(Xinhua) -- Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) said Monday they want an independent UN mediator and chief mediator to be appointed to help shore up the peace talks, saying the current mediators are an obstacle to realization of peace in northern Uganda.
Addressing a news conference in Nairobi, LRA leader of delegation of peace talks David Nyekorach Matsanga said elusive LRA leader Joseph Kony also wants a new venue preferably South Africa and Tanzania to host talks. "LRA wants a new mediator on the level of UN envoy to directly look at the Final Peace Agreement (FPA) that was mediated by Dr. Riek Machar and Government of South Sudan. The LRA are ready to re-engage the Ugandan government but not under the mediation of Machar because Gen. Kony said Dr. Machar has lost moral credibility to mediate in the conflict," Matsanga told journalists in Nairobi.
He said the LRA movement wants the peace process to continue on a neutral ground and not in southern Sudan capital of Juba, saying south Sudan took part in the recent military operation carried outby the Ugandan government. "The GOSS (government of southern Sudan) and SPLA (Sudan People' s Liberation Army) have now shown that they are not neutral in this conflict. They have taken part in destroying the same FPA that Dr. Riek Machar mediated. Kony instructed me to communicate to the world that Machar and south Sudan are enemies of LRA," Matsanga said.
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Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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A Bangladeshi court on Tuesday sentenced to death by hanging three Islamic militants convicted of plotting to kill the British ambassador in a grenade attack four years ago. The British High Commission (embassy) in Dhaka immediately welcomed a resolution in the case but condemned the death sentences.
The three men, along with two others sentenced to life imprisonment, were convicted in a fast-track court in the northeastern city of Sylhet for the blasts, which left at least three people dead and scores wounded. "The judge said the charges against the five have been proved beyond doubt. He sentenced three militants, including Harkat-ul Jihad al Islami (HUJI) leader Mufti Abdul Hannan, to be hanged," police inspector Abdul Ahad Chowdhury said. They were convicted of murder, use of explosives and masterminding the May 2004 attack on Anwar Choudhury, the then British high commissioner in Dhaka.
The assassination attempt came weeks after the Bangladeshi-born diplomat, who moved to Britain as a child, took up his posting. He was making his first visit to his place of birth in Sylhet when he was attacked. Choudhury, who finished his posting this year and is now in Britain, was slightly injured by the grenades. A British High Commission spokesman in Dhaka told AFP the mission welcomed the case being completed but opposed the use of the death penalty.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday urged voters to 'save Islam and the country' by voting for BNP-led four-party alliance nominees in the December 29 parliamentary election.
During her second round of electioneering in Sylhet, the former premier also alleged that a section of the media is misguiding the people by publishing 'false and fictitious information' about BNP and four-party nominees.
"Save the country and Islam by voting for BNP and its alliance, and don't cast your vote for those who defamed the religion," Khaleda Zia said at a large rally on Sylhet Government Alia Madrasa ground in the afternoon.
"You'll end up suffering if you vote for wrong persons. The country will be saved if you vote for BNP-led alliance. On the other hand, the country's independence and sovereignty will be jeopardised if you vote for those who want to sell the country away," said Khaleda. "Sensing huge support for BNP-led alliance a certain quarter is misguiding the people by supplying false and fictitious information to some newspapers," the BNP chief alleged.
Khaleda asked the people to be vigilant against such 'false and fabricated stories'.
Khaleda on December 12 kicked off her party-led electoral alliance's campaign by offering special prayers at three shrines in Sylhet. Yesterday she went to Sylhet again to campaign for four-party nominee M Saifur Rahman in Sylhet-1, who is also a senior leader of BNP.
The four-party chief said, "A conspiracy is on against Bangladesh to turn it into a fundamentalist country."
"If voted to power, we will establish special economic zones in Sylhet, so non-resident Bangladeshis may invest in the country easily, benefiting the country's economy," she pledged.
She also pledged that voting rights of expatriate Bangladeshi's will also be ensured if four-party is voted to power. Addressing voters, especially the young generation of voters, Khaleda said, "You must make the right choice in the upcoming election."
"The country's independence and sovereignty depends on your decision," she added. "You will have to decide whether to cast your vote for setting up a puppet government for serving certain quarters at home and abroad, who had been conspiring against Bangladesh," she warned the voters.
"We did not allow religious extrimism. BNP arrested militant leaders like Shaikh Abdur Rahman and others," she went on. "We are against terrorism. We, the BNP-led government, took stringent measures to root out terrorism from the society," she noted.
"A certain quarter is trying to brand Bangladesh as a failed state," she alleged again.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"A certain quarter is trying to brand Bangladesh as a failed state,"
Perhaps not as 'failed' as some, but work is proceeding toward it.
#2
Until artists realize that mere efforts to offend, politicize, and disgust have been done to death, and that art needs to transcend them, it will be stuck in its derivative rut.
