A man who confessed to shooting two soldiers outside a military recruiting station in Arkansas has pleaded guilty.
Abdulhakim Muhammad pleaded guilty on Monday after the judge at his trial read the charges against him.
Muhammad's sentence hasn't yet been announced.
Prosecutors were originally seeking the death penalty for Muhammad on a charge of capital murder in the killing of Army Pvt. William Andrew Long. He also was charged with attempted capital murder for wounding Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula in 2009.
Muhammad confessed to the shooting he says it's justified because of U.S. military action in the Middle East.
#1
The prosecutor probably rightly figured that the defense had succeeded in putting at least two recalcitrants on the jury, who would vote to not give him the death penalty anyway.
#4
he says it's justified because of U.S. military action in the Middle East
I still have to see a Muslim shooting an islamist imam for what Al Quaida and affilistes do in the Middle East or in North Africa. None of their indignation ever goes in that direction.
The NYT reports that, having fallen out of favor in the Afghanistan campaign for its vulnerability to roadside bombs, the HMMWV is making a comeback. The Humvee was being replaced by mine-resistant armored personnel carriers called MRAPs,
But recent blast tests show that Humvees built with the new chimney could provide as much protection as some of the heavier, and more costly, mine-resistant vehicles that have replaced them in many uses.
And if the final tests go well, the invention could save billions in new vehicle costs and restore much of the maneuverability that the Army and the Marines have lacked in the rugged terrain in Afghanistan, military officials say. Engineers say the chimney, which rises through the passenger cabin, releases some of the explosive gases -- traveling at twice the speed of a fighter jet -- that have mangled and flipped many of the vehicles.
Pentagon officials have said little about the 11 blast tests so far, in which the prototype vehicles are engulfed by a cloud of smoke, dust and fire, but the passenger cabin remains intact.
It turns out that adding armor hurts the maneuverability that makes the HMMWV so prized, and is less effective than the new chimneys which deflect blast forces around and away from the passenger compartment. The military will conduct five more blast tests and could request bids for the new generation of HMMWVs sometime this fall.
This design should certainly help but it does have a problem, in that the blast itself is only part of the equation. The type of IED known as an EFP or 'explosively formed penetrator' uses the energy of the explosion to throw a molten projectile into the target. The EFP was used a lot in Iraq, less so in Afghanistan, and the 'chimney' design isn't going to stop the mass energy of such a penetrator. The MRAP's armor does, and that's why it's so heavy and unmanueverable compared to a HMMWV.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/25/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
The Humvee isn't an armored vehicle, which it's detractors go out of their way to ignore. It's a utility vehicle, the successor to the old Jeep my father turned over on himself during the Battle of the Bulge and that I about froze to death in during a Wintex in Germany 40 years later. Because it's not armored it's a lot faster, more maneuverable, and economical to operate than even a track -- the difference between two tons and 20 tons.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/25/2011 9:10 Comments ||
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#2
those EFP's had Iranian fingerprints all over them. Would be nice to provide some for the anti-mullah/anti-IRG thugs in Iran
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/25/2011 9:51 Comments ||
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#3
And if I understand correctly, even MRAP armor can't stop a lot of EFPs. Be quicker and maybe they'll miss.
The recent upheaval in North Africa, which resulted in the toppling of two heads of state in Tunisia and Egypt and in the ongoing civil war in Libya, has raised great issues regarding the security of the whole of the Mediterranean region and exposed quite a few sensitive points of the European Union, the most important ones being illegal immigration and energy security.
As far as the latter is concerned, the European Union's energy-security status is predominantly related with the developments in three geographical regionsâRussia, the Middle East and North Africa, from where it imports the bulk of its hydrocarbon needs. Therefore the Arab Spring is of outmost importance for Europe and will determine several critical developments as far as energy security in the European Union is concerned....
Posted by: Water Modem ||
07/25/2011 15:41 ||
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#1
Why didn't they just keep the oil flowing in the first place. Anybody know what happened to the SAS dudes that were caught by farmers that were sent to rig pipelines and stuff with explosives at the start of Libya?
#2
Anybody know what happened to the SAS dudes that were caught by farmers that were sent to rig pipelines and stuff with explosives at the start of Libya?
Saudi Arabia has deployed more forces in Bahrain in an attempt to further help King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa's crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.
The convoy of the Saudi armored vehicles arrived to the crisis-hit Bahrain on Saturday, Rasad News reported.
In mid-March, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates deployed their first batch of military forces to the Sheikhdom.
Please note, all ye savants, that the photo is merely of some tanks, not necessarily the ones the king of Saudi Arabia is making available, along with their no-doubt Pakistani crews, to his cousin in that lovely palace in Bahrain.
Saudi Arabia has deployed more forces in Bahrain in an attempt to further help King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa's crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.
The convoy of the Saudi armored vehicles arrived to the crisis-hit Bahrain on Saturday, Rasad News reported.
