[Al Arabiya Latest] United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets Somalia's president on Thursday, showing U.S. support for a fragile government which is battling against militants including al-Shabaab insurgents.
Clinton said she would discuss with President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed how the world could help stabilize the Horn of Africa country, which Western security agencies say is a haven for militants plotting attacks in the region and beyond. "We know we're facing a very difficult conflict, and we also know that the presence of al-Shabaab and terrorist elements within Somalia poses a threat," said Clinton, ahead of the meeting, on the sidelines of a U.S.-African trade conference.
"It poses a threat to Kenya, poses a threat to the stability of Africa and beyond. So this is an area where we're going to work even more closely together," she added.
Australia said Thursday it was concerned about Somali youths turning to radical Islam as migrants from the war-torn African nation expressed shock at the unearthing of an alleged suicide plot.
Hundreds of Australian police were involved in dawn raids on Tuesday which they say foiled an attack which was just weeks away and would have been the worst seen in Australia.
Attorney-General Robert McClelland said police were working to stop Somali youths, many of whom grew up in refugee camps and arrived without their families, being lured into extremism.
"The evidence was that a lot of Somali youths come here literally without families they have no support networks around them and no role models," McClelland told public broadcaster ABC.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/07/2009 00:00 ||
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[Maghrebia] The trial of Sudanese journalist Lubna Ahmed Hussein is causing anger and concern among many Tunisians, who fear it marks a rise in religious extremism in the Maghreb.
Students, journalists, and ordinary citizens are expressing alarm over the treatment of Hussein, who faces 40 lashes if convicted of wearing trousers and thereby "offend[ing] public decency" under the Sudanese criminal code. She was arrested on July 3rd at a Khartoum restaurant along with 18 other women after police arrived and checked on their attire.
"There is no doubt that the trial of the journalist, Lubna, is the case of every Arab woman," journalist Manal Abdi told Magharebia in a statement. "The case speaks volumes about the extremists and reactionaries in Sudan who don't respect women's rights or standing."
Continued on Page 49
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08/07/2009 00:00 ||
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* Kyrgyzstan official says main threat from Uzbekistan
* Defends deal for new Russia air base
* Moscow defends deal, rejects criticism
Kyrgyzstan rejected objections from Uzbekistan to the location of a new Russian base near the pair's common border on Wednesday and said the main threat to its security came from the Uzbekistan side.
Moscow also weighed in to defend the base decision, exposing the growing rift with some of its allies by responding to Uzbek criticisms, without naming the country directly in a Foreign Ministry statement.
Ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, which already hosts U.S. and Russian airbases, this month gave the go-ahead for Russia to open a second military base on its territory and has suggested it should be located near its southern border with Uzbekistan.
But Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan's southern neighbour, on Monday attacked the plan, saying the increased Russian military presence would destabilise the region and provoke ethnic conflicts.
"We specifically want the military base to be close to the border," Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Raimkul Attakurov, Kyrgyz ambassador to Moscow, as responding on Wednesday.
"All the evil comes from the direction of that (Uzbekistan) border."
The base had been targeted for use by a rapid deployment force formed by the Russia-led regional security alliance in which both Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan participate.
But Uzbekistan, together with another of Moscow's shakier allies, Belarus, blocked the creation of the force at a summit last week.
The final decision on the new base, due to host a battalion of Russian troops, is to be taken by November.
Moscow said it was intended to become a training base for the regional security body. "It is of a defensive nature and is not directed against any other countries," the Russian Foreign Ministry said on its website www.mid.ru
Uzbekistan aligned itself with Russia in 2005 after the West condemned its handling of a protest in the town of Andizhan where government troops fired on protesters, killing hundreds, according to witnesses.
But it has since drifted away from Moscow while mending ties with the United States. This year, Uzbekistan allowed Washington to ship supplies for Afghan troops through its territory and praised President Barack Obama's address to Muslims.
Both Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have in the past months reported clashes with what they called Islamist militants linked to Afghanistan's Taliban. (Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; additional reporting by Conor Sweeney in Moscow; editing by Patrick Graham)
#2
Uzbekistan aligned itself with Russia in 2005 after the West condemned its handling of a protest in the town of Andizhan where government troops fired on protesters, killing hundreds, according to witnesses.
No country on Russia's borders can align itself with Russia against the West for very long, given that Russia has designs on its territory, and the West doesn't.
