Russian Foreign Ministry has asked the Somali authorities to give Moscow leeway in confronting the growing piracy off the Horn of Africa. "To ensure freedom of action in the fight against piracy directly in Somali territorial waters, the Russian Foreign Ministry has asked for consent from the Somali Republic's Transitional Federal Government to grant the Russian Federation the status of a 'cooperating state," RIA Novosti reported quoting the contents of a ministry statement.
The request for permission has been especially moved by the September 25 capture of the 'arms-laden' Ukrainian ship, MV Faina off the Somali coast.
The ministry also ruled out the participation of the Ukrainian government officials in the negotiation processes with the pirates adding elsewhere that, in the event of a hijacking, only "ship owners or managing companies could talk to the pirates."
The ship was reportedly carrying around 100 pieces of military hardware including tanks, anti-aircraft missiles and automatic weapons to Kenya.
Russia has dispatched a naval vessel to the troubled waters to ratchet up the naval surveillance over the seized ship whose Russian captain died while a US destroyer together with two other warships, had hemmed in the hijacked ship.
On Thursday, the Press TV reporter in Somalia said the bandits had threatened to set fire to the ship if the NATO forces, also heading toward the MV Faina, attempted at overpowering the pirates. Delay in the provision of the demanded USD8 million ransom money could also endanger the lives of the 20 crew members.
So far this year, 30 ships have been the causality of the spiraling piracy off Somalia with territorial waters near the northern Somali region of Puntland posing the utmost threat to the passing vessels.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#5
I do wish we still had a battleship or two that could throw Volkswagen-size shells into each street intersection until the pirates surrendered. This "modern, all-missile/aircraft Navy" sucks in terms of killing people and breaking things. You could replace the 16-inch batteries with GMLRS and accomplish the same thing the old 16-inchers did, but you NEED firepower. A 76mm popgun just doesn't cut it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/24/2008 14:20 Comments ||
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#6
Somali authorities? Excuse me, but who are they? What authority do they have and how did they get it?
Research it. There's always a search engine a click or two away.
#7
OP: Agreed, and this kindler, gentler Navy(and USAF, to pile on) ain't limited to you BB example.
Mass quantities of dumb bombs delivered from a decidedly non stealthy platform, and mix in a fair quantity of Rockeye would go a long way toward removing the miscreants and their civilian support system. and packs of roving feral fluffy bunnies as well.
one plane one bomb is stoopid.
#10
I'm not a physicist, I can't even spell it without spell checker. I'm just a poor, pathetic computer nerd. I know about Google and I'm sure somebody sits in Mogadishu trying to act like they have some authority. That's implied by the fact that the Russians are asking them if they can do something about the pirates. Most likely, from what I've been reading here, they are doing so by the grace of the African Union or the Ethiopians. (Sometimes it's hard to keep up. I do my best.) But they don't really have any authority, do they? I mean, if it wasn't a failed state they wouldn't allow pirates to operate from their ports, would they? So I guess I was being sarcastic. Just remarking on the irony of the mighty Russians asking Somali authorities for "leeway".
#11
What would be the consequences of declaring that 'no government exists in the area designated "Somalia?"' (aside from the risk of it being designated a UN protectorate and becoming subject to much posturing)
Would it make any practical difference to anybody but its immediate neighbors?
Posted by: James ||
10/24/2008 22:04 Comments ||
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#12
It's both the African Union and the Ethiopians.
Somalia has what is termed a 'rump government'. Meaning it's a legal government but one without much authority or power. But it is the legit government, hence the Russians making the request.
Removal of the aforementioned government would mean that Somalia would fall back under the control of the Islamic Courts group. Meaning that it once again becomes an al-Qaeda support area.
It could possibly also herald the end of Somali piracy, but I doubt it. There's too much money to be made, and only a percentage of it stays with the pirates.
Somali pirates accounted for nearly a third of all reported attacks on ships, often taking hostages and using high levels of violence, a maritime watchdog said Thursday.
The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said 63 of the 199 piracy incidents recorded worldwide in the first nine months of this year occurred in the waters off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden. The figure is almost double the 36 attacks blamed on Somali pirates out of 198 global attacks for the same period the year before.
