British officers in Helmand requested the study to help them understand the sexual behaviour of locals and Afghan comrades after young soldiers became uneasy they were being propositioned.
American social scientists employed to help troops understand the local culture reported that homosexual sex was widespread among the Pashtun ethnic group in southern Afghanistan.
Utterly insane custom of Strict separation of men and women, coupled with poverty and the significant expense of getting married, contributed to young men turning to each other for sexual companionship.
[Ennahar] Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has called on demonstrators to extend their movements in Tunisia and Algeria to overthrow the governments in place and institute Sharia law, reported Thursday the U.S. service monitoring Islamist websites SITE.
In a 13-minute video, the leader of AQIM, Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, suggests to Tunisian dissidents, who have been demonstrating for a month: "send us your son so that they receive military training", SITE reported.
How odd -- one would think such noble lions of Islam as they would be simply overwhelmed by candidates proposing themselves.
"We offer our support and our comfort and our help in your distress and your uprising," said Islamist leader.
Abu Musab Abdul Wadud called Tunisians to rise throughout the country against "the corrupt, criminal and tyrannical" in place in Tunis and establish Islamic law, (Sharia).
"But we will sooner or later retaliate against your torturers and their masters," he threatened.
"Because that's our job," he muttered under his breath.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Out with the old torturers and masters, in with the new.
It's the Saudi Press Agency and they have their own unique way of doing quotes. It's painful to look at, but more painful to try to fix. Please bear with.
New international disarmament talks with North Korea are possible only if the North backs off recent aggression against South Korea and demonstrates it is willing to bargain in good faith, AP quoted U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates as saying on Friday.
Gates said diplomacy is worthwhile, starting with direct talks between the North and South. South Korea has rejected new talks for now, reflecting intense anger and impatience over North Korean attacks.
Gates attached no conditions to possible new discussions between the North and South beyond an end to attacks like two in the past year blamed for killing about 50 South Koreans.
He insisted on «concrete steps" by the North for new talks involving the United States.
«When or if North Korea's actions show cause to believe negotiations could be productive or conducted in good faith, then we could see a return" to dormant six-nation disarmament talks, Gates said.
Those talks include the U.S., China, Japan, Russia and the two Koreas.
Gates made a brief stop in Seoul for crisis talks on North Korea to close a week of military discussions in Asia clouded by the threat of new war on the Korean peninsula.
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told Gates that his country feels under attack.
South Korea sees recent North Korean aggression as the worst since the close of the Korean War six decades ago.
«Many expect North Korea to conduct more provocation this year," Kim said.
South Korea must answer «from the basis of strength," he added.
Gates and Kim also discussed cooperating militarily to deter aggression by North Korea and urged the North to abandon its nuclear programs and «military adventurism," South Korea's Defense Ministry said in a statement, without elaborating.
In a meeting with Gates, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak called for cooperation between Seoul and Washington in resolving North Korean issues this year, Lee's spokeswoman Kim Hee-jung said in a briefing. Lee's urgency comes amid concerns the North is working to solidify its military and atomic strength as it has set 2012 _ the centenary of late North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung's birth _ as a goal for building a «great, prosperous and powerful country."
The United States fears that the risk of war is rising between U.S. ally South Korea and the heavily militarized and increasingly unpredictable regime in North Korea, which the Pentagon also considers a looming threat to the mainland United States.
North Korea allegedly sank a South Korean warship in March, killing 46 sailors, and shelled front-line Yeonpyeong Island in November, killing four people there. The island sits in waters the North claims.
The U.S. is urging patience but is worried that rising frustration in the South may force its leaders to retaliate if the North attacks again.
Gates was in Tokyo earlier Friday, where he said North Korea was less able to invade South Korea now than it was a decade or more ago but has become a more lethal threat to Asia and the world.
«The character and priorities of the North Korean regime sadly have not changed," Gates said.
«North Korea's ability to launch another conventional ground invasion is much degraded from even a decade ago, but in other respects it has grown more lethal and more destabilizing," Gates said in an address to students at Keio University.
North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons and missile technology «threaten not just the peninsula, but the Pacific Rim and international stability," Gates said.
Regarding China, Gates said that even as the U.S. military relationship between the two countries improves, at least one area of disagreement continues: «freedom of navigation." That's a euphemism for the U.S. view that it has the right to sail its ships in waters that China claims as restricted.