[Kyodo: Korea] Former U.S. President Bill Clinton pressed North Korea to work on its abductions of Japanese nationals during his recent visit to Pyongyang that resulted in the release of two U.S. journalists, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said Thursday, based on information he obtained from a senior U.S. government official. Kawamura told a press conference the U.S. official, who Kawamura declined to name, called him in the morning to say that Clinton urged North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to work on the abduction issue and launch a reinvestigation into the kidnapping cases in line with the agreement reached between Tokyo and Pyongyang.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/07/2009 00:00 ||
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CRINTON!
The South Korea government was still reeling Wednesday after former U.S. President Bill Clinton's surprise visit to North Korea. A senior government official said, "The worst-case scenario for us would be to see the repetition of the nightmare of 1994." At the time, the South Korean government was completely left out in the cold as the U.S. and North Korea concluded the Geneva Agreed Framework in the wake of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's visit to Pyongyang.
Under the deal, South Korea had to bear most of the construction costs for a light-water reactor that was to be traded for the North's closure of its plutonium-producing nuclear plant in Yongbyon. "It's important for us to maintain close cooperation with the U.S. to prevent us from being left out in the cold as in 1994," the official added.
But a Unification Ministry official said a repeat of that disaster is unlikely. "At the moment, North Korea is excited with memories of 1994, but it seems most likely that Clinton's visit was a kind of one-point relief pitch aimed at winning the release of the American journalists. We need to watch how Washington and Pyongyang will go ahead with their dialogue," he said.
His rationale was that Carter visited Pyongyang in 1994 expressly to find a solution to the nuclear issue, while Clinton visited to seek the release of the two U.S. reporters who had been sentenced to hard labor for illegally entering the country.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
No, Japanese are the Asians who make the "R" substituted for "L" error. I cringe in embarrassment.
#3
Clintons pulled off a Machiavellian coup. Big O was doing nothing. Clintons saw an opportunity to upstage him and rub his nose in the dirt. Kimmie saw an opportunity in the release of the two wandering journalists to appear reasonable and approachable to the world media. It's a win-win. And the the Big O is on the sidelines, saying, "Huh? What happened?"
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/07/2009 11:08 Comments ||
Top||
#4
No, Japanese are the Asians who make the "R" substituted for "L" error. I cringe in embarrassment.
Lit quiet and has cookie. The elephant is on the freeway.
On Good Morning America (or whichever of those shows I was in the process of taking my morning nap to) Lucy Liu (the actress is apparently the sister of one of the captives) said the ladies had forcefully insisted that Mr. Clinton request their release. Ms. Liu said they were told to say so by their captors. Clearly the North Koreans think this is a major coup.
[Kyodo: Korea] U.S. policy toward North Korea remains unchanged since former President Bill Clinton"s trip to Pyongyang that resulted in the release of two jailed U.S. journalists, the White House said Thursday. Speaking at a news briefing, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Pyongyang needs to abandon its nuclear weapons programs if it wants to forge a new relationship with the international community.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/07/2009 00:00 ||
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A federal judge ordered six North Carolina men accused of plotting holy war to remain in custody on Wednesday but raised scathing questions about the strength of the case federal prosecutors are pushing.
US Magistrate Judge William Webb determined that the defendants were dangerous and may flee if released, noting they had overseas contacts, some past criminal activity and the threat of a life sentence if convicted on the terrorism charges they face.
'Each of these defendants constitute a danger to the community,' Webb said, dealing a blow to some supporters who had hoped some of the men might be released to a family custodian.
While his assessment of the suspects was harsh, the judge also expressed concern about the veracity of the government's case. In presenting evidence, authorities had relied heavily on secret audio recordings and the statements of an unnamed witness.
As prosecutors made their final argument for why the men should remain in custody, Webb lashed out at the government's witness. 'Why is it you believe we should consider the witness as being credible?' he asked.
The prosecutor, Jason Kellhofer, at first argued that there was no reason to consider the witness not credible.
But Webb pressed on. He pointed out the prosecutor's argument that the suspects were sometimes talking in code, with Hysen Sherifi once talking about 'going to the beach.' Prosecutors argued that the 'beach' really meant violent jihad.
Webb balked at the idea that he was supposed to consider 'beach' as the 'functional equivalent of jihad' without knowing why the witness was credible.
The judge's concerns weren't enough to allow any of the men to go free until trial, despite promises from some family members that they could take care of the suspects outside of prison and the arguments from attorneys that the men had strong ties to the community.
The father of Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan said he was disappointed by the decision. 'All the family is disappointed,' Aly Hassan said.