A great start would be to cross train in the natural sciences, where they could at least catch a glimpse of the artistic mastery found in nature, instead of totally relying on their own short and pitiful reflections.
#3
Eldest daughter loves art, but she plans to study it at the community college instead of the university. At the University, one is trained "to make ugly political statements. At the community college, they'll teach me how to paint."
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has asked most Bush administration political appointees except those targeted for dismissal to stay on in the Pentagon until replaced by the Obama administration in the coming months.
"I have received authorization from the president-elect's transition team to extend a number of Department of Defense political appointees an invitation to voluntarily remain in their current positions until replaced," Mr. Gates said in an Dec. 19 e-mail to political appointees. The chance to stay is "available to all willing political appointees with the exception of those who are contacted individually and told otherwise," he stated.
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Posted by: Steve White ||
12/23/2008 17:57 ||
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The Bush administration appears to be using its final weeks to crack down on Iranian business interests in the US, freezing assets of a company suspected of indirectly supporting Teheran's nuclear program and arresting the executive of a related charity.
Farshid Jahedi was arrested on one count of obstructing justice last week after FBI agents allegedly saw him throwing out documents subpoenaed by a grand jury investigating the relationship between the Alavi Foundation and the Assa Corp., with which it co-owns a 36-story office tower on the toniest stretch of Manhattan's Fifth Avenue just north of Rockefeller Center.
That move was the latest under an executive order signed by President George W. Bush in 2005 providing for the seizure of assets belonging to groups or individuals suspected of engaging in or attempting to engage in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The US government claims Assa and its Channel Islands parent company are fronts created by Iran's Bank Melli, which is suspected of providing material support to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Bank Melli was sanctioned by the US government last year on suspicion that it directed at least $100 million to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards branch that supported Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups.
Federal authorities announced a freeze on Assa's US holdings last Wednesday, including the building at 650 Fifth Avenue, originally constructed in the 1970s by Alavi's predecessor organization, the Pahlavi Foundation, which was allegedly directed by the Shah of Iran.
"This scheme to use a front company set up by Bank Melli - a known proliferator - to funnel money from the United States to Iran is yet another example of Iran's duplicity," Stuart Levey, the Treasury Department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a press statement.
The building's construction was financed in part by a loan from Bank Melli, according to the Treasury. Officials claim Bank Melli created Assa to hold its stake in the building, known as the Piaget building, in 1989, after the Alavi Foundation sought to transfer 40 percent of the building's ownership into a partnership to avoid a "substantial" tax payment on rental income.
US Attorney-General Michael Mukasey has recused himself from the investigation because he represented Alavi in a real estate dispute in the early 1980s, while the foundation was known under its previous name.
Alavi has come under repeated scrutiny over the past 20 years for its own suspected ties to the Iranian government, according to court filings its attorney John Winter made in a 2002 case, in which the charity was accused of supporting Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman and the al-Farouq mosque in Brooklyn. Winter called the claim "completely false."
The foundation's Web site says it is devoted to the "promotion and support of Islamic culture and Persian language, literature and civilization" through charitable and philanthropic causes.
The FBI complaint against Jahedi said he was warned not to destroy documents requested by a grand jury. It said he disobeyed the order when he went home to Ardsley, New York, and dumped papers in a public trash can on Thursday. If convicted, Jahedi could face up to 10 years in prison.
(AKI) - A group of independent human rights experts who advise the United Nations have welcomed US President-elect Barack Obama's decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detention centre, stressing it will end "a dark chapter in the country's history."
How do you become a "human rights expert"? I think I've got the human part down, but I'm hazy on the rest of it. Is there some sort of course I could take, like "Recognizing atrocities 101"?
In a statement issued in Geneva on Monday, four experts stated that "the regime applied at Guantanamo Bay neither allowed the guilty to be condemned nor secured that the innocent be released," adding that it also opened the door for serious human rights violations.
Following his election in November, Obama publicly stated his commitment to lead his administration's efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and to strengthen the fight against torture. Both of which are part, he said, of his efforts "to regain America's moral stature in the world."
The experts strongly support his commitment which they said, in addition to restoring the moral stature of the US in the world, "will allow a dark chapter in the country's history to be closed and to advance in the protection of human rights."
Among those adding his name to the statement is the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, Martin Scheinin, who has warned that the US Government's system of military commissions planned for suspects detained at Guantanamo is unlikely to reach international standards on the right to a fair trial.
Not that anyone knows what those standards are, but give Martin, Louise and Carla a couple decades and they'll come up with something ...
In addition to being illegal, the experts said detention was "ineffective in criminal procedure terms," ...
... since it wasn't about criminal procedure in the first place ...
... adding that similar severe abuses also occur at places of secret detention. "Thus, with the same emphasis, the experts urge that all secret detention places be closed and that persons detained therein be given due process."
