As far as I can work our Karzi will do a runner before the elections next year, possibly claiming medical reasons. So what is he up to now?
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is to visit Qatar to discuss the proposed opening of a Taliban office there as a prelude to possible peace talks, the foreign ministry said Sunday.
Until earlier this year, Karzai rejected the idea of a Taliban office in Qatar because of fears that his government would be frozen out of any deal between the United States and the militants.
The Taliban have refused to negotiate directly with Karzai, and the foreign ministry stressed that it would only start negotiations if the militants "break all relations with Al-Qaeda and give up terrorism".
"President Hamid Karzai will visit Qatar within weeks," Janan Mosazai, foreign ministry spokesman, told reporters. "Talks with the emir of Qatar will include the peace process in Afghanistan and the opening of a Taliban office."
The Islamist militants broke off tentative contacts with the US in Qatar in March last year after the failure of attempts to negotiate a prisoner exchange as a confidence-building measure.
The US has reached an agreement with the Afghanistan government to transfer the Parwan Detention Facility to Afghan control, the Pentagon said Saturday.
The decision came two weeks after negotiations broke down over whether the US would have the power to block the release of some detainees. According to a senior US official, a key element to the agreement is that the Afghans can invoke a procedure that insures prisoners considered dangerous would not be released. The agreement also includes a provision that allows the two sides to work together to resolve any differences.
Transfer of the Parwan detention center is critical to the ongoing effort to gradually shift control of the countrys security to the Afghans as the US and allies move toward the full withdrawal of combat troops by the end of 2014.
Afghans demanded control of the center, but US officials have worried that the most threatening detainees would be freed once the US transferred control. The senior official said US and Afghan officials who are familiar with the detainees would meet to assess the potential danger of their release to coalition forces. The official said that more senior level officials could be brought in if there are disagreements but that to date the two sides have been able to agree without bringing in those higher authorities.
Disagreements over the detention facility, which also included whether Afghans can be held without trial, had thrown a pall over the ongoing negotiations for a bilateral security agreement that would govern the presence of US forces in Afghanistan after 2014.
Currently, there is an Afghan administrator of the Parwan prison, but the Americans have power to veto the release of detainees. The prisoners held under American authority do not have the right to a trial because the US considers them part of an ongoing conflict.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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We give Karzi a list of prisoners that, if released, will trigger a total cut in American funds to his regime.
[An Nahar] A senior Egyptian Islamist on Saturday called on La Belle France to withdraw its forces from Mali, comparing its intervention in the African state with the United States campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
La Belle France's intervention in January to rout Islamist Death Eaters amounted to "colonialism," said Rashad al-Bayoumi, the deputy leader of Egypt's ruling Moslem Brüderbund movement.
"Never has colonialism been able to continue in any country," he told Agence La Belle France Presse. "We hope the French reconsider their calculations, or the loss will be theirs."
"It's the same as what happened in Iraq, which is not far off, and the same as what happened in Afghanistan, which is not far off," he said, adding that he also rejected bully boyz such as al-Qaeda.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Egypt's ruling Moslem Brüderbund deputy leader on Saturday said opponents have taken to violence after proving incapable at politics, a day after vicious festivities outside the Islamists' headquarters.
Rashad al-Bayoumi, the Brotherhood's deputy Supreme Guide, said Friday's violence that maimed more than 160 people was "a tragedy."
"If it proves anything, it points to a type of vile character. I hold those who called for such protests politically and legally accountable," he told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"This announces the failure of those people to conduct a clean political confrontation, so they had resorted to these despicable means," he said.
The Brotherhood on Saturday circulated footage of its members being beaten, burned with petrol bombs and stabbed during Friday's festivities, which began after hundreds of opponents marched on the Islamists' Cairo headquarters.
The group called on security forces to crackdown on those responsible for the violence.
"Only God knows the extent of anger and frustration in the Brotherhoods' heart," it said in a statement. "It is time for security forces to forcefully strike the perpetrators."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
The Brotherhood on Saturday circulated footage of its members being beaten, burned with petrol bombs and stabbed during Friday's festivities
[DAILYTIMES.NG] The Abuja Archbishop of the Methodist Church, Most Rev. Chimaroke Iweha, on Friday described the ceasefire declared by a faction of the Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... sect as a "trap''.
Iweha, who made the remark at the Church's 19th Annual Diocesan Synod in Abuja, therefore, urged the Federal Government not to be deceived by the sect's ceasefire.
``Except during the military incursion into politics, this is the time Nigeria needs payers most.
``The spate of insecurity in the nation is alarming, the menace of Boko Haram has persisted. Government should not be deceived by the ceasefire, it is a trap.''
The Bishop also urged the government not to be intimidated as no group in the nation, however armed, was greater than it.
Speaking to newsmen after the address, Iweha described as ``worrisome`` a situation where people could not worship their creator freely except when guarded by gunnies.
On the solution to the current insecurity, the bishop urged members of the sect to lay down their arms and come out of hiding to identify themselves for dialogue to take place.
``We appeal to them to lay down their arms and then come out, there is nothing that has no solution, if we know you then we can talk about what your problem is all about.
``We do not know who is fighting you; you do not even know whether it is somebody in your house.
``Until you know who is fighting you, that is the only time you can have a meaningful discussion with him.''