Freedom of shipping and commerce have been basic principles for the United States since its founding, Gates pointed out.
He also told students that China's military sometimes does things without telling the country's senior political leadership. The communist party has firm control over the military, but «sometimes there are disconnects," Gates said.
#5
Steve, you forgot the part about hanging them upside down by their heels, nekkid, like Mussolini. Or simply line them up against the wall, machinegun them down, and make a movie of it like they did in Romania to their dictator and his family. That movie was still box office boffo in Romania 3 years after the revolution.
#6
SKor wants Norks to show good faith before any negotiations occur
Because they've shown NONE so far.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/15/2011 19:44 Comments ||
Top||
#7
And so it begins ....
To wit,
WAFF > CHINA TO STATION TROOPS INSIDE OF NORTH KOREA | .... FIRST TIME SINCE 1994, ostensibly in the DPRK port city of Rason.
ARTIC - Negotiations taking place between Beijing + Pyongyang repor will the CHIN PLA to militarily intervene = send in large number of troops to preclude any DPRK "INSTABILITY" e.g large numbers of NOKOR Refugees trying to ilegally enter China???
* SAME > CHINA NOW HAS DIRECT ACCESS TO THE INDIAN OCEAN [Sri Lanka + Myanmar dev projects]: HINDU [India], HERE COME THE CHINESE! | CNPC, QINGDAO PORT INK DEAL FOR MYANMAR PIPELINE.
#8
DAILY TIMES.PK > SOUTH KOREA + TOKYO [+ US] CONTINUE HARD LINE AGZ NORTH KOREA. Demands for DPRK demonstration of "Good Faith".
* PEOPLES DAILY FORUM > [old = yesterday]US PENTAGON READY TO STRIKE NORTH KOREA.
Destroy all Missle Launchers, destroy all Missle Launchers.
* SAME > JAPAN SELF DEFENSE FORCES SPEEDING TO EMBRACE THE PENTAGON.
Japan in negotiations wid US to expand BILATERAL MIL COOPERATION = JOINT PROJ DEVELOPMENT, + perhaps to place large JSDF mil forces under direct US-UNSC COMMAND [includ COMBAT? outside of Japan] in time of Regional Conflict, Other Contingency???
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on China Friday to faithfully implement sanctions on North Korea, imposed by U.N. resolutions, for the North's nuclear and missile tests in the past years. In a speech at the State Department ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit here early next week, Clinton said, "Until North Korea demonstrates in concrete ways its intention to keep its commitments, China, along with the international community, must vigorously enforce the sanctions adopted by the Security Council last year."
That's done and dusted, then. On to something truly challenging, please.
North Korea will be among major topics when U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Hu for a summit meeting and a state dinner Wednesday, U.S. officials have said, in what is being called the most crucial Sino-U.S. summit in decades due to China's emergence as an economic and military power that will challenge U.S. supremacy.
Other issues high on the agenda include the revaluation of China's yuan currency, human rights, Iran's nuclear ambitions and improving bilateral ties.
"It is vital that we work together with China," Clinton said. "We need to make it clear to North Korea that its recent provocations, including the announced uranium enrichment program, are unacceptable and in violation of not only Security Council resolutions, but North Korea's own commitments in the 2005 joint statement."
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
The NOKORS are repor now willing to talk wid SOUTH KOREA on ANY ISSUE the South has, + also willing to talk wid Japan.
* SPACEWAR > US ABLE TO DESTROY NORTH KOREAN MISSLES: GENERAL [GEN. Walter Sharpe].
ARTIC > IMO the General strongly hints at US-SPECIFIC PREEMPTIVE STRIKE AGZ NORTH KOREA'S MISSLE BASES, arguing that the US must be able to efffec respond to NOKOR's threats iff deterrence fails.
* TOPIX > GATES ARGUES FOR KEEPING US FORCES IN JAPAN.
* SAME > GATES: US TROOPS KEEP NORTH KOREA, CHINA AT BAY.
* SAME > GATES: NUCLEAR TALKS [still] POSSIBLE IFF IFF NORTH KOREA STOPS ITS "DANGEROUS PROVICATIONS".
