[Tolo News] A commission has been formed to help Afghan politicians choose a house speaker, temporary Head of the Afghan House of Representatives said Monday.
There's always the J.P. Morgan method: lock the deciders in a room with plenty of liquor and cigars, but no food or toilets, and don't let them out until they've come up with a workable solution...
The commission is bound to make an initiative describing viable ways of having a house speaker elected. By next week, after the commission completes the initiative, it will go on votes in the house.
Mohammad Sarwar Osmani, temporary head of the house sees the move positive.
The commission is made up of 50 politicians from all across the country.
"Final decision would be made by majority of parliamentarians and all the politicians would have the right to comment on the initiative," Ahmad Behzad, an Afghan MP, said.
The commission started its work Monday afternoon and it will present the initiative to the house in a week.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Maybe one could leave a couple of Peacemakers in there with them, TW, with some round of bullets in each?
That strikes me as a bit extreme, dear Rhodesiafever. I had more in mind something along the line of, "The beatings will continue until morale improves." We wouldn't want attendance to fall below the quorum needed for a vote to be binding, you understand.
[Arab News] Egypt's protesters should take care that the army and the political parties do not hijack their successful overthrow of Hosni Mubarak and they should not rush to the polls, leaders of Sudan's intifada of the 1980s said.
Before Tunisia's uprising last month and the subsequent revolt in Egypt, Sudan in 1985 was the last Arab country to kick out a president through popular protests.
With the benefit of a quarter century of hindsight, the Sudanese intifada's civilian leaders warned the organizers of the 18-day demonstrations in Egypt that their work was just beginning.
"Egypt is a very strong regime, a strong army, strong security, strong civil service, business and it's all pro-NDP (Mubarak's ruling party)," said lawyer Amin Mekki, who helped organize the 1985 uprising in Sudan.
"So you can easily be fooled and go back to work but then how do you get the people back together in the spirit of today?" he said.
Sudan's transitional government was largely made up of the lawyers, doctors and other professionals who led unions to rebel against Jaafar Nimeiri. The government also included members of Sudan's army leadership who -- like in Egypt -- eventually sided with the demonstrators despite being part of Nimeiri's regime.
The transitional government held elections after just one year, reducing a three-year transitional period after pressure by Sudan's political parties. But the Prime Minister of that government, Al-Jazouli Dafallah, said that was too soon.
Egypt's new military rulers said at the weekend that they would keep control of the country for six months, or until parliamentary elections are held following amendments to the constitution.
Dafallah, sitting under a photo of him being released from Kober prison and lifted high on the shoulders of protesters in 1985, said they should have insisted on a longer transitional period to allow freedoms to take root after 16 years of autocracy.
"We were very suspicious of the military ... but with hindsight we found that the military were not really interested in continuing in government."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci said Monday that marches in Algeria to demand a change in the system would remain "minority movements" and confirmed the lifting of the state of emergency" in the coming days.
"The marches organized weeks ago and Saturday clearly showed that these movements were movements of minorities. I guess, from step to step, they will not do better," he told private radio Europe 1.
"Algeria is not Tunisia, Algeria is not Egypt," he said in response to a question about a possible spillover of revolutions in the Arab world to Algeria.
About 2,000 people demonstrated Saturday in central Algiers to seek regime change, but were prevented from scrolling by imposing police forces estimated some 30,000 police who conducted arrests.
The National Coordination for Change and Democracy, at the origin of these marches that are banned by the government, called for another demonstration on February 19 in Algiers.
The minister also confirmed the lifting "in the coming days" of the state of emergency in force since 19 years in the country to combat violence against Islamists, announced in early February by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] The President of the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), Said Sadi, who took part last Saturday in the march in Algiers, has surprised many people. The man was protesting against the regime but was surrounded by four officers of national security (bodyguards).
In addition, Sadi has assaulted coppers; he hit a police officer and also tried to tear the clothes of two coppers publicly. He was in the crowd, surrounded by his bodyguards assigned by public authorities. The result; Sadi hit and humiliated everyone. He was calling for overthrowing the regime and inciting to rebellion. Despite all this, he was well protected by his bodyguards, of the regime to which he was opposed, unlike the dissolved party FIS in the nineties, whose demonstrations were suppressed by the use of force and tear gas.