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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Ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 21 March, the European Network Against Racism (ENAR)
A self labeled 'coalition of over 600 EU NGOs ', composed of exactly the sorts of folks you'd expect given the name of their organization...
called the European Union (EU) institutions to recognise Islamophobia as a specific form of racism.
The call came after on 12 March the European Parliament hosted a debate on strengthening the fight against hate crime, racism and xenophobia in Europe. During the debate, the EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding said that racism, xenophobia and hate crimes, as well as anti-Semitism, Islamophobia anti-gypsyism, were all manifestations incompatible with European rules and with the basis on which Europe is founded. However, the European Parliament did not include the term Islamophobia in the adopted text of its resolution and referred only to religious intolerance
The plea also comes with the release of ENARs shadow report 2011/2012 on racism in Europe which the EU-wide network of NGOs presented on 20 March. The key findings of the report highlight, in particular, the experiences of Muslim communities, while the study is claimed to be the first pan-European qualitative survey of Islamophobia.
Discrimination against Muslims in Europe is widespread, the report said. According to the study covering 26 national reports, Muslims continue to experience discrimination in a range of areas, more specifically in employment, education and access to goods and services.
The report does not, unfortunately and inexplicably, detail the discrimination by Muslims against non-believers...
Muslim women and girls are most affected and face double discrimination on the basis of both their religion and their gender, Sarah Isal, an ENAR Bureau member, told reporters at the launch press conference in Brussels. She further explained that for this reason, Islamophobia needs to be addressed as a gender issue in addition to being a religious one.
Ms. Isal didn't mention the discrimination against Muslim wimmin by Muslim men, but that might just because she ran over her allotted time as speaker...
Moreover, Isal stressed that increasingly hatred against Muslims in Europe manifests itself as opposition to, as well as protests against, the building of mosques and property damage to Islamic places of worship. The ENAR representative gave the height restrictions for mosques in Austria and the attacks by activists of the Bulgarian party ATAKA on the Sofia mosque and Muslim worshippers as examples of this type of Islamophobia manifestation.
The newest ENAR report also found that Islamophobia is promoted both by extremist political parties, as well as mainstream parties to gain votes and popularity. Isal gave Italy as an example, where Mario Borghezio from the Lega Nord Party and current member of the European Parliament (MEP) recently proposed taxing Muslims who have too many children in order to slow down the great Islamic advance in Europe.
Last but not least, Isal pointed out that media has contributed to the rise of Islamophobia in Europe through biased reporting. In Belgium, for example, 51% of complaints on the ground of religion targeting Muslims in 2011 related to media and the Internet.
And here I thought the media had been completely reformed and were now all properly supportive of what their NGO masters wanted...
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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Truth is considered a form of racism these days in a world built upon lies.
#2
"Muslim women and girls are most affected and face double discrimination on the basis of both their religion and their gender", Sarah Isal, an ENAR Bureau member, told reporters at the launch press conference in Brussels
More flatulence from an overpaid, EUROtrash, bien pensant, dhimmi.
Maybe she could get one of her permanently offended "brothers" to splash some acid in her face, so that you know, she can emote with her sisters who are the victims of Islamophobia. 'Honour' attacks hit 3,000 in a year in Britain.
#3
Will the proposed OWG "Mediterranean" + "Muslim/Islamic" Unions + aligned recognize ANTI-CHRISTIANITY = ANY + ALL NON-ISLAM AS A FORM OF RACISM???
Or is the US-West, etc. still going to be justifying, promoting, + ENTRENCHING ANTI-WESTERN, ANTI-JUDEOCHRISTIANITY ISLAM + SHARIA LAW IN THE US-WEST because we don't want to hurt Islam's + Hard Boyz' feelings???
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group declared a formal and clear ceasefire with Turkey on Saturday after the rebels jailed leader ordered an end to the decades-long armed campaign for autonomy.
This has something to do with their getting their asses kicked, right?
Since March 21 and from now on, we as a movement, as the PKK ... officially and clearly declare a ceasefire, Murat Karayilan, the PKKs field commander, said in a video address posted on Firat News, a website with links to the militants.
Abdullah Ocalan, held in an island prison since his 1999 conviction for treason, called on the PKK on March 21, the Kurds traditional new year holiday, to cease fire and withdraw from Turkey. Ocalan has been in negotiations with state officials since October to get out of prison end the conflict that has claimed 40,000 lives since it began in 1984.
Karayilans declaration, made to a crowd of Kurds gathered in Bonn, Germany, to celebrate the new year, had been expected but was still an important sign that the outlawed PKK will abide by Ocalans orders. Ocalan still wields enormous clout over PKK militants as well as millions of nationalist Kurds.
Karayilan is based in the remote mountains of northern Iraq from he directs the PKK insurgency against Turkey.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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I'm more inclined to believe this has to do wid inter-Kurd competition for overall power-n-leadership via revenues stemming from proposed Pipelines going through the region, to both Caspian Sea, + either Black Sea or Eastern Mediterranean.
Shouldn't there be a category for Turks that are somewhat less than Grand? Turkish PM says it is still too early to fully restore diplomatic ties with Israel, appoint new ambassadors. Do they still have a diplomat in Damascus? I'm sure if not they could send one.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that despite Israel's apology over the IDF raid of the 2010 Gaza-bound flotilla, it is still too early to drop the case against IDF generals accused by Ankara of being responsible for the death of nine Turkish activists aboard the Mavi Marmara, Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman reported.