In mid-March, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates deployed their first batch of military forces to the Sheikhdom.
Please note, all ye savants, that the photo is merely of some tanks, not necessarily the ones the king of Saudi Arabia is making available, along with their no-doubt Pakistani crews, to his cousin in that lovely palace in Bahrain.
Saudi Arabia has deployed more forces in Bahrain in an attempt to further help King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa's crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.
The convoy of the Saudi armored vehicles arrived to the crisis-hit Bahrain on Saturday, Rasad News reported.
In mid-March, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates deployed their first batch of military forces to the Sheikhdom.
Please note, all ye savants, that the photo is merely of some tanks, not necessarily the ones the king of Saudi Arabia is making available, along with their no-doubt Pakistani crews, to his cousin in that lovely palace in Bahrain.
[Al Jazeera] A legal panel appointed by the king of Bahrain is starting its inquiry into a crackdown on protests that left more than 30 people dead earlier this year.
Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, who set up the fact-finding mission following diplomatic pressure, said the panel is "completely independent and consists of international experts".
The panel will be headed by Cherif Bassiouni, a US-based legal professor and UN war crimes expert, who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in international criminal justice.
The fact-finding mission also includes lawyers from the UK, Iran, Kuwait and Canada, who are said to have been given access to government files and all government agencies and officials.
Al Jizz's Charles Stratford, who reported extensively from Bahrain during the protests and subsequent crackdown, said the panel also promised secrecy for witnesses who want to testify about events that occurred in February and March.
"Obviously, there is quite a lot of scepticism about how credible in fact they are because the panel was set up by the king. This was after repeated efforts by other groups to come in and do independent investigations. They were denied access," Stratford said.
'Shia mosques demolished'
Meanwhile, ...back at the sandwich shop, Caroline was experimenting with ingredients... a Bahraini holy man said authorities had demolished 30 Shia mosques during their five-month crackdown on dissent in the Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdom.
Seyyed Abdullah al-Ghoreifi said the mosques were destroyed as part of a government campaign against the Shia majority demanding greater freedoms and more rights.
Al-Ghoreifi spoke during a rally on Saturday on the outskirts of the capital, Manama.
The demolitions are likely to further inflame sectarian tensions in the island kingdom, the home of the US Navy's 5th Fleet.
Hundreds of protesters, activists and Shia doctors and lawyers have been jugged since February when protests began. Dozens have been convicted of anti-state crimes in a special security tribunal.
Soddy Arabia has been rotating some of its troops in Bahrain, the Bahraini state news agency BNA said on Saturday, following reports more Saudi troops may have been sent to quell the unrest in the Gulf state.
Security forces from Soddy Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were sent into Bahrain in mid-March to help clear the streets of protesters.
The troops were part of a Peninsula Shield force set up by Gulf Arab states for their mutual defence.
"The Peninsula Shield forces present in Bahrain reposition certain military units ... as part of a routine operation," BNA quoted a Bahraini defence official as saying.
A witness saw no troop movements on Saturday evening on a causeway joining Soddy Arabia to neighbouring Bahrain, and a Bahraini opposition front man declined to comment on the report of a possible deployment of fresh forces.
On Friday, tens of thousands of people rallied in support of Bahrain's largest Iranian catspaw after it pulled out of government-led national reform talks earlier this week.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/25/2011 00:00 ||
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Soddy Arabia has deployed more forces in Bahrain in an attempt to further help King Hamad ...King of Bahrain (since 14 February 2002), having previously been its emir (from 6 March 1999). He is a Sunni, while the rest of Bahrain is predominantly Shiite... bin Isa Al Khalifa's crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.
The convoy of the Saudi armored vehicles arrived to the crisis-hit Bahrain on Saturday, Rasad News reported.
In mid-March, Soddy Arabia and the United Arab Emirates deployed their first batch of military forces to the Sheikhdom.
Please note, all ye savants, that the photo is merely of some tanks, not necessarily the ones the king of Saudi Arabia is making available, along with their no-doubt Pakistani crews, to his cousin in that lovely palace in Bahrain.
Islamic terrorist groups are setting up shop in Mexico and forming alarming ties with the country's brutal drug cartels, according to a 2010 internal memo from the Tucson Police Department.
The memo, leaked by the hacker group LulzSec as part of its Arizona Department of Public Safety hack, warns that Hezbollah has established operations -- and a large arms stockpile -- in Mexico.
The memo notes that some Mexican criminal organizations have started using small IEDs and car bombs, a marked change in tactics that indicates a relationship with Islamic militants.
As evidence, it points to the 2010 Tijuana arrest of Hezbollah militant Jameel Nasr, who was allegedly tasked with establishing a Hezbollah network in Mexico and South America. The memo also recalls the April 2009 arrest of Jamal Yousef in New York, which exposed a huge cache of assault rifles, hand grenades, explosives and anti-tank munitions. According to Yousef, the weapons were stored in Mexico after being smuggled from Iraq by members of Hezbollah.