Both parties, FIS and RCD were in opposition. The first was against the regime of Chadli Bendjedid, the second fights the regime of Bouteflika. But the marches of the FIS were repressed by the police while the march last Saturday was greeted with kindness. We even noticed the presence of female security officers.
In the nineties, many protesters were nabbed; many of them were charged with disturbing public order and tried. Today, nobody has been nabbed or tried, although the leader of the RCD has called for the overthrow of the regime publicly. He led the banned march in person and assaulted and insulted people.
What was the reaction of the regime if the residues of the FIS, or some Islamists organized a march like this one?
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2011 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Thousands of Libyans, inspired by the historic revolution in Egypt, plan to hold mass protest rallies against the four-decade-long dictatorship of Muammar Qadaffy, a report says.
Libyans are reportedly planning to hold rallies on Thursday, as the people-powered revolution continues to sweep the Arab World.
The report published in Mail Online under the title "Now even Mad Dog Qadaffy faces a Day of Rage" writes that even Libyans are now daring to hope that the 41-year-long rule of Qadaffy might be coming to an end.
The Monday report comes three days after a revolution ousted president Hosni Mubarak from power in Egypt.
The report also added that underground opposition groups and civil society movements were planning to hold mass pro-democracy protests in major cities across the country in the coming days.
"Behind the closed doors of their homes, they discussed whether the winds of change might blow through their own country," the report said.
Media Reports say the ageing dictator fears his country may soon face similar protests like Tunisia and Egypt.
Sources say Qadaffy has held a series of meetings in recent days with brass hats within his regime to discuss concerns in the event of large-scale protests.
The world's longest serving leaders. Col. Qadaffy has been in power for over 40 years after assuming control in a military coup during the 1960s.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2011 00:00 ||
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very much doubt that there will be success, since the Army is going to be behind daffy.
[Asharq al-Aswat] Bahrain's security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse anti-government protesters Monday in advance of plans to stage major rallies and bring the Arab reform wave to the Gulf for the first time, witnesses said.
It was the second reported skirmish with protesters since Sunday amid sharply rising tensions in the tiny island kingdom -- a strategic Western ally and home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.
Social media sites have been flooded with calls by an array of political youth groups, rights activists and others to join demonstrations later Monday, a symbolic day in Bahrain as the anniversary of the country's 2002 constitution that brought pro-democracy reforms such as an elected parliament.
But opposition groups seek deeper changes from the country's ruling dynasty, including transferring more decision-making powers to the parliament and breaking the monarchy's grip on senior government posts. Bahrain's majority Shiites -- about 70 percent of the population -- have long complained of systemic discrimination by the Sunni rulers.
The nation -- no bigger in area than New York City -- is among the most politically volatile in the Gulf. A crackdown on perceived dissidents last year touched off riots and street battles in Shiite areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
As per FIDEL CASTRO's comments that IHO Amer cannot win a war agz Iran, BAHRAIN + GULF "COLOR/
JASMINE" PROTESTS = US expeditionary Ground Forces can't be safely evacuated from "American Dunkirk" in IRAN iff Amer has no OLLIE STONE'S "PLATOON" NOR ANY BASE-TOO-FAR-QATAR/BRIDGE-TO-BAHRAIN TO BE SAFELY EVACUATED TO, now can they?
[Iran Press TV] Soddy Arabian Mufti Sheikh Yusof al-Ahmad has warned that unless the government fights poverty and unemployment, it will face a revolution like those in Egypt and Tunisia.
In a video published on the internet, al-Ahmad says due to the poverty rate of 22 percent, the recent popular uprisings in the Arab world will permeate into Soddy Arabia.
Last year, the floods in Jeddah -- Soddy Arabia's second largest city -- resulted in the deaths of tens of people and homelessness of thousands and sparked public anger, al-Arab newspaper quoted the Mufti as saying on Monday.
The way people express their anger has changed in an unprecedented way, due to the injustice and the feeling of being oppressed, he added.
