#2
My first wife was actually related to Miss Hogg. I met her in Austin a few times in the early 70s. She passed away in 1975 at the age of 93. She was the true First Lady of Texas and a very classy lady indeed. She was also a real beauty in her youth and for quite a while thereafter.
Yasmine Bleeth aka Caroline Holden in "Baywatch" aka Theresa O'Brian in "Hey Babe!" aka Coral Wilson in "The Force" aka Jenna Reed in "BASEketball" aka Rachel in "Heaven or Vegas" aka Holly Anderson in "Undercover Angel" (age 43)
[Tolo News] Kabul Bank attacker in down town Jalalabad, scenic provincial capital in eastern Nangarhar, ...on the main road from Lovely Peshawar. The capital is Jalalabad. The population of 1,334,000 consists mostly of Pashtuns with a few Arabs and Pashais... along with his accomplice were sentenced to death, officials said on Monday.
Around four months ago an Islamic exemplar, Zar Ajam, dressed in police uniform and wearing boom jacket stormed into a Kabul Bank branch in downtown Jalalabad and rubbed out nearly 40 civilians with an AK-47.
A bigwig in Attorney General's Office said the High Court has issued the death sentence of the convicts, Zar Ajam and Qari Mattiullah, an Afghan who provided him facilitation, for the massacre at the Kabul Bank branch.
Nearly 40 civilians, who were visiting the bank, were killed and 73 others were maimed in mid February this year. Officials said Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid 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... would have to sign the death warrant to allow the sentence to be carried out.
"The man who carried out the terrorist attack on Kabul Bank branch in Jalalabad, a Pak national, was sentenced to death along with one of his two Afghan controllers, who provided him accommodation," Deputy Attorney General Rahmatullah Nazari said.
"After President Karzai signs the death warrant of the convicts, we will make a decision about the location where the punishment should take place, Kabul or Jalalabad," Mr Nazari further said.
Victim families in Nangarhar province and some security officials have previously sought rough punishment for the raider. They said the man should be hanged in public to be a lesson to other murderers of innocent civilians.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/14/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
should be hanged in public to be a lesson to other murderers
[Tolo News] At least 32 Talibs and 4 Afghan National Army were killed in a joint Afghan and foreign forces' operation in Badghis province on Sunday night, local officials said.
An eight to one ratio? That's pretty good, right?
The operation was launched in Qades district of Badghis province yesterday during which 25 other Death Eaters were maimed, Gen. Shahzada, the commander of 207 Zafar military corps, told TOLOnews news hound.
There were no civilian casualties during the operation, he added.
Some Death Eaters had come to Qades district to collect money from the residents, but Afghan and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants... forces targeted them, Mr Shahzada said.
He said some Taliban local commanders have been killed in the operation as NATO targeted them by air.
Hurrah for the NATO air targetters! Rack up those Number Threes!
The Taliban have not yet commented about the operation.
Naturally. The dead ones aren't talking and the living ones are keeping their heads down. Just as a precaution, you realize, not because they're scared or anything.
Militants have recently become active in some provinces targeting Afghan forces in the country.
Afghan and foreign forces have also launched many military operations in the country to wipe out the Death Eaters.
Live training exercises for the local troops, dontchaknow.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/14/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
The Taliban's tax collectors stopped dead in their tracks. Gotta love it.
Posted by: American Delight ||
06/14/2011 8:01 Comments ||
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[Tolo News] Afghan police officials in Farah province said on Monday that 28 Taliban snuffies were captured in a joint Afghan and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants... forces' operation in the province.
The men were captured in Afghan and NATO joint operation that has continued for three days ending on Sunday morning in Bala Blook district of Farah province, Sayed Mohammad Roshandel, police chief of Farah told TOLOnews news hound.
The forces have seized many weapons from the tossed in the calaboose men, he added.
The operation comes as beturbanned goon's have increased their activities in some parts of the country carrying out attacks on police check posts, government's sites and foreign forces.
In July this year foreign forces will hand over security responsibilities of seven areas to Afghan forces and they have also increased military operations to clear volatile regions of beturbanned goons.
There are around 152,000 foreign forces in Afghanistan, 100,000 of them American troops fighting beturbanned goons.
More than 239 foreign troops have been killed so far this year in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/14/2011 00:00 ||
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Stepping up a simmering constitutional conflict, House Speaker John A. Boehner warned President Obama on Tuesday that unless he gets authorization from Congress for his military deployment in Libya, he will be in violation of the War Powers Resolution.