Erdogan said Netanyahu's apology satisfied Turkish expectations when he used the word "apology" instead of "regret," but that it was still too soon to fully restore diplomatic ties and appoint new ambassadors, Turkish daily Hurriyet reported. In short, all Netanyahu did was make a statement to be played at the show trial.
We will see what will be put into practice during the process. If they [Israel] move forward in a promising way, we will make our contribution. Then, there would be an exchange of ambassadors," he said.
Turkey expelled Israel's ambassador and froze military cooperation after a UN report into the incident released in September 2011 largely exonerated Israel.
Erdogan also confirmed that he intends to visit Gaza and the West Bank next month. "I may eventually visit Gaza and the West Bank in April. This visit would take place in the context of a general effort to contribute to the resolution process [of the Palestinian issue]," he said. The biggest problem, IMHO, the Palestinians have at the moment isn't their "enemies" but their "friends."
In a dramatic development that occurred just as US President Barack Obama was leaving the country, Netanyahu spoke with Erdogan on Friday, voicing regret for the loss of life in the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, apologizing for any mistakes that led to the death of nine Turkish activists. Breaking a three-year deadlock, the two agreed to normalize relations.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed an apology to the Turkish people for any error that may have led to the loss of life, and agreed to complete the agreement for compensation," a White House statement said.
The conversation was facilitated by Obama, taking place during his prolonged meeting with Netanyahu on Friday afternoon.
Today's Zaman quoted Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh as saying that Erdogan and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal had arranged the Turkish prime minister's visit to Gaza in a phone conversation in which the Turkish leader had briefed Hamas on the apology from Netanyahu.
According to Haniyeh, Erdogan told Mashaal that Netanyahu had promised to "lift the siege on the Palestinian people."
While the White House statement released following the phone call did not say that Netanyahu would lift the siege of Gaza, it did state that the prime minister pointed out that Israel has already lifted some limitations including the passage of goods and people to Gaza, and that this will continue as long as quiet is preserved. Anyone want to guess the odds on that?
An official Hamas statement released Friday applauded Erdogan for having won the apology from Netanyahu.
Bulent Yildirim, mastermind behind the Gaza flotilla, expressed his pride over Netanyahu's formal apology to Turkey for the raid, Hurriyet reported on Friday.
Amidst Erdogan's expressed hope for renewed friendship and ties with Israel, Yildirim called for further resistence and was quoted by Hurriyet as saying, "the struggle will continue until the blockade is lifted."
The report notably included that Yildirim expressed his belief that the pending trial against former Israeli commanders involved in the raid would continue as planned, apology or no apology.
This belief contradicts reports that Turkey will drop the trial as a result of the reconciliatory conversation which took place between Netanyahu and Erdogan. In short, it's accomplished nothing but making happy all the wicked people of the region.
Erdogan has announced plans to visit Gaza on three separate occasions - in July and again in September of 2011, and most recently in December of 2012, eventually canceling the plans each time. "I forgot, I have to rewind my DAT tapes."
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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The IDF's only error was in not clearing the deck with light machinegun fire before fast roping down. Absolutely no apology necessary.
The remains of a second Canadian have been identified from the carnage of January's terrorist attack at an Algeria natural gas plant.
The RCMP said in an email Saturday that the second Canadian was identified from among the bodies of the men accused of being terrorists.
Police are giving out no further information.
Earlier this month police confirmed another Canadian was among those killed, but wouldn't say if the remains were discovered among the al-Qaida linked terrorists or the hostages.
At least 38 hostages and 29 militants were killed in a four day siege that ended when the Algerian military stormed the gas plant.
Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said shortly after that two Canadians were among the band of militants who took hundreds of workers hostage.
The Foreign Affairs Department initially couldn't confirm the claim and RCMP investigators were sent to Algiers to follow up.
Canadian intelligence officials have said dozens of Canadians have ventured abroad or tried to do so to take part in violent operations
Former President Pervez Musharraf returned to Pakistan on Sunday after more than four years in exile, seeking a possible political comeback in defiance of judicial probes and death threats from Taliban militants.
The journey from Dubai to the southern port city of Karachi was intended as the first step in his goal of rebuilding his image after years on the political margins. But the former military strongman was met by no more than a couple thousand people at the airport, who threw rose petals and waved flags emblazoned with his image a small turnout by the standards of Pakistani politics and a testament to how much his support in the country has fallen since he was pushed from power in 2008.
Musharraf struck a defiant tone when he spoke to his supporters outside a terminal at the airport, saying he had proved those people wrong who said he would never return after he failed to follow through on previous promises. He also said he was not cowed by a threat by the Pakistani Taliban to kill him.
"I'm not scared. I'm only afraid of God," Musharraf told his supporters. "For the sake of my country, wherever I need to go, I will go."
Since the former general stepped down in the face of mounting discontent, Pakistan's civilian leadership has struggled with a sinking economy, resilient Islamic extremist factions and tensions with Washington over drone strikes and the May 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
[Dawn] Prospective candidates of political parties in Hangu district ... Hangu is famous for its greenery, hills, beauty and water. Most of the people of this area are Bangash & Orakzai Pashtuns. Part of the Bangash are Shia. The Orakzai and the Sunni Bangash are determined to kill them... have so far restricted their election meetings to hujras (private guesthouses), while some of them have been demanding that elections should be held under the supervision of army in this volatile district due to threat of Taliban attacks.