Al-Ahmad criticized the Saudi government for allocating 112 billion Saudi rials (USD 29.8 billion) to King Abdullah University and 72 billion Saudi rials to Princess Noura University in Riyadh, saying such budget was enough to build 72 universities and create 300,000 jobs for the citizens.
Al-Ahmad said supervision over public assets was necessary to prevent overspending.
In 2009, the Soddy Arabian members of parliament announced that in spite of the kingdom's three-year plan for fighting poverty, around 22 percent of the people are live below the poverty line.
Soddy Arabia's official figures put the country's unemployment rate at 10.5 percent, while according to the unofficial figures, joblessness stands around 20 percent.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
the only poverty stricken people in Mordor are the Philippina maids and the Pakistani construction workers....
#2
A far more effective trick would be to create some place for the youngsters to hang out and co-mingle, while telling the religious cops to stay away. Their rules are so strict that nobody can get married anymore.
#3
Better...create someplace that could function as a human sized Roach Motel, let a few religious cops at a time know that young people are mingling, then see to it that they never leave. Move the site often.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
02/15/2011 21:22 Comments ||
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[Geo News] Amir Jamat-e-Islami Syed Munawar Hassan ... The funny-looking Amir of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He joined the National Students Federation (NSF), a lefty student body, and was elected its President in 1959. He came into contact with the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) Pakistan and studied the writings of Mawlana Syed Abul Ala Maududi, The Great Apostasizer. As a result, he joined IJT in 1960 and soon he was elected as President of its University of Bloody Karachi Unit and member of the Central Executive Council. He was Assistant Secretary General of Jama'at-e-Islami Pakistan in 1992-93, and became Secretary General in 1993. After years of holding Qazi's camel he was named Amir when the old man stepped down in 2009... Monday termed the Pakistain People's Party's statement in connection with the immunity to Raymond Davis as a disgrace to the 'Shuhda' of Pakistain, Geo News reported.
In a statement issued here at Mansoora, Syed Munawar Hassan said any such decision (leading to the immunity of Raymond Davis) would be rejected, adding that his party would embark on a country-wide campaign against any such move.
"Only this kind of decision was expected from the 'association of US slaves'," the JI Chief regretted.
He said Shah Mehmood Wormtongue Qureshi was punished for refusing to admit to the claim of diplomatic immunity.
The rulers across the board, he said, have clearly accepted the status of slavery for US, thus, they have lost their right to remain in power.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
sweet Jesus.
John "do you know who I am?" Kerry is there to negotiate his release. Between Obama, Kerry, and Clinton, poor Davis farked
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/15/2011 18:54 Comments ||
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[Geo News] Secretary Information Pakistain People's Party (PPP) Fauzia Wahab has said that Raymond Davis, accused of killing two Paks in Lahore, enjoyed diplomatic immunity, Geo News reported on Monday.
Addressing a presser at Bloody Karachi Press Club, Fauzia Wahab said that Pakistain is the signatory of Vienna Convention, therefore, all the diplomats enjoy immunity, adding that diplomats cannot be nabbed under this convention.
She said that Davis possess diplomatic passport, therefore, he enjoys immunity.
Fauzia Wahab further said that United States is the biggest market of Pak products. A large number of Paks are living there, she said and added that 80 percent remittance of Pakistain came from the US.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] Democratic Front for the Liberation of Paleostine official Saleh Zeidan on Monday welcomed the PLO decision to hold presidential and legislative elections.
"We look forward to the necessity of the success of the elections which the PLO has called for in September," Zeidan told Ma'an.
Elections were the first step to ending the national division, he said, adding that a vote should be held for the National Council, the main body of the PLO.
Zeidan said security arrangements must be put in place to ensure the electoral process was democratic.
All political prisoners must be released, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2011 00:00 ||
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[Arab News] Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas on Monday reappointed Salam Fayyad as prime minister and asked him to form a new government, in an apparent attempt to stave off any unrest in the Paleostinian territories.
Earlier on Monday, Fayyad resigned and dissolved his cabinet in a major political shake-up ahead of Paleostinian elections to be held by September.
However, The infamous However... Abbas immediately reinstated him as premier and tasked him with forming the new government. "Abbas reappointed Fayyad and asked him to form a new government," an official said.
Sources said that the new government will be formed within two weeks. The sources added that Fayyad will hold consultations with the majority of Paleostinian political factions to include them in his new Cabinet.
The new government will also have to tackle plans for holding presidential and parliamentary elections by September -- a deadline which was announced on Saturday by the executive committee of the Paleostine Liberation Organization (PLO).
Last week, the cabinet also approved plans to hold local elections on July 9, in what will be the first time Paleostinians have gone to the polls since 2006.
But both announcements were firmly rejected by Gazoo's Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, rulers, who have been locked in years of bitter rivalry with the Ramallah-based Paleostinian Authority of Abbas, which is dominated by the Fatah movement.
"This procedure is invalid because president Abbas has no legitimacy and is not fit to organize such elections," Hamas front man Fawzi Barhum said.
Ahmad Al-Majdalani, the outgoing labor minister, said the reshuffle will target at least half of the ministries. Al-Majdalani added that most of the key portfolios would be under the reshuffle, including the foreign, health, economy, labor, justice, finance and information ministries.
Other Paleostinian sources said that the new government would focus on implementing a series of recent decisions by the Paleostinian leadership aimed at ending internal split and promoting national unity with Hamas movement.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
ISRAEL NN > {Hamas Chief] AL-ZAHAR: BRING EGYPTIAN ARMY BACK TO SINAI. Egypt should reopen access into Gaza + assist the PA wid Oil-Gas = Energy, other Econ development.
* SAME > HAMAS CHIEF: CHINA, INDIA TO REPLACE FAILING US AS NEW SUPERPOWERS.
versus
* PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > EGYPT'S NUCLEAR DIMENSION [Civilian Nucprog History + Mil applications + post-MUBARAK NUC AMBITIONS, AGENDA].
TOPIX > US FEARS RADICALIST TAKEOVER OF MIDDLE EAST NUKES|POST-MUBARAK NUCLEAR ARMS RACE, i.e. conversion of pre-2/11 dedicated NucEnergy Programs towards dev of reliable Nuclear Weapons.
* ASIA TIMES > US IS BLIND TO EGYPT'S NORTH KOREAN AXIS [DPRK SCUDS procured by Egypt during early Mubarak era]
ARTIC = Ironically, despite Egypt being one of Amer's staunchest ME Muslim allies, its military trade wid NORTH KOREA was so good econ that Mubarak saw no need E-V-A-R! to dev relations wid US Asia ally SOUTH KOREA. MUBARAK MAY BE GONE NOW BUT EGYPT'S PROACTIVE RELATIONS WID ANTI-US NORTH KOREA AS PER MILTECH EXCHANGES, ETC. IS STILL VIABLE.
A group of conservative Iranian members of parliament are calling for the trial and execution of two senior opposition leaders in response to the anti-government riots that struck the streets of central Tehran yesterday and resulted in the deaths of at least two people and the arrest of dozens.
At least fifty MPs were shown on state TV marching through the parliament's main corridors chanting 'Death to Mousavi' and "Death to Karroubi" -- in reference to Mir Hossein Mousavi (a former Prime Minister) and Mehdi Karroubi (a reformist cleric and former speaker of parliament).
"Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi are corrupts on earth and should be tried," said a statement attributed to the conservative parliamentarians.
The odd-sounding charge "corrupt on earth" has been directed at political dissidents before and is punishable by death penalty in Iran.
Mousavi and Karroubi are currently under house arrest -- both men had disputed the legality of 2009 elections which brought President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad back to power and prompted the largest protests in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Ahmad Reza Radan, Deputy Commander of the Iranian police, blamed the opposition leaders for the protests.
"In one spot of the town in the western part of Tehran, about 150 people rallied and set some rubbish bins on fire," he said. "They were confronted by police and security forces and some of them were arrested. Unfortunately, some police and security personnel were shot by them and nine security forces men and some other people were wounded in this incident." Looks like government thugs have already begun summary executions in anticipation of some kind of agreement.
I remember a few years back how some of my liberal friends would say "See, it says in the news that Iran is more democratic than the US!"
