[Pak Daily Times] Releasing Taliban figures detained at Guantanamo Bay and scratching scores of others off the UN sanctions list would jump-start peace talks aimed at ending the 9-year-old war, members of Afghanistan's new peace council said.
The council members, who hold their first business meeting on Wednesday, said goodwill gestures from the US and international community could spur reconciliation talks - perhaps at a neutral location in Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Egypt or Turkey. The momentum for a political solution has been slowly building in Afghanistan as public support for the war has waned in the West. The renewed push for peace comes as the last of 30,000 US reinforcements have arrived in Afghanistan, pushing deeper into areas long held by Islamic myrmidons.
Many top military and diplomatic leaders have publicly supported peace efforts, though they remain sceptical that hard boyz are ready to lay down their arms, embrace the Afghan constitution and sever ties with al Qaeda and other terrorist networks. Ethnic minorities and women, who were repressed under the Taliban, have expressed concerns about what any deal with the cut-throats would bring. Most members of the Taliban are Pashtuns, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan. The minority Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras are not likely to sit quietly on the sidelines if Karzai, a Pashtun, makes a deal with Islamic myrmidons.
But Staffan de Mistura, the top UN envoy in Afghanistan, said all parties including the Taliban know there is no military solution to the conflict. He predicted the next several months will be particularly violent because both the Taliban and international forces will be applying maximum pressure on each other to position themselves for possible negotiation.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
to release Taliban figures
For some reason I'm reminded of a story that I've hear from a Vietnam vet. It involved taking captured Vietcong up in helicopter and releasing them.
[Pak Daily Times] The Afghan Taliban said on Wednesday that they were not talking to President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai's government; rejecting recent media reports the two sides were in secret negotiations to end a war now in its 10th year. That could well be a true statement. Maybe Hamid is talking to the Talibs and the Talibs aren't talking back to him.
Maybe some of the Talibs are talking and others aren't, and maybe they aren't telling each other about it. These are not naturally honest people.
Taliban front man Zabihullah Mujahid also repeated a long-standing demand for foreign forces to leave the country, saying reports of peace talks when troops were still battling forces of Evil on the ground would only undermine the credibility of the government and its foreign backers. "If the enemy insists on continuation of the war in the battlefields but on the other hand merely disseminates propaganda and contradictory claims about high-level talks, then it will only contribute first and foremost to the enemy's already losing credibility," he added. The Washington Post reported earlier this month that representatives of the Taliban and Karzai's government had started secret talks, citing unnamed Afghan and Arab sources. The sources were quoted as saying they believe the Taliban representatives were authorised to speak for the Afghan Taliban organisation.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya] The Saudi Prince Mohamed bin Nayef Counseling and Care Center released Tuesday 11 of the 16th group of former jihadists after completing the state-sponsored rehabilitation program that aims at reintegrating them into society.
Based on historical data, we should expect at least two of them to fall back into old habits. These days they tend to end up in Yemen instead of Iraq or Afghanistan -- it's safer for jihadis, it's not as far, and they speak the same language.
Media front man of the Prince Mohamed Bin Nayef center announced Tuesday that 11 of the group currently receiving therapy, the sixteenth to attend the rehabilitation program, displayed signs of progress and proved that they benefited from the training courses offered at the center.
According to the front man, several of the 11 performed the pilgrimage ritual as part of the several services offered by the center to the trainees and their families.
Two of them were enrolled in Imam Mohamed bin Saud University and three were registered in an advanced computer course at the Community Service Center, affiliated to King Saud University.
After their release, the former Jihadists are scheduled to attend additional programs that prepare them psychologically and socially to the new life they are about to start.
The center was initiated by Prince Mohamed bin Nayef, deputy interior minister for security affairs, with the aim of rehabilitating Saudi citizens who fell prey to turban ideas, commonly known as "deviant thought", and engaged in terrorist activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2010 00:00 ||
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Google Translate. For a map, click here
The Coahuila FiscalÃa General del Estado has placed under arrest the police chief of Torreon, Coahuila for investigation of crimes committed stemming from the arrest of state police agents.
General Carlos Bibiano Villa Castillo will appear Friday before the court on charges of abuse of authority, obstruction of justice and aggravated injury and theft.
The charges were initiated after Agentes de la Policia Investigadora (API) agents were arrested and beaten by elements of Torreon's municipal police force.
The API agents were investigating an abduction when they were placed into custody of Torreon municipal police officers Monday afternoon.