The memo notes that some Mexican criminal organizations have started using small IEDs and car bombs, a marked change in tactics that indicates a relationship with Islamic militants.
Partnerships between Mexican organized crime and Islamic militants are mutually beneficial -- and therefore terrifying. The cartels are able to gain smuggling and weapons expertise, as well as access to cheap heroin from Afghanistan and Iran. The terrorists benefit from Mexico's drug war lawlessness and its porous border with their primary target: The United States.
Islamic terrorist groups are setting up shop in Mexico and forming alarming ties with the country's brutal drug cartels, according to a 2010 internal memo from the Tucson Police Department.
The memo, leaked by the hacker group LulzSec as part of its Arizona Department of Public Safety hack, warns that Hezbollah has established operations and a large arms stockpile in Mexico.
As evidence, it points to the 2010 Tijuana arrest of Hezbollah militant Jameel Nasr, who was allegedly tasked with establishing a Hezbollah network in Mexico and South America. The memo also recalls the April 2009 arrest of Jamal Yousef in New York, which exposed a huge cache of assault rifles, hand grenades, explosives and anti-tank munitions. According to Yousef, the weapons were stored in Mexico after being smuggled from Iraq by members of Hezbollah.
The memo notes that some Mexican criminal organizations have started using small IEDs and car bombs, a marked change in tactics that indicates a relationship with Islamic militants.
The memo notes that some Mexican criminal organizations have started using small IEDs and car bombs, a marked change in tactics that indicates a relationship with Islamic militants.
Partnerships between Mexican organized crime and Islamic militants are mutually beneficial and therefore terrifying. The cartels are able to gain smuggling and weapons expertise, as well as access to cheap heroin from Afghanistan and Iran. The terrorists benefit from Mexico's drug war lawlessness and its porous border with their primary target: The United States.
Islamic terrorist groups are setting up shop in Mexico and forming alarming ties with the country's brutal drug cartels, according to a 2010 internal memo from the Tucson Police Department.
The memo, leaked by the hacker group LulzSec as part of its Arizona Department of Public Safety hack, warns that Hezbullies has established operations -- and a large arms stockpile -- in Mexico.
The memo notes that some Mexican criminal organizations have started using small IEDs and car bombs, a marked change in tactics that indicates a relationship with Islamic militants.
As evidence, it points to the 2010 Tijuana arrest of Hezbollah militant Jameel Nasr, who was allegedly tasked with establishing a Hezbullies network in Mexico and South America. The memo also recalls the April 2009 arrest of Jamal Yousef in New York, which exposed a huge cache of assault rifles, hand grenades, explosives and anti-tank munitions. According to Yousef, the weapons were stored in Mexico after being smuggled from Iraq by members of Hezbullies.
The memo notes that some Mexican criminal organizations have started using small IEDs and car bombs, a marked change in tactics that indicates a relationship with Islamic militants.
Partnerships between Mexican organized crime and Islamic militants are mutually beneficial -- and therefore terrifying. The cartels are able to gain smuggling and weapons expertise, as well as access to cheap heroin from Afghanistan and Iran. The terrorists benefit from Mexico's drug war lawlessness and its porous border with their primary target: The United States.
#2
When are the real people in charge going to pull the plug on all these half ass backward and screwed up corporate planned invasions and such it just ain't working.
Posted by: Herb Grumble3160 ||
07/25/2011 16:19 Comments ||
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#3
La Liniea probably got the explosives for last year's July 16th car bomb (mentioned in one of the linked articles) in Juarez due to its drug growing operations in the Tarahumara Sierras region are such as in Madero in far western Chihuahua state.
Madera which was once a thriving mining town does have some commercial mining operations taking place there.
In the Tarahumara Sierras overall mining using Tovex still takes place; the same area cartels such as the Juarez cartel, parent to La Linea maintains growing operations, and a feudal relationship with indigenous Indian populations in the area.
If a relationship exists between the Juarez gang and Hezbollah it is probably very informal.
I have been monitoring press in Juarez for more than a year, and I have yet to see any indication of any relationship between the Juarez cartel and another other group or cartel other than Los Zetas.
As things stand now, the leak is a non-story. A Kuwaiti newspaper reported last year the network Jameel Nasr was trying to start was dismantled before it even had a chance to do much.
The funny thing about the arrest of Jameel Nasr was one day Mexican Federal security forces arrived at his residence in Baja California, arrested him and whisked him away. Not even Baja California state cops knew he was there, the guy was so low key.
If he was their main organizer in Mexico, he sucked at it, hard.
#4
That might depend on his aim. Building a significant network in Mexico - yeah, not happened (yet, at any rate).
But MS-13 and the cartels specialize, among other things, in human trafficking into the US. If Hezb'allah's goal is to move cells and arms for them into this country, he needn't build a strong network there to accomplish that aim.
