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Today: 64 articles and 162 comments as of 10:04.
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North Macedonia police find 22 migrants packed into SUV
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
US-Taliban talks end without a deal, both sides to consult: Taliban
[AlAhram] Not that we expected anything else, and in the meantime the catered lunches are simply amazing!
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Will the next Democratic president resurrect Kissinger, or Kerry, so they can get a Nobel Peace Prize by giving the Taliban what they want and "declaring Peace"?
Posted by: magpie || 08/13/2019 12:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Will the next Democratic president resurrect Kissinger

Unless I've missed a rare celebratory moment, Kissinger requires no "resurrection."
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/13/2019 14:07 Comments || Top||


Ghani frees 35 Taliban inmates from NDS prison as a peace gesture
“Release the double agents into the wild, Abdullullah! They have Talibs to betray!”
[KhaamaPress] President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money...
has set free 35 Taliban
...Arabic for students...
inmates from the prison of the National Directorate of Security
...the Afghan national intel agency...
on the occasion of Eid.

The National Directorate of Security said in a statement that the directorate released 35 inmates based on a presidential decree which was issued on the occasion of Eid al-Adha
...a major Moslem holiday, marked by animal sacrifice and ritual rioting...
The statement further added that the prisoners were released as a gesture of goodwill to help advance the reconciliation.

Furthermore, the statement stated that the government has always kept the door for negotiations open in a bid to maintain peace and ensure a lasting ceasefire.

The National Directorate of Security also added that the release of the prisoners as a clear example of the government’s will regarding peace and end of the conflict.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Senate, the partisans of Honorius went for their knives and the partisans of Stilicho went for the doors...
the National Directorate of Security said it urges the released inmates not to be deceived by enemies and refrain from cooperation with the enemies of peace and stability of the country.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Taliban say latest talks end on US withdrawal from Afghanistan
[DAWN] The latest round of talks between the Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
and the United States on a deal to withdraw thousands of US troops from Afghanistan has ended and now both sides will consult with their leadership on the next steps, a Taliban front man said on Monday.

The eighth round of talks in the Gulf Arab 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...
concluded after midnight and was "long and useful," Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.

He made no statements on the outcome of the talks.

Last week, another Taliban front man had said a deal was expected to follow this round as both sides seek an end to the nearly 18-year war, America's longest conflict.

An agreement if reached is expected to include Taliban guarantees that Afghanistan would not be a base for other turban groups in the future. However,
death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate...
both the holy warrior Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(IS) group's affiliate and al-Qaeda remain active in the country. The Taliban stage near-daily attacks across Afghanistan, mainly targeting Afghan forces and government officials but also killing many civilians.

The deal also could include a cease-fire and stipulate that the Taliban would negotiate with Afghan representatives, though the bad boy group has so far refused to negotiate with Kabul representatives, dismissing the Afghan government as a US puppet.

There was no immediate comment on Monday from US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who on Sunday tweeted: "I hope this is the last Eid where #Afghanistan is at war."
Posted by: Fred || 08/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa North
Egypt targets daily crude oil production to hit 690,000 barrels by end of 2019
OPEC’s income and potential to influence the world reduces day by day.
[AlAhram] Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla said Monday Egypt targets increasing daily production of crude oil to hit 690,000 barrels by the end of 2019.

In a statement, the minister added that the average daily output currently stands at about 630,000 barrels.

An action plan is being implemented to increase Egypt's oil production, El Molla said.

In this regard, new geological phenomena that have already proved successful are being selected, while new geological structures that have never been considered are being tested, he added.

The minister said that newly-announced crude oil discoveries at Faghur Basin and Geisum in the Western Desert and the Gulf of Suez open new horizons for further discoveries in terms of targeting a surge in crude oil production similar to the recent increase in natural gas production.

Also, some high potential areas in the western Mediterranean region have been assigned to major global companies that own cadres, expertise and modern technologies, he added.

An international bid to search for oil and gas in the Red Sea region, planned to be closed on September 15, is witnessing a growing demand, Molla said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Brother of banned Nigerian Shiite group’s leader says Iran ‘lured him’
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The brother of Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, the leader of the Iranian-funded and inspired Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), has accused Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan, the abbreviation IRGC is a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
of converting Zakzaky and said the IMN should be proscribed for causing terror, according to an interview with Nigeria’s Punch Newspapers.

"Iran invited him to their country to join them (become a Shiite), and they financed him. Originally, El-Zakzaky was Sunni but Iran lured him into becoming a Shiite," Zakzaky’s reported brother Sheikh Mohammed Yakoob told Punch’s Ted Odogwu on Saturday.

