The ceaseless destruction of Somalia by internecine clan warfare, sectarian conflict and foreign intervention continues to garner headlines in the international media; yet across Somalia's border with Ethiopia there is an ongoing conflict involving ethnic Somalis in a remote and inhospitable region that has had a negligible amount of press coverage. The decades old struggle between the Ethiopian government and the ethnic Somalis of Ethiopia's Somali Region (known as Haraghe Province until the administrative reforms of 1995) is one of brutal attacks and retaliations conducted out of sight of foreign reporters, who are officially banned from the region. [1] Though it is best known as the Ogaden conflict, after the ethnic-Somali Ogadeni clan that leads the rebellion, ethnic-Somalis actually fight on both sides of the dispute. Read the story at the link. It is an interesting background piece on Muhammad Omar Osman and the constant unrest in the region of Ethiopia bordering Somalia.
[Bangla Daily Star] Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, the banned Islamist outfit believed to have weakened in recent years, still has around 400 full-time cadres across the country, and a military wing capable of launching spectacular attacks.
It has huge explosives, handmade bombs and grenades stashed at different dens.
The recently detained JMB chief, Saidur Rahman, made these claims during questioning yesterday, said an interrogator who would not be identified talking about the matter.
On a six-day remand, Saidur also spoke of a split within the JMB ranks.
He said one group wants to stage attacks and continue recruitment simultaneously, while the other wants to reorganise the outfit first and then go for attacks.
Talking to The Daily Star, the interrogator said, "Saidur's claims about the explosives and bomb-making expertise have got us quite worried."
Meanwhile, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner AKM Shahidul Hoque said, "We are verifying the information gleaned during interrogation. We are trying to uncover the sources of their finances and also their political and regional links."
Assistant Commissioner Sanwar Hossain, an explosives expert of the detective branch, said explosives, bombs, architectural designs and the other materials seized from the JMB dens recently suggest the outfit still has a "very high level of bomb-making expertise".
During interrogation, Saidur claimed he stays the chief of JMB. The charter of their outfit has no restrictions on being at the helm while in detention, said a member of the combined cell formed to quiz the JMB operatives captured last week and also to net those at large.
Apart from fake currency trade, JMB gets funds from several sources at home and abroad, the militant boss told the interrogators.
JMB cadres are directed to avoid using cell phones, as doing so would mean running the risk of being tracked.
Fresh from last week's successes, the law enforcers are now on a hunt for JMB leader Bhagina Shahid and those who slipped through the dragnet during Sunday's raid on a house at Dania.
JMB's military wing commander Shiblu was captured during the raid that left eight cops hurt in an attack by the fleeing militants.
Those who escaped arrest Sunday are Shiblu's wife and military wing sub-commander Kawsar alias Milon and his wife.
Following up the information obtained from Shiblu, police arrested JMB chief Saidur, his third wife Naima Akhter, the outfit's military coordinator Amir Hossain alias Sharif and ehsar (full-time) members Nur Hossain alias Sabuj and Abdullah Hel Kafi in the capital and Narayanganj on Monday and Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2010 00:00 ||
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British Foreign Minister William Hague said on Thursday that it is absolutely his intention to act speedily to change the universal jurisdiction law and that this is agreed and understood in the coalition government.
Speaking at a briefing at the Foreign Office on Thursday, Hague was asked by The Jerusalem Post if he has a timetable for a change to the law, which allows private complaints of war crimes to be lodged against military personnel even if they are not British citizens and the alleged crimes were committed elsewhere.
Prior to this month's general elections, Hague said the Conservative party would act speedily to change the law if elected.
On Thursday, Hague said he is committed to changing the law as it is "completely unacceptable" that Israeli officials feel they cannot visit the UK.
"I hope we will make a decision fairly soon, I can't say when, you can be assured that we are working on it and find it completely unacceptable that someone such as Mrs [Tzipi] Livni feels she cannot visit the UK.
"This is a country that wants to play a strong role in the Middle East peace process and for that Israeli leaders and others have to be able to visit the UK. So be in no doubt that we will take action on this but as part of a coalition, we must discuss with our colleagues how to best to do it.
