[Quqnoos] Some Afghan analysts believe that the launch of the Afghan Peace Jirga will not produce good results -- that it was just a way to kill time
Afghan analysts warned that the Afghan government will make the insurgents even more active by holding such conferences.
While accepting the challenges facing the Afghan Consultative Peace Jirga, the Afghan government said it is optimistic in terms of the possible outcomes.
A number of analysts point the finger to President Karzai's scattered talks in the Afghan peace conference, appointing Burhanedin Rabani, a former Afghan president and participant of the Kabul conference, as the head of the Afghan Jirga.
"The Taliban rejected the idea of the Jirga immediately, and their stance was totally clear. They said these kinds of Jirga will legitimate Afghanistan's occupation and we refuse it," said an Afghan political analyst, Wahid Mujdea.
On its very first day the Jirga did not point out the conditions set by the anti-government groups, therefore there is no way for an understanding to form between the Afghan government and the insurgents.
"Afghan bodies, Afghan distinguished individuals and our own people have organized the Jirga, and this could be a good achievement. Gaining the backing of the international community is a success," said a deputy spokesman for the Afghan president, Hamid Elmi.
After Abdullah, Afghanistan's most prominent opposition leader, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dustum, President Karzai's ally in last year's presidential election, Ata Mohammad Noor, governor of Balkh province, and other influential characters declined to participate in the Afghan peace Jirga, the legitimacy of the Afghan Jirga has come under question, according to reports.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2010 00:00 ||
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Al-Qaeda has threatened to kidnap Saudi princes and ministers in order to secure the release of a female al-Qaeda operative arrested by Saudi forces, Al Arabiya said on Thursday.
In an audiotape played on Al Arabiya, an al-Qaeda regional commander threatened "major operations" against the kingdom following the arrest of Haylah al-Qassir.
Qassir was believed to be responsible for recruiting women to the global militant group as well as handling money issues, Al Arabiya said.
"Al-Qaeda is organizing cells to kidnap...princes, ministers and officials including military commanders," Saeed al-Shehri said in the audiotape.
Shihri, who is purportedly number two in the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, insisted that families of prisoners held in Saudi Arabia should take arms to secure their release instead of groveling to officials.
Qassir, called "the lady of al-Qaeda", is the widow of an al-Qaeda operative killed six years ago, al Arabiya said.
The regional Yemen-based arm of the group, known as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), jumped to the forefront of Western and Saudi security concerns after it claimed responsibility for a failed December attempt to bomb a U.S.-bound passenger plane.
In April, the group tried to assassinate the British ambassador to Yemen when a suicide bomber threw himself into the path of his convoy in the capital, Sanaa.
Only the suicide bomber died, but the bold hit signaled that a recent crackdown by the Yemeni government on the global militant group has done little to curb its ambitions to carry out attacks in the region and beyond.
Last August, a 23-year-old AQAP suicide bomber posing as a repentant militant, tried to kill Prince Mohammed bin Nayef who heads Saudi Arabia's anti-terrorism campaign.
Yemen, struggling to curb a northern Shiite insurgency and a southern separatist movement, has faced international pressure to quell domestic conflicts in order to focus on fighting a resurgent al-Qaeda in the impoverished country.
Yemen is the ancestral homeland of the Saudi-born al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who has been stripped of his Saudi nationality.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia
Interior Ministry Security spokesman Major General Mansour al Turki put aside his military persona to speak frankly about almost losing his only son to Jihadist propaganda, warning of the dangers of the absence of family guidance in ensuring that the youth remain on the right path.
In a seminar dedicated to discussing terrorism and drugs, Major General Mansour al Turki spoke about his son who almost fell victim to Jihadist propagandists whilst he was a student at a state school. Major General al Turki said that if he had failed to control his son at that time "he might have been in Iraq, or Yemen, or Somalia today."
Major General al Turki did not intend to relate the story about his son, who is currently a university student; however another figure who was attending the same seminar said that the family should not be held accountable for the guidance of children.
The Interior Ministry spokesman stressed that family plays a key role in addressing the behaviour of children. He said, "I was mistaken at times when I believed that one could solely depend on school, and had I failed to rectify the ideas of my only son he would have gone to one of those areas of conflict."
Major General al Turki also stressed that despite the success achieved by the Saudi security apparatus in the war against Al Qaeda, "[Saudi Arabia] is still being targeted." He stressed that even now there are those who want to exploit Islamic issues to manipulate Saudi Arabian youths for the sake of narrow interests and goals.
Major General al Turki also revealed that the primary reason that Saudi Arabia is being targeted, whether this is by means of terrorism or drugs, is because it is "a model for the Islamic State." He stressed that those who are targeting and attacking Saudi Arabia want to establish a different model with regards to the concept of the Islamic State.
In response to a question by Asharq Al-Awsat as to whether there are regional countries that are seeking to spread their own approach to an Islamic state by eliminating the Saudi Arabian model, Major General al Turki said, "Actually, we want to find out who is behind the terrorist acts that target us from time to time, as the problem now is that Al Qaeda has turned into a never-ending problem."