Local people say that the decision by Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat ...which is the false nose and plastic mustache of the murderous banned extremist group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain, whatcha might call the political wing of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi... to take part in the elections has brought a positive change in the political environment, but the threat of terrorism remains as usual.
It may be recalled that in 2008 elections, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain had forcibly taken away ballot boxes full of votes from Kahi, Shana Wari and Zargari areas and attacked a cop shoppe in Ghlo Chenna, while terming the elections un-Islamic.
The outgoing public representatives of the district include Haider Ali Shah (MNA) of Awami National Party, MPA from KP-42 Atiqur Rehman and JUI-F's Mufti Syed Janan, who was MPA from KP-43, Hangu-II.
This time Atiqur Rehman has decided to take part in the elections from JUI-F platform. He was elected in 2008 elections on the ticket of PPP-Sherpao. His father, Ghaniur Rehman -- who remained irrigation minister in Aftab Sherpao's cabinet -- was killed two years back by Taliban.
This year new entrants include Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... and Sunni Supreme Council whose candidates are Maulana Khayal Zaman and Farid Khan, respectively. They would contest the elections on both the National and provincial assemblies' seats.
Hazrat Mohammad Jalali of JUI-F, Haider Ali of ANP and Khayal Zaman of PTI are said to be the main contestants in coming election for NA-16, Hangu. From time to time the Hangu district remained dominated by beturbanned goon groups, including that of Mullah Toofan, Maulvi Nabbi Hanfi and Zewar Mullah.
Sources said that the Death Eaters were active in the area and nobody was safe from them. Besides, the contestants would be required to take permission for launching open campaign through holding jirgas with beturbanned goon groups.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] As the current spate of militancy has cast a pall of shadow on Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... , particularly Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. , the provincial authorities have found police to be wilfully defying the government's directives to tackle the menace tactfully.
A confidential official note recently sent to provincial police chief Akbar Khan Hoti by the home and tribal affairs department stated: "Situation in Peshawar is rapidly deteriorating because of wilful disobedience of government directives by the police.
The current spate of murders and practical striking at will in the city by snuffies is a symptom of this no action."
The recent brazen attacks on heavily-guarded Judicial Complex, office of the political agent, Khyber Agency in cantonment area and sporadic incidents of murders in the provincial metropolis have set alarm bells ringing for the relevant circles in the province.
Two snuffies wearing boom jackets and armed with pistols entered Judicial Complex after passing through security barriers and walkthrough gates on March 18 that showed the level of alertness of the police force.
Four people were killed and 49 maimed in the attack. One bomber detonated boom jacket while another was hit by sharp shooter.
Sources said intelligence outfits had already passed on message to police about possible attack on the compound. Another boom-mobiledestroyed Jalozai camp on Thursday claiming 17 lives while 28 others maimed.
Reports about activities of snuffies in several districts including Nowshera, Mardan and Swabi have surfaced while former information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain left serious message before dissolution of the government who warned that the situation could go from bad to worse.
The official note said confidential and reliable reports received from state agencies about linkages of some individuals with hard boy outfits were shared with coppers through relevant commissioners on regular basis.
It, however, added that instead of taking action and proper probe according to the source police in some cases had given a 'clean chit' to the suspects on the basis of opinion of local people and in most cases, no action was taken.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Pak Taliban has set up a special death squad to target former Pak president General (retd) Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... upon his arrival, who is expected to land in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... on March 24, says a bad turban video released on Saturday.
The outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) has also called upon the Baloch Islamic fascistito join hands with the bad turban outfit to wage a joint-war for implementing Shariah laws in the country.
In about a six-minute long video received by Dawn.Com, the TTP has threatened to use jacket wallahs, snipers and combat teams to kill Musharraf.
Separately, speaking to Dawn.Com earlier, TTP front man Ehsanullah Ehsan had said the group had set up squads of suicide bombers to assassinate the former president.
"Suicide bombers are being trained and assigned to assassinate" the former president, Ehsan said.
Moreover, Adnan Rasheed, who took part in a previous attempt to assassinate Musharraf, has been given the charge of these suicide squads.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[TIMESOFINDIA.INDIATIMES] Suspected Hizbul bad turban Liyaqat Ali Shah may have got impatient while planning to surrender before the Jammu & Kashmire Police due to the slow process of screening, prompting him to take help from a 'contact' that landed him in the custody of the Delhi Police which claims he was planning terror attacks in the capital.
In the midst of claims and counter claims by the police of two states, J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah spoke to Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and demanded that the probe of Liyaqat's arrest be handed over to the NIA to verify the Delhi Police's claims.
Sources said Liyaqat's 'contact' in Delhi was indeed on intelligence agencies' radar and Liyaqat had not only been in touch with him but was also supposed to stay at a guest house in the walled city area arranged by him. Though home ministry officials on Saturday remained tightlipped over the Delhi Police's claims, there are indications that the background of the 'contact' convinced cops to go ahead with Liyaqat's arrest.