"I don't have a timetable but it is absolutely my intention to act speedily to change the law. Of course we have formed a coalition so we have to examine together, and we are examining together, we are already doing that in some detail," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
This has bait-and-switch written all over it...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/28/2010 13:35 Comments ||
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#2
I dunno. Seems changes are afoot in Jolly Old. Maybe there is hope after all. I wish 'em luck.
#3
It was utter stupidity writ large to pass the idiotic law in the first place. I doubt the "rewrite" will accomplish all it's supposed to. Great Britain - and most if not all of the "European Union" are off my travel itinerary, even if I COULD afford it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/28/2010 15:05 Comments ||
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No special movements by the North Korean military have been detected, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told journalists Thursday.
Since the findings of an international inquiry into the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan were announced North Korea has repeatedly talked of war, "but as far as North Korean troop movements are concerned there is nothing serious to report," Kim said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/28/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
"No special movements by the North Korean military have been detected"
#2
My 2c worth - If war starts, and I doubt it will, the Norks concentrating their forces in tunnels will be the worse military error of modern times. A cruise missile in the tunnel entrance and the shock wave will kill everyone for a considerable distance and any survivors will likely suffocate from the subsequent fires.
Part of the reason for North Korea's recent barrage of threatening statements and furious denials over the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan is apparently an attempt to influence the upcoming local elections here in favor of the Left, which it hopes will be more amenable to resuming free-flowing aid.
In yet another denial Thursday, a committee nominally tasked with implementing a 2000 agreement between the two Koreas claimed Seoul is "making desperate efforts to avert a crisis by fabricating the sinking."
A South Korean security official said, "It's evident that the North is attempting to disparage the findings of the Cheonan inquiry as a South Korean plot to turn the situation" to the ruling party's advantage. "The North seems determined to influence the elections."
The North regularly threatens dire consequences before elections unless South Koreans vote the way it wants.
One North Korean media outlet after another has published similar stories. The official Korean Central News Agency said on Tuesday the "Lee Myung-bak clique" has "intentionally fabricated" the sinking to maintain its "fascist rule" in the local elections smoothly."
The Minju Chosun last Sunday claimed the announcement of findings was deliberately timed to tilt the elections in favor of the conservatives and added, "South Koreans should pass judgment on the conservative clique."
Other events also merit comment from the North. Last Sunday, the first anniversary of former president Roh Moo-hyun's death, the official Rodong Shinmun said Roh, who met North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2007 and promised more economic aid, "was murdered by the conservative clique. The upcoming elections will be an opportunity for the people to pass judgment on the murderous regime."
A government official said these propaganda statements "have been parroted by pro-Pyongyang organizations and some opposition members in the country. In other words, the North's tactics are working well."
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/28/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Noisy little bastards, aren't they?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/28/2010 0:23 Comments ||
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#1
CHINESE MIL FORUM > [Cheonan] ANALYSTS QUESTION KOREA TORPEDO SINKING | DOUBTS ARE SURFACING/RISNG ABOUT POSSIBLE US TRICKERY IN NK WARSHIP SINKING. ROK Medias question how a dubiously/subjectively-maintained Sub from a repor "FIFTH-RATE" MIL-NAVAL POWER = DPRK? may had succesfully penetrated the defensive screen of MODERN HI-TECH US-ROK WARSHIPS, Includ but not limited to CHEONAN [US-ROK NAVEX] + those vessels AEGIS-EQUIPPED OR SIMIL???
#2
ION WMF > JAPAN: US MILITARY UNILATERAL OR JOINT RESPONSE IN CASE OF SINO-JAPAN MIL CONFLICT OER THE DAOYU ISLANDS [Japan = SENKAKU Islands] IS ALLOWED BY THE US-JAPAN SECURITY TREATY.
