The arrival of 7 and half tons of tear gas to Egypt's Suez port created conflict after the responsible officials at the port refused to sign and accept it for fear it would be used to crackdown on Egyptian protesters.
Local news sites published documents regarding the shipment shows that the cargo that arrived in 479 barrels from the United States was scheduled to be delivered to the ministry of interior.
The reports also mentioned in the documents that a second shipment of 14 tons of tear gas was expected, making the total 21 tons, in one week.
Egypt's al-Shorouk newspaper reported that upon the arrival of the shipment, massive disagreements broke out between employees, where five employees refused to sign for the shipment, one after the other.
The five, being dubbed by activists as the "brave five", will be refereed to a investigative committee as to why they refused to perform their duties.
Soon to be known as the "Missing Five", and shortly thereafter as the "Five Martyrs"...
According to local reports and the ministry of interior, the shipment was not sent back and appears to have entered Egypt.
[Tripoli Post] Abdel Hakim Belhaj ...nom de guerre Abu Abdallah Assadaq, emir of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and a commander of the Tripoli Military Council in the Libyan civil war... might have his critics and perhaps many believed him to be more of an obstacle than an ally to the cabinet of prime minister Abdurrahim el-Keeb as the new Libya transitional government tries to find its feet. However, a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth... he has said he is ready to back the government.
Belhaj seemed to be overlooked for the post of defence minister after being regarded as a front runner, but he has once again been reported saying, this time by Rooters, that said he had not put his name forward for any cabinet post. He said he had even been consulted about appointments for the most powerful jobs.
"I hope that it (the new government) will be granted all the support needed for it to carry out its tasks. I am aware of certain opinions accusing it of being imbalanced in terms of representing all regions, but we hope that it would be allowed to carry out its duties to render the country stable and secure," Belhaj told Rooters.
He went on to say: "As revolutionaries, we are concerned with supporting this government and all the ministers including the defence minister. We will coordinate and cooperate with the defence ministry ... Our relationship with the defence minister is good."
Despite the fact that even his supporters were overlooked for top posts, and that the defence minister's post in the new government was handed to the head of a rival militia, his is focussing on helping to put the country on its feet after an eight-month long armed conflict.
Having said that however, Belhaj, who heads the Tripoli Military Council, reportedly made up of a heavily-armed force of about 25,000 men, he would not commit to a date for the forces under his control to hand over their weapons to the government.
Last week tensions between the rival groups surfaced when Belhaj was briefly jugged at Tripoli International Airport as he set off on a trip abroad, with airport officials, controlled by fighters from Zintan, saying he had a problem with his passport. The problem was resolved with the intervention of National Transitional Council chairman Mustafa Abdul-Jalil who ordered his release.
In the interview with Rooters Belhaj refused to answer questions about the airport incident, and asked about tensions between rival groups, he did not answer directly, saying only that opposing views were "very normal in ... (the) democratic atmosphere that the Libyans are living in nowadays."
He said he will work with the defence and interior ministries on a mechanism for his forces to hand over their weapons and amalgamate into new government institutions. "You can see that the military presence has receded and this is a positive sign," Belhaj said, adding that it was too early to give a timetable for the handover, and that it was down to the government to create the right conditions for this to happen.
He said: "It is not on our agenda right now. This is a two-sided solution ... We call on the government to recruit the revolutionaries into the ministries and public institutions."
"We have to wait for the plans and programs of the relevant ministries and the corresponding plans and programmes to be initiated by the revolutionaries," he said.
"When the two reach a meeting point (we need) to draft a comprehensive plan, then it would be done."
Though speculation is rife that Belhaj is planning to form an Islamist political party that will compete for power in the elections scheduled to take place around the middle of next year, he failed to give details about his plans.
"Of course I am also interested in the coming elections just like any other Libyan who is interested in and follows Libyan affairs. We are preparing and are getting ready for the future political project," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
[Bangla Daily Star] The International Crimes Tribunal has dismissed Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... leader Delwar Hossain Sayeedi's ...Islamic orator and politician. He was a former Member of Parliament in the National Assembly of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2008, and is one of the most prominent leaders of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami... plea that its chairman Justice Nizamul Huq can become biased against him in the ongoing war crimes trial.
In its order yesterday the three-member tribunal called Sayedee's petition against its chairman "contemptuous, outrageous, and unheard of".