Unless they bomb the UN ...
The experts stressed that detainees facing criminal charges must be provided fair trials before courts that afford all essential judicial guarantees.
I'd settle for field hearings conducted under Protocols 1 and 2 of the Geneva Conventions ...
"They emphatically reject any proposals that Guantanamo detainees could through new legislation be subjected to administrative detention, as this would only prolong their arbitrary detention," the statement said.
The experts, who function in an independent and unpaid capacity, report to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
Bambi's characteristically naive and irresponsible parroting of the "moral stature" canard is the most outrageous of his slanders against his (vast) betters - those being the uniformed and civilian personnel who have been prosecuting the war against the post-WWII world's most dangerous murderers, all of them operating wholly and definitionally outside the rule of law and the law of armed conflict.
It is still stunning to imagine that such an ignorant and inexperienced empty suit will be chief executive of the US. Talk about damaging our stature.
I know most probably regard such verbiage about our allegedly damaged "stature" as throwaway rhetoric, but it's boiled my blood every time I've seen it.
There's no "dark chapter" for the US - but there is for the UN, most of Europe, the ICRC, and everyone else who decided that shredding the Geneva Conventions, as opposed to observing them, was worth it to make life more difficult for the planetary adult (the US).
Holding steady as one of the greatest failures of the current administration - calling the bluff of the "world community" and aggressively countering the slanders and distortions about our appropriate use of unique measures for a unique situation not adequately covered by existing law or procedure. Part of this failure -failing to convene another session of the Geneva Conventions to address the GWOT.
#9
Ya, Ya, close Gitmo. The dark chapter is closed, bla bla bla. Next stop for them will be the supermax prison. At that place they will be praying to go back to Gitmo! So from my perspective go ahead and close Gitmo, It's all good!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/23/2008 13:40 Comments ||
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#10
"to regain America's moral stature in the world."
Via the good folks at Long War Journal
The Islamic fundamentalists who run the Markaz-e-Taiba complex near Lahore like to boast that it was inspired by Aitchison College, Pakistan's poshest private school. It is, as they describe it, the Eton of Wahhabi Islam, complete with polo ponies and a swimming pool.
Yet when it comes to their links to Pakistan's intelligence service and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the militant group blamed for last month's attacks in Mumbai, they seem to suffer from collective amnesia. “We've never had any connection to either,” Mohammed Abbas, the administrator of the complex, told The Times.
But it was here, in April 2001, that Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, LeT's leader at the time, called a meeting of his supporters in the 75-acre complex of red-brick buildings and neat lawns. Most of the visitors wore the obligatory long beards, but among them was an elderly man with no beard, only a thin, military-style moustache.
General Gul, 72, was the ISI chief from 1987-89 and had long since retired by 2001. Since the attacks in Mumbai, however, such meetings have added weight to India's assertion that Pakistani intelligence has close ties to LeT and other militant groups involved in attacks on Indian soil. Rest at link
Posted by: ed ||
12/23/2008 08:07 ||
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#1
The Markaz, inspired by Azzam and paid for by Osama Bin Laden. Bin Laden attended annual meetings held there until he moved to the Sudan. He then would send an annual message to the conclave, and apparently did so even after moving to Afghanistan in 1996. It has long been known as a LeT training site, supported by ISI, and everyone in Pakistan and in international intel organizations knows it.
#3
I thought as recently as a year ago that it would be necessary to take Saudi Arabia down to defeat terrorism. I now categorize them (mentally, at least) as a separate problem.
The Paks are a problem in and of themselves. The country's not shaped by bin Laden. He's merely found a congenial home there.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 13:04 Comments ||
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#4
The collective inferiority complex that is "Pakistan" makes them a very dangerous entity. They lie out of reflex. They see threats at every turn. They are, in clinical terms, nuts. Apply the needle.
#5
And they've established tribal homelands in Leeds and Birmingham. The UK has announced they need to import 5,000 additional halal butchers from "Asia" to meet the demand...
ISLAMABAD: Hunted by the US and NATO forces for committing acts of terror in Afghanistan, the Taliban said they would back the Pakistan Army by deploying hundreds of suicide bombers in case of any military action with India.
Claiming that "thousands of our well-armed militants are ready to fight alongside the army if any war is imposed on Pakistan," chief of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud, told The News daily by phone from an undisclosed location.
Hundreds of would-be bombers had been "given suicide jackets and explosive-laden vehicles for protection of the border in case of any aggression by the Indian forces", he said.
He's too valuable to the cause to wear a suicide jacket himself, of course ...
"The time had come, to wage a real jihad that the Taliban had been waiting for," Mehsud, for whom the Pakistani and US forces are on the look out claimed. "We know very well that the visible and invisible enemies of the country have been planning to weaken this lone Islamic nuclear power. But the mujahideen will foil all such nefarious designs of our enemies," he said.
