[WSJ] Leading members of the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... who were once held by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay have joined the group’s political office in the Gulf nation of Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... , according to sources inside the Taliban, a potentially important development in tentative peace talks now under way between the insurgency and Washington.
The move follows two rounds of talks between the Taliban and American officials in Qatar in July and October. Freeing the "Taliban Five" and bringing them into the political process appears to be a significant concession from the U.S. side. It had been a longstanding demand from the Taliban that was previously opposed by the White House.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the Trump administration approved the move or was aware of it. There was no immediate comment from Qatar.
Four of the men are very senior members of the Taliban. Joining the group’s political representatives in Doha significantly boosts the standing of that office, which could enable a more serious political dialogue with Washington.
They include the former head of the Taliban’s army, Mohammad Fazl. A senior military figure, he could help carry the movement’s dominant military side into the grinding of the peace processor, analysts say. It isn’t clear how much the Taliban’s military commanders support the peace dialogue.
The men were released from Guantanamo in 2014 by the U.S. in exchange for an American soldier held by the Taliban in Afghanistan, Bowe Bergdahl, and sent to Qatar. However, it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... until now, they lived under guard in their homes in the Gulf state. They weren’t allowed to hold political meetings or travel.
At an induction ceremony on Monday at the compound in Doha that houses the offices and living quarters of Taliban political representatives, they joined the Qatar office, Taliban front man Zabiullah Mujahid said.
"They have been appointed as members of political office in Doha," Mr. Mujahid said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2018 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Egypt's Prosecutor-General Nabil Sadek referred to military trial on Monday 43 defendants accused of being involved in the deadly Wahat terrorist attack that killed 16 coppers and left 13 injured in late 2017. According to the prosecution, the defendants, two of whom are runaways, include members of the terrorist group ISIS, as well as known terrorist, Abdel-Rahim al-Mesmary, who is a Libyan national.
In October 2017, 11 coppers, four conscripts and one sergeant were killed in a shootout while raiding a terrorist hideout in Bahariya Oasis, about 135 kilometres (83 miles) southwest of Cairo.
The ministry of interior said at the time that 15 bad boyz were potted during the shootout.
The prosecutors have charged al-Mesmary and the other defendants in the case with premeditated murder, attempted murder, memberhip in a terrorist group and attacks on army and police personnel, among other charges.
A police officer, Mohammed El-Hayes, was kidnapped by snuffies during the shootout, but the Egyptian army and police rescued him in a joint operation later that month.
Following the shootout, Egyptian security forces launched a number of operations targeting hideouts in the Western Desert area, during which numerous bad boyz were potted, according to officials.
Earlier this month, the Libyan National Army (LNA) announced that Hesham El-Ashmawy, a runaway Egyptian terrorist who is believed to be have been involved in the Wahat attack, was apprehended in Derna.
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10/31/2018 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] A suicide kaboom by an unemployed graduate woman on a busy street in the Tunisian capital this week was an "isolated act," a government minister said Tuesday.
Mna Guebla detonated explosives Monday near a gathering of police cars in the upmarket Avenue Habib Bourguiba in central Tunis, wounding 15 officers and two teenagers in the first such attack in the city since 2015.
Interior Minister Hichem Fourati, whose ministry is on the same street, said Guebla was not on a watch-list of potential murderous Moslems "and was not known for her religious background or affiliation."
"It was an isolated act, the security services were on the alert, they intervened very quickly," he told AFP.
Police sources said the assailant appeared to have used a homemade bomb rather than an boom belt.
Guebla, from the eastern region of Mahdia, was an unemployed business English graduate aged 30, said prosecution front man Sofiene Sliti, who also represents the country's anti-terrorism unit.
Her family said that in the three years since she graduated, she had been unable to find a job in that field and had instead occasionally worked as a shepherdess.
Eight years since a revolution that toppled longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia's economy is stagnant and around a third of young graduates are unemployed.
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10/31/2018 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdul Malik Saeed and all the members of his cabinet have left Riyadh and arrived in Aden, the government’s temporary headquarters and capital.
After his arrival, the newly appointed prime minister stressed that the government is currently present in Aden with all its members and will settle there to start its work and address the administrative, economic and financial imbalances and to activate state institutions.
