A decision on an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is likely to come later than the widely-expected date of mid-October, the International Criminal Court's top prosecutor has said.
"Normally, when the judges start to analyze (a case) they call us for hearings and they ask for more information. They have not yet done that," ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told Reuters in an interview on Friday. "I don't know how long it will take, the judges will decide, but I don't think October would be possible," he said.
Bashir is accused of orchestrating a campaign of genocide in the Darfur region beginning in 2003 that has killed 35,000 people outright and at least another 100,000 through starvation and disease, with another 2.5 million forced from their homes.
Moreno-Ocampo said he had asked Sudan and the Arab League for an update on investigations into a recent attack in a refugee camp to determine whether it was an isolated incident or the start of a new wave of violence against civilians.
Sudanese forces attacked South Darfur's volatile Kalma camp on Aug. 25, leaving up to 27 dead and injuring more after surrounding the camp and going inside to search for weapons, according to rebel leaders. Attacks usually take place outside the camps, the prosecutor said.
The Khartoum government and army leaders denied the August attack even took place.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
For some reason, every time I see the International Criminal Court abbreviation, I read it as the "International Communist Conspiracy", which was what ICC used to stand for.
#2
#1 For some reason, every time I see the International Criminal Court abbreviation, I read it as the "International Communist Conspiracy", which was what ICC used to stand for.
Is there a differance, Anonymoose?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/14/2008 14:48 Comments ||
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#3
IIRC, Sudan has not ratified the ICC treaty. That would make an arrest warrant a little presumptuous.
Posted by: James ||
09/14/2008 18:08 Comments ||
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Banned Islamist militant outfit Harkatul Jihad al Islami (Huji), comprised of Afghan war veterans, has started activities across the country to take part in the next parliamentary polls under a new name.
Huji leaders under the banner of Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) gathered for an iftar party in a Rajshahi community centre in Shalbagan on September 8 claiming to be in negotiations with the government for holding political programmes openly.
Even though they claimed that they are not involved in any criminal or anti-state activities, they admitted that their organisation began from Huji. They said they are still in Jihad as before in Afghanistan but the Jihad is for "rebuilding the country by promoting true democracy".
They said two top Huji founders--Mufti Abdus Salam and Rahmatullah alias Shaikh Farid--are president and secretary of the party. They collected the application form for getting IDP registered with the Election Commission for participating in the next general elections. They already formed fully-fledged IDP committees in 42 districts and in all thanas of Dhaka city to that end. They have begun renting offices in districts and forming committees and organising activists in 300 upazilas across the country.
The government so far has made no visible effort to arrest Huji kingpins since banning the outfit in October, 2005.
Several police and intelligence officials said even though Huji has been banned, they have never received any instructions from the government to launch any drive against Huji leaders and activists.
HUJI'S RAJSHAHI TOUR
The IDP launched organisational tours in northern part of the country from September 6. They held meetings in towns and upazilas of Chapainawabganj, Rajshahi and Rangpur.
Local law enforcement agencies were learnt to be ignorant about Huji gatherings, in the name of IDP, even though teams of "Mujaheeds" are touring other parts of the country, sources said.
Chaired by Rajshahi IDP President Maulana Faisal, the meeting in Rajshahi was attended by Afghan war veteran and IDP central Dawat and Tabligi (invitation and campaign) division President Abdul Kuddus and Abul Kalam Azad, an Arakan Mujaheed and president of Natore and northern units of IDP.
Over 300 activists assembled at the meeting while Rajshahi IDP General Secretary Mufti Mustafizur Rahman, Nayeb-e Amir (vice-president) Nazmul Ahmed, Organising Secretary Hussein Ahmed and Aynul Haque and Arifur Rahman were present.
"We are still in a Jihad in the country as we were in the past in Afghanistan against Russia and America. But now we are fighting against evil-education, corruption, and communalism," Abdul Kuddus, who reportedly claimed to have fought in Afghanistan for 17 years against Russian and American forces, said talking to The Daily Star.