I soooo want to rub their noses in this article.
But they'd just call me a racist nazi homophobic jackbooted elder killer.
#1
The good part of this is that the Iranians on the street are starting to kill the thugs and brutes sent to attack them.
The reliable thugs and brutes are actually in short supply, and for every one killed, a couple of the others will probably get out of the thug and brute business. Because, in the final analysis, they are cowards.
The regime has as little as a single brigade of such creeps, which are constantly shuffled around the country to put out fires. If a few hundred are killed or put out of action, they could lose control.
#1
Gee, maybe if enough of these get built in the Middle East, Barry will allow us to build some.
Posted by: Jefferson ||
02/15/2011 11:55 Comments ||
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#2
Russia said in May last year, during a visit to Damascus by President Dmitry Medvedev, that it was studying building an atomic power plant in Syria.
#3
Oddly enough, Syria mulled nukes once before, but something happened to it. I don't remember the details, but there was something about bouncing rubble... ;-)
[An Nahar] Sources concerned with the government structure on Monday uncovered that the delay in forming a Cabinet is not only related to the issue of names and portfolios, but is due to differences between Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati and Hizbullah.
The sources told pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat that Hizbullah has informed Miqati that the party rejects any mention of the international tribunal in the policy statement.
They said Hizbullah's stance came during a meeting between Miqati and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah last week.
Al-Hayat said the meeting, which was held away from the spotlight, also tackled several issues connected to the Special Tribunal for Leb, including Hizbullah's insistence to appoint Sunni allies in the government, a demand Miqati has rejected "in order not to provoke the core of the Sunni politicianship."
The sources said Miqati was waiting for an answer from Hizbullah on a proposal suggesting that the ministerial statement include statements such as a quest for justice and truth in the liquidation of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri with emphasis on the rejection of "politicizing its work."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Former minister and AMAL Movement defector Mohammed Abdul Hamid Baidoun on Monday called on "political Shiism" in Leb to "correct its mistakes."
Speaking at a ceremony organized by the March 14 Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys... forces to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the liquidation of ex-PM Rafik Hariri, Baidoun said: "We have said more than once that the Resistance That'd be the Hezbullies, natch... (Hizbullah) considers its weapons sacred
I can never keep the military lingo straight. Are the sacred weapons called rifles or guns?
and that a majority of the Lebanese considers the (Special) Tribunal (for Leb) and justice sacred."
As he stressed that "everyone respects the Resistance's achievements,"
Which include getting the Shiite part of Lebanon pounded to rubble the last time they 'resisted' Israel.
Baidoun went on to say that Hizbullah "cannot go on as a separate army and Leb cannot have an army that is subject to accountability -- the Lebanese Army -- and the Resistance's army, which is above accountability."
"If the Resistance wants to go on as an army, it should behave like the Lebanese Army, which does not interfere in politics and whose arms do not belong to a sect or a group," Baidoun told a rally of several-thousand people at the Beirut International Exhibition and Leisure Center (BIEL).
Addressing the issue of the U.N.-backed tribunal probing ex-PM Hariri's murder, Baidoun stressed that "the international tribunal is not a conspiracy," adding that "not everything issued by the (U.N.) Security Council is a conspiracy."
On January 12, Hizbullah and its allies toppled Saad Hariri's cabinet in a long-running feud over the STL.
Hizbullah-backed Najib Miqati was then appointed to form a new government, which Hariri's alliance has refused to join and has labeled "Hizbullah's government".
Hariri has refused to join Miqati's government unless he guarantees his cabinet will see the tribunal through.
Hizbullah meanwhile is demanding Leb end all cooperation with the court, which it says is a U.S.-Israeli conspiracy.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
> AL-QAEDA IN GAZA.
> AL-QAEDA IN TRANSJORDAN.
> AQAP aka AQIY.
> Hezbollah-domin Govt in Lebanon.
> Syrian NucProgs.
> Jordan wants NucProgs.
> HAMAS Chief calls for post-Mubarak Egypt to re-deploy its Army back to the Sinai.