In a letter sent Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Boehner, the top Republican in the constitutional chain of succession, said Mr. Obama must provide a clear justification for committing troops to Libya by Friday. Sunday marks the 90th day since the president notified Congress that U.S. troops had been committed to help enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, which is designed to protect the rebels fighting Col. Moammar Gadhafis government.
In a letter sent Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Boehner, the top Republican in the constitutional chain of succession, said Mr. Obama must provide a clear justification for committing troops to Libya by Friday, which marks the 90th day since the president committed U.S. troops, and the clock started ticking under the War Powers Resolution.
Question is, who will blink first? This may be a good way for Obumble to get out of Libya without insulting NATO members. "Congress made me do it!"
#2
Libya is chump change that doesn't even register on the Federal budget. What's $60M a month compared to $10,000M/month blown on them Overseas Contingency Operation to Bring Civilization and Goodies to Muslim Barbarians and Beg Them to Please Not Murder Us.
Yes, but it's about whether the president can be brought to heel, Zebulon Thranter9685. Just like a lot of the budget cuts Speaker of the House Boehner has been working are relatively small, but the repetitive discussion of such items has changed the conversation from whether or not to cut to "How much to cut". Every day this week the Libya thing will be discussed by the pundits and the journalists, and every day the president will have to ponder whether this is expending political capital on when a majority of voters think we oughtn't be there.
Germany recognises the rebel National Transitional Council as the "legitimate representative" of the Libyan people, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said on Monday.
"The NTC is the legitimate representative of the Libyan people," Westerwelle told news hounds after meeting council officials, including the rebel "foreign minister" Ali al-Essawi.
"We want a free Libya, in peace and democracy without (Moamer) Qadaffy," he said in the rebels' eastern bastion of Benghazi, Libya's second city.
Germany becomes the 13th nation to recognise the NTC as "sole legitimate representative," after Australia, Britannia, La Belle France, Gambia ... The Gambia is actually surrounded by Senegal on all sides but its west coast. It has a population of about 1.7 million. The difference between the two is that in colonial days Senegal was ruled by La Belle France and The Gambia (so-called because there's only one of it, unlike Guinea) was ruled by Britannia... , Italia, Jordan, Malta, Qatar, Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... , Spain, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.
Westerwelle defended his country's position after Germany abstained from a UN Security Council resolution backing intervention in Libya and chose not to participate in the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants... -led air war launched in March.
"We were one of the first governments to say that Qadaffy must go," he said, adding that Germany's absence from the NATO-led campaign "does not mean that we are neutral."Colonel Qadaffy's economic isolation must be broadened," he said.
"His assets should be unblocked so they can be used to build a new Libya, whose riches are for the Libyan people," Westerwelle said of the huge financial assets secreted abroad by Libya's leader and his family and subsequently frozen.
Dirk Niebel, Berlin's economic cooperation and development minister who was also in Benghazi, said Germany would work on development projects in Libya, mainly in the sectors of water and electricity.
Niebel said Germany wanted to help refugees and "people traumatised by the war," and said that Berlin was ready to free 10 million euros in aid for the Libyan people.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/14/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
No, of course Germany's not neutral. They just want others to do the heavy lifting and to pay for it.
I'm almost sympathetic, given how they are carrying the EU finanically. OTOH if they manage to offload Greek debt through the IMF, my sympathy will evaporate instantaneously.
[Al Jazeera] Forces loyal to Muammar Qadaffy have killed at least 25 anti-government fighters on the frontline between Ajdabiya and Brega in eastern Libya, according to rebel sources.
The rebels have spent months trying to seize the strategic oil hub of Brega, which would open the road to Sirte, the Libyan leader's home town, and from there to the capital Tripoli.
"Our men were tricked. Qadaffy's soldiers pretended to surrender, coming with a white flag, and then they fired on us"
"Our men were tricked. Qadaffy's soldiers pretended to surrender, coming with a white flag, and then they fired on us," Mussa al-Mograbi, a rebel commander, told the AFP news agency on Monday.
Dozens more fighters were maimed and transferred to a hospital in Ajdabiya, 160km south of Benghazi, the de facto capital of rebels who have been fighting to overthrow Qadaffy since mid-February.
Brega boasts an important oil refinery which, once operational, could supply the east of the country with much-needed fuel to produce electricity.
French and British attack helicopters have been backing rebels by targeting positions of pro-Qadaffy forces in and around Brega since June 3.
Rebels, who refuse to specify how many fighters have joined their ranks, estimate that up to 5,000 loyalist troops are defending Brega.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/14/2011 00:00 ||
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[Al Jazeera] Battles between pro-democracy fighters and Qadaffy forces continued across the west of the country, as rebels said they were advancing towards Tripoli.
Rebel fighters said they were making gains towards Zlitan from the port city of Misrata - which is under their control. Zlitan is one of three towns separating Misrata from the capital Tripoli.
Click here for more of Al Jizz's special coverage Battles were also being fought in the Berber mountains southwest of Tripoli, in nearby Yafran, and at Dafnia near Misrata, Libya's third city, rebel sources said.
An AFP correspondent said Qadaffy's forces pounded the outskirts of Zintan on Sunday, killing at least seven rebels and wounding 49.
Government forces posted a few miles east of Zintan, which remains under rebel control, fired Grad and Katyusha rockets at the town.
NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants... , which has been bombing Qadaffy forces since late March, said it was taking "necessary action" to protect civilians.
"NATO is monitoring the situation closely and is taking necessary action to protect civilians," a statement by the Western alliance said.
"Along the north-west coast of Libya between Tripoli and the Tunisian border Libyans long tired of Qadaffy rule are challenging his legitimacy openly, and in doing so, are under threat of attack."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/14/2011 00:00 ||
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[Yemen Post] The supreme coordination committee of the Yemeni uprising (Shabaab) has given vice president Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi, the acting president while Saleh is being treated in Soddy Arabia, a 24 hour headline to clarify his position towards the popular uprising and whether he will participate in a transitional council or not.
It also held him fully responsible for violence and carnage by the army in Arhab, Sana'a, Taiz, Zunjbar, Abyan, and other Yemeni cities since he is managing the country's affairs at present.
The committee said in a statement, "calling for that, we believe there is no constitutional legitimacy but the revolution's legitimacy and we will work with the country's forces to form a transitional council within the hours following the duty of Hadi which will be in charge of managing the country's affairs over nine months according to specific responsibilities".
The statements identified these responsibilities as follows:
1- assigning a national personality agreed by all to form an efficient government
2- dissolving Parliament and Shura
3- trying and pursuing all those involved in killing and cracking down on the protesters
4- assigning a specialized panel to prepare a new constitution for the Yemeni republic that should ensures a modern civil state
5- forming a national election committee from competent personalities within 15 days since forming an interim government
6- setting a date for the vote of the new constitution and a date for parliamentary elections
7- forming a national council to be in charge of solving the south issues and other issues created by the Saleh regime topped by the tribal Dire Revenge
8- reformulating the components and responsibilities of the national security, political security systems on national bases and to be under the interior ministry
9- restructuring the army on national bases
It is a nicely numbered list -- that's something.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/14/2011 00:00 ||
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[Yemen Post] An army Colonel was killed on Monday in Yemen's business capital Aden after a bomb exploded in his car, a security source said.
Unidentified gunnies planted the bomb inside the car of Colonel Muti'a Al-Sayani that went kaboom! after noon while he was on his way to the city of Al-Buraika, the source said, adding an investigation was underway.
Separately, a woman was killed and five other civilians injured when festivities between the army and the rustics in Al-Haima Al-Kharjyah on the outskirts of the capital Sana'a resumed earlier today.
The Manar military post shelled the prior day some villages in the district damaging homes and the rustics fought back, local sources said.
Fierce festivities have been taking place in the district and nearby areas such as Nehm, Arhab and others between the elite republican guard and the rustics forcing many families to flee.
In Al-Haima Al-Kharjya, the confrontations erupted after the people prevented the army from establishing a republic guard post in their area.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/14/2011 00:00 ||
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[Yemen Post] Well-informed sources said on Sunday that five persons had been set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock in connection with the attempt to kill President-for-Life Saleh ... exemplifying the Arab's propensity to combine brutality with incompetence... who is currently being treated in Soddy Arabia.
Saleh survived a rocket attack on his palace more than a week ago that left him and several bigwigs in his regime at death's door amid the continuous uprising in most of the republic cities demanding his departure.
So far, the authorities have investigated 50 suspects after the attack, initially blamed the opposition and army defectors but later blamed on Al-Qaeda, AFP reported.