The Interior Ministry Security Spokesman also said that terrorism and drugs are two of the most dangerous issues that are targeting Saudi Arabia and its youth.
General Mansour al Turki said that Al Qaeda has failed to sow discord in Saudi Arabia but that the organization still represents a threat. He said, "Al Qaeda was concerned with operating inside Saudi Arabia, but after it failed it chose to remain close to it [Saudi Arabia] and so it chose Yemen. Last year we monitored several attempts by some Al Qaeda elements to enter Saudi Arabia to carry out terrorist attacks they had planned earlier."
Major General al Turki also did not hide the fact that Saudi Arabia was also facing suspicions that it had not eliminated Al Qaeda from its territory alone, and he said that he answered those who asked him about this by saying, "Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world to broadcast its conflict with Al Qaeda live on the air." He also pointed out that Saudi Arabia utilized ordinary daily security operations to combat terrorism, rather than military operations.
Major General al Turki also stressed the importance of the heightened public awareness among Saudi Arabians, and their recognition of deviant ideology, as this has deprived Al Qaeda of funding and support, which it relied upon heavily in order to carry out terrorist operations in Saudi Arabia.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
TURKEY'S Prime Minister says he doesn't view radical Palestinian group Hamas, Israel's arch-foe, as a terrorist organisation.
"Hamas are resistance fighters who are struggling to defend their land. They have won an election," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday in a speech broadcast live on television.
"I have told this to US officials... I do not accept Hamas as a terrorist organisation. I think the same today. They are defending their land."
The United States and the European Union blacklist Hamas as a terrorist group despite its victory in Palestinian elections in 2006.
Mr Erdogan made the remarks in an angry tirade against Israel after Monday's raid on a flotilla carrying aid to the Gaza Strip, which claimed the lives of nine Turks and plunged already strained ties between the once-close allies into deep crisis.
He lashed out at Western powers for denying Hamas a chance to shift to a democratic platform.
"Why didn't you give them an opportunity? Let them wage a democratic struggle," he said, his speech often interrupted by a cheering crowd of party supporters.
Mr Erdogan renewed criticism of Israel's raid on the aid flotilla, whose main organisers included a Turkish Islamist charity, with the bulk of its passengers Turks.
"Our problem is not with the Israeli or the Jewish people. Our problem is with the oppressive Israeli administration which commits state terror," he said.
"If peace is going to come to the world, this world should be built on justice."
The Israeli Government, he said, was "hypocritical," "paranoid" and a "lier".
Ankara has previously insisted that peace cannot be achieved in the Middle East if Hamas was excluded from the process.
SINGAPORE, June 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States have postponed their joint naval drill, which was due to start next week, by two to three weeks because the U.S. side needs more preparations, Seoul's senior official said Friday. The two nations had been scheduled to conduct the large-scale, four-day naval drill in the South's waters off the Yellow Sea starting Monday as part of their joint response to March's deadly sinking of a South Korean warship by North Korea.
"The joint naval drill, set to be held early next week, was delayed to after mid-June, given conditions of preparations by the U.S. side," Deputy Defense Minister Chang Kwang-il told reporters on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific security conference in Singapore.
Chang said South Korea and the U.S. plan to hold another naval maneuver in the South's waters in late June or early July.
The details will be on top of the agenda when South Korean defense chiefs and the U.S. hold talks later in the day in Singapore to discuss North Korea, Chang said.
South Korea's Defense Minister Kim Tae-young meets U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates for the first time bilaterally since the March 26 sinking of a South Korean warship. An international investigation concluded on May 20 that a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo to sink the Cheonan in the Yellow Sea, one of the worst military disasters since the 1950-53 Korean War.
"The two sides are expected to share views that the North's attack on the Cheonan was clearly an act of invasion and a violation of the Korean War armistice," said a South Korean official at the security forum, referring to the truce that ended the Korean War.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/04/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under:
#1
I guess THE ONE found out about the carrier battle group headed that way. Must read Rantburg!
Pyongyang has warned of an imminent war in the Korean Peninsula amid rising tensions over the sinking of a South Korean warship back in March.
"The present situation of the Korean Peninsula is so grave that a war may break out any moment," Ri Jang Gon, North Korea's deputy ambassador to Geneva, said in a speech on Thursday.
He once again denied Pyongyang's involvement in the sinking of the ship.
Pyongyang accuses Seoul of trying to use the issue to ignite a campaign against its northern neighbor.
South Korea has been pushing the UN Security Council to hold the North responsible for the shipwreck.
Seoul accuses Pyongyang of having attacked the vessel with a torpedo. But the North denies any involvement in the incident.
North Korea has also threatened the South with war in case of new sanctions against Pyongyang.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Commies
#1
A pox on both your houses.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/04/2010 0:37 Comments ||
Top||
#3
It's when they stop warning everybody that we should probably worry. Threatening bluster probably means they are hoping for something other than war.
