[DAWN] Afghans celebrated a largely peaceful election on Saturday, as turnout exceeded predictions despite Taliban threats to disrupt the vote to choose President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... 's successor.
Long queues of voters waited throughout the day outside many of the 6,400 polling centres before the prolonged process of counting began, with preliminary results not due until April 24.
Whoever emerges victorious must lead the fight against the Taliban without the help of US-led combat troops, and also strengthen an economy that currently relies on declining aid money.
Turnout was 7 million out of 12 million eligible voters, or about 58 per cent, according to preliminary estimates in what will bring the first-ever democratic transfer of power in a country plagued by conflict.
The Independent Election Commission ordered voting to be extended by at least an hour, with ballot papers being dispatched where they were needed.
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04/06/2014 00:00 ||
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[AnNahar] In the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, peaceful streets and long voter lines on Saturday stood in stark contrast to the violent 2009 election, when residents cowered indoors fearful of Taliban attack.
The city where the Taliban first emerged in the early 1990s has been the scene of much krazed killer unrest since 2001, and was the nadir of the much-criticized poll five years ago.
But voters turned out in droves on Saturday to elect a successor to President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... , many taken aback by how peacefully the poll passed off.
"There were still worries about the Death Eaters but everyone was keen to get out and experience this day," said Abdullah, a 23-year-old university student.
"It is good to see so many people wanting to vote compared with before. This was an important personal decision for me."
Only a few men, and almost no women, went to the 2009 polls due to Taliban threats to target polling stations and to cut off anyone's finger dipped in ink to show they had voted.
Kandahar remains a dangerous city with a huge police and army presence, but security has improved in recent years with sharp drops in both kabooms and assassinations.
"I have voted in a peaceful environment without any threats from the Taliban and I was not pressured by anyone telling me how to cast my ballot," Shah Bibi, a 20-year-old woman, told Agence La Belle France Presse after emerging from a polling station.
"I am very happy today that I cast my vote for my favorite candidate."
Many were surprised at the length of polling queues and at the number of women, who wore all-encompassing burqas as they clutched their voting cards.
"I voted for Karzai last time, he promised us electricity and jobs, but he did not fulfill his promises," Jawed Ahmad, 27, told AFP. "This time I voted for Ashraf Ghani because I hope he gives us these things."
Many residents 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... over long waits and a shortage of ballot papers at polling stations -- a worry repeated elsewhere in the country.
"Officials and the people have been complaining about lack of ballot papers," Dawa Khan Meenapal, the provincial governor's front man, told AFP. "In some places the ballot papers were finished before lunch."
The U.N. and Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission report into the 2009 election detailed how Kandahar was awash with corruption and violence.
Intimidation tactics included roadside kabooms, abductions, illegal checkpoints and threatening "night letters", while government officials and police stuffed ballot boxes with bundles of vote.
There were no reports of major violence in Kandahar on Saturday. Official turnout figures are expected in the coming days but it will be weeks before fraud and corruption allegations are fully analysed.
What was it Kipling said about Afghan women? At any rate, this is a wonderful thing. May it merely foreshadow the changes yet to come.
[AnNahar] Lines of blue burqas marked Saturday's Afghan elections as women turned out in large numbers to vote in several cities -- unthinkable under the Taliban, who would not allow women to work or study, let alone cast their ballot.
In the eastern city of Jalalabad, three women posed for photographers outside a school turned into a polling station for the first round of the presidential election.
Each held a baby in one hand and with the other proudly showed her index finger, stained purple to show she has voted.
Nearby, 20-year-old Ayesha wore a look of unwavering determination as she went to cast her first-ever vote, ignoring the threat to attack the polls from Taliban bully boys, ever-present in this part of Afghanistan.
"I am eligible to vote and even if there were suicide kabooms by the Taliban, I would have not cared about it," she told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"We have to vote to show the enemies we are not afraid of them. We should give our enemies a jaw-breaking answer by casting our ballot."
Shabnam, in her 20s, who like many Afghans uses only one name, shared her defiance.
"Today is women's day for us and it is our day, I have come here with lots of excitement to come and cast my ballots to choose our next leader," Shabnam said.
In Jalalabad and the surrounding area, women formed long queues even before polls opened -- a sign of a changing society, increasingly aware of the importance of elections.
The deputy head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, Nicholas Haysom, pointed to encouraging numbers such as the 300 women standing in provincial council elections.
There are some signs that Afghan men are coming round to the idea of women's involvement as well. Of the eight presidential candidates, all men, three chose a woman among their running mates, including Zalmai Rassoul ... former foreign minister and a very close confidant of Hamid Karzai. Before serving as foreign minister Rassoul also spent seven years laboring as a national security adviser to the president. An ethnic Pashtun born in Kabul, Rassoul was the valedictorian of his class at the illustrious Franco-American school in Kabul, Lycee Istiqal. He has an MD from the Paris Medical School in France..... , one of the favorites.
"When I left home, my wife and daughter told me they were also interested to cast their ballots for the election, and I did not oppose them," one male voter in Jalalabad told Agence La Belle France Presse.
But, according to local sources, female voters were much fewer in number in rural areas, where the Taliban have more influence.
In the last presidential election in 2009, women made up 40 percent of voters. But, in the conservative rural areas, the darker side of the female vote came out -- fraud through fake voting cards and communal bloc voting.
Women also voted in large numbers on Saturday in Kabul, where presidential candidate Daud Sultanzoi cast his ballot with his wife, Zohra, who made an appeal on TV.
"I have never been afraid of the Taliban and ask the women to practice their rights and vote if they want their voices heard. Their vote is a blow to dark-minded people," she said.
[AnNahar] Afghans celebrated a largely peaceful election on Saturday, as turnout exceeded predictions despite Taliban threats to disrupt the vote to choose President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... 's successor.
Whoever emerges victorious must lead the fight against the Taliban without the help of U.S.-led combat troops, and also strengthen an economy that currently relies on declining aid money.
The country faces a testing few months as it undergoes its first democratic transfer of power, and many Afghans fear a repeat of the fraud scandals that marred the last presidential election in 2009.
There were no major myrmidon attacks during polling, and organizers described the election as a huge success, despite complaints that a shortages of ballot papers had denied some citizens the right to vote.
"Today's election and massive participation of the people have taken Afghanistan a few steps forward to peace, stability and development," Karzai said in an address to the nation.
"This was a major effort of the people, our security forces, and all the officials who had a role in holding the election."
The open nature of the race coupled with a massive security operation to thwart Taliban attacks may have contributed to the high turnout.
The Taliban had urged their fighters to target polling staff, voters and security forces, but there were no major attacks reported during the day.
In Kabul, hit by a series of deadly attacks during the election campaign, hundreds of people lined up outside polling centers to vote despite heavy rain and the bad boys' promise of violence.
"I'm not afraid of Taliban threats, we will die one day anyway. I want my vote to be a slap in the face of the Taliban," housewife Laila Neyazi, 48, told AFP.
A brave woman, who reminds us that freedom is paid for in blood and the refusal to be cowed by the vicious.
One blast in Pashtun-infested Logar province, south of Kabul, killed one person and maimed two, according to Mohammad Agha district chief Abdul Hameed Hamid.
Interior Minister Omar Daudzai said said four civilians, nine police and seven soldiers had been killed in violence in the past 24 hours, and added that many attacks had been foiled, without giving further details.
Attacks or fear of violence had forced more than 200 of a total 6,423 voting centers to remain closed.
Afghans have taken over responsibility for security from U.S.-led forces, and this year the last of the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... coalition's 51,000 combat troops will pull out, leaving local forces to battle the resilient Taliban insurgency without their help.
Parliamentarians in Berlin have given approval for the dispatch of military instructors to Somalia on a training mission mandated by the European Union. Opposition deputies voted against the deployment.
Germany's armed forces, the Bundeswehr, have been training Somali soldiers since 2010, but up until now the training has taken place not in Somalia, but in Uganda. In this latest move, parliament has given its consent to a change in policy, approving the deployment to Somalia of a maximum of 20 German troops.
This German contingent will be training Somali army specialists and military instructors as well as giving the Somali army advice on organizational matters in the Somali capital Mogadishu. So far some 3600 Somali army personnel have taken part in this training -- in which nine EU states are participating -- since its inception in 2010.
