided by US DoD." for a UK-Saudi contract and the Brits want to use those.
Posted by: ed ||
02/06/2008 15:24 Comments ||
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#11
Manroy probably as most manufacturers has a lead time that meant that when their production line for UK machine guns was met they switched over to the production line for the SA set. Which would also imply that they would face pretty stiff penalties for handing over the SA units to the UK MoD without the saudi's approval or some hefty compensation from the MoD for loss of rep and financial damage (which I can just bet the MoD didn't even bother to offer in the first place). Also as far as the statement about the 400 guns goes it could be that Manroy just completed also a batch for the US (we don't just buy em from General Dynamics ya know ), and are waiting to ship in which case the US paid for and bought these items which would cause endless legal issues about ownership if the UK just "borrowed" them.
Posted by: ed ||
02/06/2008 15:50 Comments ||
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#13
And to throw on the top of all this, the US stocks of M2s are low due to the increased demand from the new Strykers and other vehicles that use them. Last I heard, one of the factories that was making them was running 3 shifts just to keep up.
#16
See also DEFENSETECH.org > GOING FOREIGN AGAIN?
Its Cylon Yarn 2015 and the US Global Force = USAF needs a new Tactical airlifter capable of carrying the Army's next generation CSV/CFSV = FCS, AND THE V22 OSPREY TAINT IT! C130's, C5's, and C17's are gone/ended production, BUT IN TRUE USSA = Global USR SSR? AMER FASHION, WHATS "LIGHT" TO THE USDOD MAY BE "HEAVY" TO EVERYONE ELSE.
#17
I'm not quite following this, just what's wrong with Britan MAKING THEIR OWN?
Unable, (No machine shops?)
Unwilling (High price, or simply easier to beg them ?)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/06/2008 23:05 Comments ||
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#18
I read my comment and I was unclear.
I'm a Machinist, I make things out of metal, gun parts are Metal.
It's common practice to farm jobs out to several shops depending on what the shops are capable of doing, say one shop makes recievers, one makes barrels, another threads and bores them, still another rifles them, etc.
Then all those different "parts" are shipped to an Arsenal for assembly and testing, bingo, no shortage.
It's illegal to own a Machine gun, but not the parts, especially when any one place does NOT have all the parts to asemble a working gun.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/06/2008 23:17 Comments ||
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India has provided food aid to impoverished North Korea, the countrys state media said Tuesday, in an apparent move to help ease chronic food shortages. The Korean Central News Agency said that a presentation ceremony was held at a North Korean port. The brief report did not give any details on the amount of aid. The North has relied on foreign handouts to feed its 23 million people for more than a decade after natural disasters and mismanagement devastated its economy in the mid-1990s.
Famine is believed to have killed 2 million people. One North Korean rail worker was shot to death last month in Haeju city, south of Pyongyang, as he was stealing rice from a cargo train at a railway station, according to Good Friends, a South Korean aid group. The private group, which provides humanitarian aid to the North, declined to say how it obtained the information, citing its sensitivity. Some of the groups previous reports regarding the North have later been confirmed.
The World Food Program has recently predicted North Korea will fall some 1.4 million tons short of its food needs this year, because of last years flooding triggered by the heaviest rainfall in 40 years. The floods, which left some 600 people dead or missing, also destroyed more than 11 percent of the countrys crops, according to North Koreas state media.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
STRATEGYPAGE > STRATEGIC WEAPONS - HOW NORTH KOREA COPES The NOKOR masses are still starving, the countryside remains mostly in the dark 24-7-365, BUT LIGHTS, WAGES ARE ALWAYS AT THE LOCAL MISSLE FACTORY.
#2
When I was a kid, the suggestion that India would be providing food aid to other countries would have been absolutely ludicrous. If there have been any great men in the last half-century, Norman Borlaug stands among them.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/06/2008 8:27 Comments ||
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#3
Mitch, my sentiments exactly. One of the few people who truly deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. (Along with Mother Teresa)
#4
As a child I grew up in India in a dirt-poor farming village that had a mission-run farm that was a test bed for Green Revolution techniques. My parents could remember active local famines earlier in their careers, but none after the farm took hold and others began applying the same techniques, despite more than one missed/late monsoon.
Norman Borlaug deserves more rewards than this world could have given him.
while it is all well and good to feed the starving, what they are really doing is alwowing the NorK military to continue to pillage the economy without regard. if the people did in fact starve, the NorKs would have to divert effort to that front an dthier house of cards military would have to face reality and real and actual progress on other issues might (probably not) occur.
Reagan didn't win the cold war by shipping free wheat to the Russians (note to Jimmah... feeding the Russians made them able to buy more missiles and send extra weapons to Nicaragua - come to think of it that may have been your plan all along)
peace via accommodation never works... it delays and makes more costly the eventual war.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
02/06/2008 12:53 Comments ||
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State legislators in Vermont introduced legislation Wednesday demanding the state's National Guard troops return from Iraq. Lawmakers in Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania are poised to push similar legislation.
At the heart of the matter is a contention that President George W. Bush's legal authority to deploy the National Guard to Iraq has expired.
"Congress laid out a pretty specific mission for the Guard in 2002," Vermont State Representative Michael Fisher (D-Lincoln) told OneWorld. "That mission was two things: it was to defend the national security of the United States [against] the threat posed by Iraq, and, two, to enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions. I don't believe there are any credible arguments that the state of Iraq poses a risk to the Untied States or that there may still be weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."
"If the president believes there's still a need to have our National Guard in Iraq to stabilize that country or whatever, it's his job to go back to Congress and ask for that authorization," Fisher added. "The president doesn't have the authority to permanently federalize our Guards."
The legislation comes amid increasing antiwar sentiment in the Green Mountain state. In 2005, voters in 48 Vermont towns approved resolutions calling on the State Legislature to study the effect on Vermont of numerous deployments to Iraq and asked Vermont's congressional delegation "to work to restore a proper balance between the powers of the states and that of the federal government over state National Guard units."
The Vermont State Legislature also asked the president and the Congress to withdraw the U.S. military from Iraq.