IMB Director Pottengal Mukundan said piracy in the Gulf of Aden - an important sea route for oil exports - was of particular concern. "It is clear that pirates in the Gulf of Aden believe that they can operate with impunity in attacking vessels, some of which have included tankers and large bulk carriers," Mukundan said.
The IMB says globally 115 vessels have been boarded, 31 hijacked and 23 fired upon in the same period. A total of 581 crew have been taken hostage with nine kidnapped, nine killed and seven still missing.
NATO warships are set to start tackling piracy off the Somali coast in the next few days and escorting aid ships to the war-ravaged nation, an alliance spokesman said Wednesday.
Of the 63 attacks in the region, 26 vessels were hijacked, 8 off Somalia and 18 in the Gulf of Aden, with 12 vessels still being held for ransom and 259 crew still held hostage as of the end of September, the IMB reported.
Mukundan said attacks sometimes involved ships being indiscriminately fired upon using automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades. "What is required is robust action against the pirates' mother ships before they succeed in hijacking vessels," he said. "The locations and descriptions of these mother ships are known," he added.
The IMB placed Nigeria as the second-worst piracy hot spot with 24 incidents so far this year, of which 20 have occurred near the port city of Lagos.
Indonesia is the third-riskiest shipping area according to the IMB, with 23 mostly low-level attacks scattered throughout the vast archipelago. The figure is down on last year's 37 recorded attacks. Meanwhile, the Malacca Straits, which runs between Indonesia and Malaysia saw only two incidents - the same as the previous year.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2008 00:00 ||
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London City Airport was briefly evacuated and flights grounded overnight due to fumes emanating from the toilets, police said.
The fifth-biggest airport serving the British capital was closed from about 3:00pm to 5:15pm after a "suspect substance" was discovered in the toilets, said an airport spokeswoman.
The airport was evacuated as a precautionary measure.
Police believe that an item left by a passenger in a bin was wrongly poured away down a toilet.
"Some people had suffered coughing and skin irritation," a spokesman for London' Metropolitan Police said.
"It would appear that a liquid or substance was disposed of incorrectly. There are no signs of criminality."
A spokeswoman for the airport, built in the 1980s in the derelict east London docklands, said passengers were ushered back into the terminal building following the all-clear from the emergency services.
She said: "It was found in the toilets. We don't know what it is or how it got there."
PAKISTAN plans to arm tens of thousands of anti-Taliban tribal forces in its western border region in the hope - shared by the US military - that the nascent militias can replicate the tribal Awakening movement that proved decisive in the fight against al-Qaeda in Iraq. The militias, called lashkars, will receive AK-47 assault rifles, a purchase arranged during a visit to Beijing by the Pakistani President, Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistani officials said.
Many US officials remain sceptical of Pakistan's long-term commitment to fight the Taliban and al-Qaeda, ensconced in the mountains near the border with Afghanistan. But the decision to arm the lashkars, who emerged as organised fighting forces only in recent months, is one of several actions that have led the Pentagon to believe the Pakistani effort has become more aggressive. The Pakistani Army has launched several offensives in Bajaur, one of seven regions in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and in the nearby Swat Valley. According to Pakistani military assessments, more than 800 insurgents were killed in Bajaur operations during August and September, along with nearly 195 government soldiers and 344 civilians.
Last week, after months of Pakistani delays, about 30 US military trainers were permitted to set up operations north of the region, a US official said. The trainers will provide counter-insurgency instruction to Pakistani Army soldiers, who in turn will train members of the Frontier Corps, the government's paramilitary force in the tribal areas.
Alternate headline: "Pakistain to give weapons to beturbanned beauzeaux".
Pakistan plans to arm tens of thousands of anti-Taliban tribal fighters in its western border region in hopes -- shared by the U.S. military -- that the nascent militias can replicate the tribal "Awakening" movement that proved decisive in the battle against al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Yeah, this should end well.
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
10/24/2008 10:15 Comments ||
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#2
Didn't we get into this mess in the first place by Pakistan giving arms to the Taliban?
Outside the tan, high-walled house, Shiite militiamen stood guard. Inside, men sat on a red carpet, their backs against a wall adorned with images of Shiite saints, their anger rising with each sentence. Hashim Naseer, a tribal leader, remembered how Iraqi soldiers arrested his brother early this month at a nearby park along with other Shiite fighters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army.