#4
If you have no shame as part of your make-up yolu only make changes to staff based on personal gain. The left has no shame so they make moves based on need. bambi and the left don't see a need to move the hildybeast beacuse it doesn't suit them.
Top defense officials of the United States and South Korea held brief talks about North Korea as U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrapped up his week-long Asia trip. During a meeting Friday in Seoul with his South Korean counterpart, Gates said any return to multinational talks with Pyongyang could only come after the two Koreas meet.
"When, or if, North Korea's actions show cause to believe that negotiations can be productive and conducted in good faith, then we could see a return to the six-party talks," he said. "But the DPRK [North Korea] leadership must stop these dangerous provocations and take concrete steps to show that they will begin meeting their international obligations."
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin said there is a fear of additional military provocations by North Korea after a pair of attacks in 2010. Kim mentions last year's sinking of a South Korean warship and the shelling of Yeonpyeong island. He says South Korea feels under attack amid the highest tensions on the peninsula since the Korean War, six decades ago.
U.S. and South Korean officials say the stop in Seoul was primarily to discuss their common concern about the communist North and to strengthen deterrence in dealing with Pyongyang's provocations. The United States' concerns about North Korea also were apparent when the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, spoke in Washington Wednesday.
Mullen used the words "danger" and "dangerous" repeatedly when answering questions about North Korea's increasing missile capability to strike beyond its shores. "The potential provocations could become more and more catastrophic. And that's been a principal point of focus as we look at engaging the leadership in China and others to say this is something we really have to figure out a way to deter in the future," he said.
In addition to China, Mullen added, coordinated pressure on impoverished North Korea also needs to come from South Korea, Japan and Russia.
Since shelling Yeonpyeong, killing four South Koreans, North Korea has taken a more conciliatory tone, asking repeatedly for talks. South Korea, so far, has rebuffed the request, saying Pyongyang must first show it is sincere about ending provocations and about making progress on giving up its nuclear arms.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Don't do it. It will only legitimize Lil' Kim and prolong their downfall.
Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara will tell his South Korean counterpart Kim Sung-hwan in Seoul on Saturday that Tokyo is mulling direct talks with Pyongyang, a diplomatic source said Thursday.
"The government will find out in the meeting why he mentioned the possibility of talks with the North," the source explained.
That way they can demand money from you directly...
The foreign ministers' meeting had been originally scheduled for Friday but was delayed for a day due to a Cabinet reshuffle in Japan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#2
I think we are now beyond the period where "talks" just for the sake of "talks" are seen as a good thing. That was all the rage in the 80's and 90's but we have since learned that such "talks" are often just that and lead to no fruitful result. Generally they are simply a stalling tactic.
I say no talks unless NorK starts with some concrete action to start the talks.
ht to JWF!
Critics of the project pointed out that Imam Abdallah Adhami has a link to Imam Siraj Wahhaj, of Brooklyn, whom prosecutors fingered as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Wahhaj also was a character witness in the trial of convicted terror plotter Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman. How's Mike "Mosque-Supporter" Bloomberg gonna spin this?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/15/2011 14:06 ||
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#1
House of Saud knows America acts weak and does not mine it's own OIL. What do you expect?
[Pak Daily Times] The Lahore High Court two-member bench comprising Justice Rauf Ahmad Sheikh and Justice Mamoon Rasheed Sheikh on Thursday accepted the plea of the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) for additional physical remand of two officials as Sherlocks had yet to recover the cell phones from the jugged officials, which they had used using at the time of Benazir Bhutto's liquidation.
Also, former SSP (Operations) Yaseen Farooq turned state witness against former CPO Saud Aziz and Rawal Town SP Khurram Shehzad in the case.
SSP Yaseen Farooq, in his confessional statement, said the murder of Benazir could have possibly been avoided if proper security was put in place.
He said that Saud had intentionally decreased security for Benazir on December 27, 2007 during her rally at Liaquat Bagh. The statement was recorded in front of a magistrate in Islamabad.
The court directed the agency to complete the investigation as per the law and merit.
A bail plea of the two officials is also pending in the court, in which both officials prayed to the court that Sherlocks had failed to provide substantial evidence against them and they be granted bail.
The court resumed the hearing, but the case was adjourned until January 18 because of the LHC verdict on the FIA plea for additional physical remand of the officials.