Vermont, like other rural parts of the country, has suffered disproportionately from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, say analysts. A November 2006 report by the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire found soldiers from rural Vermont had the highest death rate in the nation.
A June 2007 survey sponsored by the nonpartisan Center for Rural Strategies found rural support for the war slipping: some 45 percent of rural Americans said then that the United States should "stay the course" in Iraq, down from 51 percent in 2004.
And 60 percent of respondents said they knew someone serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Despite popular sentiment and rising casualties, Vermont's Republican Gov. Jim Douglas reacted coldly to Fisher's legislation.
"This is a federal issue," spokesman Jason Gibbs told the Burlington Free Press. "Gov. Douglas would like to see Washington develop a strategy to bring the troops home."
The Free Press reported that, according to Gibbs, the Vermont governor's legal staff looked into the authority over the National Guard when the issue was under public scrutiny several years ago. They found that states had no legal basis for refusing to deploy National Guard units, Gibbs said. "To change that, Congress would have to act."
This is not the first time states have looked into recalling their National Guards from an unpopular foreign conflict.
In the 1986, several governors opposed to President Ronald Reagan's covert military operations in Central America refused to allow their National Guard units to participate in exercises there.
That fall, Congress, led by Mississippi Congressmen and longtime National Guard ally G. V. "Sonny" Montgomery, passed an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act that prevented governors from withholding units from federal training in the future.
Minnesota Governor Rudy Perpich took the lead in challenging the new law, but after losing several appeals, the Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the law's constitutionality in 1990.
Many constitutional authorities argue that the Montgomery Amendment essentially ended any power a governor might have to veto deployment of National Guard units.
But the bill's backers say the war in Iraq is different than the 1980s conflict in Central America.
"In the 1980s, President Reagan said he wanted to send the National Guard to Central America for 'training,'" said Benson Scotch, a former chief staff attorney to Vermont's Supreme Court, who helped write the bill. "There is no such thing as a limited authorization by Congress for a permanent ongoing call-up."
#1
Tough noogies, Bub. If youo want your own Militia raise and pay for it yourself. The National Guard was never intended to replace State Militias.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/06/2008 16:28 Comments ||
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#2
I wouldn't worry about it. Summer's coming and their attention will have to shift to doing something about the naked elderly population that seems to arrive and enjoy strolling around the highways and byways of the Green Mountain State...
#3
"There is no such thing as a limited authorization by Congress for a permanent ongoing call-up."
Hmmm..gee, even I can read the law.
TITLE 10 > Subtitle A > PART II > CHAPTER 39 > § 671a Members: service extension during war
Unless terminated at an earlier date by the Secretary concerned, the period of active service of any member of an armed force is extended for the duration of any war in which the United States may be engaged and for six months thereafter.
and
TITLE 10 > Subtitle A > PART I > CHAPTER 13 > § 311. Militia: composition and classes
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.
BTW, thats the federal militia. And for those who live in newspeek check in here and note well the application of the term War Powers Resolution.
#4
When I read the headline I thought Tenn, Ala, Miss, and maybe Ark. Then I read the first paragraph, ohh politics. Quite sad with what happened last night.
#5
Aw right, Civil War! We haven't had one of those in a long time. Why should Africa have all the fun, eh? Not to worry. President McCain will straighten this out.
MONTREAL - A Quebec judge will rule Friday whether a Moroccan man accused in an alleged Austrian-Canadian bomb plot should be granted bail.
Lawyers concluded their arguments Wednesday in Said Namouh's bail hearing in front of Quebec court Judge Sylvie Durand.
The lawyer representing Namouh says his client is prepared to live in a Montreal homeless shelter while he awaits trial.
"He has lost everything and he has nothing to put down for his release," lawyer Rene Duval said outside the courtroom. "He has no family, no friends."
Namouh, 34, is attempting to secure bail after more than four months in detention, but his lawyer says he has no money, no job and no means of leaving the country as the RCMP has his passport.
Duval said Namouh would not take the stand, but insisted the Crown had not made a case against his client.
"I consider (the Crown's evidence) to be non-existent on the essential ingredients," Duval said.
But the Crown says there is a risk Namouh could flee the country and that there is no guarantee he wouldn't continue with propaganda on the Internet.
Crown prosecutor Dominique Dudemaine said the RCMP has shown that Namouh has access to money from foreign sources.
"The evidence is there, it's up to the judge to analyze it and come to a conclusion," Dudemaine said following the hearing
Dudemaine also says Namouh's alleged comments on jihadist websites make him a threat to Canadian society.
WASHINGTON (Rooters) - NATO risks a split between countries that are willing to fight and those that are not because some European states refuse to send more troops to Afghanistan, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday.
"I worry a great deal about the alliance evolving into a two-tiered alliance in which you have some allies willing to fight and die to protect people's security and others who are not," the Pentagon chief said.
"And I think that it puts a cloud over the future of the alliance if this is to endure and perhaps even get worse," he told a congressional committee.
The United States is trying to persuade its allies to do more fighting in Afghanistan, where attacks by Taliban and al Qaeda fighters have soared in the last two years.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reinforced the message on a visit to London, where she noted that only a small number of NATO nations had troops in the most dangerous areas. "We believe very strongly that there ought to be a sharing of that burden throughout the (NATO) alliance," she said.
Rice said governments needed to be truthful with their people and tell them what was needed to fight Islamist Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, which re-emerged as a dangerous force after being ousted from power by the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.
"Our populations need to understand that this is not a peacekeeping mission. It's a counter-insurgency fight," Rice told a news conference with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband.
Most of the fighting against the Taliban in the south of the country is shouldered by Canada, Britain, the United States and the Netherlands. They all want others to contribute more.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told parliament on Wednesday he wanted NATO allies at a summit in Bucharest in April to commit to a fair sharing of the task.
SHARING THE AFGHAN BURDEN
"We have 15 percent of the troops in Afghanistan ... We need a proper burden sharing not only in terms of personnel but also in terms of helicopters and other equipment," he said.
Britain announced a rotation of its troops in Afghanistan but said their numbers -- around 7,700 -- would remain about the same. Brown said Britain planned to send new helicopters and other equipment in the next few months.