North Korea has relieved the octogenarian Vice Marshal Kim Il-chol, a member of the regime's top decision-making body, of all his official positions, it said Friday.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency said, "In accordance with a National Defense Commission decision, Kim Il-chol has been relieved of his positions as a NDC member and first vice minister of the People's Armed Forces because of his advanced age." Kim is 80.
It is unprecedented for the North Korean regime to fire a top official based on age. It has allowed senior officials to stay at their posts until they die since leader Kim Jong-il said in December 1995, "It is a noble sense of obligation for a revolutionary to respect senior revolutionaries."
Older officials than Kim Il-chol are still working as NDC members, including Jo Myong-rok (82), the director of the General Political Department, Jon Pyong-ho (84), a secretary for military logistics, and Ri Yong-mu (87), an NDC vice chairman. Kim Ki-nam, a secretary of the Workers' Party's Central Committee, is 83. He came to Seoul in August last year to attend the funeral of former President Kim Dae-jung.
Ryu Dong-ryeol, a researcher at the Police Science Institute, said, "This may be a signal for a generational shift or regime restructuring." He suggested that senior members of the military, party and government will likely be replaced as Kim Jong-il consolidates his succession by his son Jong-un.
A North Korean source speculated that Kim Il-chol was removed because he had made some kind of mistake, perhaps because he complained about his status or lost out in internal power struggles. He had been demoted from minister of the People's Armed Forces to first vice minister in February last year.
A former naval commander, he was promoted to minister in 1998. He came to Seoul in 2000, leading the North Korean delegation to inter-Korean defense ministers' meeting.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/04/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under:
[Kyodo: Korea] North Korea expressed disappointment Thursday at the resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Wednesday for yielding to U.S. pressure and breaking his pledge to relocate a U.S. Marine base outside Okinawa Prefecture. Ro Jong Su, a director-level researcher at the North Korean Foreign Ministry, also said in an interview in Pyongyang the ruling Grand National Party"s defeat in South Korean local elections Wednesday showed the South Korean public ""turned its back on the administration of (President) Lee Myung Bak,"" partly for his handling in the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Commies
#1
See also DAILY TIMES.PK > SOUTH KOREA FORMALLY ASKS UN [UNSC] TO RESPOND TO SHIP SINKING.
and
TOPIX > OKINAWA IMMEDIATELY PRESSES NEW PM FOR CHANGE, to change the 2006 US-Japan Base Reloc Deal.
* SAME > MARINE SHIFT TO GUAM MAY DELAY 3-5 YEARS FROM 2014 [to circa 2017-2019 = 2020].
* SAME > ARMY DEFECTOR: MYANMMAR SEEKING NUCLEAR WEAPONS, GETTING HELP FROM NORTH KOREA + REPORT: MYANMAR SEEKING/DEV NUCLEAR PROGRAM.
DEFECTOR > repor claims that "BURMA/MYANMAR wants NUCLEAR BOMBS + MISSLES ... BURMA WANTS TO BE A NUCLEAR POWER". Various prelimin phases of NUCPROG CONTRUX, e.g. UNDERGROUND/SECRET BUNKERS + TUNNELS + OTHER, have already begun.
* WMF > RESIGNATION OF JAPANESE PM YUKIO HATOYAMA HERALDS A DECISIVE "SEA CHANGE" IN JAPAN'S RELATIONS WID THE US + CHINA [ + NE Asian Powers]. JAPAN'S LONG BUMPY ROAD FROM DEPENDENCY/RELIANCE ON THE US SUPERPOWER BEGINS TO STRAIGHTEN TOWARDS SELF-DESTINY.
* WMF > "AMERICAN ENTERPRISE" US THINK-TANK: REPORT CLAIMS THE US IS LOSING ASIA, CHINA + PLA DEV THE MILITARY ABILITY TO SERIOUSLY DAMAGE OR DESTROY ANY US BASE IN EAST ASIA + WESTPAC.
> Any Collapse of DPRK will lead to Regional + International Competition to control DPRK Nukes-WMDS between the US, China, Japan, + SOKOR.
> SOUTH EAST ASIA under ESCALATING THREAT FROM RADICAL ISLAMIST-LED VIOL EXTREMIST GROUPS.
> CHINA's desire for true SUPERPOWER STATUS may lead to REGIONAL INSTABILITIES + EVEN DECLINES IN REGIONAL PEACE = WAR(S).
IOW, CHINESE IMPERIALISM.
* WMF > JAPANESE MEDIAS: CHINA'S DESIRE TO ENTER/MARCH INTO THE PACIFIC SIGNIFICANTLY WORRIES JAPAN. ESCALATING SINO-JAPANESE BILATERAL TIES, COOPERATION DESCRIBED AS BEING "RELUCTANT FRIENDSHIP" [NOT Enemies, but simul also NOT Friends, at least for a time]. KEY WILL BE CHINA'S ACCEPTANCE OR REJECTION OF A PRO-US, NUCLEAR-ARMED JAPAN HAVING A MAJOR RESPONSIBLE ROLE IN NORTHEAST/EAST ASIA SECURITY IN PLACE OF THE US.