Villa Castillo told his officers in a handover ceremony Tuesday that the charges were all a misunderstanding and that good working relationships exist between the Torreon preventative police and the state attorney's office.
It's Los Zetas territory. Lots of kidnappings, a shooting in front of the American school... This is apparently the first time the U.S. State Department has declared a Mexican city off-limits to American offspring.
Los Zetas did apologize for the incident in front of the school, though — they thought the security guards were members of another gang, and they responded. Had they known the guards were civilians, they would not have killed two and kidnapped the other four.
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
10/14/2010 7:34 Comments ||
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#2
Remember, the offspring of members of the Inner Party are far more valuable than the everyday members of the Outer Party or Prole and their families. Thus, the warning for the 'special' and no such warning for others.
#2
There's only about 2000 Polish Tarters in Poland. Seems like a pretty big center for 2000 people.
Or are they going to proselytize and stir up trouble... ya think?
(Lipka Tatars and Islam in Poland
From the 13th to 17th centuries various groups of Tatars settled and/or found refuge within the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth. This was promoted especially by the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, because of their deserved reputation as skilled warriors. The Tatar settlers were all granted with szlachta (~ nobility) status, a tradition that was preserved until the end of the Commonwealth in the 18th century. They included the Lipka Tatars (13-14 centuries) as well as Crimean and Nogay Tatars (15th-16th centuries), all of which were noticeable in Polish military history, as well as Kazan Tatars (16th-17th centuries). They all mostly settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, lands that are now in Lithuania and Belarus.
Various estimates of the number of Tatars in the Commonwealth in the 17th century range from 15,000 persons to 60 villages with mosques. Numerous royal privileges, as well as internal autonomy granted by the monarchs allowed the Tatars to preserve their religion, traditions and culture over the centuries. The Tatars were allowed to intermarry with Christians, a thing uncommon in Europe at the time. The May Constitution of 1791 gave the Tatars representation in the Polish Sejm.
Although by the 18th century the Tatars adopted the local language, the Islamic religion and many Tatar traditions (e.g. the sacrifice of bulls in their mosques during the main religious festivals) were preserved. This led to formation of a distinctive Muslim culture, in which the elements of Muslim orthodoxy mixed with religious tolerance and a relatively liberal society. For instance, the women in Lipka Tatar society traditionally had the same rights and status as men, and could attend non-segregated schools.
About 5,500 Tatars lived within the inter-war boundaries of Poland (1920-1939), and a Tatar cavalry unit had fought for the country's independence. The Tatars had prserved their cultural identity and sustained a number of Tatar organisations, including a Tatar archives, and a museum in Wilno (Vilnius).
The Tatars suffered serious losses during World War II and furthermore, after the border change in 1945 a large part of them found themselves in the Soviet Union. It is estimated that about 3000 Tatars live in present-day Poland, of which about 500 declared Tatar (rather than Polish) nationality in the 2002 census. )
#4
It's not for the Tarters, Dinah. From the article:
The country has a growing Muslim community, fed by immigrants from Syria, Iraq and Libya, who are attracted by Poland's membership of the European Union.
The Islamic cultural center being built in Warsaw has been designed to fit in with Polish architectural tradition. Salim Ismail of The Polish Islamic League stressed that care was taken to avoid symbols that Poland's Roman Catholic majority might find offensive. "There is no minaret to remind the faithful of prayer times," Ismail said. "Our idea was to make the center multi-functionalÂ… We want to build bridges and forge contacts."
Not a rabat like the Ground Zero mosque. Not yet, at least.
#4
The wife was manning (maybe not an appropriate term) a neighood garage sale and a islamic woman came to the sale. She was dressed in hijab and full length coat. It was 85-90 degrees. My wife made a casual comment: "Aren't you hot?" Now I guess one could take offense but the question was innocent. The muslim woman said: "It is not as hot as being in hell." Later, the ladies figured out they had been slammed.
(Xinhua) -- Request by the Paleostinian side for a map of the state of Israel is something that "only a direct negotiation can resolve," U.S. State Department front man Philip Crowley said on Wednesday.
"What they're asking for is the essence of the negotiations: what are the borders of a future Paleostinian state, and conversely, what will be the borders of the Israeli state," Crowley told news hounds at the State Department. "This is a core issue, and this is something that only a direct negotiation can resolve."
Crowley on Tuesday challenged the Paleostinians to come up with their own proposals in response to an Israeli demand that Israel be recognized as a Jewish state in return for renewed ban on settlement building in the West Bank.