According to the Punch interview, Sheikh Yakoob also alleged that Iran promised to make Zakzaky "their Shiite ambassador in Nigeria."

Zakzaky, a Nigerian Shiite holy man, founded the IMN in the early 1980s after he visited post-revolution Iran. The group draws inspiration from Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini and has received financial and political support from Iran since its inception.

The IMN, which advocates for an Iranian-style republic in Nigeria, has been banned and designated as a terrorist organization by the Nigerian government. The banning of the group has drawn attention to Iranian influence among the Shiite community in Nigeria, which makes up an estimated five to 17 percent of Nigeria’s 100 million Moslems, amid fears of sectarian conflict erupting as the IMN rejects the authority of Nigeria’s Sunni President Muhammadu Buhari.

A Nigerian expert on the IMN who wished to remain anonymous emphasized Iran’s support for the organization.

"They use fatwa [legal verdicts] issued by the Iranian holy mans. They always look up to these holy mans as sources of spiritual guidance and light. Members of IMN enjoy Iranian scholarships and study in Iranian universities/institutions, especially in [the Iranian city of] Qom," the source told Al Arabiya English.

The source also alleged that Iran’s finances are facilitating the IMN’s recruitment tactics, suggesting the financial support from Iran was "utilized to economically empower new converts to Shiism. The economic empowerment is one of the potent weapons and strategies adopted by IMN to win loyalty of its distressed members."

Yakoob also criticized the IMN, alleging that its members carry guns and agreeing with the Nigerian government that it causes terror, as reported by Punch.

Regarding the 2015 incident in which his brother was arrested, Yakoob blamed IMN members for "attacking" Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, and suggested they should "learn to face the consequences." Other commentators have disputed this view, pointing to the Nigerian government’s disproportionately violent crackdown on the IMN.

Zakzaky was arrested in December 2015 after the Nigerian government stormed the IMN’s offices, resulting in approximately 350 deaths. The IMN has since been campaigning for his release, with protests often turning violent.

When asked by Punch if the IMN has arms, Yakoob responded "If you ask any security agency in Nigeria, they will tell you that Shiites have arms, but not enough to fight with. They have both local and foreign-made guns but they are not enough to fight. They kill soldiers and coppers."

Sheikh Yakoob, who is a Sunni Moslem, also expressed anti-Shiite views during the Punch interview.

Zakzaky was granted bail to fly to India for medical treatment on Monday last week.

Posted by: Fred || 08/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies


Arabia
UAE calls for dialogue between warring Yemeni parties in Aden
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The UAE's Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Monday urged the Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
i Southern Transitional Council (STC) to engage in dialogue and defuse the crisis.

The Abu Dhabi Crown Prince said in a statement, after meeting 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 Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
...Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia as of 2016....
in the Kingdom, that the two Gulf Arab allies would "adamantly confront any and all powers that threaten the safety and security of the region."

He also said that relations between the UAE and Saudi Arabia were, and still are, solid and strong.

"The Arab Coalition supporting the legitimate government in Yemen, led by brotherly Saudi Arabia, has stood in the face of an attempt to hijack Yemen since its formation in 2015," the Crown Prince said.

"It (the Arab Coalition) worked and is still working toward a Yemen in which people are blessed with development and progress," he added.

The STC had on Saturday taken over the Yemeni government’s military camps in Aden. After the coalition warning early Sunday, the STC had agreed to the ceasefire.

The Abu Dhabi Crown Prince had arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Monday and met with Saudi King Salman
...either the largest species of Pacific salmon or the current Sheikh of the Burnin' Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Lord of Most of the Arabians...
bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Posted by: Fred || 08/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia


Houthi official in Yemen and brother of the movement’s leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi was killed because of infighting
[TWITTER]

Posted by: Fred || 08/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Britain
Johnson orders sentencing review for dangerous offenders
He’s hit the ground running.
[Rooters] British Prime Minister Boris Johnson launched an urgent review of sentencing of criminals on Sunday, aiming to keep law and order high on the political agenda after he promised 10,000 extra prison places and 20,000 more coppers.

The focus on crime and other domestic issues before Britannia is due to leave the Europe
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
an Union on Oct. 31 has fuelled speculation that Johnson is planning to call an election.

The prime minister's office said on Sunday the review would focus on whether violent and sexual offenders were serving sentences that reflected the severity of their crimes.

Johnson, who replaced Theresa May last month, said that to ensure confidence in the system, the punishment must truly fit the crime.

"We have all seen examples of rapists and murderers let out too soon or people offending again as soon as they're released," he said in a statement.

"This ends now. We want them caught, locked up, punished and properly rehabilitated."

