[Dawn] Civilian casualties in the Afghan war rose significantly last year over 2008, to 2,412, the United Nations said Wednesday, with the vast majority of the deaths caused by Taliban attacks.
The UN's Mission for Afghanistan (Unama) reported a 14 per cent rise in civilian deaths in 2009, up from 2,118 a year earlier.
The rise makes 2009 the deadliest year for Afghans since the war began soon after the Taliban regime was overthrown in a US-led invasion in late 2001.
"The intensification and spread of the armed conflict in Afghanistan continued to take a heavy toll on civilians throughout 2009," the report said.
As the insurgency has escalated and spread from the southern provinces where it began, 2009 was also the deadliest for foreign forces fighting the Taliban, with 520 troop deaths, up from 295 for the year before.
The UN report said 70 per cent of last year's civilian deaths, or 1,681, were in insurgent attacks, while pro-government forces including Nato and US troops were responsible for 25 per cent, or 596 civilian deaths last year.
Another 135 civilians were killed in violence un-attributable to the conflicting parties, it said.
"2009 was the worst year in recent times for civilians affected by the armed conflict," the report said, adding: "Unama HR (human rights) recorded the highest number of civilian casualties since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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vast majority of the deaths caused by Taliban attacks.
down the MSM memory hole in 5...4...
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/14/2010 19:04 Comments ||
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A new anti-terrorism law passed by the Mauritanian Parliament on January 5th is drawing fire from opposition lawmakers and citizens worried about sweeping government powers.
The impetus for the new law was the kidnapping of three Spanish aid workers in November and an Italian couple in December. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for both abductions.
The law gives police the power to tap private phone calls, search homes at any time and detain suspects without trial for more than four years. It also gives police reports a legal and non-challengeable status, which worries critics who claim that the police extract confessions through torture.
"The goal of the law is to put an end to the phenomenon of terrorism, which has recently affected us," said majority MP Sidi Mohamed Ould Mehem. He said neighbouring countries all had their own anti-terrorism laws, and that it was time Mauritania had its own to preserve its security.
"The new law will allow Mauritanian security agencies to exchange information with other countries," said Defence Minister Hamadi Ould Hamadi.
Children may also be tried for terrorism under the new law, while those who collaborate with investigators can be given immunity to criminal charges. The law also states that the prosecutor-general may confiscate all property owned by individuals accused of terrorism.
"Suspects in terrorism-related cases violate the freedom and security of others, and therefore, the freedom of those suspects must be restricted because they pose a danger to society and its well-being," said MP Mohamed Ould Bebane, speaking in support of the law.
Opposition MPs have reservations about increasing the government's power over Mauritanian citizens in the ways the law authorises.
"The regime's approval of this law will enhance dictatorship and oppression more than it serves the anti-terrorism experts," said opposition leader and Rally of Democratic Forces head Ahmed Ould Deddah at a press conference on January 4th.
"The new legislation opens the door for terrorising citizens, not just by tapping their phone calls, but also by conducting house searches at any time without legal grounds," he said.
The president of the Union of Progress Forces Party, Mohamed Ould Mowloud, also has reservations about the new law.
"The new law is not aimed at patching up the holes in anti-terrorism legislation," he said. "Rather, it will open the door for what we call 'state terrorism' that violates the basic elements of democracy."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] A senior US senator says Washington should consider using drones to launch airstrikes against what he calls "al-Qaeda extremists" in Yemen.
Can we call them "The Hand of Allah" or "Allah's finger"? Pretty please with sugar on top?
Senator Carl Levin, the Democratic lawmaker from Michigan said on Wednesday airstrikes, clandestine actions, and increasing US military aid to Yemen are among options that should be considered in dealing with the "threat from al-Qaeda militants" in the country.
"It's everything from physical actions that could be accomplished in terms of use of drones or air attacks, it could be clandestine actions," said the senator.
Levin, a top Senate ally of US President Barack Obama, said "if we really had high-value targets" then Washington would regard it as its right under international law to "unilaterally go after that target," AFP reported.