Most recently, the authorities have suspected the muezzin of the presidential mosque targeted by the rockets that killed 11 of Saleh's guards.
Last week, counterterrorism forces broke into the house of one of the relatives of the muezzin in Shu'oob district and set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock the relative.
The authorities are investigating the relative to tell them to where Muhammad Al-Ghadir, the muezzin, had beat feet after the attack that sent President Saleh to the intensive care unit of a Saudi royal hospital.
Saudi reports have said that the condition of Saleh and other bigwigs including Premier Mujawar and Shura Head Abdul Ghani were still bad. Saleh suffered serious injuries in his head, neck and chest and had undergone successful surgeries.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/14/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] A jacket wallahwent kaboom!" at a busy market in the Pak capital on Monday, killing at least one person in the first bombing in Islamabad in over a year and a half, police said.
No group immediately grabbed credit for the bombing but the Pak Taliban have pledged to carry out attacks in retaliation for the US raid that killed the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now beyond all cares and woe... last month in an army town not far from Islamabad.
The suicide bomber tried to enter a bank in the market but was stopped by a security guard, said Islamabad police chief Wajid Durrani. The bomber then detonated his explosives, killing the guard and wounding four others, Durrani said.
The blast destroyed the ground floor of the bank, scattering body parts and pieces of broken glass on the pavement outside. Police worked to keep people from gathering at the scene for fear that there might be a second blast.
Mohammad Shafi, a 45-year-old employee of a nearby marriage hall, said he was on his way to work when he heard a loud kaboom. The blast knocked him over, and he quickly jumped up and ran to some bushes for safety.
"There was smoke everywhere," said Shafi.
Ehsan Masih, a 36-year-old security guard at a nearby office, said the blast rattled the windows and doors of his building. "Broken glass hit me and several others," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/14/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] At least seven tankers carrying fuel for NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants... troops in Afghanistan were gutted Monday when a bomb planted in one of the vehicles went kaboom! at a terminal in Pakistain, officials said.
"A bomb fitted with a timer blew up an oil tanker. It triggered fire that engulfed six more tankers," local administration official Shahar Yar Khan told AFP. There were no reports of any casualties, he added.
Another official in the area said more than 30 fuel tankers were parked at a terminal in the Torkham border area of the troubled Khyber tribal region.
Most of them had been moved away but the raging blaze was threatening another 10 tankers still in the area, he said.
No group has grabbed credit for the blast but the Taliban has in the past said it carried out such attacks to disrupt supplies for more than 130,000 US-led international troops fighting in Afghanistan.
Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked cut-throats frequently launch attacks across northwestern Pakistain and the lawless tribal belt on the Afghan border, which Washington has branded the most dangerous place in the world.
Most supplies and equipment required by the soldiers in Afghanistan are shipped through Pakistain, although US troops increasingly use alternative routes through Central Asia.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/14/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > EURASIA GEOPOLITICS FACES ASTANA EARTHQUAKE: RUSSIA + CHINA LOOKING TO MAKE AFGHANISTAN [+ Pakistan] A [major] CROSSROAD OF RAILS, ROADS, + PIPELINES FROM ACROSS INDIAN OCEAN + EURASIA | ASIA REGIONAL POWERS SEEK TO COUNTER US-NATO MILITARY STRATEGY TO GAIN CONTROL OF ALL ENERGY FLOWS INTO EUROPE + BEYOND.
Astana = SCO Meeting where India + Pakistan could be offered full SCO membership by same, wid Afghanistan in Observer status.
* SAME > PAKISTAN TELLS CIA CHIEF [Panetta]: NO US BOOTS ON THE GROUND, in Pakistan.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > US-NATO STRATEGY SERVED AL-QAEDA STRATEGY, via deliber support + strengthening of the Taliban fight agz the US-NATO in AFPAK in order to polarize the Muslim World agz same. OSAMA = AL QAEDA BELIEVED THAT THE PAK GOVT COULD VERY EASILY BETRAY THEM, BUT SOUGHT TO USE ANY SUCH POSSIBLE BETRAYAL BY PAK AS A MEANS TO AN LARGER END, TO THE ADVANTAGE OF RADICAL ISLAM + JIHAD.
[Dawn] A roadside kaboom struck a military convoy in Pakistain's South Wazoo tribal area near the Afghan border, killing three soldiers, intelligence officials said.