> Turkish FM says Israel cannot exists as a DEMOCRATIC BUT PURE JEWISH-ONLY STATE. IMO Read, ISRAEL should accept more Muslims.
Again, RADICAL ISLAM thinks that they got ISRAEL DEFEAT OR DESTRUCTION widin their grasp, + doubt that any US mil intervention will be enough to preclude or prevent it. I DOUBT HEZBOLLAH WILL PRIORITIZE ANY REFORMS AS PER LEBANON IN THE FACE OF PERCEIVED PENDING VICTORY AGZ ISRAEL.
[An Nahar] Phalange Party The Kataeb (Phalange) party was founded by Pierre Gemayel in 1936, who modeled the party after Spanish and Italian Fascist parties he had observed as an Olympic athlete during the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, then Nazi Germany. The movement's uniforms originally included brown shirts and members used the Nazi salute. Despite the party's uniform, its strong sense of nationalism and dedication to a single charismatic leader, the Lebanese Kataeb was not and never became a fascist party nor did it espouse a totalitarian ideology. leader Amin Gemayel on Monday noted that the Cedar Revolution has called for freedom, illusory sovereignty, and independence, "but today it is also striving for justice and truth."
"In the name of the martyrs of freedom and dignity, we refuse to make further concessions," Gemayel stressed during a ceremony organized by the March 14 Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys... forces to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the liquidation of former premier Rafik Hariri.
"We are the popular, parliamentary, democratic, legitimate and sovereign majority. A majority emerges from people's freewill ... not from the muzzles of guns. Whoever embodies people's sentiments and enjoys people's support would not stage a coup," Gemayel added.
Hariri and 22 others were killed in a massive Beirut bombing on February 14, 2005, an event that sent shockwaves through Leb and eventually led to the pullout of Syrian troops after 29 years of domination over the country.
The commemoration of Hariri's murder comes amid a deep political rift between the March 14 camp and the Hizbullah-led coalition as the Netherlands-based Special Tribunal for Leb readies to issue its indictments.
"No official or leader, whether he is religious, civil, or military, has the right to make concessions over the Lebanese resistance and its sacrifices, especially the achievements of the Cedar Revolution," he added.
"Those who turn against the (parliamentary) majority should first stand before the people before forging a majority that does not enjoy the blessing of the voters," Gemayel went on to say.
"It's not the end of the world when one side loses power, but we will not accept that Leb lose its role and identity," the Kataeb leader vowed.
He described the toppling of Saad Hariri's government last month by Hizbullah and its allies as "an attempt to topple Leb."
Addressing Hizbullah, Gemayel said: "No party has the right to impose its will, culture, ideology, identity, arms, and jihad on all the Lebanese; not through numbers, not through force, and especially not through claiming to have the exclusive right to defend the nation."
"Defending the country is a national duty," Gemayel emphasized.
"We are not living in a consensual democracy, but under the rule of force ... This is not how you build a state, this is how you divide and end it," he added.
"Do you want the destruction of what we have built in the past 90 years? We should save the State, regime, and independence. The dispute does not lie in the participation in government, but it lies in the attempt to topple all national, constitutional, social, and humanitarian values that we have built over the years," he stated.
Gemayel said the March 14 coalition is seeking "a free and independent state that believes in the culture of openness and peace," Gemayel said.
On January 12, Hizbullah and its allies toppled Saad Hariri's cabinet in a long-running feud over the Special Tribunal for Leb.
Hizbullah-backed Najib Miqati was then appointed to form a new government, which Hariri's alliance has refused to join and has labeled "Hizbullah's government".
Hariri has refused to join Miqati's government unless he guarantees his cabinet will see the tribunal through.
Hizbullah meanwhile is demanding Leb end all cooperation with the court, which it says is a U.S.-Israeli conspiracy.
While Hariri and his allies won Leb's last parliamentary election in 2009, shifting alliances today have positioned the Hizbullah-led camp as the majority after Druze leader Walid Wally Jumblat ... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times... moved closer to the Shiite party.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] If the practices of the first tutelage authority had led to the Cedar Revolution, the mere signs of the emergence of another tutelage authority "will lead to countless Cedar Revolutions," Lebanese Forces A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb... leader Samir Geagea ... Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005 ... vowed Monday.