* SAME > CHINA + TAIWAN FUROR OVER ASSIGNMENT OF TAIWAN AIRCRAFT IDENTIFICATION MISSION, AIR-SEA ZONE TO JAPAN'S SDF AIR FORCE + YONAGUNI ISLAND MIL GARRISON. ALONG WID TAIWAN'S US-SUPPLIED AIR FORCE, JAPANESE FIGHTER PLANES CAN NOW INVESTIGATE PLAAF AIRCRAFT FLYING OER SOVEREIGN [Taiwan]AIRSPACE.
Read, TAIWAN = MAINLAND CHINESE SOVEREIGN AIRSPACE.
#5
What the hell is the point of a naval blockade on a country with a long friendly border with their patron-state?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
05/28/2010 10:49 Comments ||
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#6
North Korea sends drugs, weapons, and who knows what else, out by ship. If it has to go through China, they (China) lose plausible deniability when a shipment come to light.
Anyway, a full court press is called for, if we don't have the guts to smack the bastards down. Suffocate them.
[Kyodo: Korea] North Korea"s military said Thursday it will scrap an inter-Korean agreement intended to prevent accidental naval clashes in the Yellow Sea, a move that could increase tension on the Korean Peninsula in the wake of the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship in March. ""Bilateral agreements concluded to prevent accidental conflicts in the West Sea of Korea will be declared completely null and void,"" the General Staff of the Korean People"s Army announced through the North"s official Korean Central News Agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2010 00:00 ||
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At 7 p.m. on Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama stood at the podium at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, Japan. He was speaking at the dinner banquet for the International Conference on the Future of Asia. The forum, hosted by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, a major Japanese newspaper specializing in financial and business news, was attended by leaders from many Asian countries.
Prime Minister Hatoyama spoke with composure about his vision to create a regional community for East Asia. But as he concluded his speech, he raised his voice suddenly. "This morning, the results of the investigation into the sinking of a South Korean warship on March 26 were announced in South Korea. They determined that the sinking was caused by a North Korean torpedo."
Hatoyama continued, growing visibly exercised. "North Korea's actions cannot be condoned by any means, and Japan strongly condemns it together with the international community. Japan firmly supports the Republic of Korea, and will closely collaborate with the countries concerned, not least with the United States, so as to respond to this situation in cohesion with the entire international community."
Continued on Page 49
#2
What I really don't understand is why this is tolerated. This was an act of war and wars have begun for less. I know there's incidents along the DMZ all the time but this goes beyond a few shots or mortar rounds.
#3
It's called will. Back when the NKors attacked and butchered and killed members of a UN team sent in to cut a tree obstructing observation in the Panmunjom area, the American government responded by putting everyone on immediate alert, dropping chaff over the DMZ and flying B52 in the south on an orbital pattern. The NKors couldn't keep their stuff up long enough and being ready on the flight line only made them sitting targets. Today there's no will.
[ADN Kronos] The Italian government's decision to grant political asylum to convicted terrorist Abu Imad has astonished his defence lawyer. "I am very surprised, in fact amazed, considering the crime for which he has been convicted," said Carmelo Scambia.
The former imam at Milan's central mosque was jailed in April and will have to serve the first eight months his sentence in prison before being allowed to do community service, Scambia said.
Imad has since 12 May been held in Benevento jail in southern Italy, Adnkronos has learned. He was initially detained in Milan's San Vittore prison.
A former preacher at Milan's central mosque, Imad was arrested in April after Italy's top appeals court upheld a previous sentence and jailed him for three years and eight months.
"A press and political campaign has been going on for years against the viale Jenner mosque," said Scambia, referring to Milan's central mosque.
The mosque has been linked to Islamist terrorism several times but has so far managed to avoid closure.
Imad was granted asylum two weeks after Italy's highest court, the Court of Cassation on 28 April upheld a previous prison sentence imposed on Imad by a Milan court in December 2007.
Imad and 10 other defendants had allegedly set up a Salafite cell that was active in Milan and elsewhere in the northern Lombardy region. Imad's co-defendents were also jailed.
The cell's mission is believed to have been recruiting suicide bombers, trafficking illegal immigrants and responsible for indoctrination.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday the United States is still powerful, but must apply its power in fresh ways as the U.S. administration unveiled a new national security strategy.
