[Daily Nation (Kenya)] The legal arm of a notorious Egyptian intelligence apparatus is probing foreign funding of civil society groups amid signs of tensions between Washington and Egypt's ruling generals, judicial sources said on Friday.
The investigation by the State Security prosecution, which belonged to the State Security Investigations apparatus that was disbanded in March for human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... abuses, is in its fourth day, the sources said.
The probe, which the sources said was focusing on US funding, came as Washington said it had raised concerns with the military about "anti-Americanism" in Egypt.
The US embassy said on Friday that USAID director Jim Bever had left his post in Egypt, but denied his departure was due to "anti-American sentiment."
Just a tad too obvious there, Mr. Bever, but good job anyway...
A cabinet source told AFP that the investigation was first launched last month by the ministry of international cooperation after the newly appointed US ambassador to Cairo, Anne Patterson, said the US distributed $40 million to NGOs since a January revolt that toppled Mubarak.
The initial probe came amid a spike in tensions between the military and activists who want a speedier transition to civilian rule.
The military has described the activists as foreign funded, an accusation that resonated in a country where there is abundant suspicion of foreign plots.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2011 00:00 ||
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Begs the question of why and how can we afford funding political activities abroad.
Posted by: jack salami ||
08/13/2011 9:26 Comments ||
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[Dawn] Bahrain's largest Iranian catspaw said on Friday it would boycott parliamentary elections to fill seats vacated when its deputies resigned over the Sunni-led kingdom's crackdown on anti-government protests.
The move follows a "National Dialogue" that the monarchy -- which hosts the US Navy's Fifth Fleet -- organised to defuse tension after the crackdown, in which thousands were jugged and allegations of torture were rampant.
The opposition bloc, Wefaq, pulled out of the dialogue as well, which led to the king expanding the powers of the elected parliament last month while reserving the broader power of an upper chamber that his court selects.
"We decided to boycott because we are no longer convinced of the authority of this parliament," said Khalil al-Marzouq of Wefaq, whose 18 deputies resigned in February.
"It no longer had any popular legitimacy." The elections are scheduled for September 24.
Wefaq's MPs quit as Bahrain moved to quash the protests, which were led by its Shia majority and called for broader political liberties and an end to sectarian discrimination. A few Shia groups sought to abolish the monarchy.
The kingdom in March called in troops from fellow Sunni-led monarchies Soddy Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to crush the protests, detaining more than a thousand people, at least four of whom died in jug.
Bahrain's Shia say they are systematically denied access to land and employment, and point to the naturalisation of Sunni Mohammedans from other countries, some of whom serve in the security forces, as proof of a policy of sectarian rule.
Bahrain hinted Shia Iran manipulated its co-religionists to spread unrest and sentenced several opposition figures to life terms for allegedly collaborating with a foreign power.
Two people face death sentences for the killing of coppers during the demonstrations.
The kingdom is now hosting a delegation of international law experts to investigate the protests and their aftermath.
Two former Wefaq MPs jugged following the protests were released last week, as part of a group of 137 detainees set free. Some of those released may still face prosecution
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2011 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] A senior Iranian politician has called on the UN Security Council to condemn the British prime minister for the brutal repression of protesters in the UK as a 'war criminal.'
Deputy Chairman of Iran's Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Mohammad-Karim Abedi on Friday lashed out at David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... for his regime's crackdown on protesters, describing it as "unacceptable," Fars News Agency reported.
Speaking at a news conference outside 10 Downing Street on Thursday, British Prime Minister Cameron said he had authorized the use of rubber bullets and water cannon by the Metropolitan Police to suppress the widespread protests by youths -- who UK politicians refer to as gangs of criminals.
"If the Security Council does not put David Cameron's trial as a war criminal on its agenda and does not meet this demand of the British nation, nations' view of this council will definitely change more than ever before," he said.
"The Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran as an establishment which considers itself an advocate of the rights of nations cannot remain silent on the British kingdom's crimes," Abedi underlined.
The unrest in Britannia broke out on August 6 in Tottenham, north London, after a few hundred people gathered outside a cop shoppe to protest the fatal shooting and killing of a black man, Mark Duggan, by the police.
Violent protests soon erupted in major cities like Birmingham, Liverpool, and Bristol, contributing to Britannia's worst riot since the 1930s.