U.S. officials have criticized Germany for its unwillingness to send trainers into Afghanistan's restive south. Under its parliamentary mandate Germany can send only 3,500 soldiers to the less dangerous north as part of the 42,000-strong NATO mission.
Berlin again rejected mounting pressure on Wednesday to put its troops in the south and said it would send additional forces only to the north.
Gates, who will attend a NATO defense ministers meeting in Lithuania this week followed by a security conference in Munich, said he would again press NATO members on the this. "I ... once again will become a nag on the issue," he said.
Rice's London visit was partly to smooth ruffled feathers over a recent remark by Gates in which he questioned the preparedness of some NATO members for counter-insurgency in southern Afghanistan.
The United States has 29,000 troops in Afghanistan, about half of them attached to NATO's 40,000-strong force. Washington plans to send another 3,200 Marines to the war zone in March and April.
NATO's top commander in Afghanistan said on Wednesday his force would be "minimalist" even if he received more troops. "There's no question that it's an under-resourced force," U.S. Army Gen. Dan McNeill told reporters at the Pentagon.
Under U.S. counter-insurgency doctrine, McNeill said, there should be some 400,000 security personnel -- foreign and Afghan -- to fight the Taliban and other insurgents.
McNeill said he did not expect NATO to provide anything like the 400,000 figure but said the West had to step up efforts to train Afghan forces, especially the police.
Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak backed the call for more foreign troops. "For the transitional period there is a requirement for more troops," he said on a visit to Estonia. "The cause was that the threat is much higher than anticipated in 2001," he said.
The United Nations said on Wednesday that Afghanistan, the world's biggest opium producer, is set for another bumper crop this year, giving a windfall for the Taliban who tax farmers.
Posted by: ed ||
02/06/2008 16:04 Comments ||
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#3
"Our populations need to understand that this is not a peacekeeping mission. It's a counter-insurgency fight,"
I think the problem is we are fighting two different insurgents--NATO believes the US and their poppy-fighting policies are the bad guys and they want to keep the free flow of drugs coming!
#4
This is a good time to remember people why NATO intervened. The 9-11 attacks were blamed on Taliban/al-Qaeda and the US invoked collective security provisions of the North Atlantic Treaty, and attacked Pashto-Afghanistan. People need to understand why NATO's current indulgence of the drug trade, all but rewards the remnants of the 9-11 groups. Pashtos and Waziris are pocketing billions of dollars from the heroin industry. And much of this is going to Taliban/al-Qaeda. The terrorist's annual Spring offensives have been tossed aside the past 2 years. Karzai back-stabbing has put steel in their backs. Now that they are flush with cash, they could surprise us with weapons and tactics.
There is absolutely ZERO poppy eradication in Helmand District. In fact there has been substantial growth in production. Also, most Heroin for the Euro market is produced in border towns. It is of the utmost urgency that we crush the drug industry. The only this stopping us is: Karzai's Pashto nationalism.
Retired army generals said on Tuesday that jihad was the only way to liberate Kashmir.
Addressing a seminar on Kashmir Solidarity Day at a local hotel, they said the faulty policies of President Pervez Musharraf over the past eight years had moved the Kashmir issue to the backburner. They said it would remain unresolved while he was in power. They showered praise on sacked chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry for dispensing justice to the masses and Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan for turning the country into a nuclear state. They demanded that both men be released from detention promptly.
General (r) Mirza Aslam Baig, General (r) Faiz Ali Chishti, General (r) Hameed Gul, General (r) Jamshaid Gulzar Kiyani, General (r) Asad Durrani, General (r) Sardar Anwar Khan, General (r) Abdul Qayyum and General (r) Ali Quli Khan and former bureaucrat Roedad Khan were prominent among the participants of the seminar, which was organised by the Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Society. The participants later rallied outside the hotel to show solidarity with the Kashmiris fighting Indian forces in the held valley for freedom. Former Steel Mills chief General (r) Abdul Qayyum claimed that Kashmir could only be liberated by waging jihad.
He said dictators had ruled Pakistan for most of its history, adding that the country was without leadership. Former army chief General (r) Mirza Aslam Baig said freedom was the birthright of Kashmiris and no one could deprive them of it. Former Rawalpindi Corps Commander General (r) Jamshaid Gulzar Kiyani said that Pakistan had rendered many sacrifices for the Kashmir cause. He alleged that Indian forces had sexually assaulted scores of Kashmiri girls and women.
Former ISI chief General (r) Hameed Gul said Srinagar was just as important as Islamabad for Pakistanis. He praised ex-servicemen for supporting the Kashmiris fighting Indian forces by making a human chain on the road.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Islamabad: Angry JI activists attack an armoured vehicle during an anti-India protest rally.
Posted by: John Frum ||
02/06/2008 7:51 Comments ||
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The Punjab University (PU) administration on Tuesday night started a crackdown on the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) activists and expelled students, after receiving complaints against them about harassing students and officials.
Double secret probation, huh? That oughta do it.
The PU Hall Council officials raided Hostel 4 on the New Campus and locked the rooms of four PU IJT activists. The crackdown started after the students complained about the IJT activists harassing them, PU spokesman Dr Mujahid Mansoori said, adding that the crackdown would go on.
Earlier, Daily Times received reports that the IJT activists, carrying guns, threatened hostel 4 guards on Monday. The IJT activists also warned the guards not to interfere in their affairs. The PU official said the IJT activists had also harassed the hostel warden for bearing a strict attitude towards them.
Dr Mansoori said two of those activists were illegal students and two had been expelled from the university. Those activists had been pressing the hostel officials to show leniency towards them, he added. He said the PU administration would continue the operation against such elements and would also register an FIR (first information report) in the police station concerned, in case the activists continued harassing the students and officials. The university administration, till the filing of this report, was present in the hostel and had put the security on high alert to thwart any untoward incident in reaction to the crackdown against the IJT activists.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
PU/IJT
(Phew, what an idjit)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/06/2008 23:24 Comments ||
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Swat lawyers said on Tuesday that they would besiege the houses of the NWFP governor and the chief minister if the government implemented the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation, 2008.