Sayedee, Nayeb-e-Ameer of Jamaat, is the first to stand trial from among the seven Jamaat and BNP leaders facing charges of crimes against humanity such as genocide, murder, rape, arson and torture during the Liberation War.
The ICT charged Sayedee with 20 counts of crimes by the tribunal on October 3. The charges include genocide, killing, rape, arson, abduction and torture of civilians during the war, which Sayedee denies as "politically motivated".
The tribunal has drawn international attention in its enormous task to bring to justice those who killed or raped innocent civilians and collaborated with the Mighty Pak Army during Bangladesh's nine-month War of Liberation against Pakistain in 1971.
The Mighty Pak Army and its local collaborators are accused of killing 30 lakh civilians and raping 2 lakh women in one of the history's worst genocide.
Welcoming the trials, international war crimes experts and rights groups have, however, called for ensuing that the proceedings are fair and transparent. The prosecutors have promised free and fair trials.
On November 16, Sayedee petitioned the tribunal expressing doubt about the impartiality of Justice Nizamul. He cited the judge's involvement with the non-government People's Enquiry Commission that investigated war crimes allegations against Sayedee and some others in 1993-94.
Sayedee's lawyers earlier urged Justice Nizamul to step down as chairman of the tribunal to ensure what they said a fair trial.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam disagreed with the defence saying
Sayedee's petition is tantamount to contempt of court as he himself is an accused.
The tribunal headed by Justice Nizamul said yesterday the defence failed to prove bias and partiality of its chairman during the proceedings against Sayedee.
The defence also failed to prove that Justice Nizamul was involved in investigating war crimes allegations as a member in the secretariat of the commission, which has no legal standing, the tribunal said.
Sayedee, the tribunal observed, did not say anything against the chairman at the start of the trial proceedings against him.
It pronounced the order for more than one hour, saying that Justice Nizamul Huq is a judge of the Supreme Court, and all the judges remain neutral and impartial after taking oath as per provisions of constitution.
The court also observed that submitting such a petition seeking explanation on a judge's continuing to discharging functions is unprecedented in the history of judiciary in the country.
Sayedee's counsel Barrister Tanvir Ahmed Al Amin refused to make any comment on yesterday's order.
Meanwhile, ...back at the game, the Babe was wondering why the baseball kept getting bigger and bigger. Finally it hit him... prosecutor Sayed Haider Ali told news hounds that they will decide about filing a contempt of court case against Sayedee and his counsels after getting the copy of the order.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
#1
Politicaly Motivated or not, were the charges valid?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/29/2011 6:39 Comments ||
Top||
They should be mindful that if they dare to impair the dignity of the DPRK again and fire one bullet or shell toward its inviolable territorial waters, sky and land, the deluge of fire on Yeonpyeong Island will lead to that in Cheongwadae and the sea of fire in Cheongwadae to the deluge of fire sweeping away the stronghold of the group of traitors.
[Washington Post] The latest U.S.-Pakistain peeing contest threatened Monday to undo months of efforts to placate the Paks, and to undermine the Obama's administration's strategy for dumping Afghanistan.
Administration officials did not respond to Pak demands for an apology for the cross-border U.S. Arclight airstrike that killed at least 24 Pak soldiers early Saturday morning. Instead, they expressed condolences for the loss of life while saying the facts about what happened were still under investigation. ... and increasingly looking like a setup...
Both sides said they believed they were attacking gunnies along the border. A senior Pak defense official acknowledged his troops fired first, sending a flare, followed by mortars and machinegun fire, toward what he said was "suspicious activity" in the brush-covered area below their high-level outpost barely 500 yards from the border.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[13 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
ION NEWS KERALA > DEATH OF ZAWAHIRI, LIBI MAY DEFEAT AL-QAEDA: US OFFICIALS.
#2
We really do need to hit Pakistan with a full-fledged ARCLIGHT strike on Rawalpindi/Islamabad, just to get their attention, and let them know they're a chihuahua attacking a pair of Great Danes. They'll keep playing both sides until we stomp the living sh$$ out of them once, and let them know we can do it again any time we choose. Duplicity is ingrained in the Pakistani/Islamist character, and the only thing they fear is a bigger stick. Until we show we have that stick, they'll continue to snip at us from the shadows, knowing we won't respond. They really need to learn there are consequences to bad behavior, and we have the means to impose those consequences. Of course, the current moron in chief doesn't have the WILL to impose those consequences, so American service members will continue to die from Pakistani duplicity.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/29/2011 13:46 Comments ||
Top||
[Dawn] Pakistain vowed no more "business as usual" with the United States after NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... strikes killed 24 Pak soldiers, but stopped short on Monday of threatening to break the troubled alliance altogether.