"We want to rebuild the country establishing a true democracy and selecting honest and efficient leadership on the lines of the holy Quran. We will take part in the next parliamentary elections. And we believe that we will have a remarkable influence in the political arena within a short time," he told the gathering.
Mahbub Mohsin, commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP), told The Daily Star that IDP did not take prior permission for holding such meetings and the police were unaware of the meeting being held.
Sources say that the IDP claims to have had discussions with the government at different levels and that they had convinced the government of their innocence.
The meeting organisers also said they had even informed the government in advance about their countrywide meetings under the banner of IDP.
"We succeeded in convincing the government that nobody of Harkatul Jihad, other than Mufti Abdul Hannan and Mufti Abdur Rouf, was involved in any criminal activities or has any criminal records. That Harkatul Jihad was dissolved in 1998," Hussein Ahmed told The Daily Star.
"The name of IDP was selected in presence of administrative high-ups after the government was convinced, through its intelligence agencies, that our activities do not pose any problems," he said.
He denied having any negotiations with the government for holding meetings across the country.
Around 40,000 Bangladeshis joined the Afghan war and a number of the returnees formed Huji's Bangladesh chapter in the late 80s during the Ershad regime. Returning from the Afghan war, Mufti Abdul Hannan and Mufti Abdur Rouf floated separate organisation Harkatul Mujahideen, claimed Hussein and Huji sources.
Advised by "senior Islamic scholars", Harkatul Mujahideen merged with Huji and the new Huji was officially launched under the leadership of Mufti Abdus Salam in Dhaka in April, 1992.
When Mufti Abdur Rouf criticised Islamic scholars and Abdul Hannan was found engaged in anti-state activities, they were expelled from Huji in 1998, sources claimed.
Huji was dissolved then and the Huji leaders, except Mufti Abdur Rouf and Abdul Hannan, kept on working under a new organisation--Islami Dawati Kafela, Bangladesh.
"Thirty-nine members out of the 41-member Huji shura [governing body] left in course of time. We changed our organisation's name to Islami Gono Andolan until negotiations with the government started," Hussein said.
Huji leaders and activists went into hiding when the Awami League government launched a crack down on them following an attack on late poet Shamsur Rahman and an assassination attempt on Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina.
As the media ran several reports on the activities of Huji, Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) came to the limelight by blasting bombs across the country.
After the government launched a crackdown on JMB, Huji leaders succeeded in convincing the government that none of their leaders and activists was involved in any kind of violence or militant activities.
They also told the government that a faction of Huji men led by Mufti Hannan and Abdur Rouf, who were responsible for violence, was expelled from the organisation in 1998.
"The government banned Harkatul Jihad of Mufti Hannan and Abdur Rouf. The original Huji was dissolved in 1998," Hussein claimed.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2008 00:00 ||
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Their message was as disturbing as ever - and the date, September 11, was particularly symbolic. On Thursday evening this week, at a packed meeting in London's East End, two profoundly dangerous men urged the destruction of the British way of life.
I was there as the radical cleric and self-styled sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed proclaimed that this country - where he received state benefits for two decades - will soon be transformed into an Islamic state, or Khilafah, run according to the rules of the Muslim holy book, the Koran.
Bakri's black-robed right-hand man went one step further. Anjem Choudary, a 41-year-old militant and the leading light of a thriving new organisation called islam4UK declared: 'There are already six or seven million Muslims here in Britain.
'By the year 2020, we will be the majority. 'In the streets of London - Whitechapel, Bethnal Green, Stratford - people are becoming Muslim in their droves. By sheer numbers, Britain will become an Islamic state. 'We will never need to conquer this country. Our eyes are now on Downing Street,' he added, with an excited laugh.
Alarmingly, at the three-hour conference called to mark the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 atrocities, there were shouts of support from the 100-strong audience of men (some only boys in their teens) and women.
At first sight, the meeting in an upstairs room next to the Walthamstow Mosque on Northumberland Street, Leyton, seemed harmless. Between speeches from the robed clerics at the front, there were breaks for prayers and a meal of chicken curry and dates. Children played on the floor and veiled mothers held babies.
But what was being said has deep implications for the future of this country.