He, however, said any airstrikes in Yemen would need to be done with either the support or endorsement of the Yemeni government.
Both the US and Yemen claims that several hundred "al-Qaeda" fighters are operating in the country.
The US has recently launched air raids against several targets in the country. While Washington claims that the attacks were aimed at pounding al-Qaeda hideouts in the country, local sources say the victims of the air raids were civilians.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
ION DAILY TIMES.PK > YEMENI CLERICS THREATEN JIHAD AGZ FOREIGN INTERVENTION [150 Clerics = COuncil of Clerics], warning that Jihad will become "obligatory" under ISLAM iff Non-Muslims = foreign milfors physically occupy Muslim Yemeni territory.
North Korea on Wednesday called on the South to punish activists who masterminded the floating of propaganda leaflets across the border. The official [North] Korean Central News Agency quoted the chief delegate to inter-Korean working-level military talks as demanding in a telephone message that Seoul immediately disband conservative organizations engaged in sending leaflets and punish their leaders.
He said, "The 'people's coalition for sending leaflets to the North,' a federation of far right conservative groups, created another round of commotion by sending hundreds of thousands of propaganda leaflets to our side from the Imjingak Pavilion" in Paju, Gyeonggi Province on Jan. 1 in an "anticommunist frenzy."
The North "will never tolerate the slightest acts undermining our leadership's absolute authority and the socialist fatherland's dignity, no matter how precious and urgent the improvement of North-South Korean relations is," the message said.
The North "must take a serious look at the provocative leaflet dissemination... instigated by South Korean authorities, which are leading inter-Korean relations to a confrontation behind our back while calling for dialogue and improvement of ties to our face," it added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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Ha, ha Kimmie. Next time, the leaflets will be printed on the back of sheaves of your worthless currency.
The U.S. is unlikely to allow South Korea to reprocess spent nuclear fuel that is piling up in secure storage facilities until a satisfactory solution to the North Korean nuclear problem is found, a report said this week. The matter is a key issue in negotiations between Seoul and Washington on the revision of the Korea-U.S. Atomic Energy Agreement, which expires in 2014.
Fred McGoldrick, a former chief U.S. representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, published the report on prospects for Seoul-Washington negotiations about nuclear energy at the request of the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy of the Asia Foundation in the U.S. "It is difficult to imagine that the United States would agree to South Korean pyroprocessing until the North Korean nuclear issue reaches a satisfactory resolution," he wrote.
However, "if the North Korean problem were to be satisfactorily resolved, the U.S. might be prepared to agree to some form of pyroprocessing under strict nonproliferation conditions," he added.
Pyroprocessing is a new technology of eletrolyzing spent nuclear fuel rods and extracting uranium and plutonium that can be reused as fuel. It is being developed under South Korea's initiative.
Seoul maintains that pyroprocessing is necessary recycling because there is no chance of the technology being diverted for use in developing nuclear weapons. It does not produce high-purity plutonium immediately usable in nuclear arms.
"Most likely to complicate the negotiation" of a new agreement "is the implementation of a U.S. right to consent to South Korea's reprocessing of used nuclear fuel from its nuclear program," the report said. "The U.S. could agree in principle to consent to pyroprocessing and pyrorecycling of U.S.-obligated nuclear fuel in a facility that South Korea might construct in the future -- provided that it was designed, managed, and operated under mutually acceptable nonproliferation conditions and met agreed safeguards criteria.... The two countries need to resolve this issue in a way that will establish a positive model for reconciling the nuclear fuel-cycle aspirations of an advanced nuclear power such as South Korea with global concerns about the proliferation risks of reprocessing."
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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WMF > SOUTH KOREAN "CENTRAL DAILY TIMES" MEDIA > SOUTH KOREA TO END IN 2012 ITS PLAN TO SELL OR EXPORT UP TO 80 NUCLEAR, NUCPLANT TECHNOLOGIES BY 2030, WILL RELY INSTEAD ON "FOREIGN POWERS/NATIONS"???