NATO and the United States had sought to limit the fallout of Saturday's attack as Pakistain shut vital supply routes to the 140,000 foreign troops serving in Afghanistan and ordered a review of its US alliance.
Washington has backed a full inquiry and sent its condolences, while NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Sunday voiced regret over the "tragic, unintended" killings, but did not issue a full apology.
In response Pakistain has dug in its heels, reacting furiously to what it called an "unprovoked" strike, worsening US-Pak relations already in crisis after the killing in May of the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now sometimes referred to as Mister Bones... north of Islamabad by US special forces.
In an interview with CNN, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... said incidents such as at the NATO cross-border attack further alienated the Pak masses, leaving his government isolated in its unpopular alliance with the US.
"Business as usual will not be there, therefore we have to have something bigger so that to satisfy my nation, the entire country," he said in English.
Asked whether the US-Pak alliance can continue, he replied: "That can continue on mutual respect and mutual interest", adding that both were currently lacking.
"If I can't protect the illusory sovereignty of my country how can we say it's a mutual respect and mutual interest?"
It remains unclear what happened at the dead of night in some of the most hostile terrain on Earth. Afghan and Western officials reportedly said the Paks opened fire first. Pakistain insists the attack was unprovoked.
NATO and Afghan forces "were fired on from a Mighty Pak Army base", a Western official told the Wall Street Journal. "It was a defensive action." An Afghan border police commander, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... as officials have been told not to speak to media before an investigation is completed, said NATO troops hardly ever open fire unless they are attacked.
"To me it's almost clear that they (Isaf) came under fire from that area. Without that they would have not returned fire," he told AFP.
He said Taliban, Afghan cops as well Pak security forces have posts very close to each other due to the rugged, mountainous terrain.
"This is not true. They are making up excuses. And by the way, what are their losses, casualties?" Major General Athar Abbas ... who is The Very Model of a Modern Major General... , Pakistain's chief military front man, wrote to AFP in a text message.
He later told Pak television channel Geo that 72 Pak soldiers have been killed and 250 maimed by fire from across the Afghan border over the last three years.
Asked about expressions of regret by NATO he said: "We do not accept it because such kind of attacks have been taking place in the past... Our leadership will decide about further reaction." British newspaper The Daily Telegraph on Monday quoted maimed survivors of the raid, who insisted they were victims of an unprovoked attack.
In retaliation, Islamabad has blocked NATO convoys from crossing into Afghanistan, ordered a review of its alliance with the US and is mulling whether to boycott a key conference on Afghanistan next month.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
They are just about as upset as when the US offed Osama. I wonder if it is for similar reasons?
#3
The other report posted on Rantburg said that (a) the Americans took fire from the Pak position (b) the Pakistani said they had no troops in the area.
My guess is someone knows it is easier to ride the anti-American bandwagon than confront the folk in Pakistan with their screw up.
#5
DAILY TIMES.PK > US MUST APOLOGIZE IFF PAKISTAN STRIKE IN ERROR: SENATOR [Diane Feinstein].
Also from SAME > PAKISTAN BASE [Shamsi AB] NOT CRUCUAL FOR US DRONE STRIKES.
* SAME > PAKISTAN EXPECTED [anticipated]MOHMAND-STYLE ATTACK, post-Abbottabad + given well-reported US desires to make increasing use of CIA + SpecFors assets as it begins to downsize its overall military presence. HOWEVER, PAKISTAN EXPECTED SUCH AN ATTACK TO OCCUR AT LEAST SIX MONTHS [or more] FROM NOW.
HHMMMM, HMMMM, so IIUC, the post-Osama Pak Govt. was expecting or anticipating an eventual future armed or violent clash/confrontation between US, NATO? + PAK Army military elements???
IS IT JUST ME, OR IS PAKISTAN ROUNDABOUTLY = PDENIABLY ADMITTING THAT IT DID + WAS PROTECTING OSAMA AT ABBOTTABAD, ANDOR SPONSORS REGIONAL TERROR, INCLUDING TERROR WIDIN ITS OWN BORDERS???