He added that the focus in the next phase will be on reconstruction, provision and improvement of services and alleviating the suffering of citizens.
The premier promised in an interview two days ago to the Yemeni people of resuming the government’s work effectively and focusing on social and economic development, and the activation of supervising bodies in all state institutions.
He also stressed that the government's priorities are reconstruction, infrastructure reform and cost control.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2018 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... ’s cabinet of ministers endorsed in Tuesday's meeting the Kingdom’s Debt Relief Initiative for the underdeveloped countries by waiving more than $ 6 billion of debt owed.
In a statement on Tuesday, "Saudi Arabia stressing its full cooperation with the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... and the international community to achieve all that is good for mankind and the aspirations of all of security, stability and development".
The Cabinet's decision on Tuesday is a continuation of Saudi Arabia's humanitarian, political and economic role in the sense of responsibility and its Islamic and international standing and supporting the implementation of the goals of the 2030 Sustainable Development Plan.
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10/31/2018 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Israel's communications minister called for "peace and security" on Tuesday during a visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as his country launches an unprecedented diplomatic push into Gulf states.
"Peace and security in every state with economic and scientific progress is what guarantees a future for the coming generations," Ayoub Kara said at a telecommunications conference in Dubai.
Kara's statement comes amid a diplomatic push by Israel in the mainly Sunni Gulf, which Israel sees as an ally against Shia power Iran.
It follows visits by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Oman on Thursday and Culture Minister Miri Regev to Abu Dhabi at the weekend.
Neither Oman nor the UAE has diplomatic ties with Israel.
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10/31/2018 00:00 ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... has expressed concerns over the cabinet’s final approval of three amendments to the Representation of the People Order (RPO) 1972; allowing for the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the upcoming 11th national election.
The proposed Representation of the People’s (Amendment) Act 2018 was approved on Monday.
In a blurb issued on Tuesday, Assistant Secretary General of Jamaat, Maulana Rafiqul Islam Khan said: "I am expressing my concerns over cabinet’s approval of the RPO amendments in favour of EVMs, ignoring the opinions of most opposition parties, civil society, and experts.
"I have no doubts that the government has ill intentions regarding the use of EVMs in the upcoming parliamentary election‐disregarding the opinions of almost every quarter."
Alleging that the government and the Election Commission are engaged in a conspiracy to ensure Awami League’s victory in the next election, the blurb said: "The government and the commission have ulterior political motives for using the EVMs.
"They want to deceive the people and win the polls by any means necessary."
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10/31/2018 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... has dismissed as "unrealistic" demands to close a military base in Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... as sought by a Saudi-led bloc caught up in a row with the emirate, according to reports Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the presence of Ottoman Turkish troops in the gas-rich Gulf country was not connected to the ongoing crisis between the Arab countries.
"We believe this demand is both unrealistic and irrelevant," the Ottoman Turkish minister said, quoted by Qatar's pro-government al-Watan and Qatar Tribune newspapers.
Turkey and Qatar had signed a defense agreement in 2014, "long before the Gulf crisis", he added.
Cavusoglu also said the diplomatic impasse should be resolved without delay.
Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt called for the closure of the Tariq bin Ziyad camp in Doha as part of a string of conditions to end their diplomatic and political isolation of Qatar.
The Saudi-led boycott imposed a blockade on Qatar in June 2017 over allegations the emirate supports radical Islamist groups and is seeking closer ties with regional arch-rival Iran.
Qatar denies the charges, accusing its neighbors of seeking regime change.
Closure of the Ottoman Turkish base was one of 13 demands made by the Saudi-led countries, as well as a call for an end to all military cooperation between Doha and Ankara.
Qatar dismissed those demands as "neither reasonable nor actionable."
It is thought that 3,000 troops Ottoman Turkish troops are on Qatari soil and that the base has a capacity for up to 5,000 military personnel.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
Have the Saudis finished constructing the canal that make Qatar an island?