We do not need any new law. Firstly, the government should implement the law in Peshawar and Islamabad and then extend it to the Malakand Division, Swat-based lawyer Ali Haider told Daily Times. He said the legislation, which would repeal the superior courts jurisdiction in the Malakand Division and adjacent districts of Chitral, Swat and Dir, was a black law.
Advocate Yousaf Khan Yousafzai also opposed the law, saying Muslims were living in all parts of the country and therefore the government should first implement the law in the rest of the country. He said the people of Swat would riot if the proposed draft were implemented.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has suggested that he might be interested in premiership if the PPP was elected to power in the elections because he has the widest name recognition in the party, according to a recent Newsweek report.
In a telephonic interview with Newsweek on Monday, Zardari said there was no single personality in the PPP, apart from him, who anybody even knew. According to the magazine, Zardari directed that a copy of former premier Benazir Bhuttos will be made public to prove that she named him as her successor, after facing a whispering campaign at home that he might not be Benazirs legitimate heir.
Addressing party office-bearers, Benazir wrote in her will that, I would like my husband ... Zardari to lead you in this interim period until you and he decide what is best, the magazine quoted her handwritten will. Zardari is considered a mistrusted and divisive figure in Pakistan. He is widely blamed for the tangle of corruption that strangled and cut short Benazirs terms in office, according to the magazine.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
"or at least 10% of it"
/John Frum :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/06/2008 3:26 Comments ||
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Security officials said on Tuesday they had destroyed two hideouts of militants in Darra Adam Khel, while some unknown miscreants distributed pamphlets warning government officials to quit their jobs.
Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Athar Abbas told Daily Times two hideouts of the militants, where explosives were also found and seized, were destroyed by the security forces on Tuesday. A local said the army and political administration, in a joint operation, blew up the office of Taliban commander Mufti Ilyas in Ghafari Mela, Sherakai area. The commander had fled the area after the military operation.
Warning: A resident of the Darra town said walls had been pasted with pamphlets at some places warning government employees to quit their jobs. Some of the pamphlets had been pasted on the walls, while others were found strewn at some points, said the resident.
According to another unofficial source, movement of low-level Taliban militants has been observed in the Tora Cheena area, located on the Teerah side of Darra Adam Khel.
An elder, who did not want to be named, told Daily Times over the telephone that low-level Taliban activists, mostly belonging to the proscribed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, had returned to the main Darra town.
They are back here with changed countenance by trimming their hair, beards and moustaches, said the elder, adding those people (Taliban) were using walkie-talkies for contacting their colleagues and use the word Mukhabira for the sets. The word Mukhabira is being used for walkie-talkie or wireless sets in Afghanistan. Those sets, mostly used by the Taliban militants in Afghanistan, were in use of commanders during the civil strife following the withdrawal of the then Soviet Union.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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The border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the Kashmir region between India and Pakistan are the worst militancy-affected areas, with a total of 65 terrorist groups in operation, according to a report released in London on Tuesday.
The 2008 Military Balance report issued by the International Institute for Security Studies (IISS) sees a growing threat from Al Qaeda and the Taliban movement. According to Nigel Inkster, director of transnational threats and political risk at the institute, as quoted by Reuters, the findings reflect the changing nature of conflicts over the past 10 to 15 years.
Were seeing less and less inter-state conflict and more and more intra-state conflict involving a wide variety of armed groups the number just keeps on spiralling. He said while the roots of these groups lay in localised issues, very recently they had shown an inclination to link themselves to a wider agenda.
Global struggle: Led by Baitullah Mehsud, the Waziristan-based group has recently expanded to align itself with global struggles. Because of the wider ramifications of unrest in the region, the Pakistani neo-Taliban, as it is called, has become a potent and growing threat, he warned.
Mehsud has linked himself formally with the Afghan Taliban and has been quoted about the need to annihilate the United States and Britain, so he is adopting a wider political agenda, Inkster added. He said the fastest growing threat came not from Al Qaeda or any of its offshoots in Iraq, but probably Tehreek-e-Taliban the Pakistani Taliban movement. In South Waziristan they are actually pretty well established and the Pakistani army cant really take them on full frontal, Inkster told Reuters.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
on SPACEWAR > ISS: AGHANISTAN MAY BECOME A FAILED STATE AS INSURGENCY SPREADS.
#2
The border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the Kashmir region between India and Pakistan are the worst militancy-affected areas, with a total of 65 terrorist groups ISI funded military and paramilitary organizations in operation, according to a report released in London on Tuesday.
#3
NPR was pretty excited about a called cease-fire between pakistain and the north, and also about a helicopter crashing with three pakistain generals on board. (I know, already used the Murine twice this morning).
#4
The IISS, based in London, is both a limited company in UK law and a registered charity. It has offices in the US and in Singapore with charitable status in each jurisdiction. [nice place to hide hide]
The IISS was founded in 1958 in the UK by a number of individuals interested in how to maintain civilised international relations in the nuclear age. Much of the Institutes early work focused on nuclear deterrence and arms control and was hugely influential in setting the intellectual structures for managing the Cold War.
The Institute grew dramatically during the 1980s and 1990s, expanding both because of the nature of its work and its geographical scope. Its mandate became to look at the problems of conflict, however caused, that might have an important military content. This gave fresh impetus to the Institute as it began to cover more comprehensively political and military issues in all continents. As this mandate developed, the Institute worked hard both to provide the best information and analysis on strategic trends, and to facilitate contacts between government leaders, business people and analysts that would lead to the development of better public policy in the fields of international relations and international security.
International Institute for Security Studies (IISS) sees a growing threat from Al Qaeda and the Taliban movement.
No Shiite Sherlocks!
IISS is like a Wilsonian pop corn fart which disappears in the roaring wind of a cat #5 Islamic ISI Hurricane.
In fact, The ISI farts in the general direction of the IISI. :)
OTTAWA - Lawyers for a pair of human-rights groups say torture in Afghan custody is "endemic" and won't end any time soon, nope, nope, nope.
Attorneys for Amnesty International and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association say that if the government wins a legal fight over transferring prisoners to Afghan custody, it will set a precedent where the onus will be on others to find out if transfers resume.
In newly released court documents, the groups say it could be a while before anyone learns transfers have resumed since it took nearly three months before the government revealed handovers had stopped last fall.