[Dawn] Though former president Gen (retired) Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... had claimed to organise his All Pakistain Mohammedan League in all districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... he has failed to nominate provincial office-bearers of his party so far.
Owing to lack of strong organizational structure at the centre and provincial levels, the party could not attract people. The central leader of APML, Barrister Saif, at a presser, had assigned duties to some people about one year ago to organise the party in the province but no practical step had been taken since then.
In the beginning few former nazims ...small time big shot, the chief elected official of a local government in Pakistan, such as a district, tehsil, union council, or village council... wished to join APML, but owing to delay in nomination of its provincial office-bears they avoided joining it.
Advocate Moazam Butt, who joined the party few months ago, was assigned the duty of its provincial front man but now he has formed a separate party 'Qayum League' and is carrying out activities from the new platform. Though he claims that he is still associated with APML, provincial organiser Aurangzeb Mohmand, ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... says that Mr Butt is no more member of the party.
On the other hand, most of the politicians in the province use to criticise the policies of Musharraf's government when they have nothing to say in the public meetings.
The provincial leaders of Pakistain Mohammedan League-Nawaz, Pakistain People's Party, Jamaat-e-Islami, ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... Pakistain Tehrik-i-Insaf and Jamiat Ulema-i- Islam often mention the name of Musharraf in their public gatherings.
"A few days ago we held a meeting at Dubai and discussed all these issues. Pervez Musharraf directed all the organisers to find reasonable personalities to be named as office-bearers at different levels," Mr Mohmand told Dawn.
He claimed that several big shots of different political parties, including PML-Q, and former nazims in the province had promised to join APML. However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... Moazam Butt had no association with the party and a suitable person would be made front man very soon, he added. "We are looking for committed people to be inducted in the provincial cabinet," he said and added that Mr Musharraf had promised to make him provincial president of the party.
Mr Mohmand claimed that Mr Musharraf would return to the country in January to strengthen the party before the next general elections. He said that they were in contact with different political parties including PTI for electoral alliance in the next general elections. He said that his leader was ready to face all kinds of cases and he would arrive in January despite all problems.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Dawn] Around 300 heavy vehicles -- 200 container-mounted trailers and 100 tankers -- on an average had been setting off from the city port for Afghanistan daily to transport supplies meant for the US-led NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... forces fighting the Taliban until the operation suddenly came to a halt on Sunday.
The enormous vehicular traffic was taken off the Bloody Karachi-Qandahar route stretching across the National Highway into Chaman and further onward into Kabul via Khyber Pass after the NATO attacked Pakistain Army's outposts in Mohmand ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... Agency, killing and wounding many soldiers.
Responding to Dawn queries, Khyber Transport Association chief Shakir Afridi said that one oil tanker having a capacity of around 50,000 to 60,000 litres cost between Rs4 million and Rs5 million and the transport fare was charged at a rate of around Rs12 per litre. "It takes 15 and 20 days for a return trip depending on the situation, which usually remains fluid," he added.
Similarly, he said, a trailer carrying a 40-foot container cost between Rs3.5 million and Rs4.5 million and charged a fare between Rs200,000 and Rs250,000. Each of the vehicles normally had a two/three member crew -- a driver and his support staff, claiming a monthly salary of around Rs35,000 and Rs20,000, respectively.
Mr Afridi said that each member organization of his association owned around 2,000 oil tankers and 3,500 trailers and handled between 85 and 90 per cent of the Afghanistan-bound supplies for the allied forces.
Regarding compensation for losses in the transportation process, he said the amount varied between Rs3 million and Rs3.5 million for each oil tanker destroyed in a blast or an arson attack which did not cover the entire loss and was paid three to four months after the incident. The situation for trailer-owners was worse as they did not get any compensation, he lamented.
He said the poor crew of the vehicles was fully exposed to all sorts of risks as they were not only vulnerable to armed attacks but only to accidents and other hazards. "Not a single penny is paid to them as compensation for death or injury," he said.
Ready to sacrifice
livelihood
Mr Afridi, whose business totally depends on handling of allied forces' supplies, appeared very clear on Pakistain's response to the Saturday raid.
Condemning the allied forces, he said that Pakistain should put its foot down and accept no apologies in this regard. He expressed his dismay over Pakistain's response against similar incidents in the past. "Every time they violated the Pakistain border and killed Paks in attacks, Islamabad restricted its response to registering protests and briefly suspending the transportation of supply."
