[An Nahar] Torture is widespread in Libyan detention centers run by brigades which emerged during the 2011 revolution, a U.N. report said Tuesday, urging 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... to bring all facilities under full state control.
"The report indicates that torture is widespread and most frequent immediately after arrest and during the first days of interrogation to extract confessions and other information," Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, told news hounds.
"In some cases, members of the armed brigades freely admitted, and even tried to justify, the physical abuse of detainees," she said.
The authors of the report visited 30 centers over two years.
Libya's young post-revolution administration has made some efforts to revamp the prisons system but the estimated 8,000 people still held in connection with the conflict are under the control of armed brigades.
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[An Nahar] Egypt's Tourism Minister Hisham Zazou said on Tuesday that tourism links with Iran had been suspended for reasons of "national security", state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
reported.
Flights bringing Iranian tourists to Egypt began under now ousted president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... , amid a thaw in relations between Cairo and Tehran.
But they were met with strong opposition from hardline Salafists ...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them... and suspicion from security services in Egypt, who had long accused Iran of meddling in the country.
In April Egypt suspended all tourist visits from Iran following objections by the ultra-conservative Sunni Islamists to any rapprochement with the Shiite Islamic republic.
The moratorium was lifted in May.
Zazou said "the suspension of tourism with Iran is related to national security," state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
reported.
Egypt and Iran severed ties after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, which was deeply hostile to Cairo's peace treaty with Israel.
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#1
Whereas *we* are apparently discussing resuming direct flights with Iran.
Hey, I just had an idea for a new TV show: "Are You Smarter Than an Egyptian?" First categories: The Muslim Brotherhood, and Iranian Tourism.
[MAIN.OMANOBSERVER.OM] The presidents of La Belle France and Mali warned of a possible "terrorist" resurgence in the Sahel as they met in Gay Paree yesterday after fresh fighting between faceless myrmidons and the military in the African nation.
Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is cutting short his visit to La Belle France after the festivities with Tuareg fighters fighting for autonomy in the north of his country.
On Tuesday he told his French counterpart Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist... that reconciliation was his priority, after talks with the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) collapsed.
"The Franco-African intervention put an end to the terrorist threat, but it could try to rebuild... we must remain vigilant," the two leaders said in a joint statement released by Hollande's office after the talks.
The meeting between the two leaders came against a backdrop of deteriorating security in Mali, where a car kaboom claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM) killed two civilians and maimed several soldiers on Saturday.
Calm returned yesterday to the rebel bastion of Kidal after fighting between the MNLA and the army, but tensions remained high, a military source from the UN's MINUSMA peacekeeping force in Mali told AFP.
The MNLA, the main Tuareg group involved in peace talks between rebels and the government which broke down on Thursday, said three of its fighters had been maimed during a shootout on Sunday which lasted more than an hour.
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
[BANGLANEWS24] Leaders of Bangladesh Nationalist Lawyers' Forum on Tuesday categorically said they are shocked by learning the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 verdict against Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury.
Making allegation that the verdict is 'farcical justice', they issued threat to all the persons involved in the trial proceedings of ICT to bring them under legal process.
BNP-backed lawyers' in a presser came up with the threat in the Supreme Court after the ICT-1 verdict against SQ Chowdhury on Tuesday.
They said that we support the legal process against war criminals but it does not mean that opposition leaders will be killed by staging farcical justices.
They also said that if BNP assumes power in the next general election they will take true war criminals under justice.
Opposition BNP standing committee member Barrister Maudud Ahmed MP said, "We are shocked by the verdict against Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury. We reiterated that we want judgments against war criminals but it must fulfill the international legal standards as well as the country."
He also alleged that no legal process was followed in the judgments against the BNP politician SQ Chowdhury.
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[An Nahar] North Korea warned rival South Korea it risks triggering a "destructive" showdown and accused the United States of abusing its power on the U.N. Security Council, in a fiery ...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob... address Tuesday.
Hours after South Korea paraded a missile capable of pinpoint strikes across the border, North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Pak Kil-Yon said his government's "generous" efforts to improve relations had hit a "confrontational approach" from the South.
Pak told the U.N. General Assembly meeting of world leaders and senior ministers that the South's attitude is "creating the danger of driving relations back into a destructive stage again."
Amid signs that North Korea is expanding production of weapons grade fissile material, South Korea's President Park Geun-Hye said earlier in Seoul that the North's nuclear bombs pose a "grave threat".
To reinforce the state of alert, South Korea showed off a new missile capable of high-precision strikes at a parade in the capital which was attended by U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.
The North Korean minister said "U.S. hostile policy" was the cause of tensions on the Korean peninsula and accused the United States of forcing through U.N. sanctions over a ballistic rocket launch.
The U.N. Security Council extended sanctions against the North in January for launching a rocket considered equivalent to a long range missile and after the North's third nuclear arms test in February.
"It represents a typical example of how and for what purpose the power of the U.N. Security Council is being abused," Pak said, accusing the United States, one of five permanent members of the council, of "manipulation".
"The instances of the U.N. Security Council being abused by a certain state as a tool of its strategic interests should never go unchallenged," Pak said.
The sanctions followed weeks of talks between the United States and China, the North's key ally.
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Top|| File under: Commies
[Dawn] Six weeks after the event, the federal government on Monday constituted a judicial commission to probe last month's hairy standoff between a cornered gunman and the police in the heart of Islamabad.
Additional Attorney General Shah Khawar announced the formation of the three-member commission to a bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, which is hearing a private petition that questioned the role of the media and the police in the high drama.
Live coverage of the afternoon drama by television channels on August 15 had kept the nation on tenterhooks. It ended with the police shooting and capturing the gunman Malik Sikandar, in the wake of unwanted, and controversial, bravado shown by an opposition politician to overpower him.
Petitioner Tariq Asad had requested the Supreme Court to direct the media to act responsibly and appoint a commission "under a reputed retired military officer to probe and discover the conspiracy behind incident".
Ex-judge Shahid Saeed of the Lahore High Court heads the commission announced by the federal government, with Additional Secretary Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Javed Akhtar and Director (Investigations) FIA Dr Usman Anwar as members.
They have been given three weeks to find out any mishandling of the August 15 crisis and suggest procedures to avoid such a situation in the capital in future.
Television footage of the entire drama could be a great help to the commission in its task.
Armed with two assault rifles and carrying his wife Kanwal and their two kids in a car, Malik Sikandar crossed several police check points in the city centre undetected but was stopped at one point that denies entry into the Red Zone of the federal capital.
That angered him and he drove off firing in the air.
Police cars gave him chase, knocked down the fender of his car and cornered him in a shopping area. Instructions to police to catch him alive produced a primetime live drama for the television channels.
Interspersed with commentaries and discussions, the channels showed police negotiating with Sikandar, first through his wife and then directly, and the botched attempt by local PPP leader Zamarud Khan to grab him that made police shoot at him and capture him.
AAG Shah Khawar informed the court that the notification forming the commission under the Pakistain Commission of Inquiry Act 1956 had been issued on Monday.
About its terms of reference (ToR), the law officer said the commission would consider in depth the capacity of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) police to handle hostage situations and point out shortcomings in the police force.
It will also probe into the Islamabad police failing in cordoning off, and ensuring effective control, at the hot spot, "resulting in uncalled for intrusion".
Similarly, the commission will probe the failure of the Islamabad administration and police to respond as a coherent unit.
The role of the administration was incorporated in the ToR in the light of a Supreme Court observation.
In its August 23 hearing, the court had expressed disappointment over the failure of the magisterial administrative system of governance and held that the district magistrates were equally responsible in controlling the law and order situation as head of the district administration.
Then the court had suggested Secretary Interior Qamar Zaman to consider incorporating the role of the district magistrate in the terms of reference of a committee being set up on the orders of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to probe into the incident.
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10/02/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Dawn] Admitting hindrances being faced due to security situation in the area, Chief Minister Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... Dr Abdul Malik Baloch Tuesday briefed the media on the ongoing relief work in the troubled Awaran district of Balochistan.
Dr Baloch reached here on Tuesday after spending five days in Awaran, affected by an earthquake measuring 7.7 magnitudes on reactor scale on September 24.
Parliamentary leader Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Rahim Ziaratwal, Chief Secretary Balochistan Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad and others flanked the CM during a presser he was speaking to.
The chief minister said the earthquake has affected 25,000 families in Awaran district and left more than 100,000 people homeless. "Mashkay is the worst affected area of Awaran district," he added.
Dr Baloch said people of the areas were extremely poor and their rehabilitation was indeed a difficult task for the government. "Their complete rehabilitation was difficult for government."
Referring to security situation in Awaran, he admitted, "there is no ideal situation, yes there are problems." He said relief and rescue workers were facing obstacles in their operations in Awaran's most troubled part of Mashkay.
"For ten years there was no government in Awaran," Dr Baloch said while referring to presence of Baloch forces of Evil in the area. "Despite all odds, we launched a successful operation in the area," he added.
He said the provincial government has given clear instructions to the government employees of remaining in Awaran district at all cost, adding that failure to abide by will result in their disposal.
The chief minister admitted that tents provided by relief workers in Mashkay were burnt down by the myrmidons. "Yes some people burnt tents," Dr Baloch said cautioning the media about plight of the earthquake survivors rather than highlighting bully boy attacks in the sparsely populated troubled district of Balochistan.