This article starring:
Omar Bakri Mohammed
Posted by: ed ||
09/14/2008 00:48 ||
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#1
depressing. But if I were ol' Bakri or one of his followers, I don't think I would count on Britian going down without a fight. JMHO.
#3
If I were living in Britain, I think I'd take up archery. I'd learn again to use the yew longbow of my ancestors. A good bow can kill up to 70 yards away, and with a bit of tinkering, can be next to silent. "Let the gray gulls fly" instilled fear into many an invader of Great Britain, and can do so again. It looks quite likely it'll be needed.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/14/2008 14:51 Comments ||
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#4
"If I were living in Britain, I think I'd take up archery."
That's probably illegal there now, too, OP - just like everything else that could remotely be regarded as either (a) for self-defence, or (b) traditionally English. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/14/2008 15:49 Comments ||
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SIR Paul McCartney has been threatened that he will be the target of suicide bombers unless he abandons plans to play his first concert in Israel.
Self-styled preacher of hate Omar Bakri claimed the former Beatle's decision to take part in the Jewish state's 60th anniversary celebrations had made him an enemy of all Muslims.
Sources said Sir Paul was shocked but refused to be intimidated. In an interview with Israeli media yesterday he said: "I was approached by different groups and political bodies who asked me not to come here. I refused. I do what I think and I have many friends who support Israel."
Sir Paul, 65, should have gone to Israel with the Beatles in 1965 but they were barred by the Jewish nation's government over fears they would corrupt young people.
Yesterday a number of websites described him as an infidel and suggested he was going to Israel only because of the reported £2.3m fee for the one-off concert. A message posted on one website said: "Shame on you Paul McCartney for day trippin' to apartheid Israel" and vowed never to buy his music again.
Bakri, who made his weekly internet broadcast to fellow extremists from his home in Lebanon, where he has lived in exile since being banned from returning to Britain, said Sir Paul was "making more enemies than friends".
Syrian-born Bakri, 48, went on: "I heard today that the pop star Paul McCartney is playing as a part of the celebrations. If you speak about the holocaust and its authenticity never being proved historically in the way the Jewish community portray it, people will arrest you. People will you say you should not speak like this. Yet they go and celebrate the anniversary of 60 years of what?
Lahore, Sept 14 (ANI): Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Luo Zhaohui has reportedly criticsied the cross-border raids in the Pakistani Tribal Areas by the US forces, saying that Pakistan and the US must resolve their differences through constructive and peaceful dialogue.
"The United Nations Charter required states to respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the Daily Times quoted Zhaohui as telling reporters here last evening.
He also urged the Pakistani authorities to ensure a safe release of the two kidnapped Chinese engineers.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/14/2008 15:33 ||
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United States House of Representatives
Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia
Gary L. Ackerman (D-NY), Chairman
You are respectfully requested to attend the following OPEN hearing of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, to be held in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building .
Date: Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Time: 10:00 AM
Subject: Defeating al Qaeda's Air Force: Pakistan's F-16 Program in the Fight Against Terrorism
witnesses:
***Vice Admiral Jeffrey A. Wieringa
Director
Defense Security Cooperation Agency
Mr. Donald Camp
Deputy Assistant Secretary
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Mr. Frank Ruggiero
Deputy Assistant Secretary
Bureau of Political-Military Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Admiral, Mr. Deputy Assistant Secretaries, may I respectfully suggest that you don't breathe a word about the kill-switches in the Pak F-16s? The New York Times will be sure to warn them by publishing the information on page one ...
Posted by: john frum ||
09/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I worked with the VADM during a tour in VA-165 here @ NASWI: a good stick and a good JO. Went our separate ways, but remember reading of him periodically; always in a good light.
(PTI) Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani today strongly condemned the serial blasts in Delhi, terming those responsible as "enemies of humanity".
In separate messages, Zardari and Gilani expressed shock and grief over the loss of precious human lives. Gilani said elements involved in such heinous acts are "enemies of humanity" and Pakistan condemns all terrorist acts perpetrated in any part of the world. "The people and government of Pakistan share the pain of the victims and bereaved families," he said.