He was of the view that Pakistain must take a tough stand over such attacks to settle the issue once and for all so that the allied forces did not dare repeat such acts.
In reply to a question that he might also lose his business for good once the supplies were stopped for good, Mr Afridi said he did not care about the livelihood as he believed that "Almighty Allah is the provider".
He said his association was with the government and the army and it would fully support any decision taken by the country's leadership.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Around 300 heavy vehicles ... oil tanker having a capacity of around 50,000 to 60,000 litres charged at a rate of around Rs12 per litre. ... a 40-foot container charged a fare between Rs200,000 and Rs250,000.
That comes to $430-503 million/year paid to Paki truck transport costs alone. That doesn't take into account stolen merchandise or destroyed trucks/drivers. With US aid over $4 billion last year, the Paki economy relies on keeping the Afghan war going and Obama tripled down on it.
[Dawn] The US military will press ahead with its war effort in Afghanistan despite Pakistain's decision to cut off supplies to NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... -led forces after lethal air strikes, the Pentagon said Monday.
Pakistain promptly sealed its border with Afghanistan to NATO supplies after allied strikes killed 24 Pak soldiers near the border on Saturday.
"The war effort continues," press secretary George Little told news hounds.
Asked how long US and coalition forces could operate without supplies from routes running through Pakistain, he said: "I don't have a time line to share. But the important point to focus on is the war effort will continue. Everyone realizes we have an enemy to engage in Afghanistan and the US military is prepared to carry on." Nearly half of all cargo bound for NATO-led troops runs through Pakistain.
Roughly 140,000 foreign troops, including about 97,000 American forces, rely on
supplies from the outside for the war in Afghanistan.
But the United States also depends on Islamabad's tacit cooperation to wage war against al Qaeda and Talibs inside Pakistain, with the CIA carrying out an intense campaign of air strikes using unmanned drone aircraft.
The top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, has asked US Central Command to lead an investigation into the air strikes, Little said.
The American military's Central Command oversees US forces in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) sent an initial assessment team over the weekend to the border to collect facts surrounding the incident, he said.
Both Allen and the military's top-ranking officer, General Martin Dempsey, spoke to the Mighty Pak Army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... about the incident, he said.
"Obviously they did express their condolences and regrets but I think everyone realizes the facts need to be collected, analyzed and that the investigation needs to unfold," he said.
The Pentagon front man also said he could not confirm reports that Pakistain had banned US government aircraft or ordered the CIA out of the Shamsi air base, which has reportedly been used for US drone strikes against thugs.
"I'm not aware of any US military personnel at that base," Little said.
After the air strikes, Pakistain's cabinet ministers and military chiefs ordered the United States to leave the Shamsi air base within 15 days.
The remote desert outpost in southwest Pakistain is reportedly used as a hub for covert CIA drone strikes, which Islamabad previously told the United States to leave in June.
The role of the air base remains unclear as the CIA also uses air fields in neighbouring Afghanistan to stage missile attacks with unmanned robotic planes against suspected al Qaeda and Talibs.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
I'm not aware of any US military personnel at that base," Little said.
A political press secretary who can actually say the right thing? I'm shocked - knock me over with a feather.
[An Nahar] Pakistain on Monday denied provoking 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... air strikes that left 24 Pak soldiers dead, raising tensions over the lethal cross-border attack that has plunged U.S.-Pak relations to a new low.
NATO and the United States have sought to limit the fallout from Saturday's attack, which has seen Pakistain close a vital lifeline to the 140,000 foreign troops serving in Afghanistan and order a review of its U.S. alliance.
Washington has backed a full inquiry and expressed condolences. NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen has spoken of regret over the "tragic, unintended" killings, but stopped short Sunday of issuing a full apology.
The crisis erupted months after the fraught U.S.-Pakistain alliance was plunged to its lowest point in years by the killing in May of al-Qaeda leader the late Osama bin Laden ... who went shovel-ready... north of Islamabad by U.S. special forces.
But few questions have been answered about what exactly happened at the dead of night in some of the most hostile terrain on Earth, following reports that Pak soldiers opened fire first on U.S. and Afghan forces.
The Wall Street Journal, following a similar report by Britannia's Guardian newspaper, cited three Afghan officials and one Western official as saying the air raid was called in to shield allied forces targeting Taliban fighters.