When the EU transferred its mission from Uganda to Mogadishu at the beginning of 2014, the Bundeswehr chose not to make the move because the German defense ministry considered the security situation too volatile. Christian Democrat foreign policy spokesman Philipp MißfelderChristian Democrat foreign policy spokesman Philipp Mißfelder believes the level of risk facing German instructors in Somalia is now acceptable.
In the meantime, the German government now believes that the German instructors' working environment -- a high security compound on the outskirts of Mogadishu airport -- will be safe enough for them. "It is a responsibility that we are prepared to shoulder," Philipp Mißfelder, the ruling Christian Democrats' foreign policy spokesman, told parliament.
The German opposition parties -- the Left Party and the Greens -- did not back the deployment motion in parliament. They described the EU training mission in Somalia as a failure. A large proportion of the soldiers who had been trained had subsequently deserted to the militia, taking their equipment with them.
"The so-called government in Somalia which you are supporting with your military training has been accused of heinous violations of human rights," Left Party deputy Sevim Dagdelen told the government benches in the parliamentary debate.
Nobody's perfect...
The opposition also condemned US drone attacks in Somalia, in which US military bases here in Germany were involved. "The German government should not turn a blind eye to this violation of international law," said Greens deputy Agnieszka Brugger.
A total of 118 German deputies voted against the deployment of German troops in Somalia.
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04/06/2014 00:00 ||
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[Egypt Independent] Omar Abul Maged, a 31-year-old farmer, never imagined he would one day be in prison for naming his donkey after the defense minister.
However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... the Qena Misdemeanor Court has now sentenced him to a year over charges of "humiliating the military" for naming his donkey "Sisi," after the recently resigned military chief Abdel Fatah al-Sisi who is due to run for presidential elections after overthrowing Egypt's first democratically elected president Morsy on 3 July.
Abdul Maged's satirical way of protesting against the military-led government began in 20 September 2013 when the pro-Morsy Abul Maged was riding his donkey through his village, called Ashraf in Qena province, covering the donkey's body with a poster of al-Sisi and putting a military-style cap over the donkey's head.
The police, when notified of this act from anti-Morsy villagers, locked away You have the right to remain silent... Abul Maged along with his donkey and after six months in jug, the court issued its verdict on Sunday.
The court decision serves as a reminder of the intensified crackdown on government dissenters.
Abul Maged's arrest in September coincided with the detention of eight activists for spraying anti-military graffiti as well as the cancelation of Bassem Yossef's satirical show after it indirectly ridiculed the military in the first episode following military takeover in July.
The judiciary's tough penalties against government dissenters culminated on Monday of last week as a criminal court sentenced 529 Moslem Brüderbund defendants to death in the largest capital punishment on record in Egypt's modern history which raised both local and international outcry.
Though lawyers highly expect the verdict to be dropped before the Court of Appeals, human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... groups lashed back at the severity of the verdict as "it raises doubts about the fairness of the judiciary system in Egypt," said a statement by Andalus Center for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies.
"The heavy-handed crackdown on any opponent voices will not end the game for one side but will rather ignite the political situation further and keep the economy down," said Ahmad El-Sayed, a political activist.
Recently, the anti-Sisi comments on social media have rapidly resurged as the only outlet to slam the new presidential runner, safe from the military's heavy-handed tactics against street protests.
The strongman's opponents voiced their protest via Twitter using the sarcastic hashtag in Arabic "Intekhbo al-Ars," which translates to "Vote for the pimp," in response al-Sisi's televised speech four days ago, expressing his intention to run for presidency, which contradted his spokesperson's statement last September when he said al-Sisi had no intention to run for president.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
I think that in like circumstances,
My ass wouldn't take any chances.
It would be pretty easy,
Instead of al-Sisi,
To pick a safe name such as "Francis."
[AnNahar] President Abdelaziz Bouteflika ... 10th president of Algeria. He was elected in 1999 and is currently on his third or fourth term, who will probably die in office of old age... 's camp said it called off an election rally in the Kabylie region of eastern Algeria on Saturday after a television crew and journalists were assaulted.