* WMF > TAIWAN TEST-FIRES NEW BALLISTIC MISSLE CAPABLE OF HITTING BEIJING, SHANGHAI, + YANGTZE RIVER THREE-GORGES DAM.
Lest we fergit, SINK THE TIRPITZ, SINK THE TIRPITZ....
France's official Muslim council has warned the government not to expect it to impose a planned ban on full face veils for women that legal experts argue will be unconstitutional and police predict will be unenforceable.
Mohammed Moussaoui, head of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), said his group opposed the full veil and would try to convince the tiny minority of veiled women that it was not a religious obligation and was out of place in France. But Muslim leaders could not act as agents of the state during a six-month "mediation period" during which veiled women will be stopped and informed about the law but not fined.
The draft law, due to be passed this autumn, bans wearing full veils in public. After the mediation period, veiled women must pay a 150 euro ($182.8) fine or take "citizenship lessons" while anyone found forcing them to veil risks a 15,000 euro fine. "It will be very hard to apply," Moussaoui told journalists Thursday. "The CFCM has said it's ready to work for this, but not as someone mandated by the state. It's the duty of society to shoulder its responsibility for the mediation."
Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie has said she would depend on the police, the CFCM and local civic associations to convince covered women their veils violated French values. Police unions have warned that stopping veiled women in the street could lead to chaotic scenes and protests. "There will be lots of refusals, it will degenerate into insult and outrage, they'll be detained and families will gather outside the police station," Yannick Danio of the Unite SGP-Police union told the newspaper Le Monde. Other critics of the ban have said radical Muslims might provoke such confrontations to extend their influence.
France's Council of State, a top legal advisory body, has twice warned that a ban would probably violate the French constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, but President Nicolas Sarkozy has decided to push ahead with it. "Some politicians see in the veil a provocation to the authority of the state," Moussaoui said. "But if the Council of State, the Constitutional Court or the European Court of Human Rights censure any law that is passed, the state's authority will also be weakened."
Moussaoui made clear the CFCM, which represents 86 percent of mosques in France, opposed the full face veil, "Nobody accepts it... A veiled woman cannot have a normal social life." But it also opposed the ban, which it thought would force veiled women to stay at home and not tackle the root question of why they want to isolate themselves from French society. Asked how the CFCM could convince women to remove their burqas and niqabs, he said the fact that women had to uncover their faces to perform some rituals on the haj pilgrimage to Mecca showed full veils were not required in Islam. "How can a practice forbidden on the haj become obligatory outside of it?" he asked.
#1
Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side;
Some great cause, some great decision, offering each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever, twixt that darkness and that light.
Then to side with truth is noble, when we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit, and tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses while the coward stands aside,
Till the multitude make virtue of the faith they had denied.
By the light of burning martyrs, Christ, Thy bleeding feet we track,
Toiling up new Calvries ever with the cross that turns not back;
New occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth,
They must upward still and onward, who would keep abreast of truth.
Though the cause of evil prosper, yet the truth alone is strong;
Though her portion be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong;
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own.
Turkey said today it could cut ties with Israel to a minimum after a sea raid on a Turkish ship bound for Gaza plunged relations to their lowest since the two countries forged a strategic relationship in the 1990s.
Turkey's deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc said existing military and economic agreements with Israel were now on the table for discussion after nine Turkish nationals were killed when Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara on Monday. "We are serious about this subject," he told NTV broadcaster in an interview. "We may plan to reduce our relations with Israel to a minimum, but to assume everything involving another country is stopped in an instant, to say we have crossed you out of our address book, is not the custom of our state," he said.
Turkey, Israel's only Muslim ally, had already recalled its ambassador and cancelled joint military exercises after the nine activists were killed while trying to break a blockade on Gaza.
A spokeswoman for activists aboard another boat trying to run the blockade said they would continue their voyage. Israel, facing an international outcry over its naval operation on Monday, has vowed to stop the MV Rachel Corrie , named after an activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza in 2003. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered Israeli forces to exercise "caution and politeness" in handling the ship. The boat is expected near the waters off Gaza by Saturday.
#1
I fail to see why Israel refuses to stick up for themselves outside of the Jerusalem Post.
They have video of the raid, and apparently confiscated video of them practicing attacking with metal rods before setting sail.
#2
The US-NATO + ISRAEL both want TURKEY as an effec hedge agz ISLAMIST IRAN [also read, PROTECT RUSSIA FROM ISLAMIST-LED MILTERRS], but instead PRO-ISLAMIST POPULAR PRESSURES are building up inside Turkey to challenge Turkey's tradional secularism.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Thousands thronged an Istanbul mosque on Thursday for the funeral of Turkish activists killed in an Israeli naval raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship, as President Abdullah Gul told an outraged nation that ties with Israel would never be the same again.
Draped in Turkish and Palestinian flags, the coffins of eight of the nine dead were brought to Fatih mosque, a grand Ottoman structure in one of Istanbul's most pious areas for a service before being dispersed around the country for burial.