NATO and Afghan forces "were fired on from a Mighty Pak Army base," the unnamed Western official told the Journal. "It was a defensive action."
An Afghan official said the government in Kabul believes the fire came from the Pak military base -- and not from Islamic fascistiin the area.
An Afghan border police commander said NATO troops hardly ever open fire unless they are attacked.
"To me it's almost clear that they (ISAF) came under fire from that area. Without that they would have not returned fire," he told Agence La Belle France Presse.
He said the area is very rugged, mountainous and heavily wooded. He said Taliban, Afghan cops as well Pak security forces have posts very close to each other due to the rugged terrain.
Pakistain insists the attack was "unprovoked." There has been no official U.S. response to the report.
"This is not true. They are making up excuses. And by the way, what are their losses, casualties?" Major General Athar Abbas, ... who is The Very Model of a Modern Major General... Pakistain's chief military front man, wrote to AFP in a text message.
British newspaper The Daily Telegraph on Monday quoted maimed survivors of the raid, who insisted they were victims of an unprovoked attack.
Amirzeb Khan, 23, was quoted as saying that the area around the checkpoints, about three kilometers (two miles) from the border, had been cleared of Islamic fascistiand the night had been quiet before the attack.
In retaliation, Islamabad has blocked NATO convoys from crossing into Afghanistan, ordered a review of its alliance with the U.S. and is mulling whether to boycott a key conference on Afghanistan next month.
Hundreds of enraged Paks erupted into the streets Sunday, burning an effigy of President Barack The Cambridge police acted stupidly Obama and setting fire to U.S. flags across the country of 167 million where opposition to the government's U.S. alliance is rampant.
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar telephoned U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as The Woman to Call at 3 a.m. and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Tallyrand ... on Sunday to convey a "deep sense of rage" as a joint funeral was held for the dead soldiers, their coffins draped in the national flag.
On the Fox News Sunday talk show, U.S. politicians vented frustration over Pakistain, with Republican Senator Jon Kyl demanding Islamabad cooperate with the United States in order to maintain billions of dollars in financial aid.
Senator Dick Durbin, ...Senator-for-Life from Illinois and Democratic Party Whip. In April 2006, Time magazine identified Durbin as one of America's 10 Best Senators, so what's that tell you? He was the first United States Senator to support the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama, then the junior senator from Illinois.... a top Democrat, offered condolences but said U.S. troops were caught in a "diplomatic morass between the incompetence and corruption in Afghanistan, and complicity in parts of Pakistain."
But John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... laid bare the dilemma for Washington in handling nuclear-armed Pakistain.
"While it is tempting for many people to say we ought to throw the Paks over the side... as long as that country has nuclear weapons that could fall into the hands of beturbanned goons and be a threat worldwide, they have incredible leverage," he said.
The United States in 2009 approved a huge five-year, $7.5 billion civilian assistance package for Pakistain, but some U.S. politicians want to cut civilian aid due to concerns over extremism.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
huge five-year, $7.5 billion civilian assistance package for Pakistain
Forget to put the check in the mail. Mil assistance too, which came to $2.7 billion last year.
[Dawn] President Barack I inhaled. That was the point Obama sees the deaths of 24 Pak soldiers in a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... raid as a tragedy, the White House said Monday, but argued that crisis-wracked US-Pak ties were vital to both sides.
White House front man Jay Carney said Obama believed Saturday's attack which threw US-Pak ties into turmoil was "a tragedy," adding that "we mourn those brave Pak service members that bit the dust." "We take this matter very seriously," said Carney, adding that two inquiries by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan and US Central Command would examine what took place.
"As for our relationship with Pakistain, it continues to be an important cooperative relationship that is also very complicated," Carney said.
"It is very much in America's national security interest to maintain a cooperative relationship with Pakistain because we have shared interests in the fight against terrorism," Carney said.
Pakistain earlier vowed no more "business as usual" with the United States but stopped short of threatening to break the troubled alliance altogether.
NATO and the United States are trying to limit fallout from the attack but Islamabad has shut vital supply routes to the 140,000 foreign troops serving in Afghanistan.
Pakistain called the strike "unprovoked," worsening US-Pak relations which were already in crisis after the killing in May of the late Osama bin Laden ... Maybe his Mom misses him... north of Islamabad by US special forces.