Earlier, Iran's President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad called for an end to the use of force against demonstrators in Britannia.
Deputy chairman of Iran's Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Hossein Ebrahimi said on Tuesday that Iran is ready to send a delegation to investigate human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... in Britannia.
The commander of Iran's Basij Force has also expressed readiness to deploy peacekeepers to monitor the rights situation in Britannia.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
"The Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran ...blah, blah, blah..."
Reminds me of 'The Mouse That Roared'...
Posted by: Shakey Steve ||
08/13/2011 7:50 Comments ||
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#2
...well, let's just hope their 'nuke' works as well as that acquired by the Duchy of Grand Fenrick.
Kerry Kennedy went on a quest for human rights in Mexico two weeks ago, namely in Guerrero state where she met with Abel Barrera Hernandez, a local human rights leader and with the governor of Guerrero Angel Heladio Aguirre Rivero. While she was there she had an interview with a reporter from El Universal where she talked about human rights in Mexico.
Kennedy said that the Mexican government "has continued to allow" human rights abuses by the Mexican Army and was a "clear violation" of the Merida Inititative.
In her interview, she characterize the Medirida Initaitive as a failure, because of human rights abuses which have taken place in Mexico over the years. The Merida Inititive last year provided the Mexican government funds from the US government, namely the Mexican military with $250 million in aid for the war on drugs.
According to the El Universal article, Kennedy said: "What we have seen can be summed up in three things: there is impunity for human rights violations committed by the military because the cases remain under military jurisdiction, when they have to be in the civil there is total impunity for those committing abuses against human rights defenders, and there is a systematic violation of the rights of the indigenous population, particularly those living in extreme poverty."
Kennedy has no say as to whether the Merida Initiative continues to be funded, however a human rights proviso agreed to by the Mexican government is the focus of her personal vendetta. She believes that exerting pressure threatening the funding of the Merida Initiative will at least help resolve high profile human rights cases in Mexico, primarily in Guerrero.
Except she has no say in the disposition of the funds, and everyone knows it. Clever.
Kerry Kennedy is the daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy, former attorney general of the United States under his brother President John F. Kennedy, who is credited with winning the civil rights struggles in the south, primarily through deployments of federal security forces.
Kennedy is herself an educated attorney having graduated from Brown University and from Boston College with a Juris Doctor. She is directly involved with Amnesty International serving as chair of the Amnesty International Leadership Council and is not surprisingly the head of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights.
Kennedy is also the author of "Speak Truth to Power", a book hawked by the Center. The Duke University playwright Ariel Dorfman has written a play based on the book. Dorfman is one of the 88 individuals at Duke University who wrongly denounced the lacrosse team in a rape case later proven false.
No doubt the acquaintanceship is eminently satisfactory to all involved. And it keeps them too busy to bother the rest of us, most of the time
.Kennedy said her main concern was human rights violations by the Mexican army in Guerrero, including two massacres and two rapes, all of which took place at various times since 1997. and all involving indigent Indians of southern Guerrero.
In an article published at the Huffington Post the June before, the tone of her concern was markedly different than her El Universal interview sounding less like someone who is concerned with human right and sounding more like a radical from the 1960s.
In the article she absurdly attempts to draw comparisons between Alabama in the 1960s and Guerrero today, suggesting that a tiny municipality in Guerrero, Atyutla, was Birmingham. She praises Barrera Hernandez and his Tlachinollan Center for Human Rights in the Montaña for "heading a dynamic, indigenous, civil and human rights movement near the town of Ayutla de los Libres."
She described an incident of "3,000 white supremacists" who surrounded and harassed a black church in Birmingham which precipitated her father sending 3,000 national guard troops, because "it was the right thing to do."
Unlike Alabama in the 1960 Indians in Guerrero have the right to vote and organize in their interests which they have done from the start.
Kennedy does not go into much detail about the cases and incidents she mentions, and the reason is that all of the incidents she mentions do not fit her agenda and her worldview that the Mexican military is responsible for all the abuses she decries.
Ultimately it does not fit the truth.
Kennedy also fails to properly frame her concerns that the abuses have taken place in a shooting gallery among different and disparate actors, and she fails to mention that Guerrero state has been in a guerilla war and an antidrug war together since at least 1996.
This series of articles is intended to provide details to the various incidents that Kennedy failed or refused to provide, and to add details which provide a much clearer context for events that have occurred in Guerrero.