He said there were security problems and the situation was different from other parts of the province.
Informing about the relief work, Chief Minister Baloch said 2,700 food packets, 25,000 tents and other relief goods were provided to the earthquake affected people in Awaran. He said there was zero tolerance for those plundering relief goods for the earthquake survivors.
Dr Baloch said if relief goods were recovered from any shop or person, he or she would be tried in an anti terrorist court. He urged upon all political parties to come forward and support the earthquake survivors in this hour of trouble.
Urging for foreign aid, the chief minister reiterated that rehabilitation of the earthquake-affected people was not possible without the support of international community and the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks...
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[Dawn] A politician of the opposition in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... Assembly on Monday contradicted official figures about the corpse count of All Saints Church, 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. attack and claimed that twin suicide kaboom had killed 123 churchgoers on Sept 22.
Minority MPA Askar Pervaiz of Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability... -Fazl told the House that the list issued by the provincial government about the corpse count of church attack was not correct and that total 123 people had been perished in the bombing attack instead of 83 as claimed by the government.
The assembly session has been convened on the requisition of the opposition parties to discuss security situation in the province in the aftermath of twin suicide kaboom attack on the church near Kohati Gate and express solidarity with the bereaved Christian Community.
Deputy Speaker Imtiaz Shahid presided over the proceedings.
Former Bishop Mano Roomal Shah and other representatives of the Christian Community were present in the Speaker's gallery.
A clash between 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.... MPA Soran Singh and Pakistain Peoples Party politician Nighat Orakzai disrupted somberness of the floor and turned the House into a fish market.
Both politicians used unparliamentary language as the chair was looking helpless in restoring order in the House.
Soran Singh, who is also a special assistant to the chief minister, blamed that opposition was trying to draw political mileage from current wave of terrorism in Peshawar and had no sympathies with affected families.
He alleged that former information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain and MPA Nighat Orakzai had tried to provoke people after attack on the church.
"They should be ashamed of doing politics over the dead bodies," he remarked. He also accused MPA Askar Pervaiz of exaggerating situation. His remakes irritated opposition benches.
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Dawn] Welcoming suggestions of Pak holy mans regarding a ceasefire prior to peace talks, the Pak Taliban Tuesday night announced that they would reconsider their stance if the government was ready for a break in fighting.
Ulema (holy mans) and representatives of various religious seminaries functioning under Wafaqul Madaris had expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... Monday over the "civil war-like situation" in the country and appealed to both the government and the Taliban to observe a "complete ceasefire" till the completion of the process of talks.
The appeal was made in a joint statement issued after a "consultative meeting" of the Ulema and teachers of seminaries held at a local hotel in Islamabad. It was presided over by Wafaqul Madaris chief Maulana Salimullah Khan.
Speaking to Dawn.com from some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location, the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) front man Shahidullah Shahid said the TTP welcomes Ulema's suggestion for a ceasefire.
He, however, claimed it was the government which is launching the offensive against them, saying if it can take the lead in stopping the war, then they were also ready to follow it.
"We are ready to proceed with the APC suggestions and willing to have peace, there is no ill-will to the grinding of the peace processor among the Taliban leadership," he added.
The welcoming gesture of the Talibs can be considered as a major breakthrough for potential peace talks as the TTP front man on Saturday assailed 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... for changing his mind and giving a precondition of laying down weapons, saying his government was not serious about holding the dialogue.
"By telling us that we will have to lay down arms and respect the constitution, the prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, showed that he is following the policy of America and its allies," the front man had said.
About 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.... (PTI) chief Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight... 's offer of opening Taliban offices in the settled areas, Shahid said: "We welcome the offer but we feel at this moment there is no need of opening any office any where."
Punjabi Taliban chief Asmatulah Mauvia, in a relevant development, reiterated to hold unconditional talks for peace and said the outfit would respond to the APC offer within three days.
Speaking to Dawn.com, Mauvia said that they were willing for unconditional talks and would respond within the next three days.
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A steadfast Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made clear in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that Israel would not accept a nuclear armed Iran, and would "stand alone" if necessary to achieve that aim.
"Israel will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons, even if we have to stand alone. Yet in standing alone, Israel will know that we will be defending many, many others," he said.
#1
See also TOPIX, TIMES OF ISRAEL > ISRAEL NO LONGER CERTAIN OBAMA WOULD EVER USE FORCE AGAINST IRAN, LIKUD MK INDICATES, after Israeli PM Netanyahu appearance before the UNGA.