DENVER -- A passenger on a diverted AirTran Airways flight accused of becoming unruly after he was refused more alcohol was charged Wednesday with interfering with a flight crew.
Muhammad Abu Tahir, 47, appeared in federal court with an interpreter. Ah, so he's not named 'John Smith', is he ...
Tahir did not officially enter a plea but said "no" after the interpreter repeated the allegations read by the judge.
"No, sir, you don't need to say anything now," U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen Tafoya replied, explaining the hearing was only intended to advise him of the charge. He then answered "yes" when asked if he understood the charge.
Authorities said Tahir, who lives in Glen Allen, Va., became disruptive on a flight Jan. 8 from Atlanta to San Francisco. Two military jets were sent to tail the plane that was diverted to Colorado Springs by its captain.
The plane was one of two commercial flights diverted that day amid heightened concern over airline security after a Nigerian man allegedly tried to blow up a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines plane on Christmas Day.
The incident began when Tahir asked for more wine after downing three mini-bottles on the flight, according to an affidavit by an FBI agent. Initially refused more alcohol, he was later given another bottle of wine, which he drank while standing in the galley, authorities said. Working up the nerve to dash into the bathroom --
After drinking a fifth bottle in his seat, Tahir went to the bathroom. Authorities said he opened the bathroom door to place his shoes and socks outside and again to reveal he was shaving with no shirt on. No mention of any explosives but that would be the next step, wouldn't it.
The affidavit said he refused requests by flight attendants to leave the lavatory and started yelling that he was being disrespected.
Tahir also grabbed the arms and hands of a senior flight attendant who at one point was trying to calm him, authorities said. Authorities said Tahir stayed in the bathroom when the plane landed.
Originally from Pakistan, Tahir is a permanent U.S. resident. Nice going ICE. Now perhaps we can revoke his permanent status and send him to Wazoo? Maybe the Pak army would be interested in 'finding' him.
He could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. There is no mandatory minimum sentence. A federal public defender was appointed to represent Tahir. Preliminary and bond hearings were scheduled for Friday.
#2
I understand their concern, shaving is a part of the suicide bomber's ritual.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/14/2010 15:55 Comments ||
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The amount and frequency of these is really starting to look like dummy runs and testing, as well as conditioning the passengers not to do anything again.
If instead, the person was immediately taken to the front of the plane, knelt and a bullet put in the back of their head, it would stop almost immediately.
#4
If instead, the person was immediately taken to the front of the plane, knelt and a bullet put in the back of their head, it would stop almost immediately.
I like the way you think. However I would suggest bludgeoning the individual, not as fast as a bullet, but less danger to the aircraft and aircrew.
Posted by: tipper ||
01/14/2010 08:03 ||
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#1
I doubt this. More likely, it is because voice stress testing is pretty much a wash, because it will detect *any* kind of voice stress. My guess is that about half of airline passengers, at any given time, are likely to set it off.
So the only real reason to use it would be to justify racial and religious profiling, which is what they should be doing.
Three men, including an Iranian-born chemical engineer living in Glendale, have been charged in a scheme to smuggle sophisticated industrial components into Iran that could be used in the development of a nuclear weapon, authorities said Wednesday.
The case has drawn interest at the highest levels of government, an official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement told The Times. The charges come as the U.S. is rallying allies to block Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Authorities allege that the men were attempting to smuggle high-grade vacuum pumps and other items into Iran in violation of federal trade laws and U.S. sanctions against the country. Investigators' suspicions were heightened by the great lengths to which the defendants went to hide their alleged activities.
These were educated men,' said Louis Rodi, a top supervisor in the Los Angeles ICE office. These individuals knew what they were doing.'
According to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Jiraiir Avanessian, 56, of Glendale was paid several hundred thousand dollars to ship high dollar vacuum pumps and pump related' equipment to Iran.
The parts, which were mislabeled and significantly devalued on shipping manifests, were initially sent to the United Arab Emirates, making it appear that was their final destination, federal authorities said. But a co-defendant would then forward the items to a third defendant in Tehran, according to court papers.