"We are no less powerful, but we need to apply our power in different ways," the chief U.S. diplomat said.
"We are shifting from mostly direct exercise and application of power to a more sophisticated and difficult mix of indirect power and influence," Clinton said.
In what she has long called "smart power," she said the United States has to "balance and integrate" all of the elements of U.S. power -- defense, diplomacy and development -- but also including economic power and the "power of our example."
She said it also requires slow and patient diplomacy.
New national security strategy
Under the new national security strategy, President Barack Obama rejected George W. Bush's doctrine that made a "war on terror" the driving force of U.S. power, framing a pragmatic foreign policy for a world bristling with threats.
Obama also steps back from the former president's concept of pre-emptive war to head off looming danger, and cites national security implications of economic meltdowns and global warming.
The doctrine, to be unveiled later Thursday, also holds warnings for Iran and North Korea, focuses on homegrown extremists who turn to Islamic radicalism in America and warns of the dangers of nuclear proliferation.
The document, obtained by AFP, contains an evolution of Obama's pro-engagement policies after 16 months in power, a period that brought the idealism of his campaign into conflict with harsh realities of geopolitics.
It describes a world thick with evolving threats and seeks to reframe U.S. foreign policy after two bloody wars and a crippling global financial crisis.
It projects a tough, hardnosed assessment of American interests and the use of U.S. power, and lays out a dizzying array of threats from cyber warfare to health epidemics to ethnic wars to inequality.
"To succeed, we must face the world as it is," the document states, turning the page on Bush-era dreams of remaking the global order in America's image and recognizing the rise of new global powers.
The document lays out a sweeping new paradigm for U.S. foreign policy, using the tools of diplomacy, economic renewal, development aid, military might and education.
It calls for tough engagement "without illusion" with U.S. foes like Iran and North Korea, but warns they face deepening isolation if they continue to spurn U.S. advances and do not bow to pressure to throw open their nuclear programs.
Military action
The document also preserves the U.S. right to launch unilateral military action, but does so in more restrictive terms than those used by the former Bush administration.
It also seeks to widen the scope of U.S. foreign policy, which became dominated by a doctrinaire "war on terror" following the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, and led to the war in Iraq, after the invasion of Afghanistan.
"We will always seek to delegitimize the use of terrorism and to isolate those who carry it out," said the document, the product of intense internal deliberations during the 16 months of the Obama administration.
"Yet this is not a global war against a tactic -- terrorism or a religion -- Islam."
"We are at war with a specific network, al-Qaeda, and its terrorist affiliates who support efforts to attack the United States, our allies, and partners."
The plan notes that for more than a decade, Washington has been involved in a struggle against a "far-reaching network of violence and hatred."
It says Washington must now help Pakistan fight extremism, strengthen Afghanistan and complete a responsible exit from Iraq.
In his last national security strategy in 2006, Bush targeted terrorism as a concept much more specifically, declaring boldly "the war on terror is not over."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Translation: Bush didn't do it right. Obama and Hillary are doing it right because they are far smarter than anyone could ever imagine.
Americans may think that the failed Times Square bomb was planted by a man named Faisal Shahzad. But the view in the Supreme Court Bar Association here in Pakistans capital is that the culprit was an American "think tank."
"People want simple explanations, like evil America, Zionist-Hindu alliance," said a Pakistani diplomat, who asked not to be named because of the delicate nature of the topic. "Its gone really deep into the national psyche now."
One of those pundits is Zaid Hamid, a fast-talking, right-wing television personality who rose to fame on one of Pakistans 90 new private television channels. the Keith Obermann of Pakistan
He uses Google searches to support his theory that India, Israel and the United States -- through their intelligence agencies and the company formerly known as Blackwater -- are conspiring to destroy Pakistan. See! It sez so in Counterpunch!
The problem is more than a peculiar domestic phenomenon for Pakistan. It has grown into a narrative of national victimhood that is a nearly impenetrable barrier to any candid discussion of the problems here. In turn, it is one of the principal obstacles for the United States in its effort to build a stronger alliance with a country to which it gives more than a billion dollars a year in aid.