This is for the first time Mehsud has admitted that Taliban has marshalled thousands of fighters close to the Afghan-Pak border and where Pakistani army has launched a major operation to flush them out. Mehsud said people might question how the Taliban would fight alongside the Pakistan Army when the militants had been fighting the force for a long time.
This article starring:
Baitullah Mehsud
Posted by: john frum ||
12/23/2008 08:07 ||
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#1
Big surprise here.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
12/23/2008 8:15 Comments ||
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#2
The expeditionary force of the Paki army.
Posted by: ed ||
12/23/2008 8:24 Comments ||
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#8
India's the main enemy. The Paks (Qazi and Hafiz Saeed are exemplars) intend to break it up into its component parts and rule it, pretending to be conquerors like the Mughals were.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 13:15 Comments ||
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#9
This map was created by Choudary Rahmat Ali, M.A., L.L.B., Barrister-at-Law.
It was Mr. Rahmat Ali, esq, who coined the name Pakistan.
link Rehmat Ali's concept of Pakistan was nebulous, impractical and fantasy-ridden. It was to include the entire northwest of India, Kashmir, the Kathiawar peninsula, Kutch, and several enclaves deep within UP, including Delhi and Lucknow. There were to be two independent Muslim states besides Pakistan: Bangistan comprising Bengal and Assam in the east and Osmanistan in the south. These two were to form a federation with Pakistan. The 243 principalities or Rajwaras were to be divided among caste Hindus and "others" and then herded together in a ghetto called Hanoodia. As for the Sikhs, they were to be pushed into an enclave called Sikhia. Other races and religions were to inhabit an encampment by the name of Hanadika. Every non-Muslim was to remain subservient to the master race he called "The Paks". And yes, the subcontinent was to be renamed Dinia. He did not say how he was going to bring all that about.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/23/2008 13:35 Comments ||
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Harsh and threatening statements from Indian leaders are damaging the political atmosphere in South Asia and threatening regional peace, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Monday. He was talking to Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani in a meeting at the President's House. Zardari said the government was keeping a close watch on the political developments and the tone of the statements from the Indian political leadership, Online reported. The two leaders agreed during the hour-long meeting that the army, security agencies, political leaders and the people were united in facing any possible aggression against Pakistan. Kayani briefed the president on the military's defence preparations and said the armed forces were ready to make sacrifices for their country. Zardari expressed satisfaction with the preparations and assured the army chief the government would provide the army with all the resources it required.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The scariest thing is that he's totally sincere---the idea that Pakiland bears any responsibility whatsoever for terrorists operating from it, is simply not in his (or any other "moderate" Mohammedan's) mental horizons.
A five-member delegation of Interpol is arriving in Islamabad today amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan. The delegation is scheduled to meet Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik. On Monday, the delegation met India authorities in Mumbai to collect information on the gunman arrested after the Mumbai attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Global efforts to dismantle the 'terrorist infrastructure' in Pakistan are insufficient and India is therefore prepared to act alone, Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said.
He was talking to Indian envoys during a two-day conference that began on Monday. India has summoned all its high commissioners and heads of foreign missions for the conference.
"We need effective steps not only to bring those responsible for the Mumbai attacks to justice, but also to ensure that such acts of terrorism do not recur," Mukherjee said. "While we continue to persuade the international community and Pakistan, we are also clear that ultimately it is we who have to deal with this problem. We will take all measures necessary as we deem fit to deal with the situation."
He said the 'terrorist infrastructure' in Pakistan was a threat to the civilised world, and accused Islamabad of "using terrorism as an instrument of state policy" and "displaying its past tendency to resort to a policy of denial".
Later, Mukherjee told reporters India had not ruled out any options to make Islamabad "fulfil its commitment to end terrorism". Asked if he meant India would take military action, he said: "Asking questions about military action does not serve my interest or your interest... If you ask about a military conflict, nobody will say about it in the media. There is a particular situation. We have kept our options open."
Meanwhile, the Indian Ministry for External Affairs also registered a protest with the United Nations for a statement by its Sanctions Committee chief Richard Barrett, who said Pakistan is doing enough to rein in terrorist groups.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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India will resort to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the arrest of Maulana Masud Azhar, a private TV channel quoted Indian media as saying on Monday. According to the channel, it would be difficult for Pakistan to ignore the ICC after India approaches the court.
Meanwhile, a five-member Interpol delegation met the Mumbai police commissioner on Monday and sought details about Ajmal Kasab, the only surviving Mumbai attacker. According to the channel, the Interpol delegation will arrive in Pakistan on Tuesday (today).
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Ilyas Bilour on Monday said he feared the birth of another East Pakistan if the government did not control the situation on the country's western border.
Talking on a point of order in the Senate, he said the security situation in Peshawar and its surroundings did not allow residents to stay there any longer, as no one was safe from the Taliban, particularly those coming from southern Punjab.