Israeli media reports on Wednesday quoted Yasser Abed Rabbo, an official from the Paleostine Liberation Organization, as saying that he was officially authorized to apply to the U.S. and Israel and request a map for Israel. However, The infamous However... Paleostinian negotiator Nabil Shaath denied the reports, saying that "it is not true that we made the request."
Direct negotiations between Israel and Paleostine, which were restarted in Washington in early September, have been stalled over Jewish settlement building in the West Bank.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya] The Paleostinians are seeking a map from the United States showing where Israel sees its final borders and making clear whether they include Paleostinian land and homes, an official said on Wednesday.
"President Obama, it's your job to make those Juices surrender!"
Paleostine Liberation Organization (PLO) official Yasser Abed Rabbo was responding to a U.S. call for the Paleostinians to present their own ideas in response to an Israeli proposal they recognize Israel as a Jewish state in return for curbs on settlement building -- a declaration they have long opposed.
"What is required from the American administration and Israel is that they present us with the map of the state of Israel that they want us to recognize," Abed Rabbo told Rooters.
"Is this map on the '67 borders or does it include Paleostinian land and the homes we live in?" he said, referring to the year when Israel captured the West Bank and Gazoo Strip in a Middle East war.
The settlement issue has derailed U.S.-backed peace talks which began on Sept. 2.
The Paleostinians say they will not resume U.S.-backed negotiations until Israel halts settlement building on occupied land where they aim to found a state. An Israeli freeze on new home building in the occupied West Bank expired on Sept. 26.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he would be willing to request another freeze from his cabinet if the Paleostinians recognized Israel as a Jewish state.
He said it would be a "trust-building step", while some Paleostinian and Israeli commentators questioned whether the proposal was only a ploy to try to shift blame onto the Paleostinians should the peace processor collapse.
The Paleostinians ruled out the idea -- something they see as a major concession that would be tantamount to political suicide for a leadership whose credibility has already been badly damaged by the failure of past peace talks.
US sees Israel as Jewish state
U.S. State Department front man P. J. Crowley said on Tuesday Netanyahu had "offered his thoughts on both what he's willing to contribute to the process, and what he thinks he needs for his people out of the process. We would hope that the Paleostinians would do the same thing".
The United States recognizes Israel as a Jewish state, Crowley said.
Abed Rabbo's demand for a map echoed Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas's call for clear terms of reference for the peace talks.
Netanyahu's predecessor as prime minister, Ehud Olmert, has said he showed Abbas a map offering him 93.5 to 93.7 percent of the West Bank, with the difference made up by a proposed land swap of 5.8 percent and a safe-passage corridor between the territory and the Gazoo Strip.
But the Paleostinians fear Netanyahu, who has not signed on publicly to Olmert's blueprint, has no intention of allowing the establishment of a viable state they seek in the West Bank and Gazoo Strip, with East Jerusalem, which Israel also captured in 1967 and annexed, as their capital.
Israel has said it intends to keep major settlement blocs in any future agreement and, citing security concerns, Netanyahu has called for retention of Israeli troops along the Jordan River, the likely eastern border of a future Paleostinian state.
"We are ready to recognize, once again, the state of Israel if Washington gives us a map of the borders of that state so we know if they include our land and homes in the West Bank, the Gazoo Strip and Jerusalem," Abed Rabbo said.
The PLO recognized the state of Israel in 1993 at the outset of the peace processor. At the same time, Israel also recognized the PLO as the representative of the Paleostinian people.
The Paleostinians say recognizing Israel as a Jewish state would compromise the rights of Arab citizens of Israel who make up 20 percent of the population.
It would also effectively forgo the right of return of Paleostinian refugees who decamped or were forced from their homes in Arab-Israeli wars to return to territory that is now Israel. Their fate is one of the "final-status" issues in the talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Now, I would ask Bambi for a map of USA (any bets it doesn't include Texas, CA, etc...?)
#2
Grom, it also wouldn't include AZ and probably NM. Of course that means he would have to add 11 states to get to his count of 57. I'm thinking a few from China, one each from Pakistan, Venezuela, Syria and Greece with the remainder coming from Kenya.
Posted by: Alan Cramer ||
10/14/2010 11:10 Comments ||
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Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/14/2010 12:33 Comments ||
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#5
Re: Arizona (or northern Sonora, if you so wish). When it comes to "multiculturalism" you can't win here for trying! Yesterday I went to a Mexican bakery (Spanish speaking) and asked for a loaf of "Pan del muerte"! ("Day of the Dead" bread) - very sweet, tasty, colorful, with devilish figures on the frosting. I told the clerk it looked beautiful. She rolled her eyes at me and declared that she was not an idol worshiper - giving me a sour face all along. Said I: "I am a Jew not an idol worshiper either. I bought it to eat not worship!"