"We thought this government was for Shiites, but now they have become worse than Saddam Hussein's regime."
"We thought this government was for Shiites, but now they have become worse than Saddam Hussein's regime," said Naseer, 40. "We placed much faith in the Iraqi security forces, but they are taking advantage of us."
Seven months after intense clashes with U.S. and Iraqi government forces rocked Baghdad's Sadr City enclave, a sense of betrayal and frustration flows through its sprawling expanse. Iraqi army units, backed by U.S. forces, are launching pre-dawn raids and arresting dozens of suspected militiamen, despite a deal between Sadr and Iraq's government. Residents, once fearful of the Mahdi Army militia, have become informants, and senior Sadrist leaders have been assassinated.
Yet the enclave, Sadr's largest popular base in the capital, has remained relatively calm. In interviews, Mahdi Army fighters insist they are shackling their rage and complying with Sadr's cease-fire, issued last year. "Sayyid Moqtada al-Sadr told us: 'If they arrest you, do not do anything. If someone does bad things to you, don't retaliate,' " said Ahmed Abu Zahara, 37, a Mahdi Army commander, using an honorific for Sadr. "We are still obeying the Sayyid."
American and Iraqi officials have described Sadr's cease-fire as a key reason for Iraq's sharp drop in violence. They also cite the "surge" of 30,000 U.S. troops and the rise of the Awakening forces, made up mostly of Sunni former insurgents, who allied with U.S. forces for money and position.
Now, the surge troops have left. And concerns are growing that many Awakening fighters could rejoin the insurgency, as the Shiite-led government, long suspicious of the former fighters, takes control of the movement.
In places like Sadr City, Sadr's cease-fire is the main difference between war and peace, reflecting the tenuousness of the decrease in violence. "If the Sayyid ordered us, we would rise up right now," Abu Zahara said. "We would not pay attention to the tanks or helicopters. Nothing would stop us."
The cease-fire is the cornerstone of Sadr's effort to transform his movement into a nationalist force and discipline the Mahdi Army; the militia's image has been battered by the brutality of its tactics during sectarian fighting and the actions of splinter groups. In March and April, Iraqi troops took control of the southern city of Basra only after Sadr consented to a truce. In May, Sadr agreed to allow Iraqi soldiers to patrol Sadr City as long as U.S. troops withdrew.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
"If the Sayyid ordered us, we would rise up right now," Abu Zahara said. "We would not pay attention to the tanks or helicopters. Nothing would stop us."
Sounds like Abu's getting hisself riled up to send his stoopid minions out to die in little squishy shreds between the tank treads and splodey bits from helicopter gunship weaponry. He, of course, will be too important to The Cause to sacrifice himself
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/24/2008 7:35 Comments ||
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#3
Gee is it already time for the annual culling of the Madhi herd?
Posted by: ed ||
10/24/2008 7:53 Comments ||
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#4
There was no "deal" between Sadr and the central government. He got beat and gave up, pure and simple. Same goes for the Basra situation.
Yishai: No to Livni is Final
Shas chairman Eli Yishai said Friday that the decision by the party's council of sages not to enter a government coalition with the Kadima party. When asked on Voice of Israel government radio whether the decision was final, Yishai said, "yes." He added, "Shas cannot be bought and Shas will not sell out Jerusalem." Truly, we're leaving in wondrous times
United Torah Judaism Also Out of Coalition Picture
The United Torah Judaism party announced on Friday that it would not join the Kadima party in the government that Kadima leader Tzipi Livni is trying to form. UTJ said it could not get a commitment from Kadima to oppose negotiations with the Palestinian Authority on the status of Jerusalem. The party shares concern over Jerusalem and budget support for large families with the Shas party, which announced earlier on Friday that it would not enter a Livni government.
Inclusion of UTJ and the Gil Pensioners' Party would have given Livni a "narrow" government, based on parties holding 60 Knesset seats. Without the hareidi-religious faction, Livni is almost certain to call for elections when she meets with President Shimon Peres on Sunday.