Rodi stressed that investigators have no proof about what the devices were ultimately going to be used for, but said that he had been briefed on their potential uses and that they included development of nuclear capabilities.'
The Lahore High Court chief justice has issued notices to the federal interior secretary, the attorney general, Pakistan, and the Punjab advocate general for Jan 21 on a petition seeking transfer of case of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, accused of Mumbai terrorist attacks, from Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court to Lahore.
Khwaja Sultan, counsel of Lakhvi, submitted that as he had to travel a long way to reach the ATC in Rawalpindi, he could be targeted by Indian agencies' personnel, who, he said, were present in and around the capital city, for pursuing the case. He said Lahore was a safer place compared to Islamabad.
Rawalpindi ATC is holding in-camera proceeding of the case inside Adiala Jail.
Special Investigation Cell (SIC) had registered a case against eight suspects -- Hamad Ameen Sadiq, Zarar Shah, Hamza alias Abu Alqa, Mr Khan, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Javed Iqbal, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Muhammad Ashfaq -- for their alleged involvement in the Mumbai attacks. The SIC had arrested them on Feb 12, 2009.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Senators have demanded that the president and the prime minister should not undertake visits to the United States till the US government withdraws new screening guidelines for body search of Pakistani citizens.
The Senate on Wednesday began discussion on an adjournment motion regarding issuance of new set of screening guidelines by the United States subjecting Pakistani passengers to special scrutiny. The motion was moved by Mian Raza Rabbani and Deputy Chairman Jan Muhammad Jamali.
Leader of the Opposition Senator Wasim Sajjad demanded that the US should officially be conveyed that such a treatment of Pakistani passengers was not acceptable. He also proposed that the issue should be raised at the UN Human Rights Commission. He said the president and the prime minister should not visit the US till Washington withdraws such body search restrictions on Pakistanis.
Wasim Sajjad also suggested that the foreign minister should visit the United States to convey concerns of the Pakistani nation and parliament over undignified behaviour with Pakistani citizens at American and European countries airports.
Earlier, initiating the debate, Mian Raza Rabbani, who was one of the two co-movers, said these screening guidelines are sheer violation of the International Human Rights Charter and the government should raise the issue at global forums. He also demanded that a protest memorandum should be handed over to the US Embassy in Islamabad. Rabbani termed the new screening guidelines genocide of cultural values, saying the citizens of third world countries also enjoy the rights equal to those of developed countries.
He said the US restrictions were also sheer violation of Article 1 and Article 2 of universal declaration of human rights. ANP's Senator Haji Adeel called for tit-for-tat response to the Americans. Jan Muhammad Jamali, the other mover, demanded that Americans should be subjected to the same screening guidelines on their arrival in Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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that the president and the prime minister Pakistanis or anyone who has ever set one toe in Pakistan should not be allowed to undertake visits to the United States period.
Posted by: ed ||
01/14/2010 1:02 Comments ||
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Paks won't come to the US? That's a feature, not a bug.
Unintended consequences....?
"We did not expect them [Egypt] to impose a siege and be punished by a state considered to be our brother," Hamas spokesman Hamad Al Rouqub said.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Forty-three percent of Jews would not support a ban on Islam's minarets in Israel, a survey revealed Tuesday, which an American Rabbi said showed Israelis are more tolerant to Islam than their Swiss counterparts.
The recent survey, conducted by Jerusalem-based KEEVOON Research, for the U.S.-based Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU), found that only 28 percent would support a ban on minarets in Israel, a large contrast to the 57.5 percent of voters in Switzerland who voted for the ban, and 29 percent were undecided.
"When it comes to freedom of religion Israelis are apparently much more tolerant than their Swiss counterparts," FFEU's president, Rabbi Marc Schneier, was quoted by Israel's Ynet news as saying.
Israeli press reported that the strongest opposition of banning minarets came from national religious Israelis, 55 percent of whom said they would "strongly oppose" such a ban, and 53 percent of ultra-Orthodox Jews said they were opposed.
