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Mousavi's website shut down
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Rather attractive pulls on that Birdseye....
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/29/2009 7:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Clara Lou, "The Oomph Girl" from Denton Texas



Loaded for Bear

Anchors Aweigh

Pile Driver

Daily Gam Shot

Back to the Future

Nightie Night

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 06/29/2009 10:31 Comments || Top||

#3  Well, Fred, I see you have come to your senses about the Iranian Revolution. Unfortunately, that's the way I see it too - hard to beat a bunch of immoral thugs led by deviant mullahs. I do wonder how it would have turned out if The One had been more forceful and demanding in a Reaganesque way.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 06/29/2009 13:35 Comments || Top||

#4  Won't happen Jack, Ohblablahblah is a coward, he'll only wait it out, then claim he was behind (Whoever wins) all along.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/29/2009 14:46 Comments || Top||

#5  This was a "hesitation mark." If you've been keeping track, Iran has a cycle of unrest that peaks in June or July every couple years. This was the year they've come closest to date to throwing the ayatollahs out.

The best thing for the ayatollahs would be for Rafsanjani to push the Guardians Council into removing Khamenei and replacing him with someone more reasonable. If they do that, the 1979 Revolution will keep puttering along, most of the same set of religious oligarchs in place, still raking in the money, with maybe a functioning economy.

If Rafsanjani loses and gets dumped, there will be more unrest next year or the year after. It only takes one to succeed, at which point we may well be treated to the sight of ayatollahs dangling from the lamp post, Najaf ascendant over Qom, and a secular Iranian state.

The Shah was allied with the U.S. not because he was that enamored with the U.S., but because Iran's a non-Arab power and the Soviet Union was busy making inroads among the Arabs while puppeteering the Afghans.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 18:49 Comments || Top||

#6  Fred, that pretty bit of analysis makes this a Classic, in my opinion.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/29/2009 21:02 Comments || Top||

#7  Thank you. It felt like a statement of the obvious.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 21:14 Comments || Top||

#8  The best analysis is, my dear.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/29/2009 23:29 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
3 dozen killed in Afghanistan
New attacks linked to a spreading Taliban-led insurgency killed around three dozen people including seven civilians and seven policemen over the weekend, authorities said on Sunday.
Was there Taliban violence when outsiders were not there to witness? Did it count as violence when the Afghan police and army, and the international forces, were not there to help the locals fight against it?
In the deadliest incident, extremists attacked a district headquarters in the southwestern province of Farah on Saturday, deputