[An Nahar] U.S. President Barack Obama I am not a dictator!... appeared to suggest in an interview aired Friday that pulling U.S. aid from Egypt would not reverse the behavior of its ruling generals after a coup.
Obama's administration is currently reviewing the status of U.S. assistance to Cairo following the ouster of ex-president Mohammed Morsi and a subsequent crackdown on Islamists.
"You know, my sense is with Egypt is that the aid itself may not reverse what the interim government does," Obama said in an interview with CNN.
"But I think what most Americans would say is that we have to be very careful about being seen as aiding and abetting actions that we think run contrary to our values and our ideals."
"So what we're doing right now is doing a full evaluation of the U.S.-Egyptian relationship."
The United States gives Egypt $1.3 billion a year in military aid along with several hundred million dollars in development and economic assistance.
But he told CNN that after the events in Egypt there was no doubt that Washington could not go back to "business as usual" with Cairo.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2013 00:00 ||
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Switzerland has reportedly blocked the sale of a ski lift to North Korea, citing UN sanctions against luxury imports.
Swiss company Bartholet Maschinenbau was set to complete the deal, which would have netted a reported $7.6m USD, but the country's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) stopped it. Explaining the decision, SECO spokesperson Marie Avet cited the potential propaganda value of the ski resort, and the low likelihood that any such "luxury" facility would be used by the general public.
One of North Korea's main state projects under the rule of Kim Jong Eun, the ski resort at Masikryeong has been hit by multiple problems since its inception, including verified reports of landslides and flooding.
The latest setback is unlikely to stop the project, however. On his return from a recent trip to North Korea, the CEO of Pyeonghwa Motors Corp., Park Sang Kwon told reporters that the North Korean authorities were preparing to transfer a lift from North Korea's other ski hill at Samjiyeon in the event that the Swiss deal fell through. However, the lift at Samjiyeon is not long, and there is only one hill.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/24/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Good for the Swiss! Ski lifts are a well-known cause of altitude inequality wherever they are installed.
A little dated but clearly shows how the Axis of Evil sticks together...
ULAN BATOR--North Korea is seeking to import crude oil from Iran, sources said, potentially allowing the country to diversify its energy suppliers. Both nations are under U.N. sanctions for their nuclear ambitions and other issues.
Iran's oil minister admitted in April that talks were under way with North Korea on their mutual oil transactions and that the two countries were discussing relevant procedures.
In talking to The Asahi Shimbun, a source knowledgeable about talks being held between Beijing and Pyongyang quoted North Korean officials as telling their Chinese counterparts around December that their country had agreed with Iran on the prospective oil imports.
The North Korean officials were also quoted as saying they were hoping to build an oil refinery, and asking for Beijing's cooperation in the construction plan. Chinese officials visited North Korea from May through June to discuss details and prices of the equipment, the source added. Some of the construction materials have already been taken to the prospective refinery site outside Pyongyang, other sources said.
One scholar of North Korean affairs said the reclusive country is believed to have relied on China for about 80 percent of its oil imports, although no data is available on how much oil Pyongyang has imported annually or from which countries it has done so. It did import oil from Iran in the past, including a period before the economic crisis in North Korea became serious in the 1990s, the scholar added.
Although the country is pushing to build a new refinery, it has also called on a Mongolian company and other entities to invest in its existing oil refineries. The aging oil refineries in North Korea are believed to be in dilapidated condition.
Offshore drilling is also being explored as an option, sources said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/24/2013 00:00 ||
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The city of Pyongyang may conjure up images of Mass Games and goose-stepping sentries, but the North Korean capital looks very different from the place it was 10 years ago. Its not just the new high-rises, even the people appear different many are toting mobile phones, and women dress in high heels. As implausible as it sounds, signs of a small middle class can be seen.
And they're all apparatchiks...
Of course, that is exactly the side of a brutally repressed, deeply impoverished country that the government wants foreigners to see. The authorities go to great lengths to ensure tourists keep to a well-marked trail. But even through this very narrow prism, there is no denying that material life in the capital, at least for the lucky ones, is getting a little less harsh.