_________________________
In the Hispanic area I live in no one calls themselves a "Protestant", but rather a "Christian". To them, Catholics are not Christians but idol-worshipers - they sound like anti-Al Smith voters. Moreover it is widely believed by many (including the "educated") that Jews read and follow the Koran. One day I will soon start foaming at the mouth when I do business with these folks...
#6
"We don't need no stinkin' maps" is an appropriate Israeli answer. BTW, I thought the Arabs believed he Israeli Flag represented the map of Israel. If so, use it! Pals belong (at best) on the east bank of the Jordan, if not the Euphrates. Then there is always beautiful Manchuko...
#7
I've worked with Paleo-American engineers who've had wall maps showing all of Israel, Gaza, and WB as "Palestine". Apparently, projection is acceptable. A "Israel, including Judea and Samaria" map would twist some knickers. I'm sure Bibi has one somewhere nearby just for negotiating purposes
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/14/2010 19:33 Comments ||
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#8
Hmmmmm....that map of Israel presented by P2K shows a greatly truncated Gaza. We are talking Superfund class cleanup stuff here, folks.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/14/2010 20:29 Comments ||
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Washington urges Palestinian Authority to present counter-proposal to keep negotiations on track.
The Palestinian Authority has concluded that the peace process based on a two-state solution has failed, a senior Fatah official said on Tuesday.
His statement came as PA officials repeated their rejection of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's proposal to extend the settlement construction moratorium if the Palestinian leadership recognized Israel as a Jewish state.
This may be why, in a poll taken in September, 76% of American Jews have come to believe the Palestinians want to destroy Israel, and 95% believe that recognizing Israel as a Jewish state is necessary for peace.
Mahmoud Aloul, a member of the Fatah Central Committee accused the US administration of failing to exert pressure on Israel to alter its policies and halt settlement construction.
This may be why Jewish approval of President Obama has dropped from 78% in the last election to 51% now, and only 49% now approve of his handling of US-Israel relations.
#1
peace process based on a two-state solution has failed
Um, okay, we'll have a one state solution. All you boys move east of the river, including the Gazooks, and we'll keep all of ours on the west side. Nice, neat, simple.
Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Posted by: Alan Cramer ||
10/14/2010 14:01 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] Iran's diminutive PresidentMahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad arrived in Beirut Wednesday to a warm welcome and Lebanese President Michel Suleiman acknowledged that Iran has the right to peaceful nuclear energy use.
Huge crowds gathered in the streets of Beirut to welcome Ahmadinejad as he arrived Wednesday morning on a controversial visit that will take him to the doorstep of arch-foe Israel.
The streets to Beirut's airport were lined from early morning by thousands of people, mostly Hizbullah supporters, many of them carrying or draped in Iranian flags.
Huge pictures of the Iranian leader were also on display along with flower baskets placed along the airport road and large balloons in the red, green and white colors of the Iranian flag.
Many streets leading to the airport, located near Hizbullah's stronghold in the southern suburbs, were cordoned off amid tight security. The downtown area near the hotel where Ahmadinejad is staying was also off limits to traffic.
"I am here to express my support for the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran," said Afaf as she stood outside the airport with her two children waving Iranian flags.
"Along with Iran, we are engaged in the same battle against Israel."
Although Ahmadinejad is sure to receive a rapturous welcome from Hizbullah and its allies, his two-day official trip has sparked criticism among Leb's parliamentary majority who see it as a bid to portray Leb as "an Iranian base on the Mediterranean."
The United States and Israel, which have sought to isolate Iran over its nuclear program, have also expressed concern.
Ahmadinejad's first visit since his election in 2005 will highlight the clout Iran wields in Leb through Hizbullah, considered Tehran's proxy and by far the most powerful military and political force in the small Mediterranean country.
The president's trip also comes at a sensitive time in politically turbulent Leb.
"We stress the right of nations to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and Iran's right to utilize it as well," Suleiman said at a joint press conference with Ahmadinejad.
"We discussed bilateral ties and the needs of the current phase, along with its challenges," he told news hounds.
"I stressed Leb's eagerness to implement resolution 1701 and all its points, especially the complete and unconditional withdrawal from all Lebanese territory that is still under occupation," Suleiman added.