"They are trying once again to restore hegemony and we will confront them once more, but this time, we have learned from our mistakes and we will not fall into their trap again," Geagea added.
Speaking at a ceremony organized by the March 14 Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys... forces to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the liquidation of ex-PM Rafik Hariri, Geagea added: "I say to all the martyrs ... that we have had shortcomings."
Hariri and 22 others were killed in a massive Beirut bombing on February 14, 2005, an event that sent shockwaves through Leb and eventually led to the pullout of Syrian troops after 29 years of domination over the country.
The commemoration of Hariri's murder comes amid a deep political rift between the March 14 camp and the Hizbullah-led coalition as the Netherlands-based Special Tribunal for Leb readies to issue its indictments.
"We have not been always up to the expectations of those who were with us," Geagea told a rally of several-thousand people at the Beirut International Exhibition and Leisure Center (BIEL).
"If people are destined to learn from their experiences, then we are destined to learn from ours as well," he pledged.
Recalling a quote by slain Druze leader Kamal Jumblat, Geagea went on to say that "life is the triumph of those who are powerful through their spirits," not through their weapons.
"Now more than ever we should seek the rise of a real Lebanese State with one actual authority and one side in possession of arms through the implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions 1559, 1680, 1701, and 1757," Geagea stressed.
"We won't be able to live in peace and security without a state that has demarcated its borders, collected (illegal) weapons, and achieved justice," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
DEMARCATED BORDERS
versus
* TOPIX > TURKISH FM: ISRAEL CANNOT SURVIVE AS A PURE JEWISH STATE. Minority = Non-Jews must be allowed to immigrate to Israel + have political power.
IMO read, ISRAEL MUST LEGALLY ACCEPT MORE MUSLIMS AS ISRAELI CITIZENS-RESIDENTS.
[Jerusalem Post Front Page] US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday expressed support for the tens of thousands of protesters in Iran's capital, saying they "deserve to have the same rights that they saw being played out in Egypt and are part of their own birthright."
Speaking to news hounds after meeting House Speaker John It is not pronounced 'Boner!' Boehner, ... the occasionally weepy leader of House Republicans... Clinton said she and others in [US President] Barack B.O. Obama's administration "very clearly and directly support the aspirations of the people who are in the streets" of Tehran.
She spoke of the "hypocrisy" of the Iranian government that hailed the protests in Egypt but has tried to suppress opposition at home.
She said there "needs to be a commitment to open up the political system, to hear the voices of the opposition and civil society."
Clinton's comments come after security forces nabbed dozens of Iranian opposition supporters Monday while they were taking part in a banned rally in Tehran to support popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, an Iranian opposition website said.
"Witnesses say in some parts of Tehran security forces nabbed dozens of protesters," opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi's Kaleme website reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Little late for that, Secretary Clinton. You should have spoken up when things were going tough for the protestors a year or so ago.
People remember your and your boss' silence on the matter then. They do not forget, and it is hard to garner trust after betrayal.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/15/2011 0:52 Comments ||
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#2
She spoke of the "hypocrisy"
A topic on which she can most certainly speak at the expert level.
Outgoing premier Saad Hariri on Monday stressed that the March 14 Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys... coalition would not agree to the rise of a Lebanese political system ruled by the influence of weapons "under the pretext of resistance" against Israel.
"When we had agreed in the (previous) ministerial Policy Statement on the equation of the people, the army and the Resistance That'd be the Hezbullies, natch... , it was because we believe that the State embraces everyone," Hariri said at a ceremony organized by the March 14 forces to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the liquidation of his father, ex-PM Rafik Hariri.
Hariri and 22 others were killed in a massive Beirut bombing on February 14, 2005, an event that sent shockwaves through Leb and eventually led to the pullout of Syrian troops after 29 years of domination over the country.
The commemoration of Hariri's murder comes amid a deep political rift between the March 14 camp and the Hizbullah-led coalition as the Netherlands-based Special Tribunal for Leb readies to issue its indictments.