Elections mean Condi/George team have nobody to pressure to to achieve "a progress in the Peace Process" in their last months in office. And, who knows, elections may even bring a governing coalition which can find their ass with both hands.
Not that this would motivate the Paleos to start behaving like humans ...
GENEVA, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday that virtually no medical supplies were reaching Gaza, putting the lives of several hundred seriously ill patients at stake. It blamed a “standstill in cooperation” between Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and the Hamas-controlled strip for imports of medical supplies having slowed to a “trickle” in recent weeks, aggravating an already critical situation.
“The ICRC calls on the Palestinian health authorities both in Ramallah and Gaza to take urgent measures to ensure that suitable medical supplies are available in Gaza in sufficient quantity,” it said in a statement.
They'd have to divert the money meant for the Widows Ammunition Fund, and you know that isn't going to happen ...
Treatment for several hundred seriously ill patients had been disrupted, according to the neutral humanitarian agency. A two-month strike of Palestinian health workers in Gaza is also preventing hospitals from offering adequate care, it said. Surgical operations have fallen by 40 percent while admissions were down 20 percent. Only 300 seriously ill patients were referred to hospitals in Israel, East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Jordan for specialised treatment in September, about half the average recorded in previous months, it said.
”Those affected include cancer and cardiac patients, who will suffer from a gradual deterioration of their condition if they do not receive the necessary medical attention outside Gaza,” it said.
The ICRC also called on Israeli authorities to facilitate timely deliveries of medical supplies and equipment to Gaza. Health issues should not be politicised. Pragmatic solutions need to be found because many lives are at stake,” said Katharina Ritz, head of the ICRC’s Jerusalem-based mission for the Palestinian territories.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#7
Pragmatic solutions need to be found because many lives are at stake," said Katharina Ritz, head of the ICRC's Jerusalem-based mission for the Palestinian territories
Been looking for those "pragmatic solutions" for about 60 years now. None have turned up and none are likely to.
#9
Pragmatic solutions need to be found because many lives are at stake.
That would be Jewish lives, since it seems the Paleos are living comfortably with well stocked stores. I would say the "Pragmatic" solution would be to remove the Palestinian threat.
#12
Can you just imagine some burly HAMASS terrorist with a Disney Princess bandaid on his "owwie"? I think he'd prefer to bleed to death. Let's send them 400 boxes!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/24/2008 14:31 Comments ||
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#13
We must be out of 'my little pony' bandaids eh?
Perhaps if the Palieo's would stop sending their air money on guns and explosives they might have enough for medical supplies.
And I suppose the OCRC wants us to send medical supplies right?
Following the stabbing of an elderly Israeli and a policeman by a Palestinian in Jerusalem on Thursday, Hamas said such attacks were a "natural response" to Israel's continued aggression.
Abraham Ozeri, an 86-year-old Jerusalem resident, died of his wounds shortly after the terror attack. The policeman, 30, was taken for treatment at the Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem, where his condition was classified as serious. The attacker, 20-year-old Mohammed al-Badan, was shot and disarmed during the attack.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas added that the terror attack came as a direct response to Israeli moves to make Jerusalem more Jewish.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said two police officers on patrol in Gilo had stopped an Arab for questioning on the street when he pulled out a knife and stabbed one of them. "The [wounded] policeman fired at the terrorist, but he continued to attack and stabbed a 86-year-old passerby, before he was apprehended," Rosenfeld said.
A civilian, Yoav Mizrahi, and a municipal inspector, Yehoshua Ben Nun, who were in the area gave chase, seizing the Palestinian some two hundred meters away from the site of the stabbing. Mizrahi said: "I succeeded in grabbing hold of his back, and with the municipal inspector who was in the area, we held him and called on civilians to phone the police and Magen David Adom [emergency services]. I put my leg on him and pointed a gun at him until the police arrived."
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the stabbing.
Magen David Adom, revising its information that the Palestinian was killed, said he sustained moderate wounds.
IDF raids assailant's village
The Israel Defense Forces later searched the West Bank home of the attacker in the village of Tekoa, near Bethlehem. Witnesses said two of al-Badan's friends were taken away in military jeeps. Witnesses said about 100 local teenagers hurled rocks at the soldiers, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. Palestinian medics said three Palestinians were lightly injured. The army said a soldier was also lightly wounded in the clash, but it gave no further details of the operation.