The lawyers say that could subject prisoners to torture in the interim.
The groups want a Federal Court judge to order Canada to stop transferring enemy captives to Afghan authorities until it's certain they are not at risk of abuse.
But federal lawyers say the case is moot since Canada quietly stopped prisoner handovers last November after officials witnessed credible evidence of torture while visiting an Afghan prison.
#1
I have a solution for the problem. Since the AI crowd is in a tizzy about what happens to Taliban when Canucks turn their prisoners over to the Afghanis, and the Germans refuse to shoot their guns in the north, how about we just turn the prisoners over to the Germans? At least they'll be doing something worthwhile.
The US Army Wednesday reported its forces in Iraq are on average hit with an anti-armor attack once every three days for over a month now. A statement by the MNF said such attacks increased over the past 35 days but caused no serious losses or damage.
The latest attack was on February 3 in Al-Azamiyah, targeting a US Army patrol.
While the increased attacks only injured some MNF soldiers, they killed many innocent civilians who happen to be close by at the time of the attack, it said.
The US Army recently shifted from humvees to more secure armored vehicles to reduce losses in anti-armor attacks. One death was reported in an attack on one of the new vehicles and the army said there would have been more victims with the old vehicles.
The US Army meanwhile accuses Iran of supplying Iraq terrorists with bombs and anti-armor explosive devices which killed many soldiers last year.
The US director of national intelligence said Tuesday he is concerned that al-Qaida in Iraq is shifting its focus to attacks elsewhere in the region. "They may deploy resources to mount attacks outside the country." Mike McConnell told a Senate hearing, although he also said that fewer than 100 terrorists have moved to establish cells in other countries.
The al-Qaida terrorist network in Iraq and in Pakistan and Afghanistan has suffered setbacks, he said, but added that Osama bin Laden's organization remains the No. 1 threat.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
So they will be Al-Qaida not really in Iraq. I guess Iraq is too dangerous for their kind.
A Hamas official on Tuesday reiterated the claim that the organization was behind Monday's Dimona bombing, despite earlier conflicting reports. Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas's military wing in Gaza, told the group's radio station that the attackers came from the West Bank city of Hebron. He said they managed to carry out the bombing despite Israel's security control of the area and "bring a nightmare" to the southern Israeli town of Dimona.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
See other TOPIX > HAMAS ESCALATES ATTACKS AGZ ISRAEL + ANALYSIS:WHEN HAMAS FOUNDED A MINI-STATE. IRAN-suppor/armed Radical HAMAS.
Fatah has asked one of the countries mediating a prisoner exchange deal for captured IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Schalit that Marwan Barghouti be removed from the list of Palestinian prisoners to be released, so that Hamas will not be able to take credit for freeing him, a top-ranking Hamas official said Tuesday.
"Senior Fatah people have recently turned to a European country that is serving as a mediator between Hamas and Israel and asked that it remove Marwan Barghouti from the list of Palestinian prisoners that Hamas wants released within the framework of the Schalit deal," Hamas political bureau member Mohammad Nazzal told the London-based Arabic daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi Tuesday. The objective of the Fatah move was "to deny Hamas an achievement with Barghouti's release." "European countries have recently begun to mediate between Hamas and Israel in order to put together a prisoner release agreement," Nazzal said, but added that Monday's IAF attack on the Gaza Strip, which killed Abu Said Qarmout, the leader of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) in northern Gaza, froze the negotiations for Schalit.
Hamas, Nazzal said, had told the Europeans that it refused to remove Barghouti from the list. He explained that the Fatah officials who were opposed to Barghouti's release felt that their standing would be threatened once the charismatic leader returned to the ranks of the organization. "Barghouti's release will have a positive impact on the Palestinain public," Nazzal said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"so that Hamas will not be able to take credit for freeing him, "
In a novel Israeli approach to one of the prickliest issues facing Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, MK Benny Elon (NU-NRP) is proposing the establishment of an international body in lieu of UNRWA to deal with the resettlement of Palestinian refugees over the next decade.
The proposal, part of the hawkish parliamentarian's alternate peace plan known as "The Israeli Initiative," is meant to be "a first step" towards resolving one of the most difficult final status issues. "Successive [Israeli] governments have chosen to stick their head in the sand when faced with the looming fear of the refugee issue," Elon writes in a newly-expanded chapter of his three-pronged plan.
"Needless to say, this policy has been ineffective. The Palestinian refugee problem has grown in size and, in effect, it has given birth to terror and Palestinian nationalism."
Elon notes that all Middle East peace processes have included elaborate calls for repatriation or resettlement programs for Palestinian refugees. Yet, he says, resolving the refugee problem has always been left until the end of any given process, with the issue remaining an open and festering sore that is exploited by extremist elements in the Islamic and Arab world and used as a political weapon against Israel.
Elon's unconventional proposal calls to establish an international body that would be comprised of Israel, Jordan, the US and other unspecified countries. This body would cooperate with representatives of the Palestinian refugees to work toward their resettlement in countries of refuge within a decade. "The resolution of this problem deserves a concerted effort, considering its influence on the stability of the Middle East and the peace of the entire world," Elon writes.
He estimates that $25 billion would be needed to cover the cost of repatriating Palestinian refugees. He conditions the establishment of such an authority, however, on the dismantlingt of UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. UNRWA deals exclusively with Palestinian refugees and their descendants, and, Elon charges, has helped perpetuate the suffering of Palestinian refugees by ensuring the continued existence of Palestinian refugee camps. UNRWA's current mandate is scheduled to end on June 30, 2008.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
He estimates that $25 billion would be needed to cover the cost of repatriating Palestinian refugees.
To where is not mentioned (NOT TO ISRAEL)
I seriously doubt there is anywhere that would take them, short of a forcible "Relocation" i doubt any "Palestinians" would go anywhere at all, they expect to invade Israel, wipe out the jews, and live there in squalor as before.
(This is the land of Milk and Honey, sing along)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/06/2008 0:54 Comments ||
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#2
Please DO NOT offer to bring them to the US, Condi!