"There is a definite correlation between religious observance and tolerance towards Islam," Schneier said, adding "Israelis seem to put politics aside as opposition to banning minarets actually increases as we move further to the right on the political spectrum."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Turkey said on Wednesday its ambassador to Israel would be recalled if a row over his treatment was not resolved by Wednesday night, in an apparent rebuff of an apology by Tel Aviv that has chilled relations.
Israel apologized to Turkey on Wednesday for what it called a breach of diplomatic manners that had further cooled what was once an unusually warm relationship between the Jewish state and a Muslim regional power.
After Ankara demanded an apology for his televised dressing down of Turkey's ambassador on Monday, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon issued a statement conceding that his behavior toward Oguz Celikkol had been inappropriate.
While Ayalon stopped short of using the word, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the statement as an "apology" and said he was glad that it had been made.
But Turkey's President Abdullah Gul, who is scheduled to host Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday, appeared not to see it that way.
"If the problem is not resolved by tonight the ambassador will come to Turkey for consultations," he told reporters during a reception on Wednesday. It was not clear what Gul meant by "resolving the problem."
Celikkol was due in Ankara on Thursday to prepare Barak's visit.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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Ayalon is an idiot. For a couple of grams of self-aggrandizement, he got 72M Turks p*ssed off at his country and that, Abi's and Abla's, is not a smart place to be....
#2
I have never seen an Israeli be so stupid like that cretin. Gratuitous posturing and boasting seems a deasease a bit comon,i remember 2006 war with Lebanon there was silly threats and boasting by GHQ that everyone knows IDF couldn't fullfill.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The Palestinian Islamic Jihad says Israel is mounting a fierce media campaign against the resistance before an intended military aggression on the Gaza Strip.
Islamic Jihad spokesman, Davoud Shihab, in a statement on Monday called on the Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza to coordinate their positions to confront the threats should they be translated to the ground.
Shihab also criticized some Arab media outlets for repeatedly backing Israeli propaganda and portraying Gaza as a hotbed of terrorism. He commented that such reports cripple solidarity with the Palestinian people and their right to resist the Israeli occupation.
He urged all media outlets, journalists and politicians to confront Israeli propaganda and focus on the active role of the Palestinian resistance in defending its land and people against the Israeli war machine.
Gazans are still struggling to resume ordinary life months after Operation Cast Lead which resulted in the death of over 1,500 Palestinians and the injury of about 5,450 people in the impoverished coastal sliver.
After USD 1.6 billion damage to Gaza's economy during the three weeks of relentless Israeli bombardment this past January, Palestinians in the Strip strive to survive under a siege that prevents any imports and exports. According to statistics, the unemployment rate stands at 44% in the war-wreaked enclave.
Meanwhile, a United Nations inquiry led by former South African Judge Richard Goldstone details Israeli actions "amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity," during Israel's winter offensive against Hamas-ruled Gaza.
The 575-page report by Goldstone and three other investigators asserts seven incidents in which Palestinian civilians were shot while leaving their homes, trying to run for safety or waving white flags. The report says Israel targeted a mosque at prayer time, killing 15 people, and shelled a Gaza City home where soldiers had forced Palestinian civilians to assemble. These attacks constituted war crimes, the report says.
The probe also found that Israel violated international humanitarian law in several ways. Dozens of Palestinian policemen were killed at the start of the Gaza onslaught when Israel bombed their stations. The security agents were not involved in hostilities and should have been treated as civilians. Additionally, the Palestinians were forced to walk ahead of Israeli soldiers as they searched civilian neighborhoods.
International human rights groups have previously spelled out such flagrant offenses against the Palestinians in Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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Shihab also criticized some Arab media outlets for repeatedly backing Israeli propaganda and portraying Gaza as a hotbed of terrorism. He commented that such reports cripple solidarity with the Palestinian people and their right to resist the Israeli occupation.
Love me, love my violent psychosis. In the palestinian language "right to resist" and "terrorism" are synonymous.