As US marshals led the men away following Webb's ruling, the suspects said in Arabic the same phrase they had uttered in court a day earlier: 'May peace be upon you.'
'May peace be upon you, also,' many audience members murmured in response. Sabrina Boyd, the wife of primary suspect Daniel Boyd, expressed disappointment in a wavering voice. Two of her sons, 20-year-old Zakariya and 22-year-old Dylan, have also been indicted.
'I just want to say that we appreciate the support of the whole community and that we love our families very much,' she said outside the courtroom, shortly after her husband and two children were led away in shackles. 'We're just trying to be patient.'
On the first day of the detention hearing Tuesday, federal authorities played audio tapes of a man they identified as Boyd saying 'I love jihad' and talking about the struggle of Muslims, the honour of martyrdom and his disgust at the US military.
Court records indicate that a seventh suspect, Anes Subasic, 33, was to get a new attorney and a new interpreter, so his detention hearing was delayed until Monday. An eighth man, Jude Kenan Mohammad, is still at large and authorities said Tuesday they last heard he was in Pakistan.
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08/07/2009 00:00 ||
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So far, 447 witnesses have registered their names and will today (Thursday) make statements before the inquiry tribunal responsible for probing the riots in which seven Christians were burnt alive in Gojra.
The proceedings will be carried out in the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Irfan Saeed. The public at large has also been directed to appear and assist the tribunal by giving any material evidence or information to facilitate the tribunal. Separately, the inquiry tribunal judge, Justice Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rehman visited the area in connection with the judicial inquiry. Also on Wednesday, Sheikhupura police arrested six people for their involvement in the burning of a factory and the murder of its owner for alleged blasphemy, a private TV channel reported.
Meanwhile, Sheikhupura District Police Officer Muhammad Tahir told the channel that police had arrested Qasim Mughal, the factory's manager, along with five others for attacking the factory and killing its owner for allegedly desecrating the holy Quran.
Several arrests: He said the culprit had started rumours regarding the factory owner allegedly committing blasphemy and had incited a riot. Earlier, the channel reported that police, on the directions of the regional police officer raided seven villages and arrested more than 50 people suspected of involvement in the killing. However, Khatyala Virkan Union Council Nazim Muqaddas Bukhari told the channel the police had arrested innocent people and would be responsible if the situation worsened.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/07/2009 00:00 ||
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The Fatah party on Thursday blamed Israel for the death of its founder and iconic Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Fatah delegates, at the party's first congress in 20 years, unanimously voted to "attribute to Israel, as an occupying power, full responsibility for the assassination of the martyr Yasser Arafat".
At the time of Arafat's death, the Palestinian officials charged he had been poisoned by Israel. However, an inconclusive investigation by the Palestinians in 2005 ruled out cancer, AIDS or poisoning as a cause for his death.
That report reiterated previous assessments that Arafat's death "resulted from severe haemorrhaging of the brain", but added that Arafat's "clinical state presented several symptoms which could not be explained in the framework of nosology". Israeli Information Minister Yuli Edelstein categorically rejected the accusation.
"The attempt to blame Israel for Arafat's assassination and perpetuate him as a martyr is aimed at justifying the ongoing armed struggle against Israel," he said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
He was poisoned by the aids he contracted and spread to 30 or so little kids.
A delegation of the elders of Mehsud tribe of South Waziristan has arrived in the federal capital in an effort to persuade the government to stop military action against the people of their area. A pity they picked the very day Baitullah Mehsud shot through to the Great Beyond, isn't it?
The 45-member jirga led by Senator Saleh Shah has met several leaders, including JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi and parliamentarians from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. They discussed the situation in Waziristan and the plight of the Mehsuds as a result of the action by security forces. The issue of displaced people was also discussed. Did they, perchance, discuss the plight of innocents and even of various flavors of guilties at the hands of the Baitullah organization?
The jirga opposes military operation in the area, warning that such measures will result in a 'catastrophe'. The delegation's spokesman Salahuddin Mehsud said the elders had informed the parliamentarians of hardships being faced by the people of the tribe. Life's tough. Being Islamic zealots makes it tougher.
This article starring:
MAULANA FAZLUR REHMAN
JUI-F
Posted by: Fred ||
08/07/2009 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] The foreign office on Thursday said information provided by India has not strengthened the case against Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed.
Speaking to reporters in Islamabad, foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit said the documentation provided by India is insufficient to prosecute.