"Please don't retaliate against us!"
Information Minister Sherry Rehman condemned the blasts, terming them a "barbaric act of cowardice".
Leading rights activist and former Pakistan human rights minister Ansar Burney too condemned the terrorist attacks in New Delhi.
In a message, PML-N chief and former premier Nawaz Sharif said the perpetrators of such heinous acts were enemies of peace and humanity. He expressed his sympathies to the bereaved families and prayed for the early recovery of the injured.
At least 18 people were killed and 70 injured in a series of near-simultaneous blasts in three crowded market areas in the heart of Delhi this evening.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2008 00:00 ||
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The furore has intensified over Washington's decision to pursue Islamic militant targets inside Pakistan, with opposition lawmakers threatening the country could pull out of the war on terror if the US refuses to respect its borders.
About 100 protesters burned American flags after the latest missile attack left at least 12 people dead in the North Waziristan region of the troubled northwest. Residents said they heard the sound of propeller-driven US Predator drones circling overhead before the explosions.
President Bush secretly approved more aggressive cross-border operations in July, current and former American officials have told The Associated Press. Since Aug. 13, there have been at least seven reported missile strikes as well as a raid by helicopter-borne US commandos that Pakistani officials claim killed 15 civilians in tribally governed territory where the government has little control. The frontier region is considered a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has denied that and vowed to protect the country's sovereignty "at all cost."
Does this include the most urgent threat to Pakistan's sovereignty posed by the Taliban?
#3
It's still not too late to end the failed experiment that was the creation of Pakistan. Just as it was created, it can be destroyed. Pakistan has only one redeeming factor in its continued existence - the port of Karachi. If Pakistan closes that port to us, there would be no continued reason for Pakistan to exist. I'm sure India would be willing to take over the territory to the east of the Indus River, and Afghanistan would be more than happy to reunite the Pashtuns and receive a port they can share with India.
The United States needs to gear up to fight the war against islamic extremism. That means at least ten new divisions and the equipment to arm and support them. We're not going to be able to win this "war" without breaking some countries' will to aid and support our enemies, beginning with Pakistan.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/14/2008 14:59 Comments ||
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Mullah Nasrullah, a Taliban commander, made what has become a routine trek from his guerrilla base in Afghanistan across the jagged peaks into Pakistan last month. His destination: the headquarters of his patron and supplier, the powerful insurgent leader Sirajuddin Haqqani. A genial young man in his late 20s or early 30s with a bushy black beard, Haqqani leads the bloody Taliban insurgency in eastern Afghanistan, where American casualties are highest. Interviewed by NEWSWEEK on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Nasrullah refused to specify the reason for his meeting with Haqqani, though it's likely he was looking for more suicide bombers, explosive vests, weapons and money to use against U.S. and NATO forces.
Once inside Pakistan, Nasrullah says, he traveled between insurgent camps. He rode in a new four-wheel-drive vehicle with a towering radio antenna fixed to the front bumper, followed by four pickup trucks filled with militants. Yet their convoy sailed through Pakistani military checkpoints. Whenever they neared one, the jihadists would hail someone named "Col. Niazi" on the radio, who would arrange their safe passage. Nasrullah believes this was a Pakistani Army officer and possibly an operative in the military's premier spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI. "He seems to feel invulnerable," Nasrullah says of his patron, Haqqani. "The ISI protects him."
Washington seems to agree. Combating Haqqani fighters has become one of the top priorities for American commanders in Afghanistan. But U.S. officials who would speak only on condition of anonymity when discussing sensitive matters say they have evidence that some elements of Pakistan's ISI are protecting or even helping the Haqqani network. That's helping to drive a far more aggressive U.S. strategy in the tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, where the Haqqanis and other Taliban groups have established a network of safe havens and training camps for their own and Al Qaeda fighters. And it's raising tensions between America and Pakistan, supposed allies in the war against terror, to levels not seen since September 11.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum ||
09/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
This is why Pakistan needs to cease to exist - they're duplicitous double-dealers who are getting US Servicemen killed and wounded. Tomorrow will be fine, but it should have happened two weeks ago.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/14/2008 15:04 Comments ||
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The Americans picked an inauspicious day to open a new front in the war on terror. It was 4am on the third day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the villagers of Angoor Adda, a small Pakistani mountain town near the Afghan border, were lighting their stoves for breakfast before a long day of fasting.