#8
There's nothing left to loot in ZimBobwe. However, there is a large area available in an Islamic country. It's called the "Empty Quarter". Howze about it becomes the "Formerly Empty Quarter Now Filled Wit Paleos"?
"The parliamentary system has fulfilled its purpose, and Israel must now adopt a presidential system that will be better at decision-making," Prof. Yehezkel Dror, a member of the Winograd Committee, declared on Tuesday evening in his first public appearance since the Winograd Report's release last week.
"We need, as a friend of mine called it, to move on to the 'Second Republic,'" said Dror, a world-renowned Israel Prize laureate in public policy who has been advising Israeli governments since the 1960s.
Speaking at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Dror outlined what he believed were the state's structural problems, and some proposed solutions.
One of the primary failures of Israeli strategic planning centered on the issue of kidnappings. "The Israeli response of enormous payments [for the kidnapped] created the problem of kidnappings as a strategic weapon against us," he said. "We have educated the other side to focus on kidnapping, and those who will die in captivity in the future will be paying this price."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The parliamentary system has fulfilled its purpose, and Israel must now adopt a presidential system that will be better at decision-making" Prof. Yehezkel Dror
Shows that you can be born stupid, but to be a real idiot you've to study.
#2
I think Israel should go for it; why, us french are with our 5th republic in 200 years or so (and lemme see, two empires, one directorate, a couple parliamentary monarchies, a terrorist dictatorship, an occupation collaborationist governement, a reactionary/rightwing dictatorship, and probably a couple or more insurrectionary and/or provisional governement, JFM will be more savvy).
#3
He's right, Grom. By letting every tiny party have veto power over the actions of the government, the Israeli parliamentary system prevents vital actions from taking place. It causes major problems too. Consider the many arguments over IDF exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox, for example.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
02/06/2008 19:02 Comments ||
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#4
Consider the circus going over right now in USA.
Hundreds of Palestinians furious at being rounded up by Egyptian authorities following deadly clashes at the border with Gaza set fire to a government building on Tuesday, a security source said. Egyptian authorities rounded up at least 500 Palestinians in the town of Rafah late Monday and took them to an administrative building, after a Palestinian was shot dead in the border violence, the source told AFP.
They set fire to the building, broke windows and destroyed furniture, the source said, adding that the Palestinians would be allowed back into Gaza once the arrangements are made.
They set fire to the building, broke windows and destroyed furniture, the source said, adding that the Palestinians would be allowed back into Gaza once the arrangements are made.
Another 1,500 Palestinians who live in other Arab countries and who need visas to leave Egypt have been taken to a youth hostel in Al-Arish, west of Rafah, until their papers are ready, the source said. The closure of the border, breached almost two weeks ago to allow Palestinians into Egypt to stock up on vital goods, sparked protests from the Palestinians, with a demonstration at the border turning violent late Monday with stone-throwing, exchanges of fire and tear gas. Gaza militants blew open the border between the impoverished coastal strip and Egypt early on January 23 in a bid to break a punishing Israeli blockade. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are estimated to have poured through the breached frontier before Egyptian and Hamas forces resealed it completely at the weekend.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Oh My, the Egyptians are just as bad as the Jooos?
(Nah, It'll never cross their minds) They'll just "Discover" they were run out by "Egyptian Jooos".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/06/2008 0:59 Comments ||
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#2
Egyptian authorities rounded up at least 500 Palestinians in the town of Rafah late Monday and took them to an administrative building, after a Palestinian was shot dead in the border violence, the source told AFP. They set fire to the building, broke windows and destroyed furniture, the source said, adding that the Palestinians would be allowed back into Gaza once the arrangements are made.
Another 1,500 Palestinians who live in other Arab countries and who need visas to leave Egypt have been taken to a youth hostel in Al-Arish, west of Rafah, until their papers are ready.
ROLF! Stinkin Papers?
The Paleo Shit-Birds can never get aloft because there's always too much poop on their feathers.
#4
They set fire to the building, broke windows and destroyed furniture, the source said, adding that the Palestinians would be allowed back into Gaza once the arrangements are made.
I wonder if he was smirking when he said the last part. Back to Islamic paradise, boys.
#5
my sense is that the upper classes in Egypt are becoming more anti paleo (or anti Hamas which is the same thing given the geography).
however, the many years of anti Israel and anti Semitic propaganda have had the effect of leaving the masses generally pro Hamas (and of course they are anti-government of Egypt because of the corruption, etc.)
"Long-range missiles are one of the components of a [nuclear] weapons system," Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov told Interfax.
Therefore Monday's test launch of Iran's Explorer-1 space rocket was "of course, a cause for concern", he said.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is purely for peaceful energy production.
Correspondents say the statement by Mr Losyukov appeared to indicate that Moscow increasingly shares Western concerns about Tehran's nuclear course.
"It increases suspicion of Iran regarding its possible desire to create a nuclear weapon," he was quoted as saying.
Iran said the rocket which was test-fired would be used to launch research satellites.
The US State Department said the launch was "troubling", as it was an example of the same technology behind long-range ballistic missiles.
In the past, Russia has been more sceptical than some Western powers about Iran's missile capability, saying it would take a long time to build long-range missiles.
Posted by: Delphi ||
02/06/2008 11:24 ||
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#4
Russian support for Iran is premised on an American attack on Iran that will simultaneously weaken both the US and Iran. If the US does nothing and simply lets Iran get stronger, the eventual consequences for Russia are not good, since Iran getting stronger means Russia is getting weaker, given the pull a stronger Iran will have on Russia's former Central Asian empire.
Israel's Mossad spy agency estimates Iran will develop a nuclear weapon within three years and continue to provide rockets to regional armed groups, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. Mossad director Meir Dagan, in an intelligence assessment presented to Israel's powerful foreign affairs and defence committee on Monday, said the Jewish state would face increased threats on all fronts, Maariv daily said.
Dagan's estimate of Iran's nuclear ambitions differs sharply from an assessment by the US intelligence community late last year that said Iran had mothballed its nuclear weapons programme in 2003. That report compiled by selected people with a political agenda from 16 US intelligence agencies said the Islamic republic would not be able to attain a nuclear weapon until 2015.