Again, residing out here in GUAM-WESTPAC my concern is whether the Bammer will do a PCorrect-Deniable, pro-UN Mediation/Resolution "Syria" not just on Iran, but espec as per "post-US", Pert-proclaimed "Mahanist" CHINA ALA CHINA-VS-JAPAN, PHIL/ASEAN, INDIA WHERE CHINA ULTIMATELY GETS MOST OR ALL OF WHAT SHE WANTS WHILE THE US UNILATERALLY ROLLS ITSELF BACK ACROSS THE PACIFIC TOWARDS EASTPAC [Hawaii + West Coast]???
* TOPIX > [Daily Times.PK] WAR DRUMS OVER SYRIA NOW SILENCED BY US-MOSCOW DEAL.
versus
* STARS-N-STRIPES > US BASES IN EUROPE SUSPEND WORK AS SHUTDOWN BEGINS. Approxi 50% of USDOD Civilian Employees under USFE to be furloughed until further notice.
* RELATED TOPIX > [Daily Star Lebanon] US SHUTDOWN AFFECTS OPERATIONS ABROAD.
* SAME > [Daily Tribune] SHUTDOWN COULD UNDERCUT OBAMA'S "ASIA PIVOT".
* CHINA DAILY FORUM > CHINA STEADILY GAINS DE FACTO CONTROL OVER DIAOYUDAO [Japan = Senkakus, China = Diaoyu Islands].
Nippon PM Shinzo Abe's recent statement that Sino-Japanese dialogue on disputed ECS islands remains open despite repeated Chinese intrusions intrepreted by Beijing as a sign of Tokyo's slowly weakening resolve.
[1960's GUAM TAOTAMONAS + LATE HUGO "RED BERET" CHAVEZ'S = "THE US HAS LAND-DESTROYING [island-sinking?] EARTHQUAKE/TECTONIC BOMBS" here].
[An Nahar] Russia said on Tuesday that Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... could engage in peace talks with the more moderate elements of the armed opposition at a meeting in Geneva next month.
"I do not rule out that the armed opposition, if it does not stand for bad boy or terrorist views, could very well be represented," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told news hounds.
"By the way, this is something that President Assad has said as well."
World powers agreed last month to schedule the first direct negotiations between Assad's regime and the rebels in Geneva in mid-November.
The so-called Geneva 2 talks follow a failed round of negotiations between world powers over the crisis in the same city in June 2012.
Russia has backed Assad's government throughout the 30-month conflict and is the chief architect of a Syrian chemical weapons disarmament plan that was backed by the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... Security Council following the August 21 nerve agent attack near Damascus.
This year's Geneva meeting has been repeatedly delayed because of disagreements between Moscow and the West about who should be party to the talks.
Lavrov stressed that it was up to Western and Arab governments to make sure that representatives of the armed opposition agreed to attend the Geneva meeting despite growing differences among their ranks.
But he questioned whether the West could manage to do this by November.
"Until recently, we expected our Western partners, who committed themselves to bring the opposition to the conference, that they would be able to do this fairly quickly," Lavrov said.
"But they did not manage to do it quickly. I do not know if they will manage to do it by the middle of November."
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#1
Russia knows Al-Qaeda, etc. foreign Hard Boyz are hell-bent on dominating the Syria fight vee the domestic Rebs.
TO PARAPH POST-CHINESE INTERVENTION GEN. DOUGLAS MACARTHUR = "WE [may] FACE AN ENTIRELY NEW WAR"!
"AFPAK II", wid Iran = substituted for US BFF INDIA, + Russia in place of Pak BFF CHINA???
[BANGLANEWS24] Iranian president Hasan Rohani has asked authorities to study the possibility of resuming direct flights between Iran and the United States for the first time over the past 35 years.
A senior Iranian official announced on Monday, Tehran Times prints this report on Tuesday.
Akbar Torkan, the acting head of the High Council of Iranian Affairs Abroad, said Rohani issued the order to facilitate the visits of Iranian expatiates residing in the United States.
Tehran and Washington cut their diplomatic relations after Iranian students took hostage the US embassy's staff in Tehran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
However, it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... the two sides have shown interest in a thaw in relations. On Friday, US president Barack Obama I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody... and Iranian president Hasan Rohani spoke by telephone, the highest-level contact between the two countries in decades and the culmination of a dramatic shift in tone that began in August.
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#1
Speaking of the US' new Ally = BFF in 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.
[An Nahar] Egypt's Tourism Minister Hisham Zazou said on Tuesday that tourism links with Iran had been suspended for reasons of "national security", state television
North Korea
[Dawn] Six weeks after the event, the federal government on Monday constituted a judicial commission to probe last month's hairy standoff between a cornered gunman and the police in the heart of Islamabad.
[Dawn] Admitting hindrances being faced due to security situation in the area, Chief Minister 
[Dawn] A 
Nawaz Sharif
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