FIA prosecutor Chaudhary Zulfiqar had challenged the decision of an anti-terrorism court regarding dismissal of the plea for further remand of the two coppers.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/15/2011 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] With regards to an operation in North Waziristan, Islamabad is moving ahead methodically and firmly keeping in view its strategic objectives, the Foreign Office said on Thursday.
Talking at the weekly news briefing, FO spokesman Abdul Basit said the US understood Pakistan's position very well with regard to a full-scale operation in the agency.
"Pakistan is moving ahead methodically and firmly keeping in view its strategic objectives," he said.
He emphasised that all regional countries should work towards maintaining state-to-state relations with Afghanistan and should not allow any great game to be played out in the country, adding that all regional countries need to adhere to the policy of "non-interference and non-intervention in Afghanistan".
The spokesman said the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan had suffered heavily and there was no room for a new "great game" pertaining to Afghanistan.
"Being an immediate neighbour, Pakistan understands its implications and consequences not only for Afghanistan and Pakistan, but for the entire region. Pakistan has always desired working for peace and tranquility in the region and along its borders," he said.
"Pakistan is firmly committed to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan and working closely for normal state-to-state relations with its neighbour."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#2
"Pakistan has always desired working for peace and tranquility in the region and along its borders".........BULLSHIT!!!!....The Kashmir region must have slipped his mind!
Pakistan is working for peace and tranquility in their own special way, clockwork26+6=1 -- but peace and tranquility can only be achieved when the last Indian surrenders to Pakistani rule, preferably after converting to Islam.
Welcome to the conversation, my dear! I don't remember you commenting before. :-)
[Arab News] Two private TV channels -- Sama and Waqt -- have been fined by Pakistain Electronic Media Regularity Authority (PEMRA) for airing an interview of Malik Mumtaz Qadri, alleged killer of Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer.
According to a press statement by PEMRA, a fine of one million rupees each has been slapped on Sama and Waqt TV (owned by Nawa-e-Waqt group).
PEMRA in its order said the two channels projected "terrorists."
According to the blurb, PEMRA took immediate cognizance of the violation of rules by the two channels.
PEMRA issued notices to both channels on Jan. 4 for "projecting terrorists/outlaws and showing blood and gore which by all means is in contravention of PEMRA rules, regulations and code of conduct besides the self-regulatory code of conduct agreed to by Pakistain Broadcasters Association."
Authorities said both the channels were provided with reasonable opportunity to show cause and explain their position in personal hearings.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/15/2011 00:00 ||
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NAJAF, Iraq - Followers of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr took to the streets on Friday after prayers to condemn a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and demand U.S. forces leave the country.
Easy Sport, criticizing Biden is our job...
Besides, the Americans are the only force capable of keeping the Iranians down to a dull roar. Iraqis may want us to leave, but they certainly don't want us actually gone.
Around 2,000 supporters of the fiery anti-American cleric demonstrated in the town of Kufa, chanting anti-U.S. slogans a day after Biden paid his first visit to Iraq since Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was reappointed.
"In our protest, we demand that visits like Biden's to Iraq should not be repeated and that the occupier leaves," said Mohammed Abbas, 25, a day labourer.
Biden visited Iraq on Thursday for talks with Iraqi officials, his seventh visit since January 2009. Iraqi officials said he and Maliki did not discuss keeping any U.S. troops in Iraq beyond the withdrawal deadline.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Gee...if it works, maybe Foggy Bottom can subcon some consulting to Mookie.....?
[Al Jazeera] Guyana has become the sixth Latin American country to recognise an independent Paleostinian state.
"It is Guyana's hope that the increasing recognition of the state of Paleostine will contribute to a resolution of the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict and the creation of lasting peace and stability in the region," the foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
Guyana's decision, the statement said, "is in keeping with Guyana's long-standing and unwavering solidarity with, and commitment to, the just and legitimate aspirations of the people of Paleostine for the exercise of their right to self-determination and to achieve a homeland of their own, independent, free, prosperous and at peace."
Guyana joins Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay and Ecuador in recognising Paleostine as an independent state within the borders that existed before Israel captured the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, and the Gazoo Strip in the 1967 Middle East war.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#4
Guyana, the country whose fame lies in the Jonestown Massacre, recognizes a state that has the infamy of the Munich Massacre and the most inept modern terrorists as its main export. A match made in Hell.