He questioned the government's seriousness about the issue and asked if it wanted to cut off Swat from the rest of the country. "For God's sake, find a way out. God forbid it seems that another East Pakistan is in the making," he said. Bilour said the NWFP government had formally requested the federal government to stop the military operations, as use of force did not win the people's trust.
Senator Abdur Rahim Mandokhel also expressed similar concerns, saying the government had no writ in Swat and seconded Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif's statement that the country was turning into a failed state. Senator Aneesa Zeb, on a point of order, said Parliamentary National Security Special Committee Chairman Raza Rabbani should take a note of the terrorist activities around Peshawar, particularly attacks on schools. Senator Pari Gul Agha said the people affected by the Balochistan earthquake were facing difficulties due to cold weather and load shedding of gas and electricity. She proposed container-houses should be provided for the victims' shelter in winter.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I got news for you Nawaz Sharif... its been a failed state for a long long time.
Federal Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar has said that nuclear weapons will not be used in case of a war between India and Pakistan. Talking to reporters after a visit to ailing Pakistan People's Party leader Haji Azizur Rehman Chan who is admitted in a local hospital, Mukhtar said the armed forces of Pakistan had all the potential to defend the country if India tried to thrust war upon it. The defence minister said the Indians would never want a war with Pakistan because it might become nuclear, which would be detrimental to both sides. He said Sonia Gandhi's statement relating to war with Pakistan was nothing but an election stunt. Responding to a question, Mukhtar said there was no pressure on Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to resign, adding the premier would not be changed so long as the current government continued.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
let's see now.
1 Pakistn always lies, so ther announcement not to use Nukes is actualy an announcement they WILL use Nukes.
NOTE would NOT post under IE, system froze and would not allow any posting.
Trying now with Opera.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/23/2008 17:38 Comments ||
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(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - Pakistan's air force was on high alert on Monday as relations with India appeared to deteriorate further after the Mumbai terror attacks. Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced that the peace process between the two countries was on hold and that all options were "open" if Pakistan did not take action against militants linked to the attacks.
As US Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was in Pakistan to discuss regional security and the fight against terrorism, sources said fighter aircraft were conducting surveillance to protect strategic locations in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore, ahead of a possible Indian air strike.
Amid reports that India had deployed troops on the Pakistani border and increased security, Mukherjee (photo) accused Islamabad of "shifting the blame" for the deadly bomb attacks on two Mumbai hotels which killed 173 people.
The Lahore offices of militant group Jamaat-ud-Dawa, formerly Lashkar-e-Toiba, and its headquarters in Mureedkey near Lahore are considered to be a prime target, as well as suspected base camps of Kashmiri militants in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
India has blamed a Lashkar-e-Toiba affiliate for the Mumbai attacks, which began on 26 November and ended three days later.
"Indian aircraft violated Pakistan's territory in the recent past as well and it was clear that they wanted to test Pakistan's nerves," a senior strategic expert, Retired Lt. General Kamal Mateenuddin told Adnkronos International (AKI). "Pakistan Air Force aircraft forced them to return. The tone of the Indian leadership once again rings alarm bells that Indian could try for a surgical strike inside Pakistan."
However, Pakistan's Minister of Defence Ahmad Mukhtar disagreed. "Forget that India and Pakistan will engage in any battle. We are exploring ways to diffuse the tension and the tension will definitely be diffused," he told journalists in Islamabad. "Both countries are cognizant of the fact that war is no solution and the issues can only be resolved through dialogue."
Former Pakistani Ambassador Shahid Amin told Adnkronos International (AKI) that Pakistan had to accept international pressure to clamp down on militants. "This situation is about to press Pakistan so that the country accept the terms," Shahid Amin said. "India and western countries are together in this demand and even our most trusted friend China is also willing to crack down against the militants. I don't think that war will be the outcome of this situation."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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India's Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee says terrorists based in Pakistan are 'the biggest threat to the world's stability and security'. "This terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan is the greatest terrorist danger to the peace and security of the entire civilized world," Mukherjee said on Monday.
Mukherjee was addressing the gathering of Indian ambassadors and heads of 120 missions from across the world in New Delhi. The foreign minister said the international community had not done enough to exert pressure on Pakistan, which denies any involvement in the Mumbai terror spree that killed around 170 people.
"We continue to persuade the international community and Pakistan, we are also clear that ultimately, it is we who have to deal with this problem. We will take all measures necessary as we deem fit to deal with the situation," he said. "We expect the civilian government of Pakistan to take effective steps to deal with elements within Pakistan who still continue the use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy," he noted.