Anis Rahmani, head of private pro-Bouteflika channel En-Nahar, told Agence La Belle France Presse that a five-man crew from the station was attacked and four of its journalists were maimed, one seriously.
Campaigning for Algeria's April 17 presidential election was launched on March 23, with incumbent Bouteflika, 77, aiming to clinch a fourth term but without taking to the road, amid concerns over his health.
He will square off against five other presidential hopefuls and is widely expected to win.
"I called off the meeting for the sake of security, nothing more, nothing less," former premier Abdelmalik Sellal, who quit to become Bouteflika's campaign manager, said on En-Nahar.
"You can see for yourselves what concept some people have of democracy. We are against violence and extremism," added Sellah, who has said the president would be represented by aides on the campaign trail.
Rahmani blamed supporters of the main challenger Ali Benflis for the violence.
"It's a dangerous escalation coming from a specific candidate. We ask him to renounce violence and terror as the path to El-Mouradia," he said of the Algiers district housing the presidential palace.
Around 250 people chanting slogans opposed to another Bouteflika term had gathered outside a venue in the Kabylie town of Bejaia where Sellal was to lead a rally, witnesses said.
Some people forced their way into the meeting and attacked the En-Nahar crew who were covering the event with other journalists, they said.
National news agency APS said riot police dispersed the protesters and escorted news crews to the airport.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/06/2014 00:00 ||
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TOKYO - Japan will strike any North Korean ballistic missile that threatens to hit Japan in the coming weeks after Pyongyang recently fired medium-range missiles, a government source said on Saturday.
Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera issued the order, which took effect on Thursday and runs through April 25, the day that marks the founding of North Korea's army, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Following the order, meant "to prepare for any additional missile launches," a destroyer was dispatched to the Sea of Japan and will fire if North Korea launches a missile that Tokyo deems in danger of striking or falling on Japanese territory, the source said.
Tensions have been building between North Korea and its neighbors since Pyongyang - in an apparent show of defiance - fired two Rodong missiles on March 26, just as the leaders of Japan, South Korea and the United States were sitting down to discuss containing the North Korean nuclear threat. The Rodong ballistic missiles fell into the sea after flying 650 km (400 miles), short of a maximum range thought to be some 1,300 km, Japan said.
Since then, North Korea has rattled sabres by firing artillery rounds into South Korean waters, prompting the South to fire back; South Korea has test-fired a new ballistic missile with a range of 500 km; and Pyongyang has threatened an unspecified "new form" of nuclear test.
At the same time, Japan and North Korea resumed talks - suspended since Pyongyang test-launched a long-range missile more than a year ago - over the North's nuclear and missile programs, as well as the fate of Japanese abducted in the 1970s and 1980s to help train North Korean spies.
Onodera has avoided publicly announcing the new missile-intercept order so as not to put a chill on those talks, Japanese media said. He also did not deploy Patriot missile batteries that would be the last line of Defense against incoming warheads, the source told Reuters.
Japanese Aegis destroyers in the Sea of Japan are equipped with advanced radar equipment able to track multiple targets and carry missiles designed to take out targets at the edge of space.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/06/2014 00:00 ||
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#2
"Japanese Aegis destroyers in the Sea of Japan are equipped with advanced radar equipment able to track multiple targets and carry missiles designed to take out targets at the edge of space."
#3
As per the MSM-Net, the USA is repor going to deploy two more ABM/BMD-capable AEGIS Destroyers to Japan by 2017, a move which will raise the number of same in Japan to approxi seven.
Pragmatically, IMO in any NE NE Asia = East China Sea war between China + Japan-US this will dedicate China + PLA more to the use of Airborne Forces + SPECOPS to the capture of TAIWAN while using a majority of the PLAAF + Second Arty [Nuclear Missles] to deal wid Japan.
Again, once a military conflict begins China + PLA will keep coming back no matter their level of combat andor collateral casualties, nor their level of Miltech backwardness vee the US-Allies.