The change has been most obvious over the last couple of years, says Simon Cockerell of Koryo Tours, who has made more than 100 trips into North Korea over the past decade. As the regime seeks to buttress support, it has allowed life for some groups to improve. There is more stuff to buy, Cockerell says. There were always clothes available, but now there are nicer and better clothes.
Change began in the capital a decade ago with the opening of the first Tongil market hall in 2003. Tongil (Reunification) sells agricultural produce, clothing and simple electrical goods, and satellite imagery shows these distinctive blue-roofed markets expanding to different locations in Pyongyang and beyond. The markets are strictly off-limits to foreigners and only accept local currency, which tourists are not allowed to use.
For the elite, there are department stores. There are about 10 in Pyongyang and others in the provincial capitals. These stores only accept hard currency such as U.S. dollars, euros or renminbi, and are stocked with imported goods, mostly from China.
The two-story Taesung Department Store in Pyongyang is typical. Built in 1986, it was revamped a few years ago, and although the displays look dated by global standards it is well stocked for those who can afford it with food, cosmetics, hardware and furniture on the ground floor and clothing, toys and bedding on the upper floor. A blouse goes for about $20 and a comforter costs $50. (Average annual income is about $1,200.)
Almost all the goods are made in China. Curtis Melvin, a researcher at the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, says North Korean consumers are forced to be canny shoppers out of necessity. Without access to reliable product data or consumer protection, they make decisions based on scanty information and experience.
When it comes to buying durable goods in particular, the country of origin is an important proxy for quality. South Korean and Japanese are the best. Chinese is better than North Korean.
I take it "Made in the USA" is seldom seen there...
In broader terms, Melvin says interest in foreign fashions and culture indicates that North Koreans do not believe the propaganda their leaders tell them, particularly about life in South Korea. Though banned, South Korean films circulate widely if covertly on DVD, and some North Koreans living in border areas can access Chinese and South Korean TV.
Escorted by official minders around the clock, foreign visitors to Pyongyang dont get to see any scenes of deprivation. The government would instead rather that tourists came away with impressions of the supermarket on Changjon Street in downtown Pyongyang (stocked with Italian wines, Coca-Cola and Hersheys Kisses) and the handful of fast-food restaurants that have opened in recent years (there are burger bars, pizza parlors and a KFC-style fried-chicken joint). On Kim Il Sung Square, theres even an Austrian-style coffee shop.
The reality, of course, is that many North Koreans are still struggling to get enough to eat never mind a cappuccino.
I'm ever so slightly amazed that Time would stipulate to that. Twitched the surprisemeter, it did...
There are regular reports of famine, and the majority of North Koreans will never visit the capital, only knowing of it and its attractions from carefully stage-managed television reports. In quality-of-life terms, the gulf between the residents of Pyongyang and those outside it is vast.
Pyongyang is where the apparatchiks and nomenklatura live. It's much the same divide as existed in the Soviet Union in the Cold War -- the people in Moscow and (maybe) Leningrad could be reasonably well off, but go a hundred miles into the countryside and it was as if you'd gone back into the 18th century.
And even in Pyongyang, consumerism is a subdued affair. There is very little advertising, with just five billboards in the capital, all of which are owned by the Pyonghwa Motors Company. Popular local brewery Taedonggang Beer briefly ran an advert on TV, but it has since gone off air.
Some advertising exists, but its not the overwhelming sensory experience that you have anywhere else, says Cockerell. Most shops dont have signs, or if they do they are small, subtle ones rather than a big emblazoned sign.
Melvin observes that public advertising is still taboo and stresses that although economic conditions are improving in Pyongyang and inflation appears to have stabilized, the realities of everyday life remain grim however many phone-toting, high-heel-clad women a visitor may see on the streets of the capital.
Economic and bureaucratic inefficiencies still abound and corruption has run rampant, he says. Human rights are still not respected in the DPRK and people are not free to travel, speak or pursue their lives as they see fit.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/24/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
This sounds like the direction the US is heading.