Mukherjee's statement is the latest in a series of strongly worded diplomatic warnings from India. US, Indian and British officials claim to have clear evidence suggesting that the attacks on India originated in terrorist training camps inside Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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India has not shared with Pakistan any evidence or information regarding the involvement of Pakistan-based elements in last month's Mumbai terrorist attacks, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Monday. "Pakistan has so far not received any information or evidence relating to the Mumbai incident from India," a statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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The Washington Post on Monday urged Pakistani civilian leaders to face up to their country's responsibility for the Mumbai attacks.
In a hard-hitting editorial, the newspaper pointed out that by now, "the evidence that the terrorist assault on Mumbai was planned and directed from Pakistan is overwhelming." The lone surviving attacker, a Pakistani national, has signed a statement describing how he was recruited and trained by the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba group. Intelligence officials say cell phone intercepts show that the attackers were communicating with Lashkar commanders in Pakistan during the attacks. During a visit to Islamabad, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke for the West when he openly blamed Lashkar-e-Tayyaba for the siege and added that "the time has come for action, and not words," from Pakistan.
The Post said, "Stunningly, however, Pakistan's civilian government is refusing to acknowledge the truth. In an interview with the BBC last week, President Asif Ali Zardari claimed that there is still no proof that the attackers came from his country.
Several days earlier, he told Lally Weymouth of Newsweek and ThePost that 'I don't have any specific information' showing that the terrorists were trained in Pakistan.
Under heavy pressure from the Bush administration, Mr Zardari's government has placed the leader of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba under a loose 'house arrest' and rounded up several dozen of its militants, including the man India has identified as the chief planner of the attacks. This unconvincing sweep looks bad in the light of history: After a Lashkar-sponsored assault on India's Parliament in 2002, the government arrested many of the same people and formally banned the group. Later the suspects were quietly released, and the organisation re-emerged under the name Jamaatud Dawa."
The Post said apologists for President Zardari's civilian and democratically elected government point out that his "bluster probably covers his lack of authority to crack down on Lashkar-e-Tayyaba or its allies in Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency." Since he replaced Pervez Musharraf, "a master of duplicitous dealings with Washington," the army has stepped up attacks on Taliban militants in provinces bordering Afghanistan, the newspaper charged. "The sponsors of the Mumbai attack no doubt wanted to undermine that campaign as well as steps toward peace by Pakistan and India. Yet, if the war on terrorism is to be won, the excuses for Pakistan must end. The incoming administration should quickly act on President-elect Barack Obama's promises to condition aid, especially to the Pakistani military, on fundamental reforms. Officers who support the Taliban or groups such as Lashkar-e-Tayyaba as a check on India must be purged, once and for all. Mr. Zardari and other civilian leaders should receive strong US support only if they clearly ally themselves with this agenda. The first step is relatively simple: to stop denying the truth," the editorial concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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India has given proof of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba's (LT) involvement in last month's Mumbai terrorist attacks to Pakistan and Islamabad must now take action, acting Indian high commissioner Manpreet Vohra said on Monday. Talking to reporters after a seminar, he said November 26 was a 'black day' for India, saying New Delhi had also suffered a huge economic setback because of the Mumbai carnage. India had 'substantial evidence' of the involvement of Pakistani elements including the LT in the attacks, Vohra said, but also added that India wanted peaceful and cordial ties with Pakistan. "We don't want war with Pakistan, because war will put the future of both the countries at stake," he said. Vohra said India condemned terrorism no matter where it occurred -- "India, Pakistan or anywhere else in the world" -- and urged the Pakistani government to take note of "anti-state elements" disrupting peacez. To a question, he said India hoped to revive trade ties with Pakistan and possibly sign a Free Trade Agreement, but "at the moment we are not sure about it".
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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The Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at US President George W. Bush has been severely tortured, one of his brothers says.
Uday made the remark on Monday after he visited his brother, Muntadhar al-Zaidi, in prison for the first time on Sunday. "He has been hit with iron rods and cables," Uday told AFP. "There is very severe bleeding in his eye, and he has bruises on his feet and nose, and he was also tortured with electric shocks," he added.
Should have been ventilated by the US Secret Service ...
Last week, al-Zaidi, a correspondent for the al-Baghdadiya TV channel, threw his shoes at President Bush during a press conference in Baghdad. The reporter was arrested and frogmarched out of the building by security officials.
Uday also said that his brother was forced to sign a statement confessing to receiving money from different groups and saying that he did not throw his shoes for the honor of Iraq.
Meanwhile, the White House shrugged off the torture reports of the Iraqi journalist in prison. "He's in the hands of the Iraqi system. I don't have anything more on the shoe-thrower," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto.
When asked if the White House was concerned about reports that the Iraqi journalist showed signs of having been tortured, the spokesman said, "I think that's been explored extensively and I have nothing new for you."
This is while Iraqi investigating judge Dhiya al-Kenani rejected the torture allegations and said 'the investigation phase is over'.