He said Israeli threats are tantamount to an assault on the Lebanese economy and the Lebanese people's dignity "because they repel investors."
Ahmadinejad, for his part, said "Leb is not only a source of pride for the Lebanese but for the region ... because Leb has changed the balance of power in favor of the people of the region."
"We support Leb's bitter struggle in confronting Israeli assaults," Ahmadinejad said.
"We fully support the resistance of the Lebanese people against the Zionist regime and we want full liberation of occupied territory in Leb, Syria and Paleostine," the hardline leader said.
"As long as (Israeli) aggression exists in the region, we will not see stability," he added.
"We demand a united and strong Leb and we stand by the government and people so this people may achieve all its goals," he said.
Suleiman held lunch to honor Ahmadinejad. FPM leader Michel Aoun, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah and Druze leader Walid Jumblat took part in the luncheon. Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, however, traveled to Baabda Palace to take part in the welcome reception for Ahmadinejad
Local media on Wednesday said Ahmadinejad is likely to extend his trip by one day till Friday to coincide with a visit by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
On Wednesday, Ahmadinejad will take part in a festival held by Hizbullah and AMAL Movement at 7:00 pm at Raya Stadium in Beirut's southern suburbs.
Al-Manar television on Wednesday confirmed media reports that Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will deliver a speech via a large screen during the festival.
Ahmadinejad will also meet Nasrallah, who has lived in hiding since Hizbullah's devastating 2006 war with Israel.
Hizbullah is locked in a standoff with Prime Minister Saad Hariri over unconfirmed reports that a U.N.-backed tribunal is set to indict members of the thug group over the 2005 assassination of Hariri's father, ex-premier Rafik Hariri.
Tensions over the tribunal have grown steadily in recent weeks, raising fears of renewed sectarian violence and the collapse of Leb's hard-fought national unity government.
The highlight of the trip, however, comes on Thursday when Ahmadinejad will be just a few kilometers (miles) away from the Israeli border as he tours southern Lebanese villages destroyed during the 2006 conflict.
He is set to stop in Bint Jbeil, a Hizbullah bastion devastated during the war, and in Qana, targeted in 1996 and again in 2006 by deadly Israeli air strikes.
Iran has been a major donor in the reconstruction of southern Leb following the month-long 2006 war, and Ahmadinejad is set to receive a hero's welcome in the area.
Ahmadinejad was accompanied by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and a delegation of business leaders. He is expected to sign bilateral agreements in the energy and water sectors.
Official banquets organized in his honor will not include Western ambassadors to avoid any walkouts should Ahmadinejad launch one of his trademark tirades against Israel.
The Iranian leader has sparked international outrage by repeatedly casting doubt on the Nazi Holocaust and predicting the destruction of Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
"Short Mad" seems to fit better.
As in "Mad In The Head" [translated]Ammadinjehead
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/14/2010 19:55 Comments ||
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#3
Amadinejad spends millions to rebuild Southern Lebenon but is eager to start a war that will see the same area turned to instant rubble (again). Idiot. Sad thing is, most of the residents don't even mind, they hate the Joooos that much and they've convinced themselves, like Dinnerjacket, that despite repeated ass-kickings, one day they're gonna beat Israel. The power of self-delusion is amazing.
Posted by: DJ Curtis C ||
10/14/2010 20:25 Comments ||
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#4
Considering the economic and social state of Iran, there is some serious deflection and distraction going on.
When Yousef al-Khattab demonstrated outside New York mosques just a couple of years ago, it was pretty obvious where he stood on the political spectrum.
Of the two-dozen homegrown plots in the United States in the past year, Revolution Muslim was linked to one-third of them.
"All we want is the non-Muslims, at this point, off the lands of Muhammad. ... We want the kafirs out of it," Khattab said in one interview, using a term for infidels or Muslim nonbelievers. When asked if he wanted Islam to take over the world, his answer was unequivocal: "Of course I want it to ... and it will."
To promote that world view, Khattab and a friend of his -- Columbia University graduate Younes Abdullah Mohammed -- started a group called Revolution Muslim. Khattab says it was supposed to be both a radical Islamic organization and a movement. It operates openly and freely in New York City and on the Web. He says their blog receives 1,500 hits a day, while the Revolution Muslim YouTube channel has almost 1,000 subscribers.
Continued on Page 49
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.
[Pak Daily Times] The Afghan Taliban said on Wednesday that they were not talking to President 