#2
fwiw, the radical group the Saudis accuse Qatar of supporting is the Muslim brotherhood not al Q or ISIS (Qatar does allow the Taliban a form of amnesty on its soil but the Saudis aren't apparently opposed to this and even support it at times).
but also Qatar supports al Jazeera which has a history of posting articles and opinion columns critical of the Saudis
Posted by: lord garth ||
10/31/2018 12:39 Comments ||
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#3
f supporting is the Muslim brotherhood not al Q or ISIS
A distinction without a difference to me. They're all Obama's people.
[IsraelTimes] Attorneys for Kansas militia members who conspired to bomb a mosque and apartment complex housing Somali immigrants colonists ask the court to take into account at a sentencing hearing next month what they called US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... ’s rhetoric encouraging violence.
One has asked the judge to also consider the fact that all three men read and shared Russian propaganda on their Facebook feed designed to sow discord in the U.S. political system.
...also in our archives as Patrick Eugene Stein...
Gavin Wright, and Curtis Allen
...the men formed a splinter group of sovereign citizen militia Kansas Security Force that came to be known as "the Crusaders”....
of one count of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction
...also known as a truck bomb...
and one count of conspiracy against civil rights in April.
Apparently blowing people up for being Muslim Somalis is a violation of their civil rights. Who knew?
Wright was also found guilty of lying to the FBI. The attack, planned for the day after the 2016 general election, was thwarted by another member of the group who tipped off authorities about escalating threats of violence.
That would be Dan Day, who found the planning got a little too real for his taste.
U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren will consider at their sentencing on Nov. 19 and 20 how much time each man will spend in prison. Conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction carries a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, while the sentence for the civil rights violation carries no more than 10 years. The sentencing had previously been scheduled for Friday.
Prosecutors are seeking life terms for all three, while defense attorneys are variously pleading for shorter terms of 15, 10, or even time served.
The government pointed to the seriousness of the offense, which it says continues to have "a deep, lasting impact on the victims’ sense of security in their homes and at their mosque. It also wanted to ensure the men can never threaten the safety of the public again. And it argued for the need to send a strong deterrent message that violence against the government or any person will not be tolerated.
#3
You will find examples of the Shallow End of the Gene Pool™ in every race and ethnicity. My sister, who taught remedial math at a junior college, told me that some classes just had more idiots than others...luck or the draw, as it were.
[AsiaTimes] Saudi Arabia's crisis over Khashoggi murder is Imran Khan's gain, but Pakistan may still be expected to up military cooperation with the kingdom.
Upon his return from Saudi Arabia, Khan said: “My fellow Pakistanis, today I am here with good news for all of you. We were facing really hard times. We were under high pressure to pay heavy debts. But thanks to Saudi Arabia’s extension of assistance, we are out of this pressure.”
The coming months will reveal if Pakistan is prepared for the reasons behind the kingdom’s generosity and whether the country can continue to deflect military requests in Yemen.
Posted by: 3dc ||
10/31/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
And if Pakistain fails to follow through, they have to give the money back, right?
That’s nice – of course that means Israel also it is not bound by all those agreements...But what does the “government”, the Palestinian Authority, have to say on the subject?
[PRESSTV] The Paleostine Liberation Organization’s central council has voted to suspend its recognition of Israel and terminate all agreements with the regime until Tel Aviv recognizes a Paleostinian state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.
The PLO announced the decision late Monday at the end of a two-day meeting in Ramallah. A committee will now be created to examine the recommendation, which would also need the approval of Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... The Organization has urged the Paleostinian Authority to halt all its commitments to the ’occupation authorities’, including its security cooperation and trade agreements with the regime, until they meet the demands.
Got it — they’re just posturing.
The PLO council essentially wants to cease compliance with the 1993 Oslo Accord, which set out a transitory phase during which the Paleostinians would move toward statehood.
The council has declared that this transitory phase, which was only supposed to last for five to seven years, is over. It insisted that Paleostinian statehood must be recognized now.
"In view of Israel's continued denial of the signed agreements, the PCC (PLO Central Council), in confirmation of its previous decision and considering that the transitional phase no longer exists, decides to end the commitments of the PLO and the Paleostinian Authority toward its agreements with the occupying power, suspend recognition of the state of Israel until its recognition of the state of Paleostine on the June 4, 1967 borders with east Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital, end security coordination in all its forms, and disengage economically from Israel on the grounds that the transitional phase, including the Gay Paree Economic Protocols no longer exist," said the PLO statement posted on the official Paleostinian news agency Wafa.