Security establishment sources said the police officers' alertness had likely foiled an attack on one of the educational institutions in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Murder is just a normal way for our boys to work off all that pent up sexual energy...
#3
Mr. Ozeri was of an age to have seen, fought, and survived the Holocaust and all of Israel's wars. I wonder if there is a story to his life to go with this one of his death.
#4
Friends and family of Avraham Ozeri voiced sorrow and anger at the killing of the 86-year-old they described as "salt of the earth" in Thursday's stabbing attack in Jerusalem. "My father was a man whom everyone loved and who never wronged a single person. To stab a man such as this, at this age, is an animal-like act," said Ozeri's son, Amos. He added that his father's motto was "love of the land."
Ozeri was born in the capital's Bukharan Quarter to parents who had immigrated from Yemen. He was educated in a cheder orthodox primary school and later in a talmud Torah, another religious institution. From the age of 15 he held various temporary jobs. In 1942, he enlisted in the British Mandate police force, and served as a guard north of the Dead Sea. At one point, he was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the Jewish underground, although he was released after a short period of time.
Ozeri fought in the 1948 War of Independence in the Yemin Moshe and Abu Tor areas of Jerusalem. He volunteered in the 1956 Sinai Campaign and 1967 Six-Day war, working on Israel Defense Forces fortifications. Ozeri then worked for 35 years as a customs official, retiring in 1998. A year later, his wife Rivka passed away.
Nir Yogev, Ozeri's grandson related that his grandfather had planned to participate in a 10-kilometer run in Tel Aviv on Saturday. "Grandpa was an exemplary sportsman and was involved in long-distance running for 40 years. Over the years, there wasn't a marathon that grandpa didn't take part in. His closet was full of trophies and awards. Up until a few years ago he would run with me and [his other] grandchildren every Shabbat from the neighborhood of Gilo to the neighborhood of Ramot, and back," said Yogev.
#5
Thanks, tu, I did not find it with my brief search.
So this man fought for his country in three wars, and did not retire until age 76. About what I expected. These are the kind of men we need more of in our current generations (and I say that before noting the guy was still running distance races!)
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak vowed on Thursday to rekindle Cairo's stalled efforts to broker a prisoner swap with Hamas, after talks with Israeli President Shimon Peres. Peres, welcomed with pomp and ceremony in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, said Mubarak promised to step up efforts to secure the release of an Israeli soldier captured by Gaza militants over two years ago.
Mubarak "promised me to increase the efforts to release Gilad Shalit that would effect not only one family but the entire people of the region," Peres told a joint news conference. "I hope the efforts to bring about his release will be increased and yield results."
In recent months, Egypt has assumed a crucial role in mediating between Israel and Hamas, which does not recognize the Jewish state. Israel, along with the United States and the European Union, blacklists Hamas as a "terrorist" group.
Mubarak "confirmed Egypt's efforts to bringing positions closer that would lead to the agreement for the release of Shalit and Palestinian prisoners."
Hamas has demanded that Israel free about 1,400 Palestinian prisoners. Approximately 10,000 Palestinians are held in Israeli jails, including hundreds of women and children, many of whom have never been charged.
Mubarak denied that the prisoner exchange talks had failed: "We have not failed ... The Israeli side knows perfectly well what Egypt is doing in regards to Shalit."
Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007 after routing forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Last June, Israel and Hamas agreed to a six-month Egyptian-brokered truce in and around the Gaza Strip, ending months of fighting. However, little visible progress has so far been made in the talks on a prisoner exchange, with Israel voicing reluctance to free many of those demanded by Hamas.
The two leaders also discussed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which have been put on hold pending the formation of a new Israeli government following Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's resignation.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2008 00:00 ||
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* Bali bombers to be executed "early November"
* Executed on island off central Java
* Bombers currently in jail on the island
THREE Bali bombers will be executed in early November, Indonesia's Attorney General's office said today.
"The plan for the death executions ... will be implemented in early November 2008,'' Jasman Pandjaitan, a spokesman for Indonesia's Attorney General's Office, said in Jakarta.
Mr Pandjaitan said the bombers would be executed on Nusakambangan Island, off central Java.