It is important to consider when reading what Kennedy has written and what she has said, that much of what has been expressed has been lies, whether based on incomplete information, sloppiness or plain mendacity on Kennedy's part.
Clearly a true Kennedy, going for the politically efficacious.
It is not the intention of this series of articles to pillory Kerry Kennedy for her work, but to provide a much clearer picture than what has been provided to date by Kerry Kennedy, and to fill in the gaps that have been left out.
#1
Never heard of her. Hopefully, will never hear from her again. Gives libs like myself a bad name...
Posted by: Shakey Steve ||
08/13/2011 7:53 Comments ||
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#2
Why do we post such trash?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/13/2011 10:37 Comments ||
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#3
well, Jim. Mexico is nearly a failed state next door. The libs seem to be trying to curtail the military's war on the narco-terrorists. See where this is going?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/13/2011 11:18 Comments ||
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#4
Ah, another Kennedy with a hobby and a lotta time on their hands. I've seen how dangerous that is...
#5
When will the nation grow up and realize that only one Kennedy was good for it?
Only one was a decent leader (though a failure) and only one was a true democrat. The rest starting with that A-hole Joe were thugs and gangsters.
Kennedys are half the reason this nation is in a shithole right now. The curse lives on.
Well, Jim, you are certainly free not to read this post.
As for the wherefores, on matters that concern Mexico's national security, Ms. Kennedy appears to be long on agenda, and rather short on the truth, and if you have read Rantburg enough, you would know this instinctively to be a common liberal affliction.
I cannot allow her and her ilk to get away with their own special kind of impunity that they have routinely accuse Mexican security forces.
News about updating USS Freedom, the upcoming USS Fort Worth, and other issues with the LCS series. We're going to see these ships in the WoT in the near future.
Littoral Combat Ships, for those of us not up on the lingo. Smaller things that can go closer in to shore, are relatively inexpensive, quick, and maneuverable, and capable of covering tasks like minesweeping as necessary -- very useful.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
TW, I hope they may in due time become useful mine-sweepers, perhaps school ships, if a classroom module can be designed, perhaps even a dispatch ship. But you don't want these poor things anywhere booms or bullets are likely.
#2
S, unlike your actual experience in matters nautical, I have only gotten as far as the Wikipedia article in the subject. I'm thinking in terms of light cavalry, but admittedly I don't really know what I'm talking about. ;-)
#3
...Being a Wing Wiper Of Very Little Brain, I'm not fully equipped to make a call on how useful the LCS are going to be. However, I have two online friends who have pretty strong feelings on the ship. One is a retired USN Chief (who came up through the USN's Vietnam riverine forces) who feels that this is a smart, capable design that the Navy needs to have. The other is a warship designer, who is pretty sure that the next US Navy ship to be sunk in combat will be one of these, and likely before it even comes close to getting a shot off.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/13/2011 10:23 Comments ||
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#4
There's extensive discussion of the LCS program at this site, the "Commander Salamander" blog. He agrees with S and then some.
For contrast, consider that the USS South Dakota kept floating and fighting after taking 27 hits of all calibers at point blank range in the second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, pdf analysis here. We won that battle. Just my non-mil two cents.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/13/2011 10:59 Comments ||
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#5
Much of the argument is as old as the Republic. There is some similarity with Jeffersonian gunboats, altho relatively speaking Jefferson's gunboats were significantly better armed against the threats of the day and at least they were cheap. The LCS altho poorly armed and armored, is far, far, from inexpensive.
1 57mm gun
1 go pack of short range SAMs
In it's favor it has a nice networking capability, which means Facebook will be the first to know if one has been engaged, by engaged, mean cut in half, by an 3 inch, Italian designed, optically ranged naval gun, deployed everywhere, since 1970.
Posted by: S ||
08/13/2011 11:18 Comments ||
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#6
I think that S is right this time.
The big problem is that the developers believed in a fictional development model.
They wanted a small multipurpose patrol boat with swappable mission modules, kinda like some the Danes built. They've built little fast ones like missile patrol boats, they built big frigate sized ones they named the "Absalom" class.
The navy wound up building something with the size of the frigate type vessel, the speed of the little patrol boat, armament less than either, and a frigate price tag.
And like it or not it's going to be sent on missions where a heavier-armed ship would be more appropriate, and it's ability to sprint for a couple hours isn't going to help very much.