Mexican military forces seized a total of 696.8 kilograms of marijuana, 5.12 kilograms of glass methamphetimine, 6.82 kilograms of crystal methamphetimine,, 6.8 kilograms of opium gum, MP $58,000.00 (USD $4,973.20), 30.56 kilograms of cocaine and 3.6 kilograms of heroin since July 16th.
A unit of a Mexican 16th Military Zone exchanged gunfire with armed suspects killing four last July 16th in Veracruz state. The unit was on patrol calle Rio Blanco in Lomas de RÃo Medio III colony in Verzcruz when it came under fire by armed suspects who were travelling aboard a vehicle. Seized following the encounter were three rifles, 25 weapons magazines, 633 rounds of ammunitions, one grenade and a vehicle reported as stolen.
Units from the Mexican II Military Region conducted two raids in Baja California state July 16th seizing drug and guns.
On calle Oscar Genel in the Camino Verde colony in Sanchez Taboada delegation of Tijuana, an army unit was dispatched to a residence based on a citizen's complaint. Soldiers found 46 packages of marijuana with a total weight of 147.5 kilograms.
On Avenida Justo Sierra in Aviacion colony in Mexicali, an army unit seized 5.12 kilograms of glass methamphetimine during a search at a traffic stop. One rifle and 72 rounds of ammunition were also found. Two unidentified suspects were arrested at the scene.
In Jalisco state detachments of the Mexican 15th Military Zone seized a drug laboratory, and drugs and guns in two separate incidents July 16th.
In the village of Atenquique in Tuxpan municipality, soldiers found a hidden synthetic drug lab. Seized materials included 20 kilograms of phenyl acetic acid, 1,200 kilograms of acetone, 650 kilograms of soda flakes, 1,000 kilograms of alcohol, 400 kilograms of chemicals, 375 kilograms of sodium acetate, 150 kilograms of tartaric acid, 400 kilograms of chlorine, 400 kilograms of toluene and various other equipment including containers.
In the village of Mismaloya in Tizapan El Alto municipality, soldiers located 242 kilograms of marijuana, two rifles three handguns, nine weapons magazines, 60 rounds of ammunition and three stolen cars.
A unit of the Mexican 34th Military Zone arrested one armed suspect and seized a quantity of drugs and weapons in Quintana Roo state July 15th. The arrest took place in the village of Cocoa in the Othon P. Blanco municipality where soldiers seized 2.42 kilograms of cocaine and 300 kilograms of marijuana. Weapons and other materials seized included two rifles, four weapons magazines, 325 rounds of ammunition and 12 radio sets.
A detachment of the 13th Military Zone arrested one unidentified individual and seized a number of drugs and weapons at a checkpoint in Nayarit state July 17th. The checkpoint was set up on the San Juan Peyotan to Jesus Maria road in El Nayar municipality where soldiers seized 4.25 kilograms of opium gum, two rifles, one handgun, one weapons magazine, 26 rounds of ammunition, MP $58,000.00 (USD $4,973.20) in cash and one vehicle.
Army personnel with with Mexican II Military Region in Baja California arrested an individual deplaning in Tijuana with an amount of drugs July 18th. The detention took place at the Abelardo L. Rodriguez International Airport in Tijuana, Baja California where an individual travelling from Morelia, Michoacan was arrested after 5.4 kilograms of crystal methamphetimine were found in his luggage.
A unit of the Mexican 34th Military Zone discovered an amount of cocaine on the southern tip of Cozumel island July 18th. The drugs were found buried in the sand on the beach. The drugs were divided into 23 one kilogram packages totalling 23 kilograms.
A detachment of the Mexican 15th Military Zone arrested one individual and seized amounts of marijuana in Jalisco state july 18th. The unit was dispatched to the village of La Lobera in the municipality of San Cristobal de la Barranca based on a citizen's complaint where they found 7.3 kilograms of marijuana and 6.8 kilograms of marijuana seeds. Soldiers also seized four AK-47 assault rifles, one 9mm handgun, 1,490 rounds of ammunition, 40 weapons magazines, tactical gear and one vehicle.
Military personnel with the Mexican II Military Region made drug seizures in two separate incidents in Baja California state July 19th.
At the Abelardo L. Rodriguez International Airport in Tijuana, Baja California soldiers arrested one unidentified individual who was travelling from Toluca, Mexico state after 3.6 kilograms of heroin was discovered in a false bottom of his luggage.
An army unit arrested three armed suspects at a residence near the intersection of avenidas Lazaro Cardenas and Rio Presido in the Independencia colony in Mexicali who were in possession of two kilograms of cocaine and 1.24 kilograms of crystal methamphetimine. Soldiers also seized one handgun, one weapons magazine and five rounds of ammunition.
A detachment of the Mexican 7th Military Zone exchanged gunfire with armed suspects wounding two July 19th in Nuevo Leon state. The unit was on patrol in the Revolucion colony in Hidalgo when they came under fire by armed suspects who were aboard several vehicles. Four suspects were arrested, and four rifles, an undisclosed amount of ammunition, tactical gear and a vehicle were seized.