Amrozi, his brother Mukhlas and Imam Samudra, are currently held in a high-security jail on the island.
"Based on the letter from the minister of law and human rights ... the execution for the death convicted, Imam Samudra and his friends, will be located in Nusakambangan, Cilacap District, by the execution team,'' he said.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/24/2008 8:37 Comments ||
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#3
Holy War: Wrong concept found in the Good New Bible: ISAIAH 13. to 13.3 and DEUTERONOMY 13 to 13.16. We try to save our moral and planet for the great benefit of our younger generations and we plant the seed of love to achieve the Heart For Peace.
#4
Grandma: please clarify. What is the wrong concept?
The Isaiah passage has to do with God rescuing Israel from her enemies; and the Deuteronomy passage with a lot of choice words about what to do with false prophets.
#5
still time to get some of that action; any bets that it will actually happen?
opportunites abound for escape; several transfers between transport modes, the idyllic three hour island tour, and a mysterious shipwreck can all figure into this. after all allen works in wierd ways.
#6
Oh dear. It is such a bad idea to throw out stray Bible or Koran verses here.
USN,Ret, the bombers are imprisoned on the island where they're to be executed. It's the execution team, presumably, that must travel there... unless it's that the jailers need a week to improve their aim.
(AKI) - Foreign Muslim fighters could join 'renegade' separatist commanders and escalate the ongoing conflict in the southern Philippines after the collapse of peace talks between Manila and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) separatist rebels, a leading think-tank has warned.
In its latest report, 'The Philippines: The Collapse of Peace in Mindanao,' the International Crisis Group said the possible involvement of foreign 'jihadists' could give the Philippines Army a green light for war against the MILF. Such a war remains unlikely, however, said the ICG.
The army is currently pursuing three renegade MILF commanders -- Ameril Umbra Kato, Abdullah Macapaar alias Bravo, and Aleem Sulaiman Pangalian. The three are accused of having attacked villages in North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte after an order by the Philippines' Supreme Court blocked a peace agreement with the MILF. The deal would have created an expanded ancestral Muslim 'domain' or autonomous homeland on the southern island of Mindanao.
The Supreme Court injunction followed legal challenges raised by mainly Catholic politicians in Mindanao objected to what they feared was as a move to create an independent Muslim state, saying they had not been consulted on the content of the peace agreement.
Clashes between the MILF and the Army have since become more frequent but both sides have said that they do not want to escalate the conflict for an all-out war.
But the ICG warned that the rebels could recruit foreign jihadists to join the renegade commanders. "Jihadis in Mindanao could decide to undertake retaliatory action, since Kato and Bravo have assisted them in the past. A major urban bombing could turn trigger a much wider conflict," warned ICG.
A small, mobile jihadist unit led by Indonesian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) member Umar Patek is known to operate from the Sulu Archipelago in the southern Philippines. Patek's unit is believed to consist of some 10 men hailing from JI and two other jihadist organisations (KOMPAK and Darul Islam).
The peace agreement, which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court last week, was the culmination of eleven years of negotiations. It was due to be signed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 5 August. The Supreme Court's effective scuppering of the peace accord has sparked fighting that by mid-October had displaced some 390,000 people.
This article starring:
Abdullah Macapaar
Aleem Sulaiman Pangalian
Ameril Umbra Kato
Umar Patek
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Lest we fergit [old], anti-Govt Philippine Islamists include not only those whom wish to secede and merge wid other Muslim states in SE Asia, i.e. INDONESIA, BUT ALSO INCLUDES ELEMENTS WHOM FAVOR A NEW SOVEREIGN MUSLIM STATE DERIVES FROM THE SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES + PARTS OF INDONESIA.
* "WAR OUTSIDE OF IRAQ" > Jihad for DISPARATE/DIFFERENTIATED PRO-ISLAMIST LOCAL SOVEREIGNTY, either AUTONOMY OR FULL INDEPENDENCE, then REGIONAL MERGER-INTEGRATION LATER ON??? Unless stopped, INDIA + PHILIPPINES = MAP OF ASIA as we know it may break up by 2020.
Let's all think those good thoughts...