This article starring:
Zaid Hamid
Posted by: lord garth ||
05/28/2010 00:00 ||
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#2
No surprise there. The establishment in America goes through similar mental gymnastics to deny that the Times Square bomb was an act of Islamicists funded by the government of Pakistan. Bloomberg blamed it on the Tea Party.
#3
To be accurate, the American establishment goes through quite different mental gymnastics. Bloomberg didn't say the Tea Party did it; he said it "could be anybody" and that "if I had to guess" that it was somebody "homegrown", "such as" somebody upset over the health care bill. I completely agree that his comments were stupid because the huge majority of such attacks are by Islamicists. But it is also correct that some are by American radicals, including people on the right, not just McVeigh, but also Eric Rudolph of the Atlanta Olympics bombing, as well as the left, such as the Ted Kaczynski. It was foolish of Bloomberg to guess the less likely explanation, but not foolish to have as his main point that we don't really know until more facts are in. The big difference between Bloomberg (and the rest of the American establishment) and the Pakistani public (including the majority of their establishment) is that he doesn't insist on an improbable conspiracy AFTER the facts are in. Unfortunately, a sizable minority of the US public isn't more tied to logic and evidence than the Pakistani majority given how many, on both the left and the right, are 9/11 truthers, believers in abductions by aliens, etc.
#4
Ah, the old "moral equivalence" game. Come on, Bloomberg and a ton of other liberals immediately thought it was Tea Partiers that did it, especially when the perp was described as a white guy. I'd go so far as to say they were hoping it would be one. Come on, be real. You know what I'm talking about.
#5
I despise moral equivalence. What I'm advocating instead is accuracy, rather than hyperbole, when we correctly criticize people like Bloomberg. I also advocate a coalition of liberals and conservatives against Islamicists, rather than letting the usual partisan instincts take over. That's why I wind up in arguments with the people on the Huffington Post who attack Bush's intervention in Iraq or equate Israeli self defense with aggression and why I sometime wind up in disagreements here on what liberals are up to. I agree with you that Bloomberg was (sad to say) probably even hoping that the Times Square bomber was an American right-winger, but, once the evidence was in, he certainly didn't try to deny reality. This is a real difference with Pakistani attitudes. One reason that conflicts will continue in that part of the world is that the majority of even the educated part of the population is enamoured with conspiracy theories and magical thinking, and insufficiently susceptible to empiricism and rationalism.
#6
and they cheat you every chance they get, those bastards. Crazy, they're all crazy I tell you!
Posted by: ripped off at the bazaar ||
05/28/2010 10:29 Comments ||
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#7
It has grown into a narrative of national victimhood...
Wrong, NYT. The narrative of victimhood has grown into a conspiracy-fest. If it wasn't us, it would be the UK (imperialism!) A subtle but essential point that the Times is willfully oblivious to.
"People want simple explanations, like evil America, Zionist-Hindu alliance,"
That's exactly who they blamed for the Boxing Day Tsunami- a US/Israel/Indian under-ocean nuclear explosion.
[Dawn] Two top Obama administration officials have told Pakistan that it has only weeks to show real progress in a crackdown against the Pakistani Taliban, a senior US official said Wednesday, reports AP.
The US has put Pakistan "on a clock" to launch a new intelligence and counterterrorist offensive against the group, which the White House alleges was behind the Times Square bombing attempt, according to the official.
White House national security adviser James Jones and CIA Director Leon Panetta delivered that message to Islamabad last week, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
As first reported by the Los Angeles Times, the high-ranking US delegation presented the Pakistanis with evidence they believe proves that Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad was trained and funded by the Tehrik-e-Taliban, or TTP, as the Pakistani Taliban are known. Shahzad is accused of attempting to ignite what turned out to be a poorly constructed car bomb in Times Square.
The evidence also showed that two TTP members escorted Shahzad to a training base in the lawless tribal area of Waziristan, where he received some instruction in how to build explosives, the US official said.
Pakistani authorities have already detained two suspects thought to be those TTP escorts, the official said. The US now expects to see Pakistan carry out further independent counterterrorist operations and quietly increase other unspecified cooperation with the Americans, the official said.