"You head to heaven. May God bless your martyrdom," read a huge banner on one side of a square brimming with mourners, among them some who had been aboard the Gaza-bound aid flotilla and had arrived back in Istanbul just hours earlier.
"We are deeply sad but at the same time we are outraged," said Hulya Sekerci, 36, a charity worker from Istanbul.
"Nine people were killed. The whole world must react to this. The government must do more than just speak angry words."
All nine dead men -- eight Turks and U.S. citizen of Turkish origin -- were aboard the converted cruise ship Mavi Marmara when Israeli commandos boarded it in international waters.
The United States, meanwhile, said it would probe the death of an American killed in an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, but said the FBI would not be involved "at this point."
"We will look into the circumstances of the death of an American citizen, as we would do anywhere in the world at all times," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.
When asked if the FBI would be involved, he replied: "At this point, no."
Gul earlier issued a stark warning, echoing the words of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, declaring Turkey would never forget such an attack on its ships and people in international waters.
"Israel made one of the greatest mistakes in its history. It will see in time what a huge mistake it made," the president told a news conference east of Ankara.
The killing of Turks has outraged the Muslim country and brought already strained ties between the Jewish state and Ankara's Islamist-leaning government close to breaking point.
Turkey has recalled its ambassador and Erdogan, charging Israel with "state terrorism", has called for those responsible for the deaths to be punished.
Other activists, who have given harrowing accounts of their ordeal on the high seas, arrived in Istanbul earlier on Thursday to a hero's welcome by thousands of cheering supporters.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
I wonder how much araq Kurds have consumed in the last few days.
#1
They can't be talking about Bambi's war against the U.S. - that's no secret. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/04/2010 12:31 Comments ||
Top||
#2
All together now, sing loud + wid feeling > SINK THE TIRPITZ, SINK THE TIRPITZ... ... THE GORGE-BUSTERS [USDOD SpecFors = Commando Ops in case of SINO-US WAR to destroy China's NEWLY RELOCATED, HEAVILY DEFENDED MIL TARGETS DEEP INSIDE ITS NATIONAL INTERIOR E.G. INLAND RIVERS].
In true 1960's-1970's GUAM TAOTAMONAS FASHION, the USN wants ALL-FEMME = FEMALE-CREWED SUBS.
As AL PACINO would say in DEVIL'S ADVOCATE >
D *** NG IT, THAT GOD = DA MAN UPSTAIRS IS SUCH A VOYEUR!
Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik has ruled out a military offensive against pro-Taliban militants in the eastern province of Punjab.
"No military operation is planned against banned [militant] outfits in Punjab... [but] effective action would jointly be taken [with the Punjab government] to eliminate them," Pakistan's official APP news agency quoted Malik as saying on Thursday.
Malik earlier told a parliamentary committee that "Punjabi Taliban" were planning to destabilize the South Asian country.
According to a BBC report, few Pakistani officials have acknowledged the existence of militant bases in Punjab.
The developments come after several gunmen armed with heavy weapons attacked two separate prayer sites belonging to a minority sect in Lahore last Friday.
At least 98 people were killed in the fatal incident. The Tehreek-e-Taliban in Punjab have claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Punjab group is a coalition of several militant organizations in Punjab province, which was until recently considered a relatively secure part of the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2010 00:00 ||
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[7 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
"They are not Muslim, so we will not spend anymore time or money."
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) staged a rally at the Meezan Chowk on Wednesday to protest against the killing of religious scholars Qari Abdul Mateen and Hafiz Muhammad Usman on Monday. The rally, after marching through different parts of the city, concluded at the Meezan Chowk. Addressing the rally, former senator Fazal Barech, Maulana Abdul Qadir and Maulana Muhammad Hanif criticised the government for failing to protect the life and property of the citizens. "The government is responsible for protecting the life and property of the common man but it seems to be powerless before the criminals," Fazal Barech said adding that if the government could not protect the citizens then weapons be provided to every person for protecting his life and property. He said that some elements wanted to create sectarian differences amongst the masses but they would not succeed in their evil designs. The former senator alleged that the US was encouraging terrorist attacks in the country and was also behind the target killings of religious scholars. The protesters demanded the government to arrest the killers of Maulana Mateen and Usman and bring them to justice.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
[Dawn] Ulema hailing from all sects and teachers of different madressahs at a joint press conference here on Wednesday condemned the statement of Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik about a possible army operation in south Punjab.
According to them, there is no terrorist in any of the madressahs in the three districts of Bahawalpur division.
Patron Mufti Ataur Rehman and president Mufti Mazhar Asadi of Tahafaz-i-Dini Madaris Committee flanked by Riaz Chughtai (JUI) and Allama Nadeem Hashmi (JI) and others at Darul Uloom Madnia said south Punjab was being deliberately targetted.
According to them, of 620 madressahs, 500 have been registered in the district. They said if Rehman Malik proved presence of any terrorist in any madressah or mosque they would themselves hand him over to the government. They said in fact the interior minister himself wanted to disrupt peace in this region under the pressure of America and India to divert the attention of people from price hike and cover up government's weaknesses.