A unit of the Mexican 13th Military Zone arrested five individuals and seized quantities of drugs and weapons in Nayarit state July 19th. The unit set up a checkpoint on Federal Highway 15 between Llano del Tigre and Rosamorada, where soldiers searched two vehicles and found 33 kilograms of poppy seed, 2.55 kilograms of opium gum, and small amuonts of cocaine and methamphetimine. Weapons seized included two rifles, two handguns, nine weapons magazines and 170 rounds of ammunition. Two vehicles were also seized.
A detachment of the Mexican 15tth Military Zone found a synthetic drug laboratory and seized guns in three separate incidents July 19th in Jalisco state.
In the Los Fresnos colony in the Ciudad Guzman municipality, soldiers found a hidden drug lab. Materials seized in the raid included eight kilograms of formaldehyde, 7,5 kilograms f ammonium hydroxide, lab equipment, one vheicle and one ATV.
In the village of Ojo de Agua, Tonoaya, soldiers found two rifles and 65 rounds of ammunition.
In the village of Tecomatlan soldiers found 20 .223 rounds of ammuntion.
A unit of the Mexican 35th Military Zone found weapons hidden in Guerrero state July 19th. The weapons were placed in a vehicle hidden near Taxco de Alarcón. Weapons seized included nine rifles, 29 weapons magazines, 460 rounds of ammunition and three tear gas grenades.
Military personnel of the Mexican 34th Military Zone working at an airport in Cancun, Quintana Roo seized a quantity of cocaine July 19th. The total taken amounted to 3.124 kilograms.
A detachment of the Mexican 26th Military Zone arrested three individuals in a traffic stop and seized a number of weapons in Veracruz state July 19th. Weapons seized included four rifles, three handguns, five grenades, 35 weapons magazines and 824 rounds of ammunition. Two trucks were also seized.
Badanov's Burnt Blunt Special
A unit of the 43rd Military Zone destroyed a marijuana plantation in Michoacan July 19th. The plantation was near Apatzingan and was 2 hectares in size. The marijuana plants were incinerated on site.
#1
Mexican military forces are very active. Apatzingan is just west of Mexico city. Even informants. Still allot of things are getting by to sustain this activity. I guess that's why the sub activity off Brazil I saw reported in south American media. They seem to be using anything to transport. Shotgun approach so if some gets by then it's worth the effort 24-7.
[Al Jazeera] North Koreans went to the polls for the first time in four years to take part in what analysts say is a rubber-stamp election for members of the local assemblies. Oh, golly! Who do you think's gonna win?
The North's official Korean Central News Agency said on Sunday that local assembly elections began across the country as songs reverberated and flags fluttered over polling stations crowded with voters.
The local assemblies meet around once or twice a year to approve budgets and regional leaders appointed by the party. Jeez, what happens if they don't?
The local elections are widely seen as a step to help strengthen the leader Kim Jong-il's hereditary succession by securing the power base for his third son Kim Jong-un.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/25/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
as a reward they get to lick the glue off the backs of the campaign posters.
Posted by: de Medici ||
07/25/2011 7:23 Comments ||
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The man accused of shooting two soldiers outside of a Little Rock recruiting center is pleading guilty to killing one and injuring another in the 2009 attack that he said was fueled by U.S. actions in the Middle East.
Abdulhakim Muhammad has been advised of his rights and told the judge Monday afternoon, as in the second week of his trial sputtered, that he was entering a guilty plea.
In a matter of moments after 1 p.m., he was sworn in and advised of his rights. Prosecutors detailed the shooting and Muhammad acknowledged he was responsible.
The jury was dismissed, and testimony started immediately in the sentencing phase. Army Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula's mother is now on the stand. Ezeagwula was injured in the attack that killed his friend, Army Pvt. William Andrew Long, outside of the recruiting center.
[Dawn] The Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... (MQM) on Saturday termed the recent killing of its workers and supporters in Malir and Kati Pahari areas 'part of a conspiracy', and alleged that some ministers were patronising the criminals involved in these incidents by providing them with weapons and other facilities.
Speaking at a presser at Khurshid Memorial Hall, MPA Raza Haroon said that what happened in the Malir, Landhi and Khokhrapar areas on Friday and a couple of weeks earlier in Kati Pahari and some other areas prior to the arrival of Rangers brought back memories of the Qasba-Aligarh massacre of 1986 and the June 1992 operations against the MQM.
"Unless patronage of criminal elements by some ministers is stopped, peace cannot be restored," he declared, adding that the ongoing spate of killings was a conspiracy to sabotage efforts for peace in the city and other parts of the province.
Regarding the Friday morning violence in Malir, Khokhrapar and Landhi, he alleged that "more than 50 Haqiqi snuffies and criminals involved in the gang warfare attacked houses of MQM workers with firearms". The MQM, he said, contacted all officials concerned and called for immediate action but timely action was not taken. The police were nowhere to be seen and the snuffies disappeared from the scene only when the Rangers entered the violence-hit areas many hours later.