The PLO central council’s decisions are not binding; however, it acts as an advisor to the PA on making future decisions on its policies toward the Israeli regime.
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10/31/2018 00:00 ||
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[PRESSTV] Russia says it has received information showing that a Western-backed so-called aid group is preparing to stage a false flag chemical attack in the northwestern Syrian province of Aleppo to incriminate Damascus.
The Defense Ministry said the "White Helmets," which according to Moscow and Damascus cooperate with Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... terrorist groups in the Arab country, have already started the filming process for the attack, Russia’s Sputnik news agency reported on Monday.
"The Russian center for reconciliation [in Syria] received information from residents of Aleppo that they are preparing another provocation with the use of toxic agents to accuse the government forces of using chemical weapons against the local population," said Lt. Gen. Vladimir Savchenko, the head of the center, according to the ministry.
They arrived in Aleppo from the neighboring Province of Idlib, bringing along containers holding toxic agents, he added.
The group, the official said, sought to stage artillery shellfire with the containers and also meant to provoke the Syrian military to retaliate.
The White Helmets group, projected by the West as "civil defense workers," was founded by former British Army officer James Le Mesurier in 2014. The self-styled volunteer rescue group has been repeatedly accused of acting as the media arm for Takfiri groups, and charged with staging false flag chemical attacks in a bid to prompt Western military intervention in Syria.
In April, the United States, La Belle France, and Britannia launched missile strikes against multiple targets around Syria after alleging that "video evidence" provided by the White Helmets had pointed to an earlier chemical attack in the city of Douma in the Arab country’s southwest.
Subsequent investigations showed the video had been fake.
Earlier in the year, Israel transported several hundred members of the group from southwestern Syria to Jordan overnight at the request of the US and European countries, as Damascus was preparing to launch counter-terrorism operations in those areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2018 00:00 ||
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#3
Given drone technology, spy satellite resolution, human sources with cameras, etc., I suspect it won't be long before they give us the footage. Or keep the footage for comparison to whatever footage of the attack is released.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Just days before the start of a second round of US sanctions on Iran’s oil sector, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif confessed the sanctions would affect his country economically, but would not change Tehran’s policies, warning Washington of the futility such actions.
"Sanctions will have an economic impact, but they will not change policy. The United States must learn that," Zarif told CBS News in Tehran on Sunday.
"The US has an addiction to sanctions and they believe that the sanctions are the panacea that resolve all the problems. They don’t. They in fact hurt people and we have an obligation as a government to minimize the impact on the people. But sanctions never change policy."
"This agreement is the best and there can be no better," Zarif said.
Washington reintroduced sanctions against Iran’s currency trade, metals and auto sectors in August after it pulled out from a multinational 2015 deal that lifted sanctions in return for limits on Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump complained that the deal, approved by his predecessor Barack Obama That’s just how white folks will do you.... , does not cover Iran’s ballistic missiles, its role in regional wars or what happens after the nuclear pact begins to expire in 2025.
"The world community has stood up to the U.S. sanctions," Zarif said, after a trilateral meeting between Iran, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...Qatar's colony in Asia Minor.... and Azerbaijan’s foreign minister.
"The neighboring countries and Europeans nations have resisted against Washington’s unilateral measures."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
"Fine. Suck it"
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/31/2018 10:01 Comments ||
Top||
#6
I have been assured that "Camp of Saints", a 1973 French novel by Jean Raspail that depicts the destruction of Western civilization through Third World mass immigration is a work of fiction.
via Wikipedia:
Raspail has said his inspiration came while at the French Riviera in 1971, as he was looking out at the Mediterranean.
What if they were to come? I did not know who "they" were, but it seemed inevitable to me that the numberless disinherited people of the South would, like a tidal wave, set sail one day for this opulent shore, our fortunate country’s wide-gaping frontier.
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 emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
Saudi Arabia's crisis over Khashoggi murder is Imran Khan's gain, but Pakistan may still be expected to up military cooperation with the kingdom.
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed...