The Wall Street Journal, following a similar report by Britannia's Guardian newspaper, cited three Afghan officials and one Western official as saying the air raid was called in to shield allied forces targeting Taliban fighters.
NATO and Afghan forces "were fired on from a Mighty Pak Army base," the unnamed Western official told the Journal. "It was a defensive action." An Afghan official said the Kabul government believes the fire came from the Pak military base -- and not from Death Eaters. Afghan-Pak relations suffer from routine mutual recriminations.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[15 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#6
Looks like neither Pakistan nor the USA is in a reconciliatory mood just yet ...
To wit,
* PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > US [Top Commander] REFUSES TO APOLOGIZE FOR FOR PAKISTAN AIR STRIKE THAT KILLED 24 SOLDIERS.
JCS Chair General Martin Dempsey.
* SAME > PAKISTAN [has]DECIDED NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN BONN CONFERENCE, as chaired by the Afghans.
* SAME > KARZAI URGES PAKISTAN TO RECONSIDER BONN BOYCOTT.
* SAME > [Polling Positions survey] MOST AMERICANS [55%] SEE PAKISTAN AS AN ENEMY, as per PP Poll taken one day after deadly NATO air strike.
Approximately 26.0% are neutral while 7.0% see Pakland as a friend of the US.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > PAKISTAN ARMY OFFICERS CANCEL US VISITS [ + UK] - US OFFICERS NOT WELCOME IN PAKISTAN.
* SAME > LASH BACK: JD ["Jawatuud Dawa" Group] VOWS TO TURN PAKISTAN INTO TALIBAN STATE, + recruit + train Pak youths to wage Jihad agz the US + India, + apostate pro-Zionist, Crusader Pakistani Govt. iff it fails to punish or kick the US out of Pakistan because of the NATO air strike agz Pak troops.
versus
* NEWS KERALA > AFGHANISTAN TO APPEAL TO WEST NOT TO ABANDON IT LIKE THE SOVIETS IN 1980's.
POst-2014, the Afghan Govt-State believes it will need a minima of US$10.0Bilyuhn a year from foreign donors [Average = US$15.0Bilyuhn now].
Lest we fergit, AFGHANISTAN + EVEN PAKISTAN [AFPAK] = AMERICA'S "POTUS TEDDY ROOSEVELT" MOMENT, ee IFF THE US CAN'T DEVELOP SAME INTO MODERN PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATIC STATES, NO ONE CAN.
[WILL SMITH = "WILD WILD WEST" MOVIE here].
FYI the OIC, Pak BFF China, Russia, + Iran are throwing their support behind Pakistan in this incident.
E.g. IIRC DAILY TIMES.PK > US FANNING TERRORISM, FLOUTING INTERNATIONAL LAWS: CHINA.
According to an Iraqi security forces, police arrested a Wahhabi woman in Sunni dominated region of Diali who has sent her 9 years old boy to suicide in a Shiite mosque.
The arrested terrorist woman, S.Alabidi, confessed that in year 2006, she and her husband have wrapped their boy, Kadhim, with explosive belt to blow up Shiite mosque in Diali province.
In the attack 9 Shia martyred and 8 others injured.
#1
Her punishment should begin with a hysterectomy, and her husband should be castrated. Then send them both to prison for life, unless they can be hanged.
#5
"who has sent her murdered her 9 year old boy to suicide in a Shiite mosque and some others"
Fixed.
Posted by: Barbara ||
11/29/2011 18:08 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Words are just not sufficient to describe this mother's love for her own son. Evil, vile, sadistic, hellish, hell bound, and inhuman come to mind. May the security forces give her the same consideration she gave her son.
An official of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said Monday that they have a confirmed that renegade Ustadhz Ameril Umra Kato, head of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM), is still alive and recuperating from a stroke, though he is weak and has difficulty speaking.
Nine millimeter aneurysm?
Sounded like a popped vein. They were trying to pass it off as an asthma attack a couple days ago.
The vice chairman for Political Affairs of the MILF said yesterday, "As of 4 p.m. Sunday up to the time we are now talking to each other, we have an A-1 information that he is alive, though still weak from his illness. He can now speak a little, taking small amount of food.
"Ustadhz Ameril Umra Kato is a Muslim, our brother, a human being like us. So we wish him to recover from his illness like we wish anyone else in the same situation."
"Except for infidels..."