[Dawn] Despite a recent spike in tensions on the Kashmire border, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... on Friday called for an end to a long-running arms race between Pakistain and India, and a stop to a decades-old 'blame game'.
"We have been in a very unfortunate arms race with India ever since partition. Both Pakistain and India have wasted so much money in military hardware and building up their defenses against each other," Sharif told British newspaper the Telegraph in an interview.
"They have been running after MiG-29s, we have been running after F-16s; they have been buying more tanks and we have been running after submarines. Look at how expensive they are," he said. "I think this must come to an end."
Sharif said his government, which was swept into power in the May 11 general elections, believed in peacefully resolving ongoing conflicts with India to cut down defense spending.
"The money wasted in defense should have gone into social sectors...into education, healthcare. I hope both countries realise...these mistakes that we've made. And I think the main objective of making peace with each other is to get rid of all that," he said, referring to the staggering amounts spent on military expenditure of both South Asian neighbours.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Both Pakistain and India have wasted so much money in military hardware and building up their defenses against each other,
A very sane thing to say, which makes me think he a) doesn't mean it, and b) has something up his sleeve. Something with Chinese characters on it, mayhaps?
#2
Perhaps my history knowledge is lacking. I don't recall India using terrorism and infiltration to try and subvert Pakistain. I don't recall Pakistain ever being a stable non-belligerent neighbor before or after Bangla was created
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/24/2013 13:56 Comments ||
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#3
If peace broke out between Pakistan and India tomorrow, India would still be arming itself as a counterbalance to China. It would be a very smart move by Pakistan. But I'll believe it when I see it.
h/t Belmont
The nations top military officer, just back from the Middle East, has told Congress that the Pentagon could forcefully intervene in Syria to tip the balance in the civil war, but that there were no moderate rebel groups now ready to fill any power vacuum there.
Syria today is not about choosing between two sides but rather about choosing one among many sides, wrote Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It is my belief that the side we choose must be ready to promote their interests and ours when the balance shifts in their favor. Today, they are not. Mind you, the whores in Haifa will be happy
Paging Orville Redenbacher - Orville Redenbacher to the white courtesy phone please....
This is from Zero Hedge who can be rather, um, nervous at times.
Of course the Pentagon is planning a cruise missile strike against Syria. They pro'ly have plans for a cruise missile strike against Vanuatu. It's what military people do, plan. Sometimes you need the plans and quickly so it's best to be prepared.
#2
The fact that this 'secret' military action is being announced on CBS suggests it is more for public consumption than an actual operational plan. A nice way to do something without actually doing something. Which isn't as bad as it sounds since there isn't really any good something to do. Besides nuking the whole mess, I mean.
ZH did, however, get the feed from CBS, "America's Most Watched Network" (ValJar wouldn't stomach using Fox News.), so I'm-a-thinkin' Phil & Steve are prolly correct....
#11
Well, Assad has been rolling up the rebels like crazy and regaining control of the country. He may have done it just to rub our noses in it that we don't have any options anymore, and our dog-in-the-fight has been euthanised.
#12
Channeling bubba, since that strike was so effective. Champ and the real president ValJar, are conducting every act, including foreign policy, through a political lens. As an aside, can anyone recall another prisidential advisor before ValJar that had a dedicated Secret Service detail?
#13
Warm up with the Hezbolla in Lebanon and then work your way into Syria without picking a side; take them all out and let the Kurds and Israelies sort it out.
#14
After reading the article's flat-out weird explanation of the US motive for such an attack, I've concluded that the writer is a high-functioning lunatic.
#17
The chemical attack of the regime in the outskirts of Damascus is a response to the attack on the convoy of Syrian President Bashar Assad on Eid al-Fitr.
Posted by: To all the ranters baggers ||
08/24/2013 14:25 Comments ||
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Posted by: Frank G ||
08/24/2013 14:39 Comments ||
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#20
When has Russia stood in the way of our doing anything before....IE Lybia. It is different if we can take down someone who cannot do anything about it, but Syria, where does Obama have any concern... It is not his concern that millions are dying. Just so he looks good. We don't have to set foot in Syria, just send the missles - they can find the targets that are needed. Then let them fight on a even footing.
Posted by: To all the ranters baggers ||
08/24/2013 15:11 Comments ||
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#21
When has Russia stood in the way of our doing anything before....IE Lybia.
Depends on how far one wishes to go back.
Iran?
Iraq, pre-second Gulf war?
Extraditing Eric Snowden (assuming the WH wanted him retrieved?)
#22
The Russians didn't care about Libya. Gaddafi had pretty much surrendered his WMD programs after the Iraq Invasion, before it turned into the Iraqi Nation-Building exercise, and I'm fairly sure they were actually happy to watch the UK/France/US make an example of a country that had switched sides and started to cooperate with us.
(Isn't it strange how Zero always finds a way to hurt us and give the superficially-inclined a way to pretend he's a tough guy at the same time?)
Posted by: Barbara ||
08/24/2013 22:15 Comments ||
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#25
(Isn't it strange how Zero always finds a way to hurt us and give the superficially-inclined a way to pretend he's a tough guy at the same time?)
He caved to GOP morons like Graham and McCain. Ultimately, the GOP's idiotic neocon dogma, which holds, against our bloody and expensive recent experience, that inside every foreigner is an American struggling to get out, is the cause of all these botched foreign policy problems. Obama's afraid to look weak and he's ceding ground to the GOP on these moronic interventions. The GOP should be making a stand on keeping the F-22 lines open and proceeding with missile defense research. Instead, it lets Obama cut those programs while forging ahead with wasteful, asinine and politically-unpopular foreign interventions. The retards who keep on urging these interventions need to be primaried and defeated, even if the cost is a Democratic pol in their place.
#28
Frankly, while I think McCain is, well, possibly demented, I think he's merely providing cover for what Zero really wants to do. As with the F-22 and missile defense, as well.
[An Nahar] Former Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi said the deadly twin bombings that hit Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... on Friday are "a chance for us, as Lebanese, to shoulder our responsibilities in protecting our people, whether in Dahieh, Tripoli or anywhere else."
"I had warned all officials seven months ago that Leb had entered the storm, and unfortunately every party engaged in a scheme until things reached this extent," Rifi said in a phone interview with LBCI television.
Earlier on Friday, scores of people were killed or maimed in twin bombings that targeted two mosques in Tripoli, one near the apartment of Rifi who, according to media reports, was lightly maimed in the hand.
The attacks come eight days after 27 people were killed and around 300 maimed in a boom-mobileing that rocked the Beirut southern suburb of Ruwais, a Hizbullah bastion.
"We are still at the beginning of the storm and I warn again that we must think how to protect the country from the storm that has become very dangerous," Rifi added.
When asked on what he based his warning to officials seven months ago, Rifi said: "It was based on information and we are security experts."
"Those who wage jihad in a certain place must expect counter-jihad. Every action has a reaction," the ex-ISF chief added.
"We tell the Lebanese and all officials that the threats will target everyone ... We must all realize the presence of these threats and no one should rejoice for the death of the other as danger will target everyone. I call on officials to realize the threats that we have brought to the country and to exert efforts to fend them off," Rifi, who hails from Tripoli, said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Russia on Friday said it had told the Syrian government to cooperate with U.N. experts after reports of a deadly chemical weapons attack outside Damascus, adding it was now up to rebels to allow access to the area.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. counterpart John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... in a phone call that immediately after the reports first emerged the "Russian side called on the Syrian government to cooperate with the U.N. chemical experts," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"It is now up to the opposition to ensure safe access for the mission to the site of the alleged incident," it added, saying both Lavrov and Kerry agreed on the need for an "objective investigation".
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] A rally in support of runaway Salafist holy man Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir is took place on Friday as scheduled after the main weekly Mohammedan prayers.
The rally went ahead in spite of a decision taken by by-security council of the South on Wednesday to thwart such demonstrations outside of Sidon's Bilal bin Rabah Mosque.
Al-Asir was the imam of the mosque and the rally is being staged to demand the release of Sheikh Assem al-Arefi and 46 other supporters of the runawayholy man.