The London-based Sky News said "this is a worrying time" for Leb because of the country's many sectarian divisions.
It said the dangers of the current situation include the risk of a return to violent demonstrations, more liquidations, car booms and festivities on the streets. Leb is also being plunged into deep political uncertainty with the collapse of the country's coalition government , Sky News' Middle East correspondent wrote.
He said when Leb is volatile and unstable, "there can be repercussions beyond its borders."
For instance, he went on to say, Israeli newspapers are full of commentary warning that trouble in Leb could lead to renewed conflict across its northern border.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#3
The non-Hezbollah Lebanese were so sick of war that they adopted the dumbass idea that "If we just don't fight, then peace will be better than this!"
Turns out no. It just means that you get brutalitarians as your leaders.
Informed diplomatic sources in a European country expected the indictment to be issued by Special Tribunal for Leb Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare within days. The sources made the remark to As Safir newspaper on Friday.
"Take that, Hizb'allah!"
However, The infamous However... a Western diplomatic source stressed that all reports about the date of the release of the indictment are speculations. "We were told that it will be issued by the end of 2010 but it hasn't been issued so far."
In a meeting with several journalists in New York, including An Nahar's correspondent, the diplomat said: "No one can interfere in the tribunal's work ... All Lebanese sides and parties involved with (the situation) in Leb should accept this fact."
He advised the Lebanese to form the new government based on the fact that the court will continue to operate "no matter what happens" in the country.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... al-Mustaqbal newspaper reported Friday that Bellemare asked pre-trial judge Daniel Fransen to set a date for a closed-door session between them to inquire him about the hearing that will be held on January 14 over Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed's bid for access to his docket.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/15/2011 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Leb's president prepared on Thursday to tackle the politically delicate task of naming a new premier after Hezbullies forced the collapse of the unity government, plunging the country back into crisis.
President Michel Suleiman called on the government to continue in a caretaker capacity and said he would on Monday launch consultations with parliamentary groups on appointing a new premier, who must be a Sunni Mohammedan in line with tradition.
In a sweep led by the Iranian-backed Hezbullies, 11 ministers withdrew from Prime Minister Saad Hariri's government on Wednesday evening, providing the minimum number of resignations to automatically dissolve the 30-member cabinet.
The move was linked to a long-running dispute over the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Leb (STL), which is reportedly set to indict high-ranking Hezbullies operatives in the 2005 liquidation of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, Saad's father. The resignations of the 11 ministers came after Soddy Arabia and Syria failed in their bid to defuse tensions over the tribunal and find a compromise between the two rival camps.
For months, Hezbullies has been pressing Hariri to disavow the Netherlands-based court, which is reportedly set to indict senior members of the Death Eater party. The group has accused the tribunal of being part of a US-Israeli plot and has warned of grave repercussions should any of its members be implicated by the court.
Hezbullies and its allies withdrew from the government, formed in November 2009, at the exact moment Hariri was in Washington holding talks with US President Barack B.O. Obama on the crisis.
The 40-year-old Hariri has not commented on the walkout and was to meet later on Thursday in Gay Paree with President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was also expected to hold talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Friday.
Analysts said Druze leader Walid Wally Jumblat ... who's been on every side in Leb at least four times... t, who holds 11 seats in the 128-member parliament, could play a key role in the formation of the new government depending on which camp he sides with. Hariri's pro-Western coalition has 60 seats and the Iranian-backed Hezbullies and its allies have 57.
Jumblatt has been allied with Hariri but has moved closer to the Shia Hezbullies in the past year.
"It is too early to say what I will do," Jumblatt told AFP on Thursday. "When the consultations on naming a new premier begin, we'll see."
An official close to the Hezbullies-led opposition said there was still a chance for the Saudi-Syrian initiative to succeed, in which case Hariri would easily be reappointed premier.
"If both sides agree to remain on that track, then no one can compete with Hariri," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP. "If they get off that track, then all options are open as far as other candidates for the premiership."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/15/2011 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Lebanese opposition groups have reportedly conditioned their support for Saad Hariri's reinstatement as premier to dismissal of US-backed tribunal set-up to probe his father's liquidation.