He, however, said the government has its own judicial and legal system which will follow its course to bring the suspected perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to books.
India alleges Hafiz Saaed is the mastermind of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. Relations between India and Pakistan have been severely strained since the attacks and the composite dialogue process has come to a virtual standstill.
The spokesman also said talks between the foreign secretaries of both countries will take place soon.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/07/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed late on Wednesday Washington's refusal to congratulate him on his election victory amid widespread protests by his rivals.
"They said they would recognize the election, but will not congratulate. This means they only want democracy at the service of their interests and don't respect people's vote and rights," Ahmadinejad said in a speech after he was formally sworn in as the president for a second four-year term. "You should know that nobody in Iran awaits your congratulations. Iranians will neither value your scowling and bullying nor smiles and greetings."
The White House on Tuesday acknowledged Ahmadinejad as the "elected" president of Iran, but said it had no plans to congratulate the firebrand leader on his victory.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs stopped short of declaring him the "legitimate" president following the political turmoil unleashed by his disputed reelection in June. "He's the elected leader," Gibbs said.
Asked whether the United States would make any gesture of congratulations after Ahmadinejad took the oath of office, he said: "I don't have any reason to believe that we will send any letters."
The vote, which leading moderates say was rigged to secure Ahmadinejad's re-election, sparked Iran's worst unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The authorities say the vote was "the healthiest" election since the revolution.
Iran's pro-reform leader Mir Hossein Mousavi and fellow defeated moderate candidate Mehdi Karoubi rejected the new government as illegitimate, defying Iran's most powerful figure, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who backed the election result and endorsed Ahmadinejad.
At a ceremony on Monday, Khamenei described Ahmadinejad as "courageous, hardworking and wise."
Leading moderates, including former Presidents Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, were absent from the ceremony and hundreds of Mousavi supporters gathered at several Tehran squares but were dispersed by riot police.
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08/07/2009 00:00 ||
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After speaking to prisoners and sources at the recently shut down Kahrizak prison, the Iranian police force has come to the conclusion that violations of detainee rights along with dereliction of duty have been evident at the notorious detention center.
After being found a "substandard prison", Kahrizak was closed upon the order of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Who has the final say on all matters of the state.
The controversy surrounding Kahrizak, however, prompted an investigation into the conduct of the detention center.
A police statement released to the press on Thursday confirms that serious violations took place at the detention center in southern Tehran following the June 12 presidential vote.
The presidential election, which lead to the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president, was followed by massive protests by supporters of defeated candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi who reject the election as "fraudulent".
Thousands were detained in the aftermath of the vote. Many of them have since been released.
According to the police statement, Kahrizak had been set up as a temporary detention center "for the correction of detained ruffians" and thus created "harsh living conditions".
The statement comes after grim revelations surfaced about the state of the opposition demonstrators in custody -- particularly those who were taken to Kahrizak.
The police statement suggests that the officials involved in the imprisonment of post-vote detainees at Kahrizak erred because living conditions were obviously unsuitable.
"Following investigations and interviewing detainees, the dereliction of duty and breaches by a number of the center's managers, officers and staff has become manifest," reads the statement published by the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA).
"The limited capacity of the detention center and the addition of the July 9 detainees made the wings overcrowded and led to unsuitable living and hygiene conditions [for the detainees] and caused them much suffering," adds the report.
Although the statement does not provide the identities, ranks or numbers of those authorities involved in the issue, it does indicate that punitive measures are under way for those who neglected the detainees and those whose acts amount to "dereliction of duty".
Authorities considered violators will face the Judiciary and will be subjected to "internal disciplining" as well, according to the statement.
Two duty officers were "disciplined for acting autonomously and subjecting detainees to corporal punishment" and two other officers have been sacked and will be further punished for their reluctance to act, the statement confirms.
On the issue of the prison, Iranian police chief Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam said on August 4 that Kahrizak would be reconstructed as a "standard" prison and that its supervision would be relinquished to the pertinent body, the Prisons' Organization.
He further denied rumors about his deputy, Brigadier Ahmad-Reza Radan, personally taking part in beating detainees.
"The published rumors about Brigadier Radan and other responsible officials are false and such acts are inappropriate for commanders of the police force or even several grades below them," Ahmadi-Moqaddam told ILNA.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/07/2009 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The Fatah party on Thursday blamed Israel for the death of its founder and iconic Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
[Dawn] The foreign office on Thursday said information provided by India has not strengthened the case against Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed. 