"Yes, we don't accept weapons and we don't subjugate to them when they are directed against the Lebanese and when they become a means of blackmail of their stability and security ... or when they become a means of pressure on members of parliament to do the opposite of what the voters entrusted them to do," Hariri added.
"Weapons directed against the Lebanese people are weapons of discord, and discord in Leb serves only Israel, which is our only enemy," the caretaker premier told a rally of several-thousand people at the Beirut International Exhibition and Leisure Center (BIEL).
He described Hizbullah's weapons arsenal as "a controversial issue among the Lebanese."
"In this respect, I commend the adoption by the March 14 forces of the national constants statement issued by the (broad Sunni) meeting of Dar al-Fatwa (on Friday), especially when mentioning the abuses and use of weapons to subjugate others," Hariri went on to say.
He insisted that the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Leb probing the death of his father "is not American nor French nor Israeli, and doesn't target any group or sect."
"This tribunal represents, in our point of view, the highest degree of human justice. This tribunal will surely punish, with the help of God, only -- and I reiterate: only -- the terrorist murderers who targeted many of our (political) figures, starting with prime minister Rafik Hariri," he stressed.
The acting premier noted that Leb cannot be governed by a single party, a single individual or a single sect. "And if any person or party or sect think today that they are able to govern alone, let them try," he added.
Hariri, who wept as he prayed over his father's grave in central Beirut earlier in the day, called on his supporters to rally en masse once again on March 14 as they did six years ago, when an estimated one million people gathered in the capital to demand Syria's military withdrawal.
"We began our march to freedom on March 14, 2005 and ... we will resume it on March 14, 2011," he told thousands of cheering supporters.
"On March 14 we will once again say no: no to the hijacking of the voters' choice ... no to armed internal domination."
Hariri announced that he will lead Leb's new opposition against a government the March 14 camp says will be under Hizbullah command.
"Today, we are in the opposition because of ... our commitment to the Special Tribunal for Leb and our belief in the need to protect the Lebanese from weapons."
Hariri also noted that the unsuccessful Saudi-Syrian initiative to broker a solution to the Lebanese crisis was based on one "essential" idea: "A Lebanese national reconciliation conference ... in Riyadh under the auspices of the king of Soddy Arabia and in the presence of the Lebanese and Syrian presidents, a number of Arab presidents and the vaporous Arab League."
On January 12, Hizbullah and its allies toppled Saad Hariri's cabinet in a long-running feud over the Special Tribunal for Leb.
Hizbullah-backed Najib Miqati was then appointed to form a new government, which Hariri's alliance has refused to join and has labeled "Hizbullah's government".
Hariri has refused to join Miqati's government unless he guarantees his cabinet will see the tribunal through.
Hizbullah meanwhile is demanding Leb end all cooperation with the court, which it says is a U.S.-Israeli conspiracy.
While Hariri and his allies won Leb's last parliamentary election in 2009, shifting alliances today have positioned the Hizbullah-led camp as the majority after Druze leader Walid Wally Jumblat ... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times... moved closer to the Shiite party.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2011 00:00 ||
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[Arab News] Leb's outgoing prime minister said Monday he is joining the opposition, signaling he will be a fierce opponent of Hezbullies after the Iranian-backed group forced the collapse of his government last month.
Hariri, who is serving as a caretaker until a new government is formed, spoke during a ceremony to mark the sixth anniversary of the liquidation of his father, former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.
Addressing thousands of his supporters in Beirut, Hariri accused Hezbullies and its allies of "lies, betrayal and lack of loyalty." He called for mass protests on March 14 Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys... and made clear he would not take part in a unity government.
"Our mistake may have been that we extended our hand truthfully every time," Hariri said, speaking of his fallen government, which the US and other Western powers supported. "But we were met every time with deceit, and our genuine intention was taken as a point of weakness and a sign of fear."
The ascendancy of Hezbullies is a setback to the United States, which has provided Leb with a total of $720 million in military aid since 2006 and has tried in vain to move the country firmly into a Western sphere and end the influence of Iran and Syria.
Hezbullies's opponents maintain having an Iranian proxy in control of Leb's government would be disastrous and lead to international isolation. The group has its own arsenal and is the country's most powerful military force.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2011 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
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