The visiting delegation reminded Pakistani leaders that President Barack Obama had sent them a letter in November, asking for a tougher crackdown against al-Qaida and its affiliates like the TTP, the official said.
So far, many US officials have rated Pakistan's progress on that front as mixed because Pakistan has maintained a detente with some of the al-Qaeda affiliates that operate in its frontier provinces, like the Haqqani network.
The official said those in the delegation to Pakistan were hopeful that the Shahzad case may spell the difference because the US is asking Pakistan to crack down on a group that is a sworn enemy of Islamabad.
The TTP have launched a series of bloody bombings against Pakistani government targets and civilians over the past year.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
The Paks got the TTP(Mehsuds) to move from North to south Waziristan.Does that count?
[Dawn] The Federal Investigation Agency submitted in a court here on Wednesday a supplementary investigation report on the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
The report accuses the slain chief of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud, of masterminding the murder.
Anti-Terrorism Court-I Special Judge Malik Mohammad Akram Awan adjourned hearing till June 12 when the five arrested accused, Aitzaz Shah, Sher Zaman, Abdul Rasheed, Hasnain Gul and Rafaqat Hussain, will be formally charged.
The FIA said in the report that a joint team was continuing its investigation into the hosing down of the crime scene, negligence, inadequate security measures and failure to conduct post-mortem on the body of Ms Bhutto. It will submit a report after completing the probe.
The FIA launched a re-investigation into the assassination in August last year.
The FIA said it had gathered more evidence against the accused and those declared offenders. It said that DNA tests first conducted by the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and later by an FBI laboratory in the United States on the limbs of two alleged suicide bombers -- Saeed alias Bilal and Ikramullah -- and on their articles found in the house of Hasnain Gul confirmed that the two lived with Gul in Rawalpindi.
Accepting the findings of Punjab police, the FIA said the record of a call made by arrested accused and data of two numbers involved in conversation about the success of Dec 27, 2007, suicide attack confirmed the alleged role of the accused.
The report said that certain students of Madressah Darul Uloom Haqqania Akora Khattak in Nowshera had been founded involved in the assassination of the former prime minister.
About the alleged negligence of police officers on duty, the FIA said it had carefully examined statements of the officials concerned and witnesses and also scrutinised the relevant record.
Members of the joint investigation team have found Rawalpindi police officers responsible for security breach, including the absence of police escort officer of Benazir on her departure form Liaquat Bagh, and a series of lapses, including the destruction of vital evidence and failure to conduct the post-mortem.
The investigators were yet to fix responsibility because of conflicting statements of the police officers concerned. The FIA said that a final report would be submitted after completion of these aspects of the investigation.
The probe team is also examining the failure of federal and Punjab governments to provide sufficient security to Benazir Bhutto during the election campaign and take action against officers guilty of negligence.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
A senior United Nations official is expected to call on the United States next week to stop Central Intelligence Agency drone strikes against people suspected of belonging to Al Qaeda, complicating the Obama administration's growing reliance on that tactic in Pakistan.
Philip Alston, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said Thursday that he would deliver a report on June 3 to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva declaring that the "life and death power" of drones should be entrusted to regular armed forces, not intelligence agencies. He contrasted how the military and the C.I.A. responded to allegations that strikes had killed civilians by mistake.
"With the Defense Department you've got maybe not perfect but quite abundant accountability as demonstrated by what happens when a bombing goes wrong in Afghanistan," he said in an interview. "The whole process that follows is very open. Whereas if the C.I.A. is doing it, by definition they are not going to answer questions, not provide any information, and not do any follow-up that we know about." That's sort of the whole point of the CIA, you twit ...
[Al Arabiya Latest] Pro-Palestinian activists vowed on Thursday to steam on to Hamas-run Gaza and bust the blockade with their aid-laden flotilla as Israel threatened to use its army, navy and all means available to prevent the ships from reaching the Gaza Strip.
"We have the right to sail from international waters into the waters of Gaza," said Greta Berlin, one of the flotilla's organizers.