Liyaqat had applied for surrender to get the benefit of the Jammu and Kashmire government's rehabilitation policy, but had not got the mandatory security clearance which is given only after a thorough screening process. Once the applicant gets the formal nod, he is supposed to return only through four designated routes - Poonch-Rawalakote, Uri-Muzaffarabad (both in J&K), Wagah (Punjab) and IGI Airport, New Delhi. "Since Liyaqat's had not got the security clearance, he tried to come via Nepal and was in touch with his contact," said a source.
"Extra caution being taken by Indian agencies after Afzal Guru's hanging prompted the Delhi Police to arrest Liyaqat the moment it got inputs about his linkages with the 'contact' who had allegedly got arms and ammunition dumped in the walled city guest house", said a source. Indian agencies got information about Liyaqat from their counterparts in Nepal as soon as he passed through immigration at Kathmandu airport and cops monitored his movement after he landed in India. Sarpanch of Liyaqat's village in Kupwara in J&K, Abdul Gafoor Lohar, said, "We all knew that he intended to surrender. His family had told me that he wanted to come back and an application was submitted to the state police. State CID and IB sleuths had even conducted verification here. Then suddenly we learnt that he has been placed in durance vile." Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! Liyaqat's wife Amina had a poser for the Delhi Police: "Have you seen a man planning an attack coming with his family in tow? He has clearly been framed. When he left from Pakistain he had informed us and we informed the police about his impending arrival. Then we heard he has been arrested." Sources in Jammu and Kashmire police corroborated her claim saying that the family had indeed kept a DSP-level officer in the Kupwara in the loop.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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DUBAI Former President Pervez Musharraf said on Saturday that he will return to his homeland despite facing criminal charges and militant death threats.
Musharraf has been living in self-exile in London and Dubai for the last five years and is planning to return on Sunday to Pakistan. He risks possible arrest in connection with the killing of an ex-prime minister, while the Pakistani Taleban says they have an assassination team ready for him if he steps foot in the country.
He first declared his intention to go back earlier this year. On Saturday, he addressed a news conference in Dubai confirming that he would be arriving in the port city of Karachi to take part in May 11 elections despite the fear of the unknown. The former four-star general plans to travel there accompanied by journalists and supporters of his political party, All Pakistan Muslim League.
But just hours after the announcement, the Taleban released a video threatening to unleash suicide bombers and snipers against Musharraf if he comes back. One of the two people speaking in the video was Adnan Rasheed, a former Pakistani air force officer convicted in an attack against Musharraf. The Taleban broke Rasheed, along with nearly 400 other detainees, out of Bannu prison last year.
The mujahedeen of Islam have prepared a death squad to send Pervez Musharraf to hell, said Rasheed in the video, speaking in front of a group of 20 militants holding rifles.
We warn you to surrender yourself to us. Otherwise we will hit you from where you will never reckon, he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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The U.S. has made clear that Iraq shouldn't allow Iran to use its airspace to ship weapons and fighters to Syria, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters Sunday during an unannounced trip to Baghdad.
Following private discussions with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Kerry said the two had a "very spirited discussion" on the subject of Iranian overflights. The U.S. believes the Iranian shipments are aiding Syrian President Bashar Assad and undermining Western-backed opposition groups.
"I made it very clear that for those of us who are engaged in an effort to see President Assad step down ... anything that supports President Assad is problematic," Kerry said.
Kerry also said that U.S. lawmakers and the American people are "increasingly watching what Iraq is doing and wondering how it is a partner."
In the absence of a complete ban on flights, the U.S. would at least like the planes to land and be inspected in Iraq to ensure that they are carrying humanitarian supplies. Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton secured a pledge from Iraq to inspect the flights last year, but since then only two aircraft have been checked by Iraqi authorities, according to U.S. officials.
The overflights have long been a source of contention between the U.S. and Iraq and Kerry will tell the Iraqis that allowing them to continue will make the situation in Syria worse and ultimately threaten Iraq's stability.
#5
Or what Jawn, you all gonna attack them? Perhaps they figure on joining the Iran/Syria axis? Spirited discussion indeed, you are an f'n joke everyone is in on. A cog needing his card punched before whatever's next.
#6
I'm awaiting breaking nuus of the massive military convoys across Iraq and the establishment of RON and refueling sites such as Al Sahra Air Base [FOB Speicher].
#7
Iraq joins Iran as a province or something, I will laugh so hard. No chance of it happening, but the teeth-gnashing would be amusing.
Posted by: Charles ||
03/24/2013 17:15 Comments ||
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#8
Perhaps they figure on joining the Iran/Syria axis?
We were complaining about Assad not staging pitched battles against Sunnis making their way over the border who wanted to fight GI's in Iraq. The alternative to Assad could well take power. And if that happens, Iraq will discover whether having a Sunni regime in Syria increases or decreases the flow of weaponry to Sunni rebels in Iraq. The Iraqis in power are obviously too stupid to understand their own interests, which is why Obama had to send Kerry to Iraq to learn 'em.
The United States has quietly unblocked almost $500 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority which had been frozen by Congress for months, a top US official said Friday.
Thank goodness for the sequester. Who knows how much we would have given the Paleos otherwise?
The news that the funds had finally been freed up came after US President Barack Obama met top Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a landmark visit to Israel and the West Bank earlier this week.
"To date, we have moved $295.7 million in fiscal year 2012 money and $200 million in fiscal year 2013 assistance," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.