The officials said Monday's attack in the Ladha area of South Waziristan also maimed four soldiers. The bomb exploded by remote control and destroyed one military vehicle.
South Waziristan was the main sanctuary for the Pak Taliban before the military launched a large ground offensive in October 2009. But attacks against security forces have continued in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/14/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] The chief of Jamaat-i-Islami Syed Munawar Hasan said on Sunday that they would strongly resist the proposed military operation in North Wazoo Agency. He warned that if launched the military action would bring huge destruction across the country.
He expressed these views while addressing a big public meeting held at the Railway station ground in Mardan city. The JI naib amir Siraj-ul-Haq, Prof Ibrahim, Shabir Ahmad Khan and prominent central and provincial leaders were also present on the occasion.
Mr Hasan asked the civil and military leadership to take decisions independently and stop taking dictation from the US. He stressed upon the government to adopt the politics of dialogue as disputes and problems could not be solved by force or through military operations.
He urged the military high-ups to take steps for repairing army`s reputation which had been badly damaged during the regime of former military dictator Gen (retd) Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... and due to recent incidents.
"The government must implement the resolution of the parliament to find a permanent solution to the menace of terrorism", he stated. He also asked the rulers to end relations with the US as friendship with Washington was tantamount to inviting disaster.
"The Awami National Party has become an anti-Pakhtun organisation and has been accumulating dollars since it came to power", he claimed.The JI amir said that drone attacks, military operations in the Pakhtun areas and suicide kabooms across the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... had increased manifold during the tenure of the ANP-led provincial government.
He added that the PPP-led government had failed to stop drone attacks, murders, militancy, extrajudicial killings and tracing the missing persons.
The JI chief appealed to the countrymen to join hands with him against the corrupt rulers and their cruel policies and give the Jamaat-i-Islami a chance to improve deteriorating law and order situation, price hike and uproot terrorism from the country. Munawar Hassan lamented that the Mohammedan rulers had become slaves of American rulers, adding that the resources of Mohammedan world were being used against their own people owing to inability of their rulers.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/14/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
usual suspects.Could you imagine them running Pakistan-Scary thourght!
Posted by: Paul D ||
06/14/2011 14:19 Comments ||
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Gunmen have stormed a provincial council building in Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, after two bombs exploded outside, killing at least 8 people and injuring 27 more.
The attack, in which hostages are thought to have been taken, was the latest on a government building to test Iraqi forces as they get ready for the planned withdrawal of US troops at the year end.
Iraqi forces surrounded the building where gunmen were still inside with some members of the provincial council.
Police have said that at least eight people were killed in the attack in which a car bomb exploded and a suicide bomber detonated before gunmen assaulted the building.
Gunmen stormed a provincial council headquarters in Tikrit last March, taking hostages before security forces ended the siege. At least 53 people were killed in that attack.
[Al Jazeera] A jacket wallah blew up an explosives-filled vehicle at the entrance to a special police unit in Iraq's southern oil port of Basra on Monday, killing five people and wounding 15, police and officials said.
The large kaboom damaged the building and destroyed or damaged several vehicles at the main gate of the compound belonging to a police rapid reaction unit. All of the casualties were police personnel.
"The blast was caused by a suicide car boomer who tried to ram into the building of the brigade, the 2nd rapid reaction brigade. He tried to ram into the building but coppers at the reception deterred him, forcing him to blow up the car at the entrance when they denied him the chance to go inside," Ali Ghanem al-Maliki, the head of the Basra provincial council security committee told Rooters.
At least four bodies were brought to a local hospital, health officials said.
Basra, which handles the bulk of Iraq's oil exports, has generally seen less attacks this year than other cities in the country following an overall decline in levels of violence since the peak of sectarian conflict in Iraq in 2006 - 2007.
The province is crucial to Iraq's economy as 80 per cent of the country's oil exports, which comprise the vast majority of government income, pass through it before being shipped overseas.
Earlier this month, a kaboom against an oil storage depot near the Zubair oil field in Basra set one oil storage tank ablaze, but caused no casualties.
The last major attack in Basra occurred in March, when a roadside kaboom targeting a US military convoy went kaboom! near a civilian bus, killing six people and wounding a dozen others.