Johnson will host senior coppers and leaders from the probation and police services on Monday to discuss his plan.

Earlier on Sunday he announced another 10,000 prison places, at a cost of 2.5 billion pounds ($3 billion), and said police would be given more powers to stop and search the public.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You can't be serious. 'Properly rehabilitated' rapists and murderers ?

Much as people are hoping he's going to be different, I just don't see it.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/13/2019 3:09 Comments || Top||

#2  And the UK once again regrets the loss of Australia as a land-fill site for their miscreants.
Posted by: AlanC || 08/13/2019 7:22 Comments || Top||

#3  You can't be serious. 'Properly rehabilitated' rapists and murderers ?

Clearly he is serious about longer sentences, Dron66046. The rest is politically necessary boilerplate, I suspect.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/13/2019 11:21 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Guatemala election winner sets sights on changing Trump migrant deal
[AlAhram] Guatemalan conservative Alejandro Giammattei secured a crushing victory in a presidential election on Sunday, and promised to seek better terms for his country from an unpopular migration deal agreed with Washington under duress last month.

With preliminary results from over 99% of polling stations counted, the electoral tribunal declared Giammattei the winner with more than 58% of the vote, ahead of his center-left rival, former first lady Sandra Torres, with 42%.

Speaking a few hours before being declared the winner, Giammattei said he wanted to see what could be done to improve the deal that outgoing President Jimmy Morales made to stem US-bound migration from Central America.

Giammattei will not take office until January, by which time Guatemala may be under severe pressure from the deal, which effectively turns the country into a buffer zone, by forcing migrants colonists to seek refuge there rather than in the United States.

"I hope that during this transition the doors will open to get more information so we can see what, from a diplomatic point of view, we can do to remove from this deal the things that are not right for us, or how we can come to an agreement with the United States," Giammattei, 63, told Rooters in an interview.

Threatened with economic sanctions if he said no, Morales reached an accord in late July to make Guatemala - despite endemic poverty and violence that have led hundreds of thousands of its people to migrate north - a so-called safe third country for migrants colonists.

"It's not right for the country," Giammattei said of the deal. "If we don't have the capacity to look after our own people, imagine what it will be like for foreigners."

Asked about Giammattei's comments, US border patrol chief Carla Provost said in an interview with Fox News channel, "It certainly is a concern. We need both Mexico and Guatemala to continue doing what they're doing," referring to Mexico's own campaign to block migrants colonists from crossing its border with the United States.

The third country agreement is also highly unpopular in Guatemala.

A poll published this month by Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre showed more than eight out of 10 rejected the idea of the country accepting foreign migrants colonists seeking asylum.

It is unclear how much Giammattei will be able to do to change the deal, which would require Hondurans and Salvadorans to apply for asylum in Guatemala rather than the United States. It also foresees granting US visas to some Guatemalan workers.

Taking over a country also struggling with a 60% poverty rate, Giammattei has promised to erect an "investment wall" on the border with Mexico to curb migration. He has also proposed bringing back the death penalty

Many Guatemalans are fed up with the political class after investigations by the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), a UN-backed anti-corruption body, led to the arrest of then-President Otto Perez in 2015, and then threatened to unseat his successor Morales, a former TV comedian.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  My Argentine Pesos just crashed! Basta!!!
Posted by: Varmint Splat1454 || 08/13/2019 6:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Morales, a former TV comedian.

Sounds like a perfect fit for the Demo clown car.
Posted by: AlanC || 08/13/2019 7:07 Comments || Top||


Europe
German Exports To Iran Drop By Half In First 6 Months Due To U.S. Sanctions
[Jpost] US sanctions took a heavy toll on Germany’s export trade with the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan, the abbreviation IRGC is a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
during the first six months of 2019, causing a fall of 48%, according to a Rooters review of new statistics on Monday.

The collapse in business suggests companies are scaling back business ties with Tehran to avoid trouble with the United States after Washington reimposed sanctions.

The US classifies Iran’s regime as the leading international state-sponsor of terrorism. Sales to Iran plunged by 48% to 678 million euros ($758.8 million) from January through June year-on-year, according to data from the Federal Statistics Office. Imports from Iran declined by 43% to nearly 110 million euros.

"The fact that trade between Iran and Germany has collapsed that massively is not a big surprise, unfortunately," the BGA trade association said.

It pointed to the extra-territorial character of recent U.S. sanctions, which means that companies from other countries are also punished if they do business with Iran.

"German companies are forced to choose between their market activities in Iran and the United States, so it’s clear which market is preferred," BGA said.