Condemning the acts of terrorism targeting MQM workers and supporters, Mr Haroon recalled that a provincial minister had publicly said to have met the Haqiqi chief in the Bloody Karachi Central Jail earlier this month and had also described him [the MQM-Haqiqi chief] as 'the true leader of Mohajirs', besides announcing his full support for him.
He said that MQM fears about possible attacks or operation against the party and its activists as voiced at that time proved right when snuffies attacked the houses of MQM workers and tried to forcibly occupy its offices on Friday. "All this was done under a well-planned scheme... the snuffies were given full time to do their job," he added.
The MQM leader said that his party believed that all parties should have complete freedom to propagate their political ideologies. "However, you can observe a lot just by watching... we are resolutely against facilitating criminal elements in capturing an area with the power of the gun, and the MQM will stand in the way of any such attempt," Mr Haroon said.
He said the party had withdrawn the Sindh governor's resignation only for the sake of peace and stability in the province, particularly Bloody Karachi. He added that MQM chief Altaf Hussain was holding out the hand of friendship to the Pakistain People's Party, Awami National Party, Pakistain Mohammedan League-N, JUI-F and all other parties for peace and promotion of harmony
among all segments of society.
"We are making all-out efforts towards harmony among all segments of society living in Bloody Karachi but do not sabotage our sincere efforts," Mr Haroon said.
He said the MQM had appealed to President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... , Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... , Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Näwaz Shärif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. , as well as the Sindh governor, chief minister and home minister, to ensure that killing of MQM workers and sympathisers was stopped, those involved in the bloodshed were incarcerated and no leniency was shown to anyone destroying peace and tranquility in the city.
He warned that all efforts for peace and stability in the city would fail because, according to him, the criminals had the tacit support of some government ministers.
Other members of the MQM coordination committee present at the presser included Nasreen Jalil, Kunwar Khalid Younus, Wasay Jalil, Gulfaraz Khattak and senior leader Aamir Khan.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Majlis Wahdat-i-Mohammedaneen Pakistain (MWMP) will hold a national convention in Islamabad on Sunday (today) in order to motivate people of different schools of thought for taking a unified stand against increasing US influence in the country.
"We urge the people of Pakistain and the Mohammedan countries to raise a forceful voice against the atrocities the US and Israel have been committing against innocent people of several Mohammedan countries," said MWMP central deputy general secretary Mohammad Ameen Shaheedi while speaking at a presser here on Saturday.
He said that leaders of political and religious parties, including Jamaat-i-Islami, Sunni Tehrik, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistain, would take part in the convention.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/25/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
It was poorly advertised on the East Coast, so I didn't make a reservation. Shucks!
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/25/2011 10:00 Comments ||
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[Dawn] Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said that good relations with the United States is in Pakistain's national interests.
She said that bilateral ties and not a one-sided relation with the US is required. The foreign minister made this statement while addressing media persons at Lahore airport.
Hina Rabbani Khar said that Pakistain requires that worlds support, but at the same time stated that the country will not accept anyone's hegemony in the region.
The foreign minister said that she spoke with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Edward Stettinius, Jr. ... at the ASEAN Regional Forum and expressed these views at the summit.
She also said that in order to make the working relationship with the US succeed, reservations held between the two must be put aside.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] The judicial commission investigating the May 2 raid by US Commandos in Abbottabad will meet here on Monday.
Although the commission appears to have made little headway in the probe so far it is expected that in its second or subsequent meetings it will hear from intelligence agencies whether they were aware of the presence of the late Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden is dead.
He took two shots to the head.
That made him frown
and he had to lie down.
Osama bin Laden is dead. in Abbottabad and about the US raid.
A member of the commission told this correspondent on Sunday that the statements of bigwigs of ISI or another intelligence agency might be recorded on Monday and the information might clarify a few points.Mystery shrouds the raid because many questions raised about it are yet to be answered, including the presence of Osama in the three-storey mansion in Abbottabad and 40-minute action of the US commandos the statements may throw light on the role of Pak security and the role of security and intelligence agencies in the whole episode. Ah..."mystery".
The commission is required to look into security deficiencies, if any, and make recommendations on how to prevent such incidents in future. Oooooh, I dunno. Quit harboring terrorists maybe?
Nah.
The terms of reference of the commission require it to ascertain facts about the presence of Osama in Pakistain; investigate circumstances and facts regarding the US operation; determine the nature, background and causes of lapses by the authorities concerned, if any; and make recommendations.
The member, who did not want to be named, said the statement made by Lt-Gen (retd) Nadeem Ahmed in an interview would also be taken up in the meeting.
"The issue will be raised and he will be asked to avoid giving statements regarding investigation," he said.
The retired general, who is a member of the commission, had said in the interview with a foreign radio channel that the ISI had not been aware of Osama's presence in Abbottabad.