CHINA HAS TIMES SAID THAT THE SUFFERANCE OF MASSIVE OR PROHIBITIVE PLA CASUALTIES IS NOT IMPORTANT OR KEY TO THEM - WHAT MATTERS IS THAT TAIWAN IS TAKEN + CHINA'S WAR AGZ THE US-ALLIES IS WON.
China = Soon-to-be Nuclear Islam includ Radical Islam in that respect.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [AFP] NORTH KOREA LEADER WARNS OF "VERY GRAVE" SITUATION, on the Peninsula.
IMO read, NOKOR'S ABILITY TO RESIST PEACEFUL ECON OR MILITARY-LED UNILATERAL STATE TAKEOVER BY CHINA IS STEADILY WEAKENING, WID COLLAPSE EITHER IMMINENT, OR IN THE VERY NEAR TERM???
Unless something changes, the only remnant of the ancient Korean homeland will be SOUTH KOREA proper.
The Scenario is real that iff the US-Allies or Soon-to-be-Nuclear Muslim Hard Boyz don't take out China + threat of NOKOR takeover, KJU = "PUDGY" WILL BY INTENTIONALLY STARTING REGIONAL OR MULTI-REGIONAL, MUTUALLY DESTRUCTIVE MAJOR WAR BETWEEN THE US-CHINA OR GREAT POWERS.
* BIGNEWSNETWORK > US DEFENSE SECRETARY HAGEL CALLS ON CHINA NOT TO ABUSE ITS GREAT POWER IN TERRITORIAL DISPUTES WID TOKYO [Japan].
* RELATED YAHOO NEWS > US DEFENSE CHIEF [Hagel] WARNS CHINA, DRAWING PARALLEL TO CRIMEA.
VERSUS
* FREEREPUBLIC > [NYT] US RESPONSE TO CRIMEA WORRIES JAPAN LEADERS.
* RELATED TOPIX > [BreitBart] WORLD VIEW: US FAILS [again] TO REAFFIRM MUTUAL DEFENSE TREATY WID JAPAN.
Hagel = Obama = Kerry = saying all the PCorrect thingys a Poltician would say while also saying nothing or committing to nothing.IT NOT WHAT HAGEL SAID TO JAPAN, IT WHAT HE DIDN'T SAY!?
D *** NG IT, IFF THATS NOT "JOHN WAYNE", ETAL. I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS!
* XINHUA > CHINA URGES US TO REFRAIN FROM INTERFERING IN HONG KONG'S AFFAIRS.
VPOTUS Biden's visit.
* WANT CHINA TIMES > REPORTERS GET "WELCOME TO CHINA" TEXT IN VISIT TO SECOND THOMAS SHOAL ISLAND DISPUTED BY PHILIPPINES.
Second Thomas Shoal = PHIL's Ayugin Shoal aka China's Re'nai Reef.
GUAM-CNMI + PACIFIC ISLANDS? HAWAII? 1990's 1/2-PLUS OF CONUS-NORAM?
[USS OKLAHOMA BB + CELINE DION "TITANIC" THEME = "GUAM WILL CAPSIZE" = HUGO CHAVEZ + BERET + US-LED ISLAND-SINKING "EARTHQUAKE/TECTONIC BOMBS" = "A2/AREA-DENIAL" = US STRATEGIC RETREAT/
PULLOUT ACROSS ASIA-PACIFIC here].
[AnNahar] United States politicians are mulling to toughen economic sanctions against Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... , media reports said on Saturday.
A U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee is set to introduce new legislation that would "target Hizbullah's fundraising activities," the Israeli Ynet news reported.
Al-Monitor website said that the bill's draft summary would allow the U.S. Treasury Department to "target central banks and other financial institutions, primarily in Leb and Europe, that knowingly engage with Hizbullah and its enablers."
The bill also targets Hizbullah's al-Manar television by requiring the U.S. administration to list and penalize any satellite provider that still carries the television channel.
The bill, if passed, requires President Barack Obama If you have a small business, you didn't build that... to determine whether Hizbullah "meets the criteria of a transnational criminal organization."
Al-Monitor reported that the law's draft summary notes that it is American policy "to prevent Hizbullah's global logistics and financial network from operating in order to curtail its domestic and international activities."