#8
but the bottom line is "how many congressional districts will receive money in the building of them?"
if the answer is above 270 then this thing will never see the axe no matter how poorly it performs or how illdesigned it is for the mission.
if the answer ever fall below 260, the project will suddenly end and be replaced with a bigger more expensive boondoggle that does in fact bring money to the requisite number of congressional districts.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
08/13/2011 13:50 Comments ||
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#9
It's the surface navy's version of NAVAIR's 'one size fits most' Lawn Dart; it can do a lot of things OK, but none exceptional.
#10
It's the surface navy's version of NAVAIR's 'one size fits most' Lawn Dart
Yep. If you look at the construction, the crewing, and the maintenance, it's an F-18 with a hull. A compromise between the gee-whiz crowd, the let's-be-thrifty-on-defense crew, and the blue-water traditionalists.
#11
LCS, with it's 50 knot speed and helicopters, could make a great antisub ship. Too bad it couldn't go toe to toe with anything more threatening than a Coast Guard patrol boat.
#12
This will be a great platform for U.S. sailors to accomplish their mission. Its advantages are that it is fast, flexible, with good endurance, yet has a small draft. Its disadvantages are that it has light organic weapons; although, the mission module can support many wicked things if needed.
Remember that these ships are not the thing that fights. The sailors aboard these ships do the fighting. They will do fine with these things. Come a serious fight, some will be lost. It is always that way. What is important is to be there firstest with the mostest, and these things can do that if we build a bunch.
Having a fleet of all capital ships (i.e. carriers and battleships/cruisers) means that there are not enough to go around and they are never where you need them.
[Dawn] A Pak court Friday found a paramilitary soldier guilty of murder and sentenced him to death for killing an unarmed man at point blank range in an incident caught on camera in a public park.
It marked the first time that a civilian court in Pakistain has sentenced to death a serving member of the military.
Although the Rangers paramilitary technically comes under the supervision of the interior ministry, it is considered part of the powerful armed forces, which has ruled the country for more than half its existence.
The June 8 killing of Sarfaraz Shah, 22, was filmed by a cameraman and broadcast on television, sparking a public backlash over the brutality of trained officers.
Judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso read out the verdict before an anti-terrorism court in Bloody Karachi, finding Shahid Zafar guilty of pulling the trigger, and sentenced him to death and a fine of 200,000 rupees ($2,300).
"The crime of killing Sarfraz Shah has been proved against you and I announce the death sentence and also impose a fine of 200,000 rupees," said Khoso, addressing Zafar.
He handed life terms to five other paramilitary soldiers and a civilian who had accused Shah of robbery and dragged him over to them.
The judge ordered each to pay 100,000 rupees to the victim's family.
The verdict concludes a relatively swift trial which got underway after the seven defendants were formally charged with murder and terrorism on June 29, just weeks after the killing.
So extreme was the public and media reaction to the killing that the government also took the rare step of removing the provincial chiefs of police and Rangers in Bloody Karachi.
The widely-aired footage of the killing showed a clean-shaven and unarmed Shah, wearing black trousers and a navy shirt, pleading for his life before he is shot twice.
He then begs for help while the soldiers appear to do nothing but watch him lapse gradually into unconsciousness.
Despite no evidence in the video that Shah was armed, Pak 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. , whose ministry is responsible for the Rangers, had claimed that the victim had been carrying an unlicensed weapon.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2011 00:00 ||
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The Pak Taliban on Friday grabbed credit for a rare female suicide kaboom and another bombing against police to "avenge" military operations in the tribal belt.
A woman in her late teens blew herself up near a police check post killing another woman just hours after a separate bomb planted in a push cart killed six people in the northwestern city of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar.
It was only the third female suicide kaboom that police have confirmed in the country of 167 million, where Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked bombers have killed 4,500 people since 2007, destabilising the government.
The head of the Pak Taliban in the tribal district of Mohmand ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... , where Pak troops are fighting against bad boys, said using women bombers was part of a new strategy.
"It is part of our strategy and in war strategies keep on changing," Omar Khalid told AFP by telephone from Qazi's guesthouse an undisclosed location.
"The blasts were in reaction to the current military operation in the tribal areas," he said, threatening further attacks until offensives waged "to appease the United States" come to an end.