US and Iraqi military officials say they believe attacks may rise ahead of a year-end deadline for the withdrawal of the last remaining US troops in Iraq, although Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is considering requesting that some US military stay on in a training and advisory role.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/14/2011 00:00 ||
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The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) tossed in the calaboose a senior Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, operative in May in the Gazoo Strip despite the recent lull in violence, the agency revealed on Monday.
Azam Abu-Krim was captured on May 4 for his alleged involvement in a Hamas division which is responsible for organizing terror attacks against Israel via proxies of Hamas. The division, the Shin Bet said, was run by Hamas Interior Minister Ahmed Hamed. Abu-Krim told the Shin Bet that the division was set up so that Hamas could deny its involvement in attacks and instead Israel would blame other radical Islamic groups in the Gazoo Strip like those that are believed to be affiliated with Global Jihad.
Abu-Krim was charged last week with attempted murder, membership in an illegal organization and other crimes in the Beersheba District Court.
[Iran Press TV] The motorcade of the Jordan king has been attacked while he was on an official tour in the southern city of Tafileh, a security official says.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the security official said King Abdullah II was unharmed in the Monday incident but 25 copperswere maimed, one of them seriously.
"(The rear) part of King Abdullah II's motorcade was attacked with stones and empty bottles by a group of men in their 20s and 30s after the king's car entered Tafileh," the official said, adding that the motorcade changed its route following the attack.
The royal court and the Jordanian government, however, have denied the report that the monarch was the target of the violence in the southern town, saying angry young Jordanians attacked anti-riot police guarding the motorcade of King Abdullah II.
"It is absolutely groundless. Footage taken during the visit to Tafileh proves that," a court official told AFP.
"The motorcade of his majesty the king was not attacked and the visit to Tafileh was successful," government front man Taher Adwan told state-run Petra news agency.
"All that happened was a quarrel between police and people who wanted to greet the king," he added.
Some reports say that the violence came after Tafileh mayor barred young unemployed from a town meeting with the king and also because of the harsh treatment by anti-riot police, who beat them as they tried to line the sidewalk for the motorcade and present petitions to the king.
"Those who do not represent the people of Tafileh have been chosen to sit with the king. We have been marginalized in a provocative step that shows how security apparatuses control the people," said a group calling itself the "Freemen of Tafileh."
The attack came a day after King Abdullah II vowed to enhance political and economic reforms and promised a new electoral law leading to a parliamentary government in an attempt to end months of anti-government protest rallies in the country.
Tafileh, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of the capital Amman, like other Jordanian cities, has been the scene of anti-government protests over the past months. Jordanians demand reforms, effective measures to fight corruption and the resignation of Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit and his cabinet.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/14/2011 00:00 ||
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[Straits Times] INDONESIA has locked away 16 terror suspects who planned to carry out a mass cyanide poisoning against the police, the national police front man said on Monday.
'We rounded them up in a four-day operation last week. They planned to poison police personnel using cyanide,' Boy Rafli Amar told news hounds.
'Besides poisoning food at cop shoppe canteens, they also planned to inject the poison into mineral water bottles,' he said, adding that the suspects revealed the plot during police interrogation.
'This is a new model of terror attack.' In recent months police have locked away dozens of suspects, allegedly part of a new bully boy cell behind a series of recent incidents, including book bombs that were sent to Mohammedan moderates and counter-terrorism officials.
The cell was linked to an April suicide kaboom in a prayer room at a police compound in Cirebon in West Java.
Police also foiled a bid to set off a massive bomb near a Christian church on the outskirts of Jakarta at Easter. No one was killed in those incidents.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/14/2011 00:00 ||
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DAMASCUS Syrias army, under fire for its harsh crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, was pursuing armed gangs in mountains near Jisr al-Shughur after storming the hotbed northern town, state media said. The crackdown followed what the authorities said was the massacre of 120 policemen in Jisr al-Shughur, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Turkish border.
Rights activists reported heavy gunfire and explosions throughout Sunday in the town after troops backed by helicopter gunships and around 200 tanks launched a two-pronged assault at dawn.
State television said late Sunday that the army now completely controlled the town and that troops were pursuing armed gangs into the woods and nearby mountains.
Official media also reported the discovery of a mass grave in the town containing the mutilated bodies of 10 security agents whose hands, head and feet had been cut off. Armed groups had mutilated the corpses which were removed from the mass grave, the broadcaster said.
It said the army entered the town after defusing dynamite placed on the bridges and roads by the armed groups.