"The commission chief has issued a general instruction for all members that they should avoid their appearance in the media by any means till the investigation is completed," the member said.
The remarks of Gen Ahmed trigged a controversy that compelled the head of the commission, Justice Javed Iqbal, to come out with a clarification by saying that those were Gen Ahmed's personal views and not the finding of the commission.
Talking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the retired general had said he did not believe Pak intelligence services or military had helped shelter the Al Qaeda leader."Irrespective of what the US says, I have absolutely not an iota of doubt on this, that no government in Pakistain, no military in Pakistain, no intelligence organization in Pakistain would do such a stupid thing," he said.
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07/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Interior Minister Rehman Malik Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Näwaz Shärif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. has said that political parties need to take concerted efforts to engender peace in the economic hub city Bloody Karachi in the larger national interest.
"There is no blame game, we need coordination with all the allied parties to restore peace and police and rangers are playing their respective role," Malik said while addressing the media at Jinnah International Terminal on arrival from Bhutan.
The minister said he was optimistic that the recently appointed Provincial Home Minister Manzoor Wassan was capable to tackle the issues regarding law and order.
To a question about the law and order situation in the province and particularly Bloody Karachi, the Minister said that a special meeting has been convened in this regard here on Monday afternoon.
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07/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Pakistain Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan ... who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five... said that Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Müslim League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... and President Asif Zardari are both travellers on the same boat.
The PTI chief said this while making his way from Lahore to Faisalabad for a political rally. He was welcomed by PTI supporters and workers along the route.
Imran Khan said that the current political setup is filled with corrupt people. He criticised PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif and President Asif Zardari, blaming them for the current problems inflicting the country.
The PTI chief urged youngsters to come out into the streets to make their decision on the current state of affairs. "The people are now demanding for change," he said.
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07/25/2011 00:00 ||
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Egypt has stopped two top members of Islamic Jihad from entering the country. Dr. Anwar Abu Taha and Muhamad Harazin attempted to enter the Sinai Peninsula from Gaza through the Rafiah crossing on Sunday.
Abu Taha, a member of the group's political bureau, cursed Israel's former prime minister, Ariel Sharon, when it was announced in 2006 he had been hospitalized with a massive stroke which left him comatose.
"We are not sorry for him -- to hell with him. We in Islamic Jihad and all Palestinians have no sympathy for any Zionists," Abu Taha told the Hizbullah-linked al-Manar television in Beirut.
[Iran Press TV] A senior Lebanese politician says Leb cannot survive in the face of Israeli aggressions without the Hezbullies resistance movement, to which the country's future is closely tied.
Boggle.
The leader of Leb's Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... (FPM) Michel Aoun ...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... told a local radio station on Sunday during a talk about the 2006 Israel-Hezbullies war that, "We cannot survive as a country without this resisting strength or without the support of the resistance," the Lebanese Daily Star newspaper reported.
"This is where formula of the people, the army and the resistance comes from. [Those three] are united and connected to each other against the enemy," he added.
Pointing to the future of Leb as in close connection with the continuity of the resistance, the FPM leader warned against the aggressive character of Israel and its wish to "control and expand."
"As long as Israel has not created peace with its surroundings ... 2006 marked the beginning of the collapse and you can't stop this collapse because it is really difficult to bring back morale to Israelis," noted Aoun, who is also the head of Change and Reform bloc in the Lebanese parliament.
Israel's all-out offensive on southern Leb in July 2006, also known as the 33-Day War, resulted in the death of about 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians.
Israel violates Leb's airspace on an almost daily basis.
Leb's government, the Hezbullies resistance movement, and the UN Interim Force in Leb, known as UNIFIL, have repeatedly condemned the overflights, saying they are in clear violation of UN Resolution 1701 and the country's illusory sovereignty.
UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which brokered a ceasefire between Leb and Israel in 2006, calls on Tel Aviv to respect Beirut's illusory sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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07/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Riyadh has informed Prime Minister Najib Miqati that he is not welcome in Soddy Arabia, revealed opposition sources to the daily Ad Diyar on Sunday.
They added that Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Wally Jumblat ... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling... was charged with relaying this message to the premier.
They stated that the Kingdom, which has supported Leb on numerous occasions on the political, economic, and financial levels, withdrew from the S-S equation that was aimed at helping Leb end its political crisis.
This was implied by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, they continued.
Meanwhile, ...back at the abandoned silver mine, the water was up to Jack's neck and still rising... Qatar is also "upset" because the Doha agreement, which it sponsored to end Leb's dispute in 2008, was violated by Hizbullah and the March 8 forces. ... the opposition to the Mar. 14th movement, consisting of Hizbullah and its allies, so-called in commemoration of their Mar. 8th, 2006 demonstration of strength in Beirut ... "The sides that had previously lifted slogans of 'Thank you, Qatar' have started launching political and media campaigns against it," said the sources.
"The time is therefore inappropriate for Miqati to go on tour of the Arab world," they continued.