The health of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is deteriorating, according to reports in the Islamic Republic. The reports come after Ahmadinejad, 52, canceled a series of public appearances, including two speeches and a cabinet meeting.
A top aide to Ahmadinejad, Amir Mansour Borghei, told journalists the president was "indisposed". Iranian news Web site Shahab said doctors had advised the president to reduce his workload if he wanted to avoid illness, quoting "sources close to the government." The Web site indicated that the president had pulled out of the engagements due to fatigue caused by low blood pressure.
However, other sources in Teheran speculated that the opposition was spreading rumors about Ahmadinejad's health in order to garner support for next year's elections.
#2
I suppose the Iranian Mullahs are taking a page from the Fidel Castro/Yasser Arafat playbook.
There is nothing like a quiet terminal illness and sudden unexpected death to solve a leadership problem in a dictatorship. Methinks he is dying of a sick economy and high unemployment with complications from general social unrest.
Posted by: James Carville ||
10/24/2008 10:46 Comments ||
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#20
I'm sure President Ahmadenijad would not want it, Besoeker, as it is a Jewish prayer for health. He appears quite convinced he worships a different god. Perhaps if you were to not say the prayer translated into Arabic... ;-)
It has been suggested that AIDS is epidemic in Qom, because the Shiites weirdly interpret homosexuality to be oral sex only. A large percentage of their new students are therefore sodomized by multiple men on their arrival in Qom for religious studies.
Because Nutjob belongs to a particularly kooky cult, the odds of him having full blown AIDS is sky high.
#22
'Moose, I'm not doubting that such a thing is possible having seen a daisy chain of Muzzies doing each other on the deck of a ship, but do you have a source for that statement? I'd be interested in knowing how to back that up if I used it in a discussion.
#27
Tell him to rub some bacon grease on his chest as this will allieviate his symptoms. (sorry I know that was wrong) I didn't see this anywhere on NBC or CNN, are the illuminaties covering this or are they too busy taking picturs of OB with his grandma.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana held talks on Thursday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the Middle East peace process and regional issues, highlighting improved ties between them, Syria's official SANA reported. "The European Union strongly supports the peace process and is trying to play a constructive role," Solana said, as quoted by SANA.
Since May, Syria has been engaged in indirect peace talks with Israel under Turkish mediation. SANA quoted Assad as saying Europe's "role in the peace process is important and essential. "Peace guarantees security and stability to the people of the region and this reflects positively on Europe and the world."
Solana's visit to Damascus is his first since March 2007, when his trip signaled a resumption of EU contacts with Damascus frozen after the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri.
Anti-Syrian Lebanese figures blamed Syria for the murder but Damascus has repeatedly denied any involvement. In March 2007, Solana urged Syria, the former powerbroker in Lebanon, to help ease a protracted crisis in Lebanon.
His return to Damascus comes after Syria and Lebanon formally established diplomatic ties on October 15, for the first time since independence 60 years ago.
Solana and Assad also discussed bolstering ties between Syria and the European Union and they agreed "to pursue consultations on regional and international issues," SANA said. "Syrian-European ties continue to make progress," Solana said, according to SANA. He voiced hope that both sides might next year sign an "association" agreement.
The EU has signed such a deal with other Mediterranean countries in a bid to pave the way for the creation of a free trade agreement in 2010.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Lebanese resistance fighter Samir Kuntar says he is more committed than ever to his longtime struggle against the Israeli regime. "As long as there is something called Israel in this region, the resistance must continue ... and I am totally committed to the resistance. I am ready to take part in any resistance mission." Kuntar, 46, told AFP in an interview.
He said he now spends his days mostly in meetings linked to the resistance and is convinced that Israel is preparing a major attack against Lebanon. "They don't realize what we have in store for them. Israel is going to suffer great losses and they will lose for sure. The idea that Israel is an invincible, secure state has become a myth," he noted.
Kuntar claimed that even if Israel withdraws from the contested Shebaa Farms territory in southern Lebanon which was captured in 1967, the Lebanese resistance would continue with its struggle against Israel.
The Lebanese fighter mentioned he was not especially concerned for his safety and realized he could never lead a normal life though he hoped to one day marry and have children. "I guess my message to the Israelis today is that they didn't manage to break me," he concluded.