"The United States must deal with Hizbullah firmly and decisively with unyielding resolve by crippling its extensive, illegal financial network," said Congressman Mark Meadows, one of the bill's writers.
"Hizbullah's days of unhindered criminal operations and terrorist activity are numbered."
Congressman Eliot Engel, another sponsor of the bill, said that the bill "will give the Administration the tools they need to break any lifeline to Hizbullah."
According to the website, congressman Brad Schneider said in a blurb that "Hizbullah continues to represent a threat to the United States, Israel and the entire region."
In 2013, Obama renewed a "national emergency" which imposes a freeze on assets of people linked to Hizbullah, stressing that they still "undermine Leb's stability."
The U.S. considers Hizbullah a terror group and accuses Syria and Iran of arming it.
In August 2007, President George W. Bush ordered a freeze on U.S. assets of anyone Washington deems to be undermining the Lebanese government.
#1
although the US has designated Hezbollah a terrorist org, most of Europe either doesn't designated Hezbollah as a terrorist group at all (e.g., Spain, Russia) or only designate the military wing of Hezbollah as terrorists (e.g., the UK, the EU). The partial designation allows Hezbollah fund raising in these countries to continue.
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/06/2014 0:30 Comments ||
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[Ynet] Boeing Co. said Friday that it received U.S. government approval to export certain spare parts for commercial airplanes to Iran.
"After the election I will be more...flexible," said The Smartest Man In The Room to the Russian. And so he has proved to be.
Almost as flexible as Putin's girlfriend...
A Boeing front man said that the parts were needed to ensure safe flight, but he declined to describe them further or put a dollar amount on them.
Boeing's last delivery to Iran was a 747-100 jumbo jet in 1979 - three months before American hostages were seized in Tehran.
Birtel said Boeing got a license from the US Treasury Department to export the spare parts under a temporary agreement reached with the Iranians last year.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/06/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
The idea Mr. Boeing, is to keep the Iranian bastards from engaging in safe flight.
Any parts they receive will go to military planes first.
God forbid they attack us with a plane containing those 'spare parts'
#4
Doubtful any Boeing parts would have any application to anything Iran has that is military; their F-5/T-38 and F-14 force is Northrop/Grumman
But assisting them in any way is just stupid.
#7
I dunno, newc. Some of us are still pissy about that whole embassy hostage crisis thingie. A long time ago, maybe. But the exact same folks are running the country today.
[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: In a bid to bring an end to the ongoing insurgency in Pakistain, the government has decided to free 13 more Taliban prisoners as a confidence building measure to carry forward its peace initiative, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Saturday.
Speaking to media representatives after chairing a joint meeting of the government and Taliban negotiating committees, he urged the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) leadership to reciprocate to the government's action for the success of peace talks.
Khan said some of those being released by the government were on a Taliban list.
Progress at talks and venue and date for the next round of direct talks between the government team and Taliban were discussed at the joint meeting.
The minister told news hounds that next round of talks will be held next week and the number of released prisoner may rise to 30 before that. The government released 19 prisoners earlier this month.
The government is holding talks with the Pak Taliban to bring an end to the ongoing insurgency in the country that's killed thousands of people in recent years. Splinter groups have continued their attacks despite the talks.
Meanwhile, ...back at the comedy club, Boogie was cracking himself up, but nobody else seemed to be getting the non-stop jokes... Maulana Samiul Haq ...the Godfather of the Taliban, leader of his own faction of the JUI. Known as Mullah Sandwich for his habit of having two young boys at a time... , head of the TTP coordination committee told media representatives that next round of direct talks with Taliban Shura will take place in a day or two. He hoped for further extension in ceasefire and complete restoration of peace in the country.
The chief of his own faction 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... (JUI-S), who is known as "Father of Taliban" in the West, said real peace talks are yet to commence as ongoing dialogues were only confidence building measures.
Earlier on Friday, the TTP had extended till April 10 the ceasefire earlier announced by it and expressed the hope that the government would reciprocate its 'gesture' with positive steps.