Two US helicopters supported by a AC130 Spectre gunship landed close to the shrine of a local saint. Out jumped about three dozen heavily armed marines and Navy Seals from a crack unit called Detachment One. As they emerged from the churning dust onto the rock-strewn hills, they made for a terrifying sight in their night-vision goggles.
Within minutes the commandos had surrounded the mudwalled compound of Payo Jan Wazir, a 50-year-old woodcutter and cattle-herd. They believed an Al-Qaeda leader was hiding inside.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum ||
09/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#3
Why do I doubt the accuracy of this report of the slaying of 20 innocent civilians? I agree it was a 'crack unit'. And such missions are uncommon, and thus very carefully planned. A well-planned mission by top troops with our RoE - whoever is dead was not innocent.
#5
Why do I doubt the accuracy of this report of the slaying of 20 innocent civilians?
I doubt them too and I also notice the sudeen concern Pazkiatsnis, those bastards who set bombs in Delhi, sponsor suicide bombres in Afganistan and killed or raped 2 million in Bangladesh, feeel for "innocent civilians" TM.
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers yesterday accused the government of planning a genocidal campaign against Tamils as UN agencies began pulling out of the rebel-held Wanni regions in the island's north.
UN agencies began pulling out of the region on Friday after Colombo said it could not guarantee the safety of aid workers as troops pushed towards the Wanni region, which comprises Kilinochchi and Mullattivu districts.
People in Kilinochchi have protested the departure of UN agencies from the Wanni region, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said in statement through its peace secretariat. Residents had gathered outside the offices of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the World Food Programmeme from early Friday, said the rebels, who are fighting for autonomy in the island's north and east since 1972.
They were "demanding that the agencies should stay behind and continue their humanitarian work for the Wanni people facing a humanitarian crisis," the rebels said of the protesting residents. While protesters tried to block traffic to prevent UN vehicles from leaving the area, resident representatives had discussions with the two agencies, which had promised to raise the issue at the UN, the release said.
"The appeals (from resident representatives) mostly said that the Sri Lankan government is ordering the international agencies out as it readies for the final stage of the genocide of the Tamils," the rebels said.
UN agencies say at least 160,000 people have been displaced in the past few months in the districts of Mullaittivu and Kilinochchi. Some 70,000 people have fled due to fighting in the past two months alone.
According to the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies, 11 UN and other agencies have been working in the rebel-held Wanni area.
Colombo wants to avoid troops being accused of killing aid workers in a repeat of the August 2006 massacre of 17 local employees of the French aid agency Action Against Hunger in the east of the island.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2008 00:00 ||
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Beirut- Hezbollah's decision to dispatch the head of its politburo Sheikh Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, as the official representative of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, to the funeral of slain Druze official Saleh Aridi was seen as a step toward reconciliation between Hezbollah and MP Walid Jumblat's Progressive Socialist Party.
The daily As Safir on Saturday, citing well-informed sources, said both sides have expressed their desire to "upgrade the present security coordination formula" between Hezbollah 's Wafiq Safa and PSP's Akram Shehayeb.
It said serious backstage efforts continue in this regard between Hezbollah and Mustaqbal ( Future) Movement in a bid to achieve reconciliation.
The sources said there is a "real chance to achieve a breakthrough" in this regard.
Today Sheikh Naim Kassem, deputy of Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said: The Future movement did not make its political decision yet about a meeting between Nasrallah and Hariri . Such a meeting could resolve 90 % of the problems and the remaining 10 % could be resolved through dialogue"
Hezbollah arms remain the key issue for the ruling majority. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said national dialogue meetings will be held under the title of "the defense strategy."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2008 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Banned Islamist militant outfit Harkatul Jihad al Islami (Huji), comprised of Afghan war veterans, has started activities across the country to take part in the next parliamentary polls under a new name.