The ulema said if the government did not drop its plan to launch a military operation in south Punjab, they would seek the support of the parliament or move the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, acting RPO Humayun Babar Tarar told Dawn there were no camps or hideouts of terrorists in Bahawalpur division.
The area, he added, had been cleared during the previous months and even IG Tariq Saleem Dogar during his last visit here had said south Punjab had no terrorist camps.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: TTP
Despite the military's announcement on Tuesday of "successful conclusion of the operation in Orakzai Agency", locals and officials said on Wednesday that more than half of the agency was yet to be cleared of the Taliban.
"The military has cleared only Lower Orakzai, while the situation in upper and central Orakzai has not changed much, as the army is yet to evict the Taliban from these areas. The battle is far from over," locals of Lower and Upper Orakzai told Daily Times.
A brief statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relation (ISPR) on Tuesday said, "(The) COAS' visit to Orakzai Agency marks the successful conclusion of operations in the agency."
However, fighting rages on in the agency as more clashes were reported on Wednesday.
"In Upper Orakzai, security forces took control of Daburi, while Mamozai, Ghaljo and Shahoo areas are still in Taliban control," residents and officials in Hangu district told Daily Times.
Officials said Uzbek and other terrorists belonging to the "Lal Masjid group" and the Taliban from Swat, Bajaur and Waziristan were putting up "stiff resistance" in Upper Orakzai.
However, they said the forces had cleared areas bordering Khyber Agency in northern Orakzai, blocking the Taliban's attempt to zero in on Peshawar and target supply routes for NATO and American forces in Afghanistan.
"The TTP will not reach Peshawar as effortlessly as it would have prior to the operation. However, the job is yet to be completed in western Orakzai. That is where the real problem lies," the officials added.
Military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas told Daily Times that the operation in Orakzai was "almost over", but "stabilisation operations may continue".
"The consolidation phase has begun and the clearance of population areas will follow soon."
He said the resistance put up by the Taliban was "quite stiff" and the use of air force was necessary to soften up targets, as it "is hard for ground troops to attack Taliban positions on mountain tops".
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
T. said he realized the group they were facing was well-trained and likely ex-military after the commandos threw a number of stun grenades and fired warning shots before rappelling down onto the deck. They didnt even flinch, he said. Regular people would move.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/04/2010 21:06 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I think the fact that many had $$$ on them tells you a lot about their mission. So they were bringing non urgent aid and thousands of dollars. hmmm I wonder what for?
There comes a time
When we need to make a show
For the world, the Web and CNN
There's no people dying,
so the best that we can do
Is create the greatest bluff of all
We must go on pretending day by day
That in Gaza, there's crisis, hunger and plague
Coz the billion bucks in aid won't buy their basic needs
Like some cheese and missiles for the kids
We'll make the world
Abandon reason
We'll make them all believe that the Hamas
Is Momma Theresa
We are peaceful travelers
With guns and our own knives
The truth will never find its way to your TV
Ooooh, we'll stab them at heart
They are soldiers, no one cares
We are small, and we took some pictures with doves
As Allah showed us, for facts there's no demand
So we will always gain the upper hand
We'll make the world
Abandon reason
We'll make them all believe that the Hamas
Is Momma Theresa
We are peaceful travelers
we're waving our own knives
The truth will never find its way to your TV
If Islam and terror brighten up your mood
But you worry that it may not look so good
Well well well well don't you realize
You just gotta call yourself
An activist for peace and human aid
We'll make the world
Abandon reason
We'll make them all believe that the Hamas
Is Momma Theresa
We are peaceful travelers
We're waving our own knives
The truth will never find its way to your TV
We con the world
We con the people
We'll make them all believe the IDF is Jack the Ripper
We are peaceful travelers
We're waving our own knives
The truth will never find its way to your TV
We con the world (Bruce: we con the world...)
We con the people (Bruce: we con the people...)
We'll make them all believe the IDF is Jack the Ripper
We are peaceful travelers
We're waving our own knives
The truth will never find its way to your TV
The truth will never find its way to your TV
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/04/2010 11:37 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Great Video!!
Makes me wanna laugh and cry at the same time. Good to see Israeli morale not affected by all the BS.
#3
I love the comments below the video, mere video evidence of them stabbing and beating IDF with metal poles (as included in the video) would never change a truly open minded person's opinion.
The article is mostly a recapitulation the paragraphs below contain the new information:
President Obama added to the pressure on Israel in an interview with Larry King that was broadcast Thursday night. While declining to condemn the raid, he said, "What's important right now is that we break out of the current impasse, use this tragedy as an opportunity so that we figure out how we meet Israel's security concerns, but at the same time start opening up opportunity for Palestinians."
Israel's Channel 2 television news reported on Thursday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had proposed to Tony Blair, the international envoy of the so-called quartet of Middle East peacemakers, that an international naval force inspect future aid ships bound for Gaza. So Israel is going to entrust its very survival to an "international force"?
After the experience of Southern Lebanon this seems to be madness, especially in light of a soon to be nuclear Iran.