The extension came a day after the government had announced that it had released 19 non-combatant Taliban as a goodwill gesture for bolstering the grinding of the peace processor.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
LOL 1st appearance of my buddies the Furry Freak Brothers. :)
[DAWN] Coordinator of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) committee Maulana Yousuf Shah on Saturday said the news of the release of 19 non-combatant Taliban from the government side held no truth and not a single name of the released men was on the list given to the government by the Taliban.
Moreover, Shah said the government should refrain from issuing rhetorical statements and take the Taliban committee into confidence regarding the issue of prisoners' release.
He further said that the meeting between the Taliban and government sides would take place today.
In today's meeting between the two sides, the TTP coordinator said the Taliban committee would put forth for discussion issues pertaining to the list of prisoners and the broader agenda for peace.
Earlier on Friday, the TTP had extended till April 10 the ceasefire earlier announced by it and expressed the hope that the government would reciprocate its 'gesture' with positive steps.
The extension came a day after the government had announced that it had released 19 non-combatant Taliban as a goodwill gesture for bolstering the grinding of the peace processor.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/06/2014 00:00 ||
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The Palestinians want US efforts to salvage the peace process to continue, a senior official said on Wednesday, just hours after they renewed controversial moves to seek international recognition.
"We hope (US Secretary of State John) Kerry's efforts will be renewed in the coming days," Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's executive committee, told reporters in Ramallah. "Kerry knows the reality. We don't want these efforts to finish."
Honest, we'll hold the football in place this time, Charlie Brown."
Late on Tuesday, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said he had begun steps to join several UN agencies and ratify international treaties, angering Israel and prompting Kerry to cancel a trip to Ramallah on Wednesday.
The announcement was a blow to Kerry's ineffectual frenetic efforts to resolve a dispute over Palestinian prisoners and find a way to extend the fragile peace talks beyond a looming April 29 deadline.
Abed Rabbo said the Palestinian move was "a response to Israel's flagrant violation of the agreement" under which it would release prisoners if the Palestinians refrained from seeking further UN recognition.
But Israel says its release of each batch of prisoners was conditional on progress in negotiations, which is not currently evident.
"The government of Israel did not release the prisoners, without any reason or even any excuse for not doing so," Abed Rabbo said.
They did, you just didn't want to listen...
But he suggested they would not be quitting talks before the deadline.
"The Palestinian leadership respects its commitments and wants the political process to continue, but we want a real political process, without tricks," he said. "We will continue our efforts with the US administration, and will do everything we can to remove all obstacles."
Except make any concessions of any kind...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/06/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
how about unequivocal recognition of Israel as a Jooooish State? No? Then nothing to discuss
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/06/2014 10:01 Comments ||
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[AnNahar] Prime Minister Tammam Salam on Saturday warned of vacuum in the presidency, considering that it would drag Leb into "a difficult and critical phase."
He also called on local factions to communicate with Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... regarding the party's involvement in the ongoing Syrian war.
"I support the election of a moderate and poised figure, who is well-received by all factions," Salam said on his preferences of Leb's future head of state in an interview with Radio Monte Carlo.
"Daoud! Bring out my selection of Platonic ideals!"
"Yes, Effendi. Do you want the ones who speak English, or the ones who speak French?"
"The ones who speak Russian, you little fool, and the Arabic of the streets. The ones who lie as they knife you in the back. And bring me a pot of the special Afghan tea -- he'll need it when we explain the situation."
The prime minister stressed that the presidential elections must be held following the approach adopted in the cabinet's formation, which was "made in Leb."
"Forming a locally-made cabinet gave us hope that this would also be reflected in the presidential elections," he expressed.
"This is a democratic game; whoever wants to run for the presidency can run, whoever wins, let them win. This democratic approach must be emphasized in Leb, and it will open a new chapter in the country's history that would strengthen our democratic system."
Answering a question about whether his cabinet is ready to be handed over the president's powers in case of a vacuum, the PM stressed that his cabinet "does not want to fill a vacuum."
"I have said since the beginning that this cabinet is here for two months only, and it will focus on priorities such as the security situation, the issue of refugees, and the economic and financial situation in the country," he reiterated.
"But our main priority remains reaching consensus over a new electoral law, and electing a new president," Salam added.
"This is out mission and our goal, and we mentioned this in the ministerial policy statement."