Jaafar denied that Kato, who split from the MILF after rejecting the peace process, has left the country. He did not reveal where the founder of the BIFM and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF-BIFM) is recovering.
Meanwhile, BIFM spokesman Abu Misry Mama, confirmed that Kato "is very much alive and recuperating." Mama appealed to those spreading rumors about Kato's supposed death to stop, saying if and when he pines for the fjords dies they will let the public know.
#5
I have long joked that the best thing that Carter did was be so weak the Soviets overextended themselves grabbing up everything they could just in time for Reagan's buildup.
Hopefully there is another Reagan out there. I don't really see him in the primaries though.
[An Nahar] The Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... has offered to review its sanctions on Syria if Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... agrees to a plan to send observers to the restive country, a league official told Agence La Belle France Presse on Monday.
Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi has also indicated that the 22-member organization, which agreed a raft of sanctions on Sunday, would be willing to slightly modify the observers' mission.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Arabi made the offer in a letter to Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem "to review all measures taken" by Arab foreign ministers.
The ministers agreed on Sunday in Cairo to impose sweeping sanctions on the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor... over its refusal to allow in observers during his deadly crackdown on anti-regime protests.
Arabi offered to allow closer coordination between the observers and the Syrian regime, according to the letter.
The sanctions include an immediate ban on transactions with the Syrian government and central bank and a freeze on Syrian government assets in Arab countries.
They also bar Syrian officials from visiting any Arab country and call for a suspension of all flights to Arab states to be implemented on a date to be fixed at a meeting next week.
Assad's regime has already been subjected to a raft of Western sanctions, led by the United States and European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[An Nahar] President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... proposed that Hizbullah not attend Wednesday's scheduled session so that the cabinet approves the funding of the Special Tribunal for Leb, al-Liwaa newspaper reported.
The daily said on Monday that Suleiman is exerting efforts to resolve the crisis that is threatening to collapse the cabinet.
Prime Minister Najib Miqati had warned to resign if the funding of the STL wasn't approved by the cabinet; however, Hizbullah leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... has openly opposed Leb paying its annual share.
Sources told the newspaper that the President held a meeting behind closed doors with Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, who is Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri's Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet... top aide.
Suleiman discussed with Khalil the possibility of holding Wednesday's cabinet session without the attendance of Hizbullah ministers, where the funding of the STL would be approved without causing embarrassment to any party.
Leb is responsible for meeting 49 percent of the costs of the STL, which has charged four Hizbullah members in the February 14, 2005 liquidation of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others.
Suleiman suggests that this solution will safeguard Leb, as it confirms Leb's commitment to the international resolutions, according to al-Liwaa.
However, you can observe a lot just by watching... Hizbullah refused the president's proposal, stressing that its ministers will attend all the cabinet's sessions.
The cabinet is expected to witness a heated debate on Wednesday as the funding of the STL has deepened the rift between the cabinet members.
Hizbullah and its allies in the cabinet, the Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... and AMAL, refuse to fund the STL, while Miqati and his allies stress on the importance of committing to paying Leb's dues.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
[An Nahar] The 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. on Monday warned that the current political bickering in the country might lead to a "dangerous power impasse" and called for forming a "salvation government."
"The domestic arena needs to be immunized in the face of the storms lashing the region," the Phalange Party's political bureau urged after its weekly meeting, calling for the formation of a "salvation government enjoying the necessary sense of responsibility and disregard of personal interests."
The party noted that the thorny issue of the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Leb must not only revolve about whether to finance or not finance the court, but rather about Leb's "approach towards justice."
"The (2007) U.N. resolution on the tribunal was passed under Chapter 7 and it became in the custody of the Security Council; hence, the Lebanese situation cannot influence it anymore," it added.
The Phalange politburo called on everyone to "show responsibility, first towards the dozens of deaders who must be served justice through the unveiling of their killers, and second towards the international community which is helping Leb leave behind the principle of impunity from prosecution and join the ranks of countries enjoying deep-rooted democracy."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
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.
[Bangla Daily Star] The International Crimes Tribunal has dismissed 
Pervez 
Mohmand,
[Dawn] The US military will press ahead with its war effort in Afghanistan despite Pakistain's decision to cut off supplies to 
[An Nahar] Pakistain on Monday denied provoking 
Hillary Clinton
Senator 
[Dawn] President 
[An Nahar] The 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Najib Miqati