The Anatolia news agency reported Monday meanwhile that the number of people fleeing into neighbouring Turkey to avoid the brutal army assault had risen to 6,800. Those who have made it across the border described how the army had embarked on a scorched earth policy in Jisr al-Shughur and other villages in Idlib province, which has long been a hotbed of hostility towards the Syrian regime.
But while some troops had appeared to be bent on destruction, others tried to defend the townsfolk and battles flared among the army on Sunday when parts of a tank division defected and then set up base by bridges into the town.
The troops are divided. Four tanks defected and they began to fire on one another, said 35-year-old Abdullah, who fled Jisr al-Shughur on Sunday and sneaked over the border into Turkey in order to find food.
When they started to fire on each other, I decided to flee. I dont know if they destroyed the bridges or not... which is where the tanks have gone. But everyone inside those four tanks would probably have died the moment they were hit, he said.
Abdullah, who like many other refugees would only give his first name, said that the troops had pounded the town with heavy gunfire at the start of the operation.
They began by surrounding the town with tanks, and then began firing from outside, spraying it with machinegun fire and using heavy weapons, he said. And then they entered the town, saying there were armed groups inside but in fact there was no-one. The place was empty.
Ali, another Syrian refugee who made it to Turkey, also described evidence of a rift within the ranks. There is now a split within the army and you have a group who are trying to protect the civilians: they have blown up two bridges in Jisr al-Shughur, the 27-year-old told AFP, confirming similar testimony from other refugees who fled the town on the same day.
Abdullah said that while the army was still inside Jisr al-Shughur, other members of the security forces had now reached Ziayni, a town which is only around six kilometres from the border.
They torched all the crops, they slaughtered the goats, the cows.
In the town itself, all the bakeries and the supermarkets have been pillaged, there is nothing left. The doors have been smashed in, he said. They bombarded the prison, destroying it. They fired on the mosques, they fired at some peoples homes. And municipal buildings have been wrecked like the registry office and the post office.
The harrowing accounts tally with those gathered by US-based Human Rights Watch, which at the beginning of June released a report alleging systematic killings and torture by the Syrian security forces.
Security forces had been given shoot-to-kill orders by the commanders, said the report, which was based on interviews with more than 50 victims and eyewitnesses.
The way the regime is currently handling the protests is exactly what caused demonstrations to spread in the first place: security forces detaining, torturing and killing citizens, said Syrias local coordination committees.
The committees, who coordinate protests on the ground, issued a statement calling for Assads departure and for the creation of a transitional political body to govern the country for six months.
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06/14/2011 00:00 ||
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Wiping put the food stocks, given the burgeoning food shortage, strikes me as poor long-term planning...but what do I know?
UNITED NATIONS More than 10,000 Syrians have fled into neighboring countries to escape a deadly government crackdown on opposition protests, the UN said Monday.
There are 5,000 people in Lebanon and at least 5,000 in Turkey, said UN humanitarian affairs spokeswoman Stephanie Bunker. Turkeys Anatolia news agency on Monday estimated there are now more than 6,800 Syrians who have crossed into Turkey.
UN emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos praised Syrias neighbors for the help they have given.
I commend the neighboring states for keeping their borders open and appreciate the assistance they have given, Amos said in a statement which raised new UN concern about the violence which she said has reportedly killed 1,200 people on top of the thousands of displaced.
Amos made a new appeal to the Syrian government to let a UN humanitarian team make a proper assessment. President Bashar al-Assads government has refused to let UN aid experts visit stricken towns and blocked a human rights investigation team from entering the country.
If there is any justice Pencilneck has a date with a loop of piano wire and a lamppost.
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So strange it is that NATO gets all agro on Daffy but they leave Pencilneck to wreak real havoc among his people.
[Al Jazeera] Reports say hundreds of Syrians have been gathering on the northern border with Turkey, preparing to cross over if the Syrian army advances further into the area after seizing the rebellious town of Jisr al-Shughour.
Syrian security forces announced on Sunday they had retaken Jisr al-Shughur after army troops, backed by helicopter gunships and tanks, moved into the northern town.
Almost 7,000 Syrians have so far crossed the border with Turkey to escape violence, and an estimated 10,000 more are waiting for the opportunity to cross.
The refugees are making use of unofficial border crossings.
Witnesses said those still in Syria had taken shelter among trees near the border since forces moved into the northwestern province of Idlib.