Earlier in the day, Salam also expressed hope that the new president would be a "local choice," stressing that his cabinet will "do everything in its power to prepare for the presidential elections."
"The international and regional powers, that have an impact on the Lebanese local affairs, support staging the presidential elections on time," he said in an interview with the General Security magazine.
He stressed that his government will exert efforts to "prepare for the appropriate atmosphere to carry out the elections.
President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... 's six-year term ends in May but the Constitution states that the parliament should choose a new head of state within a two-month period before the end of the incumbent's term, which started on March 25.
Separately, the prime minister assured in his interview with Radio Monte Carlo that the new cabinet will commit to the policy of disassociation, which he considered to be "the best approach that could be adopted."
"Hizbullah's participation in the Syrian war is a sensitive issue to deal with," he commented.
"We recommend communicating with Hizbullah officials to reach a settlement that would stop the party's involvement in Syria, and restore all efforts to preserve Leb's unity and immunity, and abiding by the disassociation policy."
Salam said that the deteriorating security situation "reached an unacceptable level, and was threatening the prestige and status of the state and its bodies."
Therefore, a step forward in this respect came to be a necessity, he noted.
"The outcomes of the security plan were immediate 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... , as people of both rival neighborhoods (of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen) sat together and reconciled as if nothing has ever happened," he said.
Salam remarked that the Syrian crisis had many consequences on Leb, whether in the increasing number of refugees, or the fighting that is influenced by the neighboring country's festivities.
"This is something that we need to strictly deal with," he said.
#3
There's been a spill -- please bring the Hoover.
Er, make that the "Bush mess remover."
And send in a Marine
Cuz you know that machine
Is too heavy for us to maneuver.
[Ynet] Al-Qaeda's leader called on fighters to determine who killed his chief representative in Syria, a man many krazed killer groups believe died at the hands of a rival militia, in a move that highlighted a conflict between rebels that has killed hundreds.
In a thinly veiled criticism of the breakaway Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant organization, Ayman al-Zawahri called the killing of Abu Khaled al-Suri an act of "sedition" that should be handled in accordance with Islamic law.
"All Mohammedans should not help anybody who blows up the headquarters of the holy fighters, or who sends them boom-mobiles and human bombs," he said in a recorded message posted on krazed killer websites late Friday, referring to the Islamic State's tactic of attacking rival rebels with bombings.
"Whoever commits such sins, should remember that he is fulfilling for the enemies of Islam what they were unable to achieve on their own."
Yes, indeed, or the enemies of jihadism, anyway. And we thank you for it.
[Ynet] Iran said on Saturday it had useful expert-level nuclear talks with world powers in Vienna, addressing all major technical issues in the way of a final settlement.
"The meetings were useful, raised mutual insight into our differing positions," Iranian negotiator Hamid Baeedinejad told the official
IRNA news agency at the end of the three-day talks in Vienna. "Everyone came well-prepared ... addressing issues in minute technical details can facilitate hard political decisions."
He said the results would be submitted on Monday to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton Who acts on behalf of the six world powers - the United States, La Belle France, Germany, Russia, China and Britannia.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/06/2014 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.
[DAWN] Afghans celebrated a largely peaceful election on Saturday, as turnout exceeded predictions despite Taliban threats to disrupt the vote to choose President 
[AnNahar] In the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, peaceful streets and long voter lines on Saturday stood in stark contrast to the violent 2009 election, when residents cowered indoors fearful of Taliban attack.
[AnNahar] Afghans celebrated a largely peaceful election on Saturday, as turnout exceeded predictions despite Taliban threats to disrupt the vote to choose President 
Parliamentarians in Berlin have given approval for the dispatch of military instructors to Somalia on a training mission mandated by the European Union. Opposition deputies voted against the deployment.
Bouteflika
[DAWN] ISLAMABAD: In a bid to bring an end to the ongoing insurgency in Pakistain, the government has decided to free 13 more Taliban prisoners as a confidence building measure to carry forward its peace initiative, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Saturday.
The Palestinians want US efforts to salvage the peace process to continue, a senior official said on Wednesday, just hours after they renewed controversial moves to seek international recognition.
The announcement was a blow to Kerry's 