The Obama administration also notified Congress in late February that it was seeking a further $200 million to fund US Agency for International Development (USAID) programs for the Palestinians, she said.
The first sum comprises some $195.7 million, allocated under the 2012 fiscal year budget for USAID economic, development and humanitarian assistance, as well as a further $100 million earmarked specifically for narcotics control.
Narcotics control. In the West Bank. Right...
The second sum of $200 million unblocked and available to the Palestinian Authority will come under the 2013 budget and be spent for direct budget support.
The Palestinian Authority is facing its worst economic crisis in years, in part because of a failure by donors to deliver pledged funds. But its finances were plunged further into chaos after president Mahmud Abbas won upgraded UN observer status at the UN General Assembly in late November. Congress froze the US administration's requests for funds.
And Israel, which also strongly opposed the move, said it was suspending monthly transfers of the tax and tariff revenue it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the wake of the decision. It did, however, transfer $100 million in a one-off payment in late January.
So why did we cave on this one?
Earlier this month a report by the Palestinian Authority urged the world to step up financial aid and press Israel to allow economic development, warning of a "political collapse" due to Israeli fiscal strangulation.
Apparently the notion of 'tightening one's belt' is as foreign on the West Bank as it is in Washington...
US Secretary of State John Kerry has pushed for the funds to be released since taking up his post on February 1.
Figures...
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
The borrowing of $500m for the feeding of anti-Semitic, goat buggering murderers. We are truly doomed.
#3
Also plenty of funding available for the sensitivity training, condoms, BC pills, training of Female Engagement Team (FET) members, FET diapers, and tactical vehicle fuel for patrol teams to RTB for the purpose of orderly, warm Class-1 download, Facebook ck, and hot Class-1 up-load.
#4
We are trillions in debt and these people think that they can throw money around like it was water. They do not have a clue. And a huge percentage of the aid funds is borrowed. They do not care. Neither did Louis XVI until the populace were so taxed, with nothing to eat or look forward to, with nothing to lose. The resources of the government, contrary to popular belief, are not infinite. There is a tipping point.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/24/2013 1:17 Comments ||
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#5
Neh Besoeker, most of it will go to support Swiss bankers.
Traditional US allies so much as refuse to kiss the hem of the Light Bringers garment and they are treated like the plague. But Islamic crooks like Abbas, Karzai, and Morsi can openly defy stated US interests and they still get hundreds of millions. Go figure?
#9
Didn't you see the paper? Lightbringer got Abbas and Bibi to talk on the phone, a huge restart of the peace process according to the MSM. And that call cost us $500,000,000
this assh@le will spend our money for a days headline in unlimited amounts. Basking in the adoration is his addiction folks, not actually acting in our interests. God save the Republic, this guy won't, he hates it.
#10
So if the money was blocked by the Congress, why can Champ unblock it? was there a (phoney baloney) condition that needed to ( appear to) be met?
not understanding the mechanics of this.
In which Mr. Fernandez writes on dead Russian oligarchs, the Cyprus crisis, and its connection with Syria.
The death of former billionaire Boris Berezovsky, which the British police are treating as 'unexplained' has thrown a side-light on connections between money and international politics. "The one-time Kremlin powerbroker fell out with Putin and sought political asylum in Britain in the early 2000s. He has lived in the U.K. ever since."
That is, until he died.
He had been reported by Russian media to have fallen on hard times. Down to selling a Warhol painting for $50,000. Agence Presse France quotes Kremlin sources which say Berezovsky begged Putin for pardon before his death, an image which completed the picture of his downfall. "He asked Putin for forgiveness for his mistakes and asked him to obtain the opportunity to return to the motherland" a Kremlin spokesman said.
Where have we seen scenes like this before?
Oh that's right. Through all of human history. Dramas with oligarchs, secret service action and mysterious deaths may sound like the stuff from a "Coffin for Dimitrios" on steroids. Perhaps that's exactly right. Michael Weiss at Now strongly suggests that the financial crisis in Cyprus is at least partially about the Russian funding of Assad in Syria.
Russian wealth now accounts for a third of Cyprus' entire banking sector, with Russian commercial, institutional, and individuals' deposits -- some 31 billion USD -- exceeding Cyprus' GDP. Much of this money is thought to have been stolen or laundered. There are, according to a leaked and much-discussed German intelligence assessment, around 40,000 shell companies in Cyprus, all registered with no background checks as to where their capital came from ...
What the international financial press has missed in this frenzied geopolitical comedy is how intimately tied up the Cyprus-Russian financial nexus is with the unraveling nightmare in Syria. According to the Wall Street Journal, one of the most vulnerable Russian financial institutions to be affected by a possible Cypriot default is VTB, the second largest bank in Russia. ...
Subsequent to the Syrian uprising, Assad's former fiance minister Mohammed al-Jleilati praised Moscow for having "given us a hand, especially in the financial sphere." It won't surprise you to learn that VTB was one of the banks offering fraternal assistance....
Bivol, a Bulgarian news outlet, produced what it claimed was a hacked communique between a Syrian security branch and Sergey Avakov, a VTB executive. The message, which is undated, appears to show Damascus raising its deposits to over 2 billion Euros ...