Despite the U.S. decision to reimpose sanctions, Germany, La Belle France and Britannia are trying to rescue the agreement by setting up a barter-based trade conduit with Iran, but an Iranian mirror mechanism has yet to be established.

If the mechanism, also known as Instex, goes ahead, it would initially deal only in products such as pharmaceuticals and foods, which are not subject to U.S. sanctions.

Iranian officials have repeatedly said Instex must cover oil sales or provide substantial credit facilities for it to be beneficial.

Instex suffered a setback on Thursday when Germany’s appointed director Bernd Erbel, a former ambassador to Iraq and Iran, was forced to resign. Erbel appeared on a radio program with a host who has denied the Holocaust and is known for his hardcore antisemitism.

Erbel said on the program that for "psychological reasons," Israel was incapable of feeling empathy towards others. "They give you the feeling that only others can commit an act of injustice, because they were on the receiving end of injustice." Erbel also showed enormous sympathy for the Iranian mullah regime and praised the terrorist entity Hezbollah’s war against Israel.

Chancellor Angela Merkel
...chancellor of Germany and the impetus behind Germany's remarkably ill-starred immigration program. Merkel used to be referred to by Germans as Mom. Now they make faces at her for inundating the country with Moslem colonists...
’s administration celebrated Iran’s regime at an event in February at Tehran’s embassy in Berlin.

Last year, Germany exported mainly machinery, chemical products, cars and car parts to Iran.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Would that be 'direct' exports?

Set up shell companies in other countries for the delivery paperwork is so easy.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/13/2019 7:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Erbel let the mask drop
Posted by: Frank g || 08/13/2019 9:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Oh no! Now what will they do with all the dual-use technology?
Posted by: gorb || 08/13/2019 14:20 Comments || Top||

#4  Exports to the U.S. increased
Posted by: European Conservative || 08/13/2019 22:25 Comments || Top||

#5  I'll take it. We could use some quality products over here.
Posted by: gorb || 08/13/2019 23:23 Comments || Top||


Norway is revoking the citizenship of a terrorist Norwegian in the Krekar case
[Translate.google] The UDI has withdrawn the citizenship of the man convicted of terrorism along with Mullah Krekar in Italy. The man was arrested immediately afterwards.
Because it's not Sweden or Minnesota
- The Ministry of Education has instructed the UDI to revoke the citizenship of the man who is terrorized with Mullah Krekar in Italy, Minister of Knowledge and Integration Jan Tore Sanner (H) said in a press release on Monday evening.

The man has already been arrested by Norwegian police, writes Nettavisen .

Facing NTB, Communications Director Trond Hugubakken confirms the Police Security Service (PST arrest).

- I can confirm that he was arrested this evening by PST with the assistance of local police. He was arrested because he was convicted in an Italian court and because Italy has called for him, says the communications director.

Seven and a half years in prison
Earlier this summer it became known that the Buskerud man had been granted citizenship even though he was under investigation for terrorism in Italy. In the July lawsuit this year, the man, who is in his 40s, was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison.
Posted by: Woodrow || 08/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Paris attacks suspect charged over Brussels suicide bombings
[AlAhram] Salah Abdeslam, the sole surviving suspect in the November 2015 Gay Paree attacks, has been formally charged in connection with the Brussels suicide kabooms months later, federal prosecutors said Monday.

Abdeslam was charged with "participating in the activities of a terrorist group," the federal prosecutor's office told AFP, confirming reports in the Belgian media in recent days.

The prosecutor's office did not give details of his alleged role in the suicide kabooms at Brussels airport and a city metro station on March 22, 2016, which killed 32 people and maimed 340 others.

The Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group grabbed credit for the attacks which occurred within an hour of each other.

Investigators say the attacks were ordered from Syria and organised by a French-Belgian cell in Brussels, which was also behind the November 13, 2015 attacks in Gay Paree that killed 130 people and maimed hundreds of others.

In April, a Belgian court sentenced Abdeslam to 20 years in prison over a shootout with police in Brussels that led to his capture days before the Brussels suicide kabooms.

Abdeslam, a Belgian-born French national who hails from the Brussels Molenbeek neighbourhood, is being held in jail in La Belle France pending a separate trial over the Gay Paree attacks.

Abdeslam is alleged to have dropped off three jacket wallahs at a Gay Paree sports stadium the evening of the November attacks before abandoning a suicide belt he was apparently going to detonate.

Before Abdeslam's indictment was confirmed in the Belgian capital, 12 people had been charged in connection with the Brussels bombings.

The defendants are due to be tried next year in the former NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
headquarters in the Belgian capital, which sources said could begin in the autumn of 2020 and last up to eight months.