Furthermore, they sited the developments in Syria as being another hindrance to his mission.
"It appears that the Arab world is adopting a cautious approach with Leb until a clear image of Syria's fate is reached," they said.
"It's impossible for Miqati to garner Arab support given the developments in Syria, the fact that he is heading a one-sided cabinet, and political campaigns launched against some Gulf states," they added.
"Should he head on an Arab tour, the talks would be strictly part of protocol visits," they stated.
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07/25/2011 00:00 ||
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[Al Jazeera] Iranian state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
has denied that a man killed in his Tehran home on Saturday was a nuclear scientist.
Dariush Rezainejad was rubbed out by two men on cycle of violences as he entered his garage with his wife and child.
Iranian newspapers first reported that Rezainejad, 35, was working in the country's nuclear programme, which would have made him the fourth nuclear scientist to die or go missing in suspicious circumstances.
On Sunday, state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
said he was a masters student in electronics at Khajeh University in Tehran and had worked for the defence ministry, though it was unclear in what capacity.
Ali Larijani, the speaker of parliament, denounced the killing in an address to politicians as the work of Zionists and the United States and said it showed Washington's hostility to Iran.
Larijani has previously served as a negotiator with the West on the country's nuclear programme.
Rezainejad's wife was also maimed and had been taken to a nearby hospital.
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[Dawn] Iran on Sunday accused arch-foes the United States and Israel of criminal masterminding the liquidation of a scientist in Tehran, Dariush Rezaei-Nejad, who was reportedly associated with the defence ministry.
"The American-Zionist terrorist act yesterday against one of the country's scientists is yet another sign of the Americans' degree of animosity," speaker Ali Larijani told parliament.
"America must think carefully about the consequences of such actions," he said, urging security forces in the Islamic republic to give a "stronger response to such evil moves."
But Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency that no signs had been found so far to suggest that foreign intelligence services were behind the murder.
"What is certain is that Dariush Rezaie-Nejad was not involved in the nuclear issue. His liquidation is ambiguous and we are examining it," Moslehi said.
"Operations by foreign intelligence services generally leave signs, but we have not found any signs in this terrorist act and we have not reached any conclusion on whether foreign intelligence services are behind it," he added.
Assailants riding a cycle of violencerubbed out Rezaei-Nejad, 35, in Tehran on Saturday evening, according to Iranian media which originally reported he was a nuclear scientist working for the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran.
But on Sunday, the media stopped referring to him as a nuclear expert, without giving an explanation, and presented him as an "electronics master's student" at Tehran's Khajeh Nassir University.
The Fars news agency suggested that the media had made a mistake in reporting Rezaei-Nejad's speciality, and insisted that he had links with the defence ministry, without giving details.
But higher education deputy minister Mohammad Mehdinejad Nouri told Mehr news agency that the victim "was not a member of the defence ministry" and suggested he may have collaborated on a project the ministry contracted out to Khajeh Nassir University.
According to reports on Sunday, Rezaei-Nejad was shot five times by unknown assailants as he and his wife were waiting for their child in front of a kindergarten in Tehran. His wife was maimed in the attack.
Tehran governor Morteza Tamaddon said at Rezaei-Nejad's funeral that the liquidation "was without a doubt part of a project to discourage the Medes and the Persians from the path (of progress) it was pursuing," Mehr reported.
Tamaddon linked the murder to those who last year killed two top physicists working on Iran's controversial nuclear programme, Masoud Ali Mohammadi and Majid Shahriari.
"Nuclear energy is our undeniable right," chanted the crowd attending the funeral, according to Fars.
A statement signed by 200 deputies condemned what they called "the cowardly actions of America and the Zionist regime against the Islamic republic,"particularly the "murder of an Iranian scientist."
Several Iranian nuclear scientists have disappeared in recent years or been targeted in attacks the Islamic republic has blamed on the United States and Israel, which suspect Tehran's atomic programme masks a nuclear weapons drive.
In Israel, there was no formal reaction to the allegation but an official said such charges were "routine.""Iran routinely accuses Israel of all sorts of things," he told AFP on condition of anonymity.
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07/25/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
DEBKA claims that the Iranian scientist in question was working on dev a NUCLEAR DETONATOR/TRIGGER for Iran's desired NucBomb???
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.
Saudi Arabia has deployed more forces in Bahrain in an attempt to further help King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa's crackdown on anti-government demonstrators.
North Koreans went to the polls for the first time in four years to take part in what analysts say is a rubber-stamp election for members of the local assemblies.
The 
Asif Ali 
[Dawn] Majlis Wahdat-i-
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said that good relations with the United States is in Pakistain's national interests.
The judicial commission investigating the May 2 raid by US Commandos in Abbottabad will meet here on Monday.
[Dawn] Interior Minister 
Nawaz Sharif
Michel Aoun
Najib Miqati
cycle of violence
[Dawn] Iran on Sunday accused arch-foes the United States and Israel of 