Israel has questioned those findings, claiming that although Iran may have temporarily halted its nuclear drive five years ago it has since relaunched it while pressing ahead with a public uranium enrichment programme.
In Monday's report, Dagan also predicted that Tehran would continue to supply more and better rockets and training to Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip. Dagan added that Iran's allies Syria and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah were also working to develop an increased rocket ability. "Syria is improving its surface-to-surface missile system and today the quantity of missiles and rockets is twice as large as two years ago," Dagan said, according to Maariv.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Iran will have nuclear weapon in three years: Mossad
Not to Worry.
the demoC'raps & Hitllary will sign a 'peace of paper in their time'.
#6
It's pretty sad when we trust a foreign intelligence agency more than our own. But the truth is that the NIE squandered their credibility a long time ago. The Israelis have been on the front lines of this war for a long, long time. They know what happens if they lose and they can't afford to play games.
Now the real question is what happens when the fallout from Iran starts blowing over Russia and China?
Posted by: Abu Uluque6305 ||
02/06/2008 9:43 Comments ||
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#7
I trust the Mossad estimate more than our pathetic "spy" agencies. Their butts are on the line and they aren't a bunch of pathetic, spineless libs.
#9
I would be surprised if Iran did not already have a nuclear weapon.
If we still have a civilization 100 years from now, our leaders will be remembered as some of the worst in history. We vote for them. We allow this to happen.
With the transit fee issue with Pakistan yet to be sorted out, India has decided not to attend the proposed trilateral talks in Tehran for finalising the much delayed multi-million dollar three-nation gas pipeline deal.
Iranian Ambassador Syed Mahdi Nabizadeh said on Tuesday that there was no response from India to their proposal to hold a meeting on February 12 or 13. He pointed out that technical issues between New Delhi and Islamabad were yet to be finalised and regretted Indias absence at three earlier meetings in Pakistan. According to our policy, we have tried our best to achieve the main objective of arriving at a trilateral agreement. We are still trying, he said.
Reliable sources said that the decision not to attend the talks in Tehran followed deliberations at the highest level. An agreement on the deal has been in limbo for almost one year.
The United States has openly expressed concern over the deal and expressed the hope that India would not go ahead with the project.
The sources said Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora will first go to Pakistan after the conclusion of general elections there on February 18 and only then would the possibility of trilateral talks arise. The Pakistan Energy Minister met Mr. Deora in London recently and invited him to Islamabad to settle the transit fee issue.
The sources said another meeting, proposed in Islamabad on the sidelines of the Steering Committee meeting of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project on February 13-16, was also postponed .
New Delhi has, since July 2007, not taken part in trilateral meetings on the project owing to non-resolution of the transit fee issue. While India and Pakistan agreed on the transportation charge for the 1035-km route of the pipeline, differences continued on transit fee payment.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
IRAN-DAILY > IRAQ WANTS TO DISCUSS BORDERS, OILFIELDS.
Accusing the U.S. of trying to drive a wedge between Iran and countries friendly to it, Tehran said New Delhi should have considered the launch of an Israeli spy satellite from a political standpoint and not take into account only commercial interests.
We hope the issue could be considered from the political point of view. Our relationship with India is very strong and good. Many are trying to destroy the relationship between Iran and other friendly countries such as India. I hope the people and the government are wise and understanding. We hope that independent countries would not give space and technology to launch any spy instrument against friendly countries, Irans Ambassador to India Syed Mahdi Nabizadeh told newspersons here on Monday. The U.S. continues to be hostile and even today is trying to create problems between Iran and its friendly countries. We expect friendly countries to realise this fact and not affect their relationship with Iran, he said.
Asked about the status of Indias request for access to Afghanistan through the Iranian port of Chabar since both countries had a stake in stabilising Kabul, the Ambassador restricted his observations to hoping that India, Iran and Pakistan, countries with immediate stakes for stability in the region, would cooperate in rebuilding Afghanistan. Iran and India have very good cooperation. They are continuing to cooperate.
On the United Arab Emirates grant of a military base to France close to Irans borders, the Ambassador said, as we have experienced, giving base to a superpower is not in the interest of that country. We hope it would realise the consequences and it would not be long-term.
He warned that any attempt by Israel to bomb Irans nuclear facilities would spell devastation for the region. I hope that countries in the region would not let Israel make such an attack. It will impact and be devastative for countries of the region.
On nuclear energy, the Ambassador pointed out that Iran was a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which had always overseen our activity. Iran required 20,000 MW of nuclear energy of which the Bushehr plant would provide only 5 per cent of the requirement. Maintaining that Iran had given answers to most of the questions posed by the IAEA, he said the international body had not reported any diversion of Irans nuclear programme.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#3
New Delhi should have considered the launch of an Israeli spy satellite from a political standpoint
Un, they did you idiots. That's why they launched it.
#8
Sorry Iran, India wants to play with the cool kids. They have better toys. You can only play "kick the tin can" so long before boredon sets in.
He Iranians, you could be playin with the cool kids too if you just found a way to get those mullahs to "fade to black"...See the last Soprano episode for hints.
Iran's president says he is withdrawing a proposal made in 2005 for an international consortium to enrich uranium - the fuel for both nuclear bombs and power plants - inside his country. "This proposal is no longer on the table," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in an interview published Tuesday by respected French daily Le Monde. "But if others formulated it again, we would study it - under one condition: that the Iranian people's right to enrich uranium be preserved," the Iranian leader said.
He first made the consortium proposal at the UN General Assembly. He said then that Iran "is prepared to engage in serious partnership with private and public sectors of other countries in the implementation of uranium enrichment programs in Iran."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Arab League chief Amr Moussa will return to Beirut on Friday to resume his brokering of the Arab plan for ending the crises in Lebanon. Electing General Suleiman on Feb. 11 tops Moussa's agenda. The three point Arab peace initiative /plan calls for the immediate election of the president to be followed by the formation of a national unity government based on the constitution, to be followed by a new electoral law . A step by step approach for ending the crises.