Among the main defendants are Mohammed Abrini and Osama Krayem, who were arrested in April 2016.

Investigators say Abrini did not set off his suitcase bomb at Zaventem airport with the other two suicide bombers and was captured days later.

Abrini was filmed at a service station en route to Gay Paree just before the November 2015 attacks which were also claimed by Islamic State. Salah Abdeslam was seen with Abrini at the station.

Krayem was seen next to the suicide bomber at the metro station near EU headquarters in Brussels moments before the blast.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  The world is crazy. What is the point of charging people committed to violent suicide ? I'm all for giving the Abrini guy a sentence, but the rest of them, maybe in their mid 20s ?

The next generation will rue this catch-and-release circus. 20 years later the news will scream out headlines of a bloody massacre by these assholes who had 'once been jailed for extremism related offenses'.

"You just give a jihadi an all-expenses-paid vacation by imprisoning him." - Unknown grunt
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/13/2019 4:16 Comments || Top||


UN expert urges France to try nationals on death row in Iraq
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A UN human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
expert on Monday called on the French government to repatriate and try seven Frenchies sentenced to death on terror charges in Iraq.

In a statement, Agnes Callamard, a UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, expressed "serious concerns" over the men’s fate.

"There are serious allegations that the sentences were handed down following unfair trials, with the accused having no adequate legal representation or effective consular assistance," Callamard said.

She said Iraq’s legal system was "marred by very serious structural problems."
Hundreds of foreigners have been sentenced to death or life imprisonment in Iraq for belonging to ISIS.

Europe
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
an governments have long debated whether and how to take back former fighters and their supporters amid a host of security, political, and legal issues.

The seven Frenchies were arrested by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and subsequently transferred to Iraq in February, allegedly at the request of the French government or with its suspected involvement, Callamard said.

Once in Iraq, they were reportedly subject to torture or other ill-treatment, she added.

"In these circumstances, the transfer of persons to Iraq for prosecution is illegal. I am particularly disturbed by allegations that La Belle France may have had a role in this transfer, given the risk involved of torture and unfair trials and that they would likely face the death penalty
," Callamard added.

She has written to French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe with her concerns.

Callamard named the men as Fodil Tahar Aouidate, Mourad Delhomme, Karam El Harchaoui, Bilel Kabaoui, Leonard Lopez, Brahim Nejara, and Vianney Ouraghi.

Last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi declared that his government was not empowered to reduce the sentences of foreign Lions of Islam facing death.

Iraqi law stipulates the death penalty for anyone joining a "terrorist group" -- even those who did not take up arms.

La Belle France and other European countries have strongly resisted the repatriation of their nationals suspected of joining ISIS. But La Belle France is also staunchly opposed to capital punishment.

Posted by: Fred || 08/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  Fuck this "expert". What the fuck is he an expert on ? There is no telling what the pieces of shit did while they where a part of ISIS. I hope in Trumps next 4 years he tells the UN too fuck off and get the hell out of our country. It's long overdue for these bastards too take their asses back where they came from.
Posted by: chris || 08/13/2019 13:06 Comments || Top||

#2  That's Agnes Callamard. You can tell what a joyless, hate-worshiping, baby eater she is in one look.

Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/13/2019 14:47 Comments || Top||


Suspect in Norway mosque shooting not admitting guilt, says lawyer
[DAWN] The man suspected of shooting at people inside a Norwegian mosque on Saturday and of separately killing his stepsister does not admit to any crime and is not speaking with Sherlocks, his lawyer said on Monday.

"He is exercising his right not to be interrogated," his defence attorney, Unni Fries, told Rooters. "He is not admitting any guilt."

A court is expected to rule later on Monday on a police request to detain the 21-year-old for the next several weeks.

Police said on Sunday they were investigating whether the man was guilty of breaching anti-terrorism laws when shots were fired at the al-Noor Islamic Centre near the Norwegian capital, although no one was hit in the attack.

The man, who is also suspected of killing his 17-year old stepsister before the attack, was eventually overpowered by a member of the mosque and held down by several people before his arrest.
Posted by: Fred || 08/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What if someone else killed his sister ? And that set him off looking for muslims to kill ? Have the Lestrades thought of that angle ?

Because if a 65 year old haji can wrestle him to the ground and take his guns, I think the 17 year old Johanne could make him say 'uncle' any time.