He urged all media outlets, journalists and politicians to confront Israeli propaganda and focus on the active role of the Palestinian resistance in defending its land and people against the Israeli war machine.
Focussing on their active role is what's causing the Pals trouble. Even some Arab trouble.
#3
...but nary a mention of the Palestinian war crime(s) that necessitated Israel having to invade Gaza in the first place.
I for one was surprised that Israel waited so long and put up with thousands of missiles being shot at their civilian population, before acting to put a stop to it.
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
01/14/2010 12:15 Comments ||
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Israel considering new final military attack on Gaza
Please, please, please, please. I'm SOOOO tired of hearing about how the "Poor Palestinians" are kept down by "The Man".....
[Ma'an] Head of the Hamas politburo Khalid Mash'al told Al-Arabiyah TV conditions are ripe for Palestinian national unity. That's the reconciliation they were gonna sign off on any minute last October. Or was it September?
All that remains necessary is "one bold step from some of the Arab countries to collect Fatah and Hamas officials and made them meet in addition to the other Palestinian parties," Mash'al said.
Mash'al encouraged If Egypt to force a meeting between Hamas and Fatah, saying the outstanding issues could be "solved in hours," abd added that unity would help Palestinians defend themselves against Israel.
"The circumstances are set and we are ready to solve all the problems; a Palestinian-Palestinian meeting will be the start," he said.
Talks have been stalled between Hamas and Fatah since October, when controversy over the handing of the UN-mandated Goldstone report at the Human Rights Commission by the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority bungled the adoption of the report by the UN. An already hesitant Hamas took the opportunity to stall talks, and refused to sign an Egyptian unity document until changes were made and the PA fixed their Goldstone snafu.
Egypt has yet to call sides to talk in Cairo, and has so far rejected the Hamas request to re-evaluate some articles of the unity document.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] Hamas leader Salah Al-Bardawil denounced Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abul Gheit's comments relating to the shooting of an Egyptian solider at the Rafah border as an "advanced judgment" on Wednesday.
"Is there a relation between the death of the Egyptian soldier and the Palestinian side? ... We assured previously that our nation and our resistance and our Palestinian police put all its power to face the Israeli occupation only and they were never an enemy to Egypt. What is said about Palestinians killing the Egyptian solider is totally rejected," Al-Bardawil said in a statement.
"We called on Egyptian and Palestinian authorities to investigate in this accident and track the killer of the Egyptian soldier when the incident occurred."
The Hamas leader added that the Minister of Health's undersecretary, Dr Tareq Al-Mahlawi, in Sinai concluded that the Egyptian solder was killed when two bullets were fired at his back and contradicts Egyptian narratives that the soldier was killed by a Palestinian militant.
Commenting on the recent call for restraint called by Hamas leaders, Al-Bardawil said "Israeli forces are the ones who attack Palestinians. The number of martyrs killed in the Gaza Strip during the last week has reached 16."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Sri Lankan police Wednesday broke up clashes between political activists as violence linked to looming presidential polls escalated after gunmen shot dead an opposition party worker.
Tear-gas was fired to disperse thousands of party workers in the eastern town of Polonnaruwa, local officials said by telephone.
About 3,000 opposition supporters destroyed a ruling party office in the town after posters of their favoured presidential candidate, Sarath Fonseka, were destroyed overnight, a police official said.
"It was a mini-war between rival groups," said the official, who declined to be named. At least five people were seriously wounded in the clashes.
The violence came as the government vowed to step up security in the run up to the January 26 election at which President Mahinda Rajapakse is seeking re-election.
Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe accused Rajapakse's People's Alliance of inciting violence and using intimidation to swing voters.
"People linked to the government were behind yesterday's killing," Wickremesinghe told reporters in Colombo.
Opposition activist Kusuma Kuruppuarachchi, 60, was gunned down Tuesday as she was travelling in a bus to attend Fonseka's election rally in the southern town of Hungama.