Saad Hariri's unity government collapsed on Wednesday after 11 ministers from Hezbullies and its allies resigned in protest at Hariri's refusal to hold an urgent cabinet meeting to discuss abandoning the Washington-backed Special Tribunal for Leb (STL) and denouncing any indictments.
Hariri, whose term was due to end in 2013, now acts as a caretaker prime minister and Leb's political parties are trying to form a new governing coalition.
"Prime Minister Saad Hariri can head the new government if he pledges to stop the Special Tribunal for Leb," Al-Akhbar newspaper quoted a senior opposition official as saying on Friday.
Some other opposition officials had earlier said that Hariri can return as prime minister only after meeting opposition conditions.
"While a statement from Hariri would have been enough in the previous stage, he now has to meet a handful of conditions," one opposition source told An-Nahar.
In the past, while acting as prime minister, Saad Hariri had refused to abandon the US-backed court investigating his father and former premier Rafiq Hariri's murder.
Rafiq Hariri and 22 others were killed in February 2005 in a massive car boomkaboom in the capital Beirut. STL was established two years later to investigate the case.
Many political parties in Leb, including Hezbullies resistance movement, have denounced the tribunal as an Israeli-American plot trying to sow discord in the country.
According to unconfirmed reports, the tribunal plans to charge some members of Hezbullies in connection with the liquidation.
Hezbullies, however, has vehemently denied any role in the killing, saying the United States is using the Washington-backed Special Tribunal for Leb in order to implicate the movement in the 2005 liquidation.
The US is also accused of "crippling Arab efforts for a solution" to the political impasse in Leb.
STL is expected to issue indictments as early as next week, although the release has been delayed several times already.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/15/2011 00:00 ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] The March 8 Alliance has said that it will announce the name of its candidate to lead the new government of Leb on Monday, after it brought about the collapse of the Lebanese government. The figure that the March 8 Alliance chooses as its prime ministerial candidate will be a strong indication of the course of things to come in Leb, for if this political coalition chooses a candidate other than caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri this will be akin to announcing its intention for escalation and opposition, whilst if it announces that it accepts Hariri as prime minister, it will have extended a hand to the other side with regards to the formation of a new government.
A parliamentary source within Hezbullies confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that "all options are open and the scenarios have been closely studied" however he also stressed that "the plan that the March 8 Alliance began to implement when their ministers announced their resignation does not include resorting to the street." The source also told Asharq Al-Awsat that "our withdrawal from the government is a constructional right, as are all the steps that we will take in the forthcoming stage. The time of procrastination and delay is over; we have entered the time of change. We will not accept the formation of any government that we are not 100 percent certain will be able to make national achievements, whether this is a government of one colour or it is made up of all parties."
MP Ibrahim Kannan of the Change and Reform bloc told Asharq Al-Awsat that "the opposition has not resolved its choice with regards to its candidate for the position of prime minister of the new government" although he did reveal that the general trend within the opposition does not point to Hariri being renamed as Prime Minister "because Hariri was previously chosen and we reached a dead-end with him, and as a result of this we must look for other options."
Kannan also revealed that "there will only be one opposition [prime ministerial] candidate" adding that "things will take shape in this regard over the coming hours." He also stressed to Asharq Al-Awsat that "the path that we have taken and continue to take in the coming days is a completely democratic and constitutional one, we tried to spare Leb the [political] polarization that it is currently witnessing by reaching a settlement with the other party, but it refused this, and therefore it is our duty to follow a different path, and what is most important is that this is a democratic one."
As for the makeup of any new government, Kannan told Asharq Al-Awsat that "the look of the government does not specify its effectiveness. On Monday we will be heading to parliamentary consultation [in this regard], and after this we will decide the features of the new government."
However the March 14 Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys... Alliance has stressed that there is no alternative to Saad Hariri for the post of prime minister, and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Michel Pharon informed Asharq Al-Awsat that "anybody seeking to prevent Saad Hariri from returning to the position of prime minister is only seeking sedition because they know perfectly well that Prime Minister Hariri is the sole leader with legitimacy with regards to having a majority and Sunni representation. He was the only one who we reached a consensus on with regards to his decisions...there is no alternative to him, and there is no Sunni figures that enjoys the same legitimacy."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/15/2011 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
With regards to an operation in North Waziristan, Islamabad is moving ahead methodically and firmly keeping in view its strategic objectives, the Foreign Office said on Thursday.