Are we going to witness the implementation of the Samantha Powers Peace Plan after all?
The reason is that Hamas really doesn't need anything except weapons. If all Hamas gets is food and medicine, they will lose interest in getting ships.
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/04/2010 9:35 Comments ||
Top||
Israel should not agree to an independent international inquiry of the raid on the Gaza flotilla that left at least nine people dead, Col. (ret.) Richard Kemp, the former commander of the British forces in Afghanistan, told The Jerusalem Post Wednesday.
Former President Jimmy Carter has predictably condemned a deadly Israeli raid on a flotilla of aid ships on its way to Gaza. In a pre-recorded statement Wednesday, Carter calls on the International Quartet, led by the U.S., to help end the closure of Gaza, and allow unification of Palestinians.
Carter says the raid is a reminder that "the failed policy of besieging Gaza mainly hurts civilians and agents provocateurs."
The Carter Center, a nonprofit started by him and his wife, says in the statement that it joins the U.N. Security Council in calling for a prompt, independent investigation into Monday's raid. Nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed.
Carter brokered a 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt during his presidency. He has long said bringing peace to the Mideast remains one of his unfulfilled goals.
Obvious man is obvious.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
I hate to wax nostalgic, but I'm going to miss ol' PeanutHead when he is no longer Worst President Ever. He has been Worst President Ever for, well, pretty much forever.
#4
Carter is such a pathetic individual, he has set himself up to be a hilarious hoax. Imagine if someone could slip an article through the net about how Carter suddenly had a vision, in which an angel told him to become an Orthodox Jew?
And he turns all his miserable powers to becoming an unpleasant Zionist. Starts growing a beard and long hair, wearing a yarmulke, and spouting against the Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims.
Reading such an article, Carter would probably have a rage stroke.
#5
Classic example of "if it upsets him, it must have been the right thing to do." We can only hope that obama one day is part of a completely non-influential group like jimmah's "the elders."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/04/2010 9:26 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Ah, Jimmah, yuv looked bad for 4 decades now. Yer bairn are ugly anti-USA peaceniks as well. Sure yuv built quite enough Roach-Hotel mini-cabins with State Dept/UN-bux...Please die soon and STFU (Dittoes Rosalind (Sp?), Chirp (Sp?), Aimee (Sp?) Billy (rip, Sp?) Miz ???..., Mom of All GA peanut dynasties. Kisses,
Hyman Rickover, ADM USN, Ret/Rip/Esq
[Straits Times] THE Philippines government and Muslim rebels on Thursday pledged to continue working towards a peace deal as they ended a final round of talks under President Gloria Arroyo's outgoing administration.
Negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest of the country's Muslim rebel groups, will now resume efforts to end decades of conflict under the government of Benigno Aquino, who was elected in May.
The two sides said at the conclusion of two-day talks in the Malaysian capital that they would press on with efforts to reach a political settlement. 'The parties met under an atmosphere of cordiality and candor, determined to continue engaging with each other... until they finally conclude and reach a comprehensive compact,' they said in a joint statement.
The latest round of talks was aimed at bridging the two phases of negotiations, and cementing a commitment to proceed despite large-scale fighting in 2008 which temporarily derailed the process.
One diplomat involved with peace monitoring efforts in the troubled southern Philippines said the government had wanted the MILF to sign a statement 'on the conclusion of talks between both sides' to give an impression of concrete progress before Mrs Arroyo steps down on June 30. However, the MILF has said it will not sign any final peace agreement with Arroyo, preferring instead to wait for presumptive president Aquino to take his oath of office before moving forward.
'We had decided to downgrade our participation in the Malaysia talks this week, because it was only meant to allow Arroyo's negotiators to officially end their negotiation with the MILF,' the diplomat said. 'We were under the impression that the (Philippines government) had wanted to sneak in some provisions in the statement that could mislead the public into believing there was a 'conclusion' of talks between both sides, meaning some agreement had been reached,' he told AFP. 'We have been told the MILF is waiting for the next president to sign a final agreement, although there are uncertainties as yet.'
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
[Al Arabiya Latest] The United States said Thursday it hopes for a U.N. Security Council vote by June 21 on tough new sanctions against Iran over what it calls its continued failure to curb its nuclear ambitions.
"We are going to put forward this resolution in the coming days. And we expect all responsible members of the international community... to support the resolution," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.
"The president (Barack Obama) has indicated he wants to see this accomplished by the end of spring," he said, later clarifying that he meant a vote on the resolution by June 20 or June 21.
A senior State Department official later told reporters on the condition of anonymity that "sometime between now and June 20 I expect that this issue will come to a vote before the Security Council."
He said a report Monday by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog, underscores what he called Iran's continued failure to comply with its international obligations over its disputed atomic program.
Last month the United States introduced a draft resolution to impose tough new sanctions on Iran, saying it had the support of the four other permanent veto-wielding Security Council members: Russia, China, Britain and France.
The draft would expand an arms embargo and measures against Iran's banking sector and ban Tehran from sensitive overseas activities like uranium mining and developing ballistic missiles.