Contacts intensified on Thursday to thwart the rally, but one of the holy mans at the mosque told An Nahar published on Friday on condition of anonymity that the demonstration will be held.
He confirmed that the by-security council had informed the organizers of the rally that it would be thwarted "even if the security forces had to resort to opening fire."
He responded however that the demonstration will be staged.
"Sidon MPs and its religious and political authorities, as well as Hizbullah, will be responsible for any drop of blood shed in the demonstration," he warned.
Media reports said earlier this week that two of al-Asir's supporters Sheikhs Otham Hnaineh and Iyyad al-Saleh were released from custody after being given a stern warning against calling for a rally in support of the holy man.
The third holy man, al-Arefi, remains in jug.
He was locked away Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! for taking part in the June Sidon festivities and for leading a campaign to garner al-Asir's supporters to rally in support of the runaway.
Al-Asir's supporters were involved in armed festivities with the army in Sidon and nearby Abra region in June.
The festivities broke out when the gunniesshot up an army checkpoint.
Al-Asir's supporters and eye-witnesses have repeatedly accused Hizbullah fighters of being involved in the unrest.
Al-Asir, a 45-year-old holy man who supports the overwhelmingly Sunni rebels fighting to topple Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Scourge of Qusayr... , has been on the run since June.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] President Michel Suleiman tasked on Friday caretaker FM Adnan Mansour to file an urgent complaint to the U.N. Security Council against Israeli attack on Naameh.
"The border violations must be resolved by UNIFIL's (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) investigation committee and not by aggression or violating the sovereignty (of Lebanon)," Suleiman said.
Earlier on Friday, the Israeli air force "targeted a terror site located between Beirut and Sidon in response to a barrage of four rockets launched at northern Israel yesterday (Thursday)," the military said.
For his part, Mansour denounced the attack in comments to Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5), confirming that the Lebanese state would file a complaint to the U.N.
"Any violation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 should be dealt with through the UNIFIL and by a direct attack on Lebanon's sovereignty," Mansour said in a statement.
The attack comes hours after a different organization said it fired four rockets at the Jewish state from Lebanon.
The state-run National News Agency said the target was a position of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC), a hardline but secular militant group which said it had nothing to do with Thursday's rocket fire.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani stressed on Friday that Shiites in the country have no links to the deadly bombings in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
"Moslems must know that the blast in the southern suburbs of Beirut was not executed by Sunnis and today's bombings in Tripoli were not orchestrated by Shiites," Qabbani said in a televised speech.
He added: "Those who want to drag Leb into the regional conflict are the parties behind both blasts."
"This is a call for Lebanese of all sects to be aware of this terrorist message. They must wake up from their slumber."
"Terrorism is the most powerful weapon of the conspiracy against Leb and sedition the easiest road to burn down the region"
The Mufti reminded the Lebanese of "their enmity with the Jews."
"Although you have your differences, you must not, however, forget your enmity with the Jews and be aware of what they are planning for you," he noted.
"It is in the interest of the Jews to create divisions and segregation between the Lebanese."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Syria's main opposition group said Friday it will guarantee the safety of U.N. inspectors if they go to the site of an alleged chemical attack near Damascus.
"We are fully committed to assist the U.N. inspectors to get into all locations where chemical weapons were used against civilians," said coalition front man Khaled Saleh at a presser in Istanbul.
"We will ensure the safety of the U.N. inspectors team, however, it is very critical to get that team into the area that was just hit in less than 48 hours, the clock is ticking."
Syria's National Coalition and European states have accused the war-torn country's regime of killing hundreds in chemical weapons attacks on Wednesday, and urged it to allow U.N. inspectors access to the site.
Russia, a close ally of Bashir al-Assad's regime, had called on the rebels to guarantee access for the team of U.N. experts, who arrived in Syria on Wednesday to investigate earlier alleged incidences of chemical weapons use.
Saleh, who was translating comments made in Arabic by his Secretary General Badr Jamous, also accused Russia of giving "inaccurate" information on the alleged attack, saying the rebels would not obstruct the experts.