"The only illegal presence in the area is Israel," she told AFP, adding the "Freedom Flotilla" was on schedule to arrive in the Palestinian enclave on Saturday with more than 10,000 tons of building and other supplies.
But Israel insisted it would prevent the three cargo ships and five passenger boats from reaching the Islamist-run Gaza Strip, calling the blockade-busting bid a "cheap political stunt."
The Israeli government said in a statement from the Foreign Ministry that it will use all available means to stop the ships from docking in Gaza and has instructed the Israel Defense Forces and the Navy to act accordingly.
The foreign ministry also said it summoned the ambassadors of Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Sweden and Ireland -- the countries from which the ships set sail -- and warned them Israel "issued warrants that prohibit the entrance of the vessels to Gaza."
The flotilla "is about to break international law," the ministry's Director General Yossi Gal told the diplomats, adding the coastal enclave "is under the control of a terrorist organization, which does not prioritize the well-being of the citizens of Gaza."
He also said Israel "declares the flotilla an absolute provocation" and that there is no shortage of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
Turkey, meanwhile, urged Israeli authorities to treat the convoy as humanitarian aid. A Turkish human rights group is one of the organizers.
Muslim Turkey is one of Israel's closest allies in the Middle East but relations have soured in part due to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's frequent criticism of the Jewish state's policies toward the Palestinians.
Israel has vowed to divert the ships to the southern Israeli port of Ashdod, where it will detain the activists before deporting them.
Part of the port has been cordoned off and prepared to deal with the activists. Chemical toilets have been set up as well as large, air-conditioned tents housing immigration booths and areas for people to be searched.
Containers blocked off what appeared to be a holding area, which was covered by tarpaulins to provide shade.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Dang it, the Israelis should stop these boogers far out in international waters, using covert means with plausible deniability. There must be a multitude of ways to screw up a boat at sea.
For every boat they disable, one or more will have to remain with it to render aid. And if it is disabled enough to not be repairable at sea, it will have to be towed to some neutral port.
#4
A few 76mm rounds through the wheelhouse should "disable" them enough for Israel to then tow them to Ashdod. The idiots pushing this should be given 10 years of hard labor, so they will know they will pay for their provocation. Sinking them with all hands should be an option, also.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/28/2010 16:52 Comments ||
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[Ma'an] Hamas' Salah Al-Bardawil said Amnesty International's comparison of resistance projectiles to Israel's war on Gaza last year must have been done in irony, given the total misalignment of consequences of the two.
"Tens of thousands of Palestinians were killed or disfigured, their limbs were amputated or they lost their homes," the Hamas official said of Israeli strikes on Gaza and the impact of the country's Operation Cast Lead last winter.
In comparison, he noted, few injuries or damages have been reported as a result of the resistance fighters projectiles. One Thai man was, however, killed earlier in the year.
Al-Bardawil called the comparison of the two situations a "big mistake" and berating authors of the annual report for "just thinking of comparing between the attacker and the victim to justify its denunciation of the Israeli occupation."
Citing the still-visible destruction from the war on Gaza, since Israel's blockade on the area has largely prevented construction and repair equipment into the Strip, he said "the occupier must be criminalized, to do anything else is unfair to Palestinians."
Comparing the weapons used by Israeli forces and the home-made projectiles of the resistance factions, Al-Bardawil asked how a giant arsenal could be put beside cobbled rockets.
He called on Amnesty to re-evaluate its report, and read the materials submitted by Hamas to investigations committees that preceded the publication of the Goldstone report.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
[Al Arabiya Latest] Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov voiced doubt on Thursday about whether Tehran would fulfill the terms of a deal brokered by Brazil and Turkey aimed at resolving the Iranian nuclear crisis.
"There are no 100 percent guarantees. Very much will depend on how Iran will approach its commitments. If it strictly abides by them, Russia will actively support the scheme proposed by Brazil and Turkey," Lavrov said.
Signed last week, the deal calls for Iran to deposit a large part of its uranium stockpile in Turkey in exchange for better-enriched nuclear fuel destined for a research reactor in Tehran.