Are they even going to investigate anything or just assume stuff and wait for a statement ?
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/13/2019 3:21 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
The Real Cost of Ejecting Turkey From the F-35 Program
click on link to read whole article - short form:
[Stratfor] These variables loom at an inopportune moment. Turkey's decision to begin searching for hydrocarbons off the coast of ethnically divided Cyprus prompted the European Union to sanction Ankara because it considers the EU member's internationally recognized government in the Greek-majority southern part of the island nation to have exclusive rights to those Eastern Mediterranean waters. Turkey recognizes the Turkish Cypriot administration in the breakaway northern part of Cyprus and argues that any hydrocarbons found in the country's exclusive economic zone belong to all Cypriots; the government's drilling activities are only benefiting Greek Cypriots, Turkey says. While Turkey may have a valid point, its drilling activities are perceived to be hostile and belligerent. In the event of a conflict between Turkey and another European power, what will be the position of the United States? This is a clear unknown. In previous years, the United States has mediated and de-escalated contentious issues, but U.S. policy under Trump has resulted in regional disengagement. With the deepening bilateral U.S.-Turkey crisis, it is also clear that Turkey would not trust the United States to mediate if an unexpected conflict arises.

What is off the table for sure is Turkey being ousted from NATO. The F-35 debacle, however, will likely result in Turkey being removed from key NATO military programs, missions and intelligence platforms as the deployment of the S-400 system is a direct threat to NATO's operational security. Even if Trump holds off in pressing ahead with sanctions in the immediate term, such delay is unlikely to continue. Independent of Turkey, countries such as China and Egypt are also interested in purchasing the S-400 system. If they are not disincentivized by making a clear example out of Turkey, it could open the floodgates and allow allies to buy weapons that are not manufactured by the United States. Congress isn't likely to tolerate or accept this.

In the final analysis, the wider picture is clear: The loss of trust between the United States and Turkey is real and will be hard to soon reestablish in any substantive form. The question of whether the S-400s will actually be operational still stands, however.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  what a thumbsucker of an analysis

the truth is Turkey doesn't really need the F-35 or the S-400 as no major power threatens them militarily

the principal threats to Turkey are

- Erdogan himself,
- ISIS, al Q, the PKK, maybe a few others

The F-35 doesn't protect against any of these

if and when Iran gets nukes and can strap them to a missile, that would be a threat also but even then the F-35 doesn't help and neither does the S-400

Posted by: lord garth || 08/13/2019 0:12 Comments || Top||

#2  The analysis seems to miss the point that Turkey the Ottoman Empire wants Cyprus, Crete and -all- of the Eastern Mediterranean. From Cyprus/Crete SAM's and semi-stealthy F-35s would have made this ambition easier. Erdogan, like Adolph, got greedy.
Posted by: magpie || 08/13/2019 1:59 Comments || Top||

#3  So sell them F35s at inflated rates and have Lockheed introduce extra sensitivity in the fly-by-wire system. Add in the hypoxia inducing oxygen delivery.

Roll your eyes and ♪whistle when they crash them all over Ankara.
Posted by: Dron66046 || 08/13/2019 3:01 Comments || Top||

#4  "allow allies to buy weapons that are not manufactured by the United States."

You know, I used to ridicule leftists for saying shit like the US government is run for the benefit of weapons dealers. But fuck, you could not be clearer here. How dare they lose their sales! The US government is taking actions to directly benefit them.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 08/13/2019 4:49 Comments || Top||

#5  Ref #4: US government is run for the benefit of weapons dealers.

Could a nation involved a continual state of foreign conflict since the Korean War be offered as evidence, or is that purely coincidental? Perhaps an examination of just the previous eighteen years would provide a more contemporary sampling.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/13/2019 5:13 Comments || Top||

#6  And what if, for once, the USA is taking the long view and is implementing a pragmatic policy -- one that is determined to outlast Erdogan? Recall, his loss of Ankara and Istamboul in the recent election shows that his Party's base is diminishing. What if the USA were following a policy to weaken Erdogan both politically and economically but one that does not break entirely with the Turkish polity, and thus the Turkish people?
Posted by: Chereting Pelosi1889 || 08/13/2019 7:22 Comments || Top||

#7  The Berlin Blockade prompted the reestablishment of a peacetime draft and the commitment to being a world policeman that was fundamentally fatal to the old Constitution and the rise of a permanent 'Deep State'. The previous 'war' experiences were marked by demobilization and return to the antebellum economic-political-social relationships when the emergency was over. Its not like small frequent local military operations were unusual, just ask the natives on the frontier. However, that was done by a small volunteer force often starved of resources. Their most vexing international problem was the attitude of the Mexican government in allowing sanctuary to the 'opfor' to operate out from (things don't change a lot).
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/13/2019 7:28 Comments || Top||

#8  Turkey under Hippy has not acted as an ally. Severe simply quit pretending
Posted by: Frank g || 08/13/2019 9:33 Comments || Top||

#9  Yippy, can autocorrect
Posted by: Frank g || 08/13/2019 9:34 Comments || Top||

#10  Whatever, the real problem is letting the islamic dicktatter having them.
Posted by: Woodrow || 08/13/2019 9:41 Comments || Top||

#11  Who says that China or Egypt want the F-35?
Posted by: BernardZ || 08/13/2019 9:44 Comments || Top||

#12  The loss of trust between the United States and Turkey is real and will be hard to soon reestablish in any substantive form.