Last June, I discovered another Russian-Cyprus connection with immediate impact on events in Syria. Just as the Houla massacre was getting underway, a Russian ship called the Professor Katsman was pulling into the port at Tartous. This vessel, which Western diplomats alleged was transporting arms to the Assad regime, was owned by a Russian-Dutch outfit called Universal Cargo Logistics Holdings (UCL)... UCL Holdings controlled the ship through a Matryoshka doll-like series of offshore shell companies. One of these was based in Cyprus.
And there we were thinking it was about stability, transparency, ratios and responsible balance sheets when it was all about payoffs. It wouldn't be the first time that money and politics went hand in hand.
The inference of Weiss' article is clear. Cyprus isn't all about Cyprus, not completely, at least. In the shadowy background move even more elusive figures. Beggar Cyprus and you beggar the Russian secret service in the Mediterranean; squeeze the accounts and you pinch shut Assad's lifeline.
Forget about armies crossing borders under the cover of artillery barrages. Maybe this is how modern war is conducted. Via bits sent over fiber optic cables; or via drones firing missiles from the sky, or perhaps via bathtubs that suddenly prove fatal to their Russian oligarch bathers.
Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on his Facebook page Saturday that Israel and Turkey, which border Syria, need to communicate with each other over the Syrian crisis.
"The fact that the crisis in Syria intensifies from moment to moment was the main consideration in my view," Netanyahu wrote.
Netanyahu phoned his Turkish counterpart Friday and apologized for a botched raid on a Gaza bound flotilla in 2010 that left eight Turks and one Turkish-American dead. Turkey demanded an apology as a condition for restoring ties. Netanyahu had until now refused to apologize, saying Israeli soldiers acted in self-defense after being attacked by activists.
He ate crow because he had to. The conflagration in Syria is now too hot for mere personal preferences to play any part. If this is indeed the case, and not just another harebrained scheme of President Zero's, well, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make her think. I suspect Erdogan relies on other people to actually act like responsible adults.
So how will the squeeze on Russia turn out? As in most things bellicose, the traffic goes both ways. Weiss notes that Russia can retaliate by using the Cyprus crisis to threaten the Euro. By pulling on the yarn even harder maybe Russia can get not just Cyprus, but Greece, Spain and Italy to unravel.
Nothing would please Putin more than to have Angela Merkel grovel like Berezovsky. Weiss writes: "Just as I was getting used to thinking of Cyprus as the Mediterranean clime where Hezbollah agents go to spy on 'the Jews' and Rami Makhlouf is granted citizenship, I awaken to the fact that future of the eurozone may in fact depend on the good graces of Vladimir Putin."
Nice Euro you have there; it would be a shame if anything happened to it. If Germany hadn't destroyed its economic independence by replacing German coal with Russian natural gas because it was allegedly necessary to save the planet from global warming this could have been avoided.
And indeed the gyre is widening. There are rumors that Hezbollah is training 'thousands' of fighters in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley to intervene on Assad's side. Meanwhile, Lebanon has been plunged into turmoil by the Syrian conflict because it feeds into and exacerbates the tensions within Lebanon itself.
If Lebanon descended into turmoil would anyone be able to tell? It's kind of like those Canadian rocket attacks on Detroit. On second thought... maybe the best thing for Lebanon's stability would be for Hezbollah to get a hobby to occupy itself, like the Syrian Civil War.
And doesn't Hezbollah have 'thousands' of fighters, if not more, already? They are an army, after all.
It's a sad world. The enduring appeal of a "Coffin for Dimitrios" as Sarah Weinman observed, was its rueful exposition of the role of perfidy and betrayal in human affairs.
"Coffin" was published just before Germany declared war on Poland, and at the time the strongly left-leaning Ambler believed the Soviet Union would be a British ally, not enemy--which is why such other Ambler novels as "Cause for Alarm" (1937), "Epitaph for a Spy" (1938) and "Journey Into Fear" (1940) feature Russian and Ukrainian characters whose initially opaque motivations couch sympathy for British interests. Ambler's illusions on that front were shattered by the Nazi-Soviet Pact
Ambler had expressed the hope, through his literary characters that unalloyed idealism might somehow win through.
"One goes through life like a flower with its face turned to the sun, ever seeking, ever seeking, ever hoping, wanting to trust others, but afraid to do so. How much better if we trusted one another, if we saw only the good things, the finer things in our fellow creatures! How much better if we were frank and open, if we went on our ways without the cloak of hypocrisy and lies that we wear now."
How much better if Cyprus were as the tourist brochures described it. How much better for Ambler if Stalin had been the leader he imagined; if the Soviet Union were a place of brotherly love, festivals and understanding. Too bad it turned out to be just another government. If you think of the Soviet Union's government as some sort of 'dead hand' operation run by the German government, you could suggest that it operated about as it was intended to. And if it destroyed Germany again as well, well, "apres moi, le deluge."
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain ||
03/24/2013 11:59 ||
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And the phrase "brotherly love" just sets off an association with this:
DUBAI Syrian opposition leaders are to address an annual summit of the Arab League for the first time in Qatar on Tuesday, but the blocs members remain divided over whether to give them Damascuss vacant seat.
The Qatari hosts are vocal champions of the rebels fighting President Bashar Al Assads regime and said leaders of the armed opposition would definitely be joining Arab heads of state in Doha. But they did not specify whether the Syrian National Coalition would be given Syrias seat which has been vacant since its suspension from the 22-member bloc in November 2011. Arab foreign ministers will decide on the issue of the seat during a preparatory meeting in Doha on Sunday, an Arab League official said.