On July 16, Samir Kuntar and four other Lebanese prisoners tasted freedom and arrived in Lebanon as part of a prisoner swap between Hezbollah and Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Would be nice if the Israelis snuck in some night and this...thing was found the next morning skinned alive and staked out on some Lebanese anthill with his balls in his mouth.
#2
Arab bluster may be using kuntar as a propaganda prop, but it's good to remember what kind of hero he was (and I just don't mean the baby-killing stuff) :
From: Yakov Marks, Maalot,E-Mail: big_yakov@bezeqint.net
(...)As to the truth concerning Samir Kuntar, a Druse, born on July 20, 1962 in Abey, Lebanon, please allow me to relate from first hand experience exactly who "their" brave hero really is. I met the 16.9 year old hate-filled, sexually abused, wild-eyed youth that murdered Dani Harran and his four year old toddler, Einat that night April 22nd, 1979 on the beach in Nahariyah.
(...)When we arrived on the scene, I witnessed first hand how Samir Kuntar viciously murdered Danny and then grabbed Einat by the arm and hair as he used the butt of his rifle to smash her little skull on the rocks.
Once he had surrendered, sniveling after three of his comrades were killed, he was taken into custody along with his comrade, Ahmed AlAbras. AlAbras would later be freed by Israel in the Jibril Agreement of May 1985.
Standing near Kuntar, I saw how from abject fear of retribution he defecated on himself, whimpered, cried and begged. We could have shot him but the officers said, he surrendered, leave him alone. He was pitiful. Later, in order to hide his embarassment, he claimed that since he had been shot he could not have murdered Danny or Einat. I never saw any wound on him.
(...)In the routine pre-relief briefing while reviewing the cases of our prisoners who needed continual treatment, it was recorded in Kuntar's files that during the required pre-imprisonment psychological exam it was found that he had been a sexually abused and beaten child. He voluntarily admitted the information without any force upon him, how his own father had sodomized him and how as a new young recruit he had repeatedly been sodomized by his friends in the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) camp of Rashadiyah, Lebanon, near Tyre before the terrorist attack in 1979. Furthermore, we learned that as a young Lebanese Druse the Palestinians taunted him consistently as they questioned his loyalty to the cause.
Later, while one of the doctors and I were administering treatment to Kuntar, he readily verified this information freely during treatment.
His fair and conscientious medical care was in glaring contrast to how Israeli POWs are treated.
(...)In the prison camps were we served there were cases of murder between rival gangs. Gang rape, brutal sodomy, torture and all forms of physical abuse by their own cellmates were a daily occurrence. Many times when homosexuals were discovered by their cellmates they would be abused and tortured to death, their screams muffled by socks filled with bread dough stuffed brutally down their throats by their torturers. The torturers comitted horrid atrocities against those they felt were spies. The worst was how they would treat young boys, just as they had done to Kuntar.
(...)Years later, during another reserve duty stint I remember seeing the new hero of the Palestinians and Hezbollah. He was overweight, suffering from hyperuricema, diabetes mellitus, dyspnea and severe water retention from his hypertension. Some hero.
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Russian Foreign Ministry has asked the Somali authorities to give Moscow leeway in confronting the growing piracy off the Horn of Africa. "To ensure freedom of action in the fight against piracy directly in Somali territorial waters, the Russian Foreign Ministry has asked for consent from the Somali Republic's Transitional Federal Government to grant the Russian Federation the status of a 'cooperating state," RIA Novosti reported quoting the contents of a ministry statement. 
Somali pirates accounted for nearly a third of all reported attacks on ships, often taking hostages and using high levels of violence, a maritime watchdog said Thursday.
Outside the tan, high-walled house, Shiite militiamen stood guard. Inside, men sat on a red carpet, their backs against a wall adorned with images of Shiite saints, their anger rising with each sentence. Hashim Naseer, a tribal leader, remembered how Iraqi soldiers arrested his brother early this month at a nearby park along with other Shiite fighters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army. 
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana held talks on Thursday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the Middle East peace process and regional issues, highlighting improved ties between them, Syria's official SANA reported. "The European Union strongly supports the peace process and is trying to play a constructive role," Solana said, as quoted by SANA. 