The Taliban oppose Islamabad's US alliance in the war against the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan and US drone strikes on Pak soil, which leaked American diplomatic cables showed the government quietly approved.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Gee, just when we thought Islam had no role for women outside of producing new slaves for allah.
Scoring another victory for Islamic feminism.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
08/13/2011 13:53 Comments ||
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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. on Friday called upon all political parties to join hands and assist the government in foiling conspiracies being hatched to destabilise the country.
Winding up a debate on the law and order situation in Bloody Karachi and Quetta, he assured the National Assembly that murder in Bloody Karachi had been controlled while there were some small groups involved in various crimes, to tackle which the local Station House Officers (SHOs) were handed responsibility.
The minister said that a Parliamentary Committee of all the political parties be constituted to suggest a durable solution to the law and order situation for the economic hub of the country.
He said the said committee should sit in Bloody Karachi where the interior ministry and the provincial government would be at its disposal.
He said the committee would be told about the entire operation of drug and land mafia and small-time Mister Bigs in Bloody Karachi and all the facts would be placed before them.
The minister said that those accused in terrorist attacks were being freed by the courts due to lack of evidence and for that the government had submitted a bill in the Senate.
He said that a year and a half had passed but the bill was still unapproved. He said if there was any problem in the bill, the MNAs should discuss those in the National Assembly.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Something died within the people after the faceless myrmidons decamped and the military took control of the place, says Zubair Torwali, a civil society activist in Behrain, upper Swat.
As the 64th Independence Day of the country approaches, while there could be many reasons for the people of Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat...
valley to celebrate -- freedom from Taliban rule and the worst of the floods now behind them with signs of rebuilding everywhere, Torwali feels "something is amiss".
"The people of Swat used to enthusiastically decorate their homes and the bazaar with flags and there was an air of patriotism. That feeling is missing today, probably because it's now being forced on to them," he commented.
One reason could be the army presence that is not doing much to warming the locals to them. Apart from the countless mesh of military and paramilitary check-posts and pickets spread across Swat, there are slogans painted on walls thanking the army for saving the people of the valley. A vast majority of shops have shutters painted white and green and a crescent -- the Pakistain flag -- with 'Long Live Pakistain Army' written on many. Local shopkeepers say all this is the work of the army.
Ironically, despite the daily harassment they have to tolerate, many in Swat prefer the gun-toting soldiers to the krazed killer butchers. "Lesser of the two evils," says Torwali wryly.
Today, despite memories of kabooms and public display of dead bodies, Swat, with its population of 1.8 million, seems to be tottering back to its feet. The place is getting ready to receive visitors and authorities and hopes that the alpine beauty of the valley with its archaeological sites and trout fishing can beckon back travellers.
Stuck in a traffic jam with all manner of vehicles snaking their way about the bazaars of both Saidu Sharif and Mingora, which just two years ago were ghost towns, hints at life returning to normality.
While waiting, you get a kaleidoscope of local sights and sounds. Men with and without beards, men pushing hand-held wooden carts, jostle for space with brightly painted vans and a few video and CD shops are an added surprise. The local parchoon (grocery) shops with dandasa (bark used to clean teeth), spices and dry fruits in open gunny bags vie for a place between the tandoor wala, chicken shop and the chai wala with a string of kettles in different colours hanging for dear life.
One cannot help but marvel at the resilience of the people of Swat. The Green Chowk in Mingora, once dubbed Khooni Chowk, and where among many a young artist Shabana, who used to earn a living by singing and dancing was shot in the head, was like any other square -- abuzz with people.
"But you won't see as many women on the road," points out Falaknaz Asfandyar, whose husband Asfandyar Amirzeb, grandson of the waali (ruler) of Swat (a princely state till 1969 when it merged with Pakistain), was killed in a kaboom. "Even we don't venture out to the bazaar," she said. She comes to Swat every summer with her children and continues "so that they never forget their roots" but her youngest, 10-year old Khadija, and her two older siblings remain housebound. In the good old days, before the Taliban came, the Asfandyar family would play host all summer to guests from other parts of the country. "That is all in the past."
Now when friends ask her if it's safe to visit, she says she really can't give them a clear response.
"It probably is safe now, with the hard boyz having decamped, but don't forget they have only decamped and not been caught, not the top leadership," points out Asfandyar adding that perhaps the fear remains in the minds of the people.