As if I wasn't laughing hard enough yet, reading this article.

Jah sure lost that lucrative Patriot AAM contract drawn up with China. 8,000 units if I remember right, built in our hidden factory outside Caracas. Its where all that sweet Venezuelan electricity is going towards.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 08/13/2019 10:58 Comments || Top||

#13  What if the USA were following a policy to weaken Erdogan both politically and economically but one that does not break entirely with the Turkish polity, and thus the Turkish people?

If Turkey is to return to secular style of Ataturk, the secularists are going to have to outbreed the religious citizens. Or we can wait a generation until the Kurds have become the majority.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/13/2019 11:36 Comments || Top||

#14  Re: #5 & #7: Could a nation involved a continual state of foreign conflict since the Korean War be offered as evidence, or is that purely coincidental?
I read The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire: From the First Century A.D. to the Third by Edward N. Luttwak. There are parallels in the Late Roman Republic to our current actions. The Republican Romans exercised "preemptive paranoid self-defense" by mobilizing farmer soldiers, marching out to trample someone, and then demobilizing back to their homes. As Rome became more powerful they just found themselves more and more things to be paranoid about and the citizen soldiers had to be replaced by full-time professionals to "police the territories".
TL/DR: If you have a hammer you will develop an itch to go out and look for nails to bash...
Posted by: magpie || 08/13/2019 12:52 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Uneasy calm in Indian Kashmir on Eid al-Adha
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] An uneasy calm prevailed in Indian-administered Kashmir
...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there....
on Monday as people celebrated the major Islamic festival Eid al-Adha
...a major Moslem holiday, marked by animal sacrifice and ritual rioting...
during an unprecedented crackdown, after India moved to strip the disputed region of its constitutional autonomy and imposed an indefinite curfew.

All communications and the internet remained cut off for an eighth day Monday.

News reports say authorities will allow Eid al-Adha prayers at neighborhood mosques during the day but will not permit large congregations to avoid anti-India protests.

The security lockdown appeared aimed at avoiding a backlash in India’s only Moslem-majority region where most people oppose Indian rule. The restrictions had been briefly eased on Friday for residents to attend mosque prayers, and people also were allowed to shop for the Eid festival on Saturday and Sunday.

Magistrate Shahid Choudhary tweeted late Sunday that he held a meeting with religious leaders for prayer arrangements and visited several venues.

Also Sunday, as people were shopping in Srinagar, the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the New Delhi Television News channel showed video of jeeps fitted with loudspeakers moving in the region after lunchtime, telling people to return to their homes and shopkeepers to shut markets. NDTV said the move may have been prompted by sporadic festivities that took place in Srinagar after the restrictions were relaxed on Saturday.

Thousands of additional troops were sent to the disputed Himalayan region before India’s Hindu nationalist-led government said last Monday that it was revoking Kashmir’s special constitutional status and downgrading its statehood.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in an address to the nation that the move would free the territory of "terrorism and separatism" and accused India’s archrival Pakistain of fomenting unrest.

Kashmir is claimed in full by both nations and divided between them, and rebels have been fighting Indian rule in the portion it administers for decades.
Posted by: Fred || 08/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies


Iraq
US marine killed in Iraq counter-ISIS operation identified
[Rudaw] A US marine killed in Nineveh province on Saturday while accompanying Iraqi troops on a counter-Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) mission was today identified by the US Department of Defense.

"Gunnery Sergeant Scott A. Koppenhafer, 35, of Mancos, Colorado, died August 10, 2019, after being engaged by enemy small arms fire while conducting combat operations. This incident is under investigation," read a statement from the DOD on late Sunday.

The marine was announced dead by the Combined Joint Task Force for Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) - the US-led international coalition to fight ISIS - on Saturday, but his identity was not disclosed until his next of kin were notified.

Koppenhafer was killed while "advising and accompanying the ISF [Iraqi Security Forces] during a planned operation," the coalition said in a statement on Saturday.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran can seize any ship, any time in the Gulf: Iranian navy commander
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iranian authorities can seize any ship, any time, even if accompanied by American or British forces, claimed a senior Iranian naval commander on Sunday.

Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy, made the claim in an interview with al-Mayadeen TV Channel.

Tangsiri was sanctioned by the US on June 24, along with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and seven other IRGC commanders, under Executive Order 13876 in response to Iran’s downing of a US drone on June 20 and its long-term promotion of terrorism in the region.

Tangsiri also warned about any potential Israeli presence in the Arabian Gulf, saying that it would be illegitimate and could lead to a war in the region.

The IRGC navy is responsible for ensuring the security of the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Gulf, said Tangsiri, adding that there is no need for foreign forces.

Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan, the abbreviation IRGC is a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
will ensure the security of the Strait of Hormuz as long as it is able to export oil, he said, criticizing the US and the UK’s presence for designing "various scenarios" in the region to legitimise their presence in the Arabian Gulf.

He also accused the US of targeting oil tankers near Iranian waters and blaming Iran for the attacks. Iran has seized three tankers in strategic Arabian Gulf waters since last month, including the British-flagged oil tanker the Stena Impero.

The US and the UK have announced an "international maritime security mission" to protect merchant vessels in the Strait of Hormuz amid heightened tensions, as P&O Cruises has cancelled cruises around Dubai and the Arabian Gulf in response to Iran seizing foreign vessels.

Posted by: Fred || 08/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


US, Turkey begin work to create Syria buffer zone
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] A US delegation arrived in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire...
on Monday to begin working with Ankara on creating a buffer zone in northern Syria, under a plan strongly rejected by Damascus.

Ottoman Turkish and US officials struck a deal last week to establish the safe zone to manage tensions between Turkey and US-backed Kurdish forces in war-torn Syria.

But Damascus has accused Ankara and Washington of violating its illusory sovereignty with the "expansionist" and "aggressive" project.

Turkey’s defense ministry said that six US officials arrived in the southeastern city of Sanliurfa on Monday to start setting up a joint operations center, which is to open "in the coming days."

No details have been provided on the size or timetable for the safe zone, but the deal appears to have provided some breathing room after Turkey had threatened an imminent attack on the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which control a large swathe of northern Syria.

The YPG has been a key US ally in the fight against ISIS in Syria, but Ankara brands them "terrorists", viewing them as an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has fought a bloody insurgency inside Turkey for 35 years.

Turkey has called for the safe zone to be 30 kilometers (18 miles) wide - a demand reiterated by Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Monday.

"We have said on every occasion that we need a width of 30 to 40 kilometers," Akar told state-run TRT television.

The Kurds have agreed to a buffer zone, but have requested it to be five kilometers wide, a proposal rejected by Turkey.

While fighting ISIS; a terrorist organization, the Kurds have taken advantage of the Syrian war to set up an autonomous region in the northeast.

But as the fight against ISIS winds down in the region, the prospect of a US military withdrawal has stoked Kurdish fears of a long threatened Ottoman Turkish attack.

Turkey has already carried out two cross-border offensives into Syria in 2016 and 2018, the second of which saw it and allied Syrian rebels overrun the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in the northwest.

Posted by: Fred || 08/13/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte



Who's in the News
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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2019-08-13
  North Macedonia police find 22 migrants packed into SUV
Mon 2019-08-12
  UAE-backed forces expel Saudi-backed troops from Yemeni Presidential Palace
Sun 2019-08-11
  Southern Transitional Council stages an attempted coup, says Yemeni government
Sat 2019-08-10
  Jeffrey Epstein dead in Arkancide
Fri 2019-08-09
  US slaps Hezbollah financier with 5-year prison sentence, $50m. fine
Thu 2019-08-08
  Clashes erupt between Indian, Pakistani forces in Kashmir
Wed 2019-08-07
  Algeria: court issues arrest warrant on Khaled Nezzar, ex-General accused of alleged mass killings in the 1990s
Tue 2019-08-06
  Benghazi flight to Mitiga Tripoli survives rocket attack while landing
Mon 2019-08-05
  Indian Kashmir Dissolved.
Sun 2019-08-04
  Special Forces arrest Taliban fighter disguised in women’s dress
Sat 2019-08-03
  6000 protest at Gaza border, rioters hurl explosive devices toward IDF troops
Fri 2019-08-02
  TTP warns against playing music, women going out alone in Miramshah
Thu 2019-08-01
  Iran slashes four zeroes from rial currency over inflation
Wed 2019-07-31
  Breaking : Hamza Bin Laden Dead.
Tue 2019-07-30
  Accused 9/11 mastermind open to role in victims' lawsuit if not executed

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