Local politician Mangala Samaraweera said the victim had been warned several times by ruling party activists against campaigning for Fonseka in an area which is considered Rajapakse's home constituency.
A statement from Rajapakse's office condemned the shooting, in which several other people were wounded, and pledged the attackers would be brought to justice.
"The government of Sri Lanka is appalled at this tragedy, vehemently condemns it, and will not tolerate any such acts of violence in the midst of this democratic electoral process," the statement said.
The US embassy in Colombo said it was "deeply concerned" over the killing and escalating violence.
Fonseka quit the army and entered politics in November over differences with Rajapakse, who accused him of trying to seize power after crushing the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.
Sri Lankan elections have been marred in the past by violence but Tuesday's shooting was the first fatality in the current campaign.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Dozens of Iranian members of parliament have put forward a proposal to cut relations with Britain, which Tehran has often accused of interfering in its internal affairs, Iranian media reported on Wednesday.
State radio said the initiative was backed by 40 MPs in the 290-seat assembly. The ISNA news agency put the number at 35.
But it was unclear when, and if, the proposal would be debated and voted upon by the legislature. ISNA said the proposal was for a complete cut in "political" relations.
Speaker Ali Larijani said it was the task of parliament's foreign policy and national security commission to handle the issue of relations with Britain, which is among Western powers accusing Iran of seeking to develop nuclear bombs.
Late last month, Iran summoned the British ambassador in Tehran and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki threatened Britain with a "slap in the mouth" if it did not stop interfering in Iranian affairs.
That came after British Foreign Secretary David Miliband criticized Iranian authorities after eight people were killed in anti-government protests on Dec. 27.
Iranian officials have repeatedly accused Western powers, including Britain, of fomenting street protests that erupted after the Islamic Republic's disputed election in June.
"Considering the sinister actions of the British government towards the Iranian nation, it is the duty of the national security commission to decide about this country ... and I thank them for working on it," Larijani said, ISNA reported.
The commission's chairman, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said the proposal by the MPs had not been coordinated with the commission and called it a hasty move, ISNA reported.
Even if the parliament voted to cut or reduce relations with Britain, such a move must be approved by a powerful legislative body, the Guardian Council.
The United States cut relations with Tehran shortly after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed shah.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
If a left wing Govt run by Gordon Brown can upset you.You must be in trouble!
[Iran Press TV Latest] President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says implementation of the "targeted subsidy system" will eradicate unemployment and poverty within three years in Iran.
"Iran is a rich country and if justice is established not even a single person will be unemployed or poor," Ahmadinejad said in his address to people in the southwestern province of Khuzestan on Wednesday.
"I have also assured the parliament members that if the plan is implemented by a smooth mechanism, Iran will not have even a single jobless or poor within three years," Mehr news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
Iran's Guardian Council has approved the legislation aimed at gradually cutting the government's subsidies on energy and food items.
The body's spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei said on Wednesday that the bill complies with Islamic laws and the Iranian Constitution.
Iran's Parliament (Majlis) ratified the bill proposed by the government after making some amendments to it.
The 'Economic Reform Plan' will allow the government to establish an organization to enforce the plan.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
A two step program.
Step one: make a nuke.
Step two: throw it at Israel.
What role do women play in Al Qaeda? A few are suicide bombers; others may encourage their men to become one.
There is something haunting and deeply sinister about the interview that NEWSWEEK TÜRKIYE's Adem Demir did with Defne Bayrak, the wife of the "CIA bomber," last week. But she seems to have quit talking since she was picked up by the cops in Istanbul, questioned, and released--and that's really too bad, because there are a whole lot of questions I'd still like to ask her.
For starters, did she put him up to the bombing? Did she, perhaps, want to be the bride of a martyr? Is this a "divorce, jihadi style"? Read what she's said so far, and you're left wondering.
It would certainly avoid the lingering pain and bitterness of an American-style divorce...
The failed Detroit airliner bomb attack on Christmas Day awakened the world to the threat from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a group that until then was hardly a household name.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a young Nigerian who allegedly came within an ace of killing almost 300 passengers and crew with a bomb hidden in his underwear, said he had been trained and sent by its leaders.