But time seems to have stood in good stead for the children of Swat who survived both the physical and mental trauma of insurgency, followed by military operation and then the floods.
Cricket, volleyball, jumping in the ice-cold water of a canal, fishing or floating lazily with the help of black giant tyres in the swift River Swat are some of the sights that one encounters.
The security situation may have improved, however, with road network and telecommunication being hardest hit by the militancy and then the floods, and gas and electricity in short supply, few tourists will be willing to head to the valley.
The road to Malam Jabba, a popular ski resort, is in a shambles and the only hotel run by the Pakistain Tourism Development Corporation, was bombed by the army in a bid to weed out the hard boyz occupying it.
"For almost five years the infrastructure remained in a state of disrepair and thus the condition of roads," acknowledged a van driver.
"No doubt road network, telecommunication, proper supply of gas and electricity are essential for any tourism destination, but most of the roads are under construction and they will be ready by next summer," explains Aftab Rana, tourism development consultant with United States Agency for International Development's (USAID's) Firms Project.
The USAID is supporting the Provincial Relief and Rehabilitation Settlement Authority of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... province prop up the tourism industry in Swat.
Rana also said that the damage due to flood was so huge that it cannot be "restored in just few months; it needs lot of funds and a lot of efforts," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Sihanouk was more than cozy with the North Viet during the Vietnam War. He was making lots of money from North Vietnam allowing them to use the port of Sihanoukville and allowing them to stage in his country while at the same time maintaining an illusion of neutrality.
#2
ION CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > CHINA SUPPORTS EAST ASIAN UNION [EAS Community of Nations].
* INTERESTING > CMF POSTER MAP = denotes RISING CHINA in future ultimat asserting hegemonic = Govt-Administrative control oer TWO KOREAS + Whole of JAPAN + VIETNAM [Cambodia? Laos? Thai?] + MONGOLIA, while asserting "significant influence" oer 1/2 - 2/3 of RUSSIA.
Iran has agreed to fund a new multi-million-dollar military base on the Syrian coast to make it easier to ship weapons and other military hardware between the two countries, according to Western intelligence reports.
From Israeli Air Force headquarters squeals of joy could be heard, an unusual sound in those quarters, but justified as new targeting coordinates are plotted.
Under the terms of the deal, which was concluded after a high-level Syrian delegation visited Tehran, Iran is to assist with the development of a new military compound at Latakia airport which will be completed by the end of next year. The aim of the agreement is to open a supply route that will enable Iran to transfer military hardware directly to Syria.
Western security officials say the deal was agreed following a visit to Tehran in June by Muhammad Nasif Kheirbek,
Syria's deputy vice-president for security affairs and an ally of President Bashar al-Assad.
Iran and Syria have enjoyed a close strategic alliance for decades, founded on their mutual antipathy towards the West. In return for Iranian military support, Syria has supported Tehran's attempts to develop the Islamic fundamentalist Hizbollah militia into a major political force in neighbouring Lebanon.
In recent months, Iran has been deeply alarmed at the nationwide protests in Syria against the Assad regime. Western diplomats claim that Iran has been sending riot control equipment, as well as intelligence monitoring techniques and oil, to Damascus to help Mr Assad regain control over his country.
But Iranian efforts to provide clandestine support have suffered several setbacks after Turkish officials intercepted a number of arms shipments destined for Syria.
#1
Maybe if Iran gets Syria & Lebanon really powered up, and takes over Bahrain too, and gets Sadr's Iraq lined up too, they'll have enough combined fire power to take on the Sunni Arab establishment of the Middle East. And maybe we can sit back and watch as the two sides rip out each others' throats.
Posted by: American Delight ||
08/13/2011 4:00 Comments ||
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#2
Iran wants to start sending its Navy on LR missions outside the Gulf + ME, e.g. the ATLANTIC - by extension, SSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH ditto
for its Air Forces.
MOE ALONG, PEOPLE, CLEARLY ITS MORE UNDENIABLE EVIDENCE THAT SHIA IRAN SEEKS NEITHER HEGEMONY OR NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
[An Nahar] Former Premier Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's liquidation. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. snapped back at President Michel Suleiman on Friday saying the only way to hold national dialogue is through finding a solution to Hizbullah's weapons.