Al-Zaidi is expected to face trial on Wednesday, Dec. 31, after he failed to appear for a hearing in court last Wednesday. Reports say that his absence in court was due to severe beatings.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
When asked if the White House was concerned about reports that the Iraqi journalist showed signs of having been tortured, the spokesman said, "I think that's been explored extensively and I have nothing new for you."
The Iraqi journalist thrust to instant fame when he threw his shoes at US President George W. Bush will go on trial this month on charges that carry up to 15 years in jail, a judge said on Monday. Investigating Judge Dhiya al-Kenani rejected new allegations by the journalist's family that he had been tortured in custody.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: The Paris Club of creditor nations said Monday it has canceled a final $7.8 billion of Iraqi debt dating from the Saddam Hussein era. "The sum is the final tranche waived under a four-year-old agreement to reduce Iraqi debts to the group by 80 percent," the Paris Club said in a statement received by Aswat al-Iraq.
The sum represents 20 percent of the debt to the Paris Club of 19 member nations and follows a 60 percent cut in 2004 and 2005, the club said in the statement. "The remaining 20 percent, also $7.8 billion, was not covered by the agreement," it added.
The Paris Club said its decision followed the completion last week of a review by the International Monetary Fund of Iraq's economic reforms and its 2009 budget. The group agreed in 2004 to write off some $32 billion of Iraq's Saddam Hussein-era debt, which once totaled $125 billion including debt owed to non-Paris Club members.
The Paris Club describes itself as an informal group of official creditors.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Since the lefties are so internationalist, you wonder why they've never sponsored a convention that repudiates debts extended to dictators at the expense of their countries citizens [other than most of the dictators are the love child of lefties].
Aswat al-Iraq: MP from the Kurdistan Alliance called on Parliament's Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani to resign, threatening that his bloc will agree with the suggestion to sack him if presented in the Parliament. "The Kurdistan Alliance believes that al-Mashhadani became incapable of heading the Parliament because he does not have the necessary leadership skills," Mahmoud Othman told Aswat al-Iraq. "We will vote to sack him if he does not resign," he asserted.
On Wednesday, a heated debate erupted between Mashhadani and members of parliamentary committees over the issue of Iraqi Journalist Muntadhar al-Zaydi, who threw a pair of shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush at a Baghdad-based press conference last week. Mashhadani threatened to resign from the Parliament, while some blocs said they would boycott parliamentary sessions if he retained his post as speaker.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: The head of the Supreme Criminal Court said on Monday that Judge Mohamed al-Urabi will start looking into the case regarding religious parties on December 29. "The Criminal Court set December 29 to start looking into the case regarding religious parties," Judge Aaref Shahin told Aswat al-Iraq, noting that Judge Mohamed Ureibi al-Khaliefa will take over the case. "The case regarding executing so many people of al-Barazaniyeen tribe arrived to the court and Judge Ra'oof Shahin will set a date for it," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for the first time, seeking Russian support to keep the shaky Middle East peace process on track. Abbas' visit to Moscow came against a backdrop of resurgent unrest in Gaza, with Israel threatening a major offensive against Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the enclave.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Good. Let the american russophobia assert itself.
Hamas threatened on Monday to resume suicide attacks if Israel launches an offensive on its Gaza stronghold, as the Jewish state kicked off a diplomatic campaign to win support for any military action. "It is our right as an occupied people to defend ourselves from the occupation by all means possible including suicide attacks," Ayman Taha, a Hamas leader, told AFP.
The warning came as Israel kicked off a campaign to muster international support for any major military offensive to try to halt rocket fire from the impoverished Palestinian territory. Tensions have mounted since the expiry on Friday of a six-month truce in and around Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
UN: In a letter to UN chief Ban Ki-moon, Israel's envoy to the United Nations Gabriela Shalev said the government would respond to continuing rocket fire, foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, leader of the main governing Kadima party, has ordered Israeli ambassadors around the world to emphasise that Israel "will not hesitate to react militarily if necessary" to protect its citizens. She is also due to meet foreign ambassadors to Israel and speak with her counterparts abroad.
"The world must understand that the situation in southern Israel is intolerable for hundreds of thousands of citizens exposed to rocket fire," Palmor said. "We cannot remain with our arms crossed. Either the international community intervenes or we will have to act," he told AFP.
The public relations effort came a day after Israel threatened a major offensive against the impoverished territory that has been ruled by Hamas since June last year. Violence around the enclave has steadily escalated since Friday, when Hamas said it would not renew a six-month truce with Israel, which came into effect after months of Egyptian mediation. Since then, the army has carried out several air strikes, killing one militant and wounding several Palestinians, and militants have launched several dozen rockets into the Jewish state, wounding a handful of people.