"We welcome this deal. If fully implemented, it will create very important preconditions not just for the solution of the concrete problem -- supplies of fuel for this reactor -- but for improving the atmosphere for the renewal of negotiations," Lavrov said in televised remarks.
But Lavrov gave no indication of how the deal might affect Russia's stance on a U.S.-drafted resolution in the U.N. Security Council calling for Iran to be punished with a new round of sanctions.
Later on Thursday, Lavrov spoke by telephone to his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki to discuss Tehran's nuclear program and the Brazil-Turkey agreement, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
"Russia expressed its readiness to actively support the advancement of the process of negotiation aimed at resolving the situation surrounding the Iranian nuclear program," the statement said.
Russia has continued to back the push for U.N. sanctions despite the signing of the Brazil-Turkey deal, angering Iran and leading to a heated exchange this week between Russian and Iranian officials.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took Russia to task for this on Wednesday, saying it was difficult to gauge whether the Kremlin was a friend or an enemy.
"This statement is being interpreted as emotional," Lavrov said.
He lamented that, despite Russia's years of efforts to resolve the dispute, "the response from the Iranian side has been unsatisfactory."
Aside from Ahmadinejad's criticism, Iran in turn has shown other signs this week of growing irritation with Moscow. The Iranian ambassador this week said pointedly that Iran expects Russia to fulfill the S-300 contract.
Lavrov has suggested the delay in delivery is due to concerns about aggravating regional tensions. Israel vehemently opposes delivery of the missiles.
Despite the sparring between Tehran and Moscow, Lavrov said Russia supports a proposed nuclear fuel swap deal that advocates say could break the standoff, but which the United States has dismissed as a ploy.
The deal spearheaded by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was seen as a last-ditch bid to avoid the new U.N. sanctions.
But it was received coolly by Western governments, who suspect Tehran of seeking to acquire an atomic bomb under the guise of its civilian nuclear energy program.
Tehran denies that it is seeking to build atomic weapons and insists that its nuclear program is strictly peaceful in nature.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/28/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
NORTH KOREA repor already has a number of ADVANC = PLUTONIUM? BOMBS, or simil ENUFF "WEAPONIZED" OR HIGHLY ENRICHED NUCMATS TO QUICKLY MANUFACTURE SAME.
The odds are IRAN + MILTERRS will get their Nukes-WMDS.
Earlier this week Ayaan Hirsi Ali was on Tavis Smiley's PBS show to discuss her new book, Nomad: From Islam To America, A Personal Journey Through The Clash Of Civilizations. In a back and forth about Islamic extremists, Hirsi Ali mentioned how some Muslims believe that killing other people is a great thing to do,' to which Smiley shot back that Christians are more violent, saying Oh, Christians, every day, people walk into post offices, they walk into schools, that's what Columbine is.'
The full quote from Smiley (transcript from Breitbart.tv):
Oh, Christians, every day, people walk into post offices, they walk into schools, that's what Columbine is I could do this all day long. There are so many more examples of Christians and I happen to be a Christian. That's back to this notion of your idealizing Christianity in my mind, to my read. There are so many more examples, Ayaan, of Christians who do that than you could ever give me examples of Muslims who have done that inside this country, where you live and work.'
For some context and background on Smiley's guest, Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somalia-born writer and filmmaker who was raised a strict Muslim. After surviving civil war, she earned a political science degree and became an outspoken critic of Islamist oppression. Hirsi Ali is now a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and has written several books, including The Caged Virgin, Infidel and Nomad.
Certainly there has been more violence by Christians in the United States because it is largely a Christian nation. But Smiley appears to be comparing apples to oranges. The fundamental jihad that's lead to the recent car bomb attempt in Times Square appears to have been inspired by drone attacks in Pakistan. Post Office shootings are a tragedy of another color entirely.
#2
How would Mr. Smiley react if there were a Christian tenet about killing unbelievers? Something like "When you shoot a Buddhist, Baby Jesus smiles."?
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.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday the United States is still powerful, but must apply its power in fresh ways as the U.S. administration unveiled a new national security strategy.