"The only door for dialogue opens by solving the issue of illegitimate arms and not by making renewed overt attempts to lure the issue of the international tribunal to the dialogue table," Hariri said in statement issued by his press office.
At a presidential Iftar on Thursday, Suleiman urged for dialogue to confront the repercussions of the events in the Arab world and the state of anticipation over the STL, which are spreading concern among citizens.
Hariri has previously voiced skepticism about Suleiman's invitation for all-party talks, insisting that Hizbullah's arms should be the only topic for discussion, or else the March 14 Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys... -led opposition would not attend the dialogue session.
Hariri said in his statement that developments in the Arab world and the anticipation over the course of the international tribunal "should not be a reason of concern among the Lebanese."
"Most Lebanese find the Arab popular movement as an occasion to spread democracy in Arab political life," the former prime minister added.
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[An Nahar] Hizbullah condemned on Friday attempts by some Lebanese and Arab media outlets to drag the party's name in any security development that takes place in Leb, the last of which was Thursday's Antelias blast.
The party accused in a statement these outlets of "seeking to tarnish its image before its Arab and Lebanese public."
It therefore urged the media to "exercise objectivity in its coverage of developments and steer away from exaggeration and the alteration of facts."
"This not only harms their credibility, but creates tensions in Leb that don't serve the country or its people," it noted.
The party therefore called on the concerned sides to assume their responsibilities in this matter in order to put an end to this affair.
Two people were killed in Antelias on Thursday when a grenade in their possession took off.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told cabinet that the kaboom was a result of a financial and personal dispute between several people, including some car dealers.
Some media outlets reported that one of the victims is a member of Hizbullah.
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Hizbullah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem ... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... stated on Thursday that the Resistance That'd be the Hezbullies, natch... does not have any enemies on the internal scene in Leb.
He said during a Ramadan iftar: "Our only enemy is Israel and we don't have enemies in Leb, except sides that we differ with politically."
"It's unfortunate that some of these sides adopt the political approach in making demands that are exactly like those of Israel," he noted.
"If this is a coincidence, then we warn them against falling for that trap," he continued.
"The Resistance in Leb is not an gang, but it encompasses all walks of life in the country and it grants life, dignity, and a future," Qassem stressed.
"That is why they want to topple the Resistance and we advise them against becoming part of the Israeli agenda," he stated.
Addressing the March 14 Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys... camp, the Hizbullah official said: "Whoever says that the Resistance is not necessary should tell us how they expect to liberate Israeli-occupied land and thwart Israeli attacks."
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[An Nahar] Turkish President Abdullah Gul has called on his Syrian counterpart to implement overdue reforms before it is too late, in a letter handed over to Bashir al-Assad by Turkey's foreign minister.
"I would not want you to look back some day and regret that you acted too little and too late," the Anatolia news agency quoted Gul as saying in his letter.
"To be a leader who promotes change will put you in a historic position rather than being swept away by the winds of change," he added.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu held talks with Assad for more than six hours on Tuesday, pleading that he end bloodshed and open the path to political reforms.
His visit to Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... was to pass on Ankara's message that it "has run out of patience" with the ongoing violence, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.
Ankara, whose ties with Damascus have flourished in recent years, has repeatedly called on Assad to initiate reforms but has stopped short of calling for his departure.
The Syrian regime has sought to crush weeks of protests with brutal force, killing more than 1,600 civilians and arresting at least 12,000 of dissenters, rights activists say.
On Friday Syrian security forces again opened fire killing 10 people as thousands of anti-regime protesters poured onto streets of flashpoint cities after the Ramadan weekly prayers, activists said.
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#1
With the Turkish economic bubble about to explode a war to distract the plebs may look attractive to Erdogan & Co.
#4
IIRC WAFF > [Hurriyet News]TURKEY SAYS/WARNS IT MAY JOIN [UN-approved]INTERNATIONAL MILITARY ACTION AGZ SYRIA, iff Syria = Assad refuses to stop its bloody crackdown agz mass protestors.
ARTIC = Iff Turkey does so, it fears that Syria's ally IRAN may militarily retaliate by OPENING UP ONE OR MORE COMBAT FRONTS IN VARIOUS REGIONS.
LRBMS [e.g. 1980's Iran-Iraq "War of the SCUDS/Cities"] + TerrorOps???
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.
A senior Iranian 
Mahmoud 
Mohmand
...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat...