The uprising, now in its third month, seeks an end to Bashir al-Assad's one-party rule, more political freedom and an end to corruption and poverty
'Troops divided'
Some residents of northern Syria who have decamped the army assault spoke out on Monday, saying troops had begun fighting among themselves in the midst of the military operation.
"The troops are divided. Four tanks defected and they began to fire on one another," the AFP news agency quoted 35-year-old Abdullah as saying.
He decamped Jisr al-Shughur on Sunday and crossed the border into Turkey in order to find food.
"When they started to fire on each other, I decided to flee," he told AFP.
Abdullah, who like many other refugees would only give his first name, said that troops had pounded Jisr al-Shughur with heavy gunfire at the start of the assault.
Al Jizz's Anita McNaught, in Guvecci on the Turkey-Syria border, spoke to Syrian refugees inside the camp in Turkey.
One of them said he saw two military helicopters hovering over Jisr al-Shughur and heard reports of indiscriminate shooting.
Another Syrian gave this account after Al Jizz smuggled a camera into the refugee camp: "We were besieged in Jisr yesterday. We couldn't leave. They shot at everyone, I was shot in the chest, My cousin, who was with me, died.
"They cut our electricity and water. We were left with nothing, that is why we came to the Turkey border."
Syrian state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
said army units fought "gangs" on Sunday, but residents and activists said troops had clashed with mutinous soldiers defending the town alongside residents.
"Army divisions entered Jisr al-Shughur and purged the state hospital of gangs," the television said.
"Two members of the armed organisations were killed, large numbers of them placed in durance vile, and lethal weapons in their possession were seized."Reports say hundreds of Syrians have been gathering on the northern border with Turkey, preparing to cross over if the Syrian army advances further into the area after seizing the rebellious town of Jisr al-Shughour.
Syrian security forces announced on Sunday they had retaken Jisr al-Shughur after army troops, backed by helicopter gunships and tanks, moved into the northern town.
Almost 7,000 Syrians have so far crossed the border with Turkey to escape violence, and an estimated 10,000 more are waiting for the opportunity to cross.
The refugees are making use of unofficial border crossings.
Witnesses said those still in Syria had taken shelter among trees near the border since forces moved into the northwestern province of Idlib.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/14/2011 00:00 ||
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[Al Jazeera] Some residents of Jisr al-Shughur who decamped to Turkey have told the News Agency that Dare Not be Named that thousands of young men, including soldiers and police who switched sides and joined the uprising against Assad, had armed themselves and planted dynamite at the town entrances.
Troops and tanks had laid siege to Jisr al-Shughur after authorities said the would retaliate against the reported killings of 120 security personnel last week.
Syria's state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
reported on June 6 that security personnel had been killed in an ambush, but refugees and rights groups said the dead were mutinous soldiers, shot for refusing to fire on civilian protesters.
Reports said troops removed 10 uniformed bodies from a mass grave in front of the military police building on Sunday.
At least four of the bodies had their heads chopped off or struck on the head with an axe, according to an AP news hound who was invited to accompany the Syrian forces.
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A Syrian judicial committee has issued travel bans against former Dara'a Governor Faysal Kalthoum and Brig. Gen. Atif Najib.
The two officials were barred from traveling outside Syria by the Special Judicial Committee, which is tasked with investigating the circumstances that led to the death or injury of citizens in the southern province of Dara'a.
Judge Mohammed Deeb al-Muqatran of the Special Judicial Committee said the travel ban was a precautionary procedure in order for Najib to be available for questioning.
Najib is a cousin of Syrian President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor... .
Al-Muqatran was quoted by the Syrian state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
as saying on Monday that "no one has immunity, whoever he is."
Scores of people, including security forces and soldiers, have been killed across Syria since the beginning of protests in mid-March.
Syrian opposition holds the security forces responsible for the killings, while the country's authorities blame an gang, which has confessed to receiving weapons and money to kill people and security forces and cause chaos.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Senate, Odius Sepulcher called for war against the Visigoths... Syrian Information Minister Adnan Mahmoud has reportedly dismissed the director of the country's state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
, Reem Haddad.
Posted by: Fred ||
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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.
Stepping up a simmering constitutional conflict, House Speaker John A. Boehner warned President Obama on Tuesday that unless he gets authorization from Congress for his military deployment in Libya, he will be in violation of the War Powers Resolution.
Wazoo
President-for-Life Bashir 