Despite the bellicose rhetoric, observers say the Israeli government is wary of launching a major offensive less than two months before the general election for fear it would not be able to score a decisive victory against Hamas. "The politicians aren't in any rush to reach election day with an incomplete military operation and only partial results hanging around their necks," wrote military analyst Alex Fishman in top-selling daily Yediot Aharonot on Sunday. "And worse than that, to be accused of having ordered a military operation just to improve their chances at the ballot box," he said.
A senior Hamas group official said on Monday Palestinian armed groups in Gaza were observing a 24-hour halt to rocket fire against Israel at the request of Egyptian mediators. Ayman Taha said the brief ceasefire went into effect on Sunday evening. He said Hamas might consider a longer truce if Israel were to reciprocate by ceasing all military attacks in Gaza and lifting an embargo on the impoverished territory. "Hamas and other factions agreed in order to give a chance to the Egyptian mediation and to show that the problem was always on the Israeli side," Taha told Reuters. An Israeli military spokesman said that, as of Sunday evening, Palestinians in Gaza had fired at least one rocket and four mortar bombs across the border.
New truce: A member of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's security cabinet, meanwhile, questioned the long-term efficacy of any major military sweep of the crowded and impoverished coastal strip, and said renewing the truce could be an option. "The calm is, of course, one alternative, and it is an alternative that can be seriously examined," Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog told Israel Radio. "I, like many of my colleagues, am ready to consider continuing the calm, on terms that are comfortable for Israel."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
You Hamaas, FU and Die. Bless the IDF.
you are petty fools funded by stupid petty arab nations and when I am through with those, you will not have a shekel to your name. This all is over. And over NOW.
I told you you were overstepping.
All you moslems are. Take your allah to your grave.
Palestinian armed factions in the Gaza Strip are observing a 24-hour halt to rocket fire against Israel at the request of Egyptian mediators, a senior official of the ruling Islamist Hamas group said on Monday. Ayman Taha said the brief ceasefire went into effect on Sunday evening. He said Hamas might consider a longer truce if Israel were to reciprocate by ceasing all military attacks in Gaza and lifting an embargo on the impoverished territory.
A six-month Egyptian-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas expired on Friday with exchanges of fire across the border raising fears of a wider conflict. "Hamas and other factions agreed in order to give a chance to the Egyptian mediation and to show that the problem was always on the Israeli side," Taha told Reuters. "If a new (truce) offer were made, which met our demands, then we would be willing to study it."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Is there any advantage to Israel to continue having these endless, phoney cease fires? If not, refuse to participate.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/23/2008 8:10 Comments ||
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It's a short-term benefit leading to a long-term detriment.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 9:00 Comments ||
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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Monday that his country would eventually embark on direct peace talks with Israel, but they must be based on U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The comments by Bashar al-Assad reflect a softer stance of the Syrian leader, who only recently rebuked Israel by claiming the Jewish state is not genuine in its professed desire for peace with its Arab neighbors.
"Peace cannot be achieved through indirect negotiations alone. But if indirect talks succeed then direct negotiations will also, and peace will come naturally," Assad told a news conference with visiting Croatian President Stipe Mesic.
He compared the peace process to the construction of a building, and said Syria and Israel are "now laying the foundations" for peace through the Turkey-mediated indirect talks. "We should first lay solid foundations and then construct the building, and not vice versa," he said and added: "If the bases are successful, then direct negotiations will be successful."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
How about direct FAE hit on your palace, pencilneck?
Russia on Monday denied that it was delivering sophisticated S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Iran, following reports it was about to supply the weapons to the U.S. arch-foe.
"The information on the delivery of S-300 air-defense systems to Iran, which has appeared in certain media outlets, does not correspond to reality," Russia's military-technical cooperation agency said in a statement.
Any arms sales to Iran would be carried out "abiding by all international obligations," the agency added.
There have been contradictory reports about whether Russia was to supply S-300s which Iran could use to defend against an airstrike on its nuclear facilities.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
So RUSSIA is trying hard NOT to say the IRANIAN MINISTER LIED???
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.
A Bangladeshi court on Tuesday sentenced to death by hanging three Islamic militants convicted of plotting to kill the British ambassador in a grenade attack four years ago. The British High Commission (embassy) in Dhaka immediately welcomed a resolution in the case but condemned the death sentences.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday urged voters to 'save Islam and the country' by voting for BNP-led four-party alliance nominees in the December 29 parliamentary election. 
Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Ilyas Bilour on Monday said he feared the birth of another East Pakistan if the government did not control the situation on the country's western border.
Palestinian armed factions in the Gaza Strip are observing a 24-hour halt to rocket fire against Israel at the request of Egyptian mediators, a senior official of the ruling Islamist Hamas group said on Monday. Ayman Taha said the brief ceasefire went into effect on Sunday evening. He said Hamas might consider a longer truce if Israel were to reciprocate by ceasing all military attacks in Gaza and lifting an embargo on the impoverished territory. 