Senior U.S. officials said Friday they were forging ahead with a resolution without Brazil and Turkey, two non-permanent Security Council members that brokered a nuclear fuel swap deal with Iran aimed at forestalling sanctions.
Western powers fear Iran's atomic program is a cover for a nuclear weapons drive. Tehran denies this, saying it is aimed at peaceful energy use, which it insists it has the right to pursue.
Iran is already subject to three sets of U.N. sanctions for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, one of the crucial steps towards the production of nuclear energy for civil or military use.
In a restricted report revealed on Monday, the IAEA said Iran is pressing ahead with its controversial atomic program, producing enriched uranium at higher levels of purification and installing more machinery.
The atomic watchdog said Iran had produced at least 5.7 kilos (12.5 pounds) of higher-enriched uranium, adding that it remained concerned about the true nature of the nuclear activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
An Iran will begin Ignoring them on June 20.
(or before)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/04/2010 0:39 Comments ||
Top||
[Al Arabiya Latest] Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has called for a mass rally in Beirut on Friday during which he will announce "serious measures" in response to Israel's deadly raid on a Gaza aid flotilla.
"What happened with the 'Freedom Flotilla'... necessitates serious stances and measures," Nasrallah said in a televised speech Thursday to mark the 21st anniversary of the death of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Nasrallah said he would "announce the position... we should all take and work for" during a rally to be held Friday evening in Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut's mainly Shiite southern suburb.
The Hezbollah chief urged "all Lebanese, Palestinians and Arabs and Muslims in Lebanon" to take part in the rally to mark their "solidarity and support for the besieged people of Gaza, for the heroes of the Freedom Flotilla who returned home alive and especially for the martyrs of the fleet."
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are also set to mark a "day of anger" on Friday in protest against the deadly raid.
Eight Turks and a U.S. national of Turkish origin were killed in Monday's raid.
Tensions have been rife over the past weeks between Hezbollah and Israel, which has accused the Shiite militant faction of having acquired long-range Scud missiles in preparation for a new armed conflict.
Nasrallah has refused to confirm or deny the allegations but last month said his militants would bomb military, civilian and commercial ships heading to the Jewish state in the event of renewed conflict.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
A Muslim advocacy group is praising a southeastern Michigan police department for letting prisoners wear hijab and other forms of religious head covering. The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations says it welcomes the decision by the Canton Police Department to change its religious accommodation policy.
The new booking policy that took effect Tuesday lets those in custody wear religious head covering as long as they're behind bars. Group lawyer Lena Masri says she hopes Canton's decision "will serve as a model for other police departments throughout the state and the nation."
People arrested by Canton police while wearing head coverings will no longer be forced to remove them while being booked, as long as the coverings are worn for religious reasons. The policy change, which became effective Tuesday, would also allow people wearing religious head coverings, such as hijabs, turbans or burkas, to continue wearing the coverings while they are detained in the Canton holding facility.
Canton Police Lt. Todd Mutchler said the change would affect a small number of those arrested in the township. "We feel it better positions our police to provide police services to the diverse community we serve," Mutchler said.
Under the policy, a suspect wearing such a covering would be asked whether it would be OK to remove the garment. If the person declined, officers would ask a series of questions to determine whether the covering was being worn for genuine religious reasons. If that is the case, the suspect would be allowed to continue wearing the covering. Mutchler said the booking photos would show the suspect as he or she appears in public.
#1
Under the policy, a suspect wearing such a covering would be asked whether it would be OK to remove the garment. If the person declined, officers would ask a series of questions to determine whether the covering was being worn for genuine religious reasons. If that is the case, the suspect would be allowed to continue wearing the covering. Mutchler said the booking photos would show the suspect as he or she appears in public
I belong to the Holy Order of Gas Sations and Convenience Stores. My religion dictates that I wear a ballaclava or ski mask at all times - especially when preying. Our priests wear full Richard Nixon masks. It is our understanding that we are able to refuse to remove our Holy Masks when arrested, arraigned, booked or serving time. The Nixon mask, in particular, looks just smashing on an ID photo.
We swap masks in the yard at excercise time. Not one of the fools for guards has any idea who we are or what we look like. Well, except for Mr. Nixon, of course.
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.
Pyongyang has warned of an imminent war in the Korean Peninsula amid rising tensions over the sinking of a South Korean warship back in March. 
North Korea has relieved the octogenarian Vice Marshal Kim Il-chol, a member of the regime's top decision-making body, of all his official positions, it said Friday. 
France's official Muslim council has warned the government not to expect it to impose a planned ban on full face veils for women that legal experts argue will be unconstitutional and police predict will be unenforceable.
Turkey said today it could cut ties with Israel to a minimum after a sea raid on a Turkish ship bound for Gaza plunged relations to their lowest since the two countries forged a strategic relationship in the 1990s.
A Muslim advocacy group is praising a southeastern Michigan police department for letting prisoners wear hijab and other forms of religious head covering. The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations says it welcomes the decision by the Canton Police Department to change its religious accommodation policy. 