Saleh said at least three rounds of missiles loaded with chemical weapons had been fired, citing sources working with the regime that secretly supported the opposition.
He said it was not clear what kind of chemical had been used in the alleged attack, but that the opposition had managed to recoup hair, blood and urine samples as well as debris from missiles, and would get them out of Syria for analysis.
The opposition has said 1,300 people died when Assad's forces used chemical weapons east and southwest of Damascus, an accusation the regime denies.
Activists released harrowing footage showing unconscious children, people foaming around the mouth and doctors apparently giving them oxygen triggering revulsion around the world.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] President Barack Obama They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them... called the apparent gassing of hundreds of Syrian civilians a "big event of grave concern" but stressed on Friday he was in no rush to embroil Americans in a costly new war.
As opponents of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... braved the frontlines around Damascus to smuggle tissue samples to U.N. inspectors from victims of Wednesday's mass poisoning, Obama brushed over an interviewer's reminder that he once called chemical weapons a "red line" that could trigger U.S. action.
His caution contrasted with calls for action from NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... allies, including La Belle France, Britannia and Turkey, where leaders saw little doubt Assad's forces had staged pre-dawn missile strikes that rebels say killed between 500 and well over 1,000 people.
But two years into a civil war that has divided the Middle East along sectarian lines, a split between Western governments and Russia once again illustrated the international deadlock that has thwarted outside efforts to halt the killing.
While the West accused Assad of a cover-up by preventing the U.N. team from visiting the scene, Moscow said the rebels were impeding an investigation.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Who says it has to be costly? Bomb a few strategic positions and let the rebels do their job.
[An Nahar] Former Prime Minister 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 assassination. 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. warned on Thursday against the "killing machine that is moving from one city to another in Leb" after deadly twin blasts in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... killed over 27 people and maimed 358 others.
"These hands want to sow strife in Leb and overturn any moment of stability in the country," Hariri said in a released statement.
"The killing machine wants to target innocents everywhere in Leb."
He pointed out that "many internal and foreign groups want to target Tripoli."
Hariri explained: "Those seeking strife targeted Tripoli to attack believers and worshipers. For years, some groups were working on keeping the city in a state of turmoil through creating chaos and internal armed festivities."
"They have one goal which is to cause strife and destruction in Leb."
He continued: "The residents of Tripoli have endured a lot and they payed the price with blood to preserve their dignity and defend themselves."
"But the city will triumph over the evil forces and will not give the enemies of Leb a chance to ignite strife in the country."
"Terrorism will not kill the will-power of the city nor will it affect its political choices."
The ex-premier urged the political and social figures in the city to "be patient and wise."
"They should cooperate, show solidarity and avoid giving the enemies of Tripoli any excuses to continue their evil acts in the city," he pointed out.
"We also demand them to ease the missions of security and judicial authorities to allow them to do their jobs."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[BBC.CO.UK] US President Barack Obama I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money... has said the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria in an attack on Wednesday is a "big event of grave concern".
Mr Obama said the US was still seeking confirmation such weapons were used, but if proved true the situation would "require America's attention".
Meanwhile, ...back at the hoedown, the fiddler suddenly struck a sour note. The dancing stopped abruptly. Everyone looked at Bob... Syria's main ally Russia has said there is growing evidence that Syrian rebels were behind the attack.
The opposition says hundreds died in a government assault outside Damascus.
But despite calls from many different countries, there is no sign yet that the Syrian authorities will allow a UN inspection team to visit to investigate the claims.
Unverified footage shows civilians - many of them children - dead or suffering from what appear to be horrific symptoms as a result of Wednesday's attack.
Also on Friday, UN agencies said the number of children forced to flee Syria had reached one million.
The UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, and children's fund, Unicef, described the figure as "a shameful milestone", and said a further two million children were displaced within the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2013 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Switzerland has reportedly blocked the sale of a ski lift to North Korea, citing UN sanctions against luxury imports.
Nawaz Sharif
[An Nahar] A rally in support of 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[BBC.CO.UK] US President 