Lebanon has been without a president since Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his controversial term. The Iranian and Syrian backed Hezbollah -led opposition wants veto power in the unity government before agreeing to vote for Suleiman , but the ruling majority has refused this demand calling it extortion and blackmail
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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The head of the "Lebanese Forces" Dr. Samir Geagea said that there is a "serious attempt to neutralize the army with the sole purpose of inviting the Syrian forces back to Lebanon. Geagea said the Iranian and Syrian backed Hezbollah-led opposition are deploying chaos and riots in the streets to hoping to create the right ambiance for a Syrian comeback .He urged the opposition to desist from this bet.
Geagea, in a press seminar in Marab, expressed his full belief that Hezbollah-led opposition "does not want any form of election of the President in Lebanon," . He accused the opposition of closing the parliament , undermining the government , damaging the economy thru the down town protests and now are trying to neutralize the army and security forces which are the only institutions that have been maintaining law and order in the country
He said that the opposition is trying to fabricate fibs about the involvement of Ain Rummaneh in the Mar Mikhael / Chiah riots , but all these fabrications proved to be invalid . Geagea accused Hizbullah-led opposition of staging the riots as an excuse "to terminate army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman's nomination for president and to paralyze the army to facilitate return of the Syrian army to Lebanon.
"They fully realize that they cannot assume power democratically thru peaceful means that is why they have opted to use violence ," Geagea said. He added : "Historically, no party has succeeded in dominating Lebanon by force. Any change in Lebanon should be through democratic means and not by force."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Lebanon will only have lasting peace under two conditions. First, Syria must become majority Sunni rule, which will cut off Hezbollah from Iran, and second, Hezbollah must be disarmed or annihilated.
The Lebanese army hit back at Hezbollah, saying it refused to be implicated in the political bickering which ensued after bloody riots in Beirut suburbs that killed seven people and wounded over forty "Involving the army in political wrangling will only contribute to weakening the army," Lebanon's army said in a communique Monday.
The military command called on the various political factions to "distance the army from all political struggling in order to preserve" its unity, the statement said. It criticized what it called "cheap publicity which is far-away from all humanitarian and ethical values."
Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan on Monday accused "some army officers of not abiding by the mission and principles of the military."
The army communique called on politicians against "jumping into erroneous conclusions or make insinuations to the tasks assigned to its officers and to their affiliations. It is imperative that politicians assume responsibility and stay away from fabrications."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Lebanons Army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman stressed that he has not declared his candidacy for the 2008 presidential race. "I did not declare my candidacy," Suleiman told senior army officers on Monday at the start of a series of briefings at the military command in suburban Yarze. "I assumed that there was unanimous consensus on my candidacy, an option for a settlement which is in the best interest of all the Lebanese," Suleiman told his officers. "I announced from the beginning that I am willing to bear any responsibility, but if another candidate emerges, then I will be the first one to give him my support and facilitate his mission in my capacity as army commander," Suleiman said. He assured that "justice and equality before the law have been principles recognized by the army command for a long time" and vowed to stay on course.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/06/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
At least not until I get that remote starter installed in my car...
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.
Chad's President Idriss Deby Itno claimed a "stunning victory" over rebels on Wednesday and said government forces were in "total control" of both capital and country after fierce fighting in Ndjamena. 
Rebels in Chad warned France on Wednesday against intervening militarily to support President Idriss Deby Itno's regime, as French Defence Minister Herve Morin made an unannounced visit to Ndjamena. 
India has provided food aid to impoverished North Korea, the countrys state media said Tuesday, in an apparent move to help ease chronic food shortages. The Korean Central News Agency said that a presentation ceremony was held at a North Korean port. The brief report did not give any details on the amount of aid. The North has relied on foreign handouts to feed its 23 million people for more than a decade after natural disasters and mismanagement devastated its economy in the mid-1990s. 
Retired army generals said on Tuesday that jihad was the only way to liberate Kashmir. 
The Punjab University (PU) administration on Tuesday night started a crackdown on the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) activists and expelled students, after receiving complaints against them about harassing students and officials. 
Swat lawyers said on Tuesday that they would besiege the houses of the NWFP governor and the chief minister if the government implemented the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation, 2008. 
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has suggested that he might be interested in premiership if the PPP was elected to power in the elections because he has the widest name recognition in the party, according to a recent Newsweek report. 
OTTAWA - Lawyers for a pair of human-rights groups say torture in Afghan custody is "endemic" and won't end any time soon, 
Fatah has asked one of the countries mediating a prisoner exchange deal for captured IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Schalit that Marwan Barghouti be removed from the list of Palestinian prisoners to be released, so that Hamas will not be able to take credit for freeing him, a top-ranking Hamas official said Tuesday. 
Israel's Mossad spy agency estimates Iran will develop a nuclear weapon within three years and continue to provide rockets to regional armed groups, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. Mossad director Meir Dagan, in an intelligence assessment presented to Israel's powerful foreign affairs and defence committee on Monday, said the Jewish state would face increased threats on all fronts, Maariv daily said.
Iran's president says he is withdrawing a proposal made in 2005 for an international consortium to enrich uranium - the fuel for both nuclear bombs and power plants - inside his country. "This proposal is no longer on the table," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in an interview published Tuesday by respected French daily Le Monde. "But if others formulated it again, we would study it - under one condition: that the Iranian people's right to enrich uranium be preserved," the Iranian leader said. 
The head of the "Lebanese Forces" Dr. Samir Geagea said that there is a "serious attempt to neutralize the army with the sole purpose of inviting the Syrian forces back to Lebanon. Geagea said the Iranian and Syrian backed Hezbollah-led opposition are deploying chaos and riots in the streets to hoping to create the right ambiance for a Syrian comeback .He urged the opposition to desist from this bet.
Lebanons Army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman stressed that he has not declared his candidacy for the 2008 presidential race. "I did not declare my candidacy," Suleiman told senior army officers on Monday at the start of a series of briefings at the military command in suburban Yarze. "I assumed that there was unanimous consensus on my candidacy, an option for a settlement which is in the best interest of all the Lebanese," Suleiman told his officers. "I announced from the beginning that I am willing to bear any responsibility, but if another candidate emerges, then I will be the first one to give him my support and facilitate his mission in my capacity as army commander," Suleiman said. He assured that "justice and equality before the law have been principles recognized by the army command for a long time" and vowed to stay on course.