The Arab League called on the National Coalition on March 6 to form an executive body to take up Syrias seat and take part in the summit. But Lebanon distanced itself from the decision, while Algeria and Iraq expressed reservations.
In all, nine of the blocs other 21 members retain diplomatic missions in Damascus Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Sudan and Yemen despite its decision last November to recognise the National Coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
The opposition alliance has begun steps to form an executive body to administer rebel-held territory inside Syria, electing Ghassan Hitto as interim premier at a meeting in Turkey on Tuesday.
But a League official said the National Coalition needed to go further. Hittos election is important but is not enough, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. We are still waiting for the formation of the interim government.
Hitto will be among the opposition delegates addressing the Doha summit, National Coalition member Ahmed Ramadansaid.
We will be represented by interim Prime Minister Ghassan Hitto, National Coalition head Ahmed Moaz Al Khatib, and the chief of staff of the (rebel) Syrian Free Army, General Selim Idriss, Ramadan said. For the first time ever, the delegation should be addressing the Arab summit.
Hitto is charged with forming a government of technocrats to establish the rule of law and basic services in rebel-held areas.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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BEIRUT Lebanese President Michel Suleiman accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Saturday, local media said, paving the way for a caretaker government after a political standoff with the Hezbollah movement.
Every government there has been a 'caretaker'; none of them have any real power beyond what Syria and Hezbollah allow...
Mikatis resignation could plunge Lebanon, already struggling to cope with a spillover of violence and refugees from neighbouring Syrias civil war, into further turmoil and uncertainty three months ahead of a planned parliamentary election.
The resignation on Friday came after a two-day ministerial meeting remained deadlocked by a dispute with the Hezbollah, a political movement that has dominated Lebanese politics in recent years.
I did not inform anyone of my decision in order to avoid any pressure from any side, he was quoted as telling President Suleiman by the local news website Naharnet. My decision was a personal one ... It is now important that dialogue among the Lebanese begin. I hope that the resignation will pave the way for a solution to the political deadlock in the country.
Hezbollah opposed extending the term of a senior security official and the creation of an oversight body for the planned June parliamentary elections, which may now be delayed over the collapse of Mikatis government.
Major General Ashraf Rifi, head of Lebanons internal security forces, is due to retire early next month. Rifi, like Mikati, is from Tripoli, and is distrusted by Hezbollah.
If the Hezbies trust him that means we shouldn't...
Mikati became prime minister in 2011 after Hezbollah and its partners brought down the unity government of Saad Al Hariri. But tensions over Syria have put him at odds with the group that brought him to power and which strongly backs President Bashar Al Assads battle against rebels and protesters in Syria.
Mikati backed a policy of dissociation from the conflict, hoping to keep Lebanon from being dragged in to the two-year civil war in its larger neighbour.
Under Lebanons confessional division of power, the prime minister must be a Sunni, the president a Maronite Christian and the speaker of parliament a Shia.
Former prime minister Fouad Siniora, a close political ally of Hariri who has frequently called for Mikati to step down, said his resignation opens the possibility of fresh dialogue between Lebanons political camps.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/24/2013 00:00 ||
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More than 1,000 Moslems from across Europe are currently active as Islamic jihadists, or holy warriors, in Syria, which has replaced Afghanistan, Pakistain and Somalia as the main destination for bad boy Islamists seeking to obtain immediate combat experience with little or no official scrutiny.
As the number of European jihadists in Syria grows, European officials are beginning to express concerns about the threat these "enemies within" will pose when they return to Europe.
In Britannia, for example, Foreign Secretary William Hague recently said, "Syria is now the number one destination for jihadists anywhere in the world today. This includes a number of individuals connected with the United Kingdom and other European countries. They may not pose a threat to us when they first go to Syria, but if they survive, some may return ideologically hardened and with experience of weapons and explosives."
Many of the British Moslems in Syria have joined krazed killer groups, including Jabhat al-Nusra, the most dangerous and effective Sunni jihadist group fighting against the Assad regime. Jabhat al-Nusra, linked to al-Qaeda, was declared a terrorist organization by the United States in December 2012. Due to a steady flow of money and arms from backers in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... , Qatar and other Sunni Moslem countries, the group has grown in size and influence.
According to the British newspaper The Independent, most of the British Moslems participating in the fight against Assad "are not deemed to be doing anything illegal" and are thus able to reenter Britannia without any problems. The paper reports that only a small number of those who have returned to Britannia from the fighting in Syria have been tossed in the clink Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! , but all for one specific offense: their alleged role in the July 2012 kidnapping of a British freelance photographer, John Cantlie, after he crossed into Syria.
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.
The US has reached an agreement with the Afghanistan government to transfer the Parwan Detention Facility to Afghan control, the Pentagon said Saturday. 
[DAILYTIMES.NG] The Abuja Archbishop of the Methodist Church, Most Rev. Chimaroke Iweha, on Friday described the ceasefire declared by a faction of the 
The remains of a second Canadian have been identified from the carnage of January's terrorist attack at an Algeria natural gas plant.
[Dawn] Prospective candidates of political parties in 
Pervez 