US President Barack Obama's embarrassment and anger at the potentially catastrophic failure of intelligence which allowed Mr Abdulmutallab to board the plane has been compounded by the revelation that two of AQAP's founders, Said al-Shihri and Mohammed al-Awfi, were both former Guantanamo detainees.
Several AQAP foot soldiers are also former Guantanamo prisoners.
This only confirms the fears of critics vehemently opposed to Mr Obama's promise to close the prison camp by the end of this month.
In total, 120 Saudi detainees have been repatriated from Guantanamo.
Mr Obama's dilemma is dramatically illustrated by a BBC investigation into what happened to the 14 detainees of Batch 10, who were flown home to Saudi Arabia just over two years ago.
The Saudi government's aim was to put them through its controversial de-radicalisation or Care programme, with a view to rehabilitating its "beneficiaries" in society.
Of the 120 Saudi returnees, 111 of them have gone through the Care programme - the other nine returned to the Kingdom before the scheme was set up.
The government claims a 90% success rate and says that only 10 of the former Guantanamo detainees absconded, crossing the border into Yemen.
But Batch 10 certainly does not fit this picture.
When the Saudi 747 jet carrying them landed in Riyadh, its passengers were greeted by the authorities not as heroes but as "victims" who had been brainwashed and misled by a deviant ideology.
All went through the Care programme, but five later escaped to Yemen. There two of them, al-Shihri and al-Awfi, helped set up AQAP and then took part in the organisation's launch video.
Posted by: ed ||
01/14/2010 00:53 ||
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from Robert Spencer and AtlasShrugged
this Facebook wonders whether Rifqa Bary, the girl who converted from Islam to Christianity and then fled from her family in fear for her life, is the great evil figure of the Islamic end times, the Dajjal -- because, after all, she has one eye, and so does the Dajjal. that is, a facebook group has apparently been formed that is quering this question among themselves
The Dajjal will at the end of days lead people astray. Muhammad said: "The Dajjall is one-eyed and will bring with him what will resemble Hell and Paradise, and what he will call Paradise will be actually Hell; so I warn you (against him) as Noah warned his nation against him." her given first name is Fathima and her own website is here She and her parents are reported to have come to the US to treat her bad eye- I think they are all non citizens - she is currently in custody of Franklin County, Ohio
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/14/2010 12:03 ||
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#1
One eye is all you need to see the perversity of islam, and the lack of civility of muslims.
Michigan -- Metro Detroit Muslims are asking for a state investigation into the death of a 22-year-old murder suspect in custody at the Macomb County Jail, calling into question authorities' ruling that the death was a suicide.
Authorities say that Mohammed Abul-Fazal Chowdhury killed himself inside a jail cell on Friday with a razor he got from the commissary.
But some Muslims, including those who washed his dead body, say they're concerned that Chowdhury -- in jail on allegations he killed his wife -- may have been the victim of a slaying himself. No mention in the article of an autopsy being done.
Why would anyone kill an accused wife-murderer? That makes no sense to me, although admittedly I fail to understand the criminal mind, or even the mind of those who are mean to their children.
#1
He's teaching the west an important lesson. An exercise in 'leading by example' I suspect. Mohammed Abul-Fazal Chowdhury set an excellent example for other angry, seething mooslims to follow.
#2
Slightly off topic but... I know jails never have enough money and there are civil liberties issues to deal with, and conspiracies for the wackos, but why not have a webcam watching every cell so that if someone dies there is a clear explanation?
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.
North Korea on Wednesday called on the South to punish activists who masterminded the floating of propaganda leaflets across the border. The official [North] Korean Central News Agency quoted the chief delegate to inter-Korean working-level military talks as demanding in a telephone message that Seoul immediately disband conservative organizations engaged in sending leaflets and punish their leaders.
What role do women play in Al Qaeda? A few are suicide bombers; others may encourage their men to become one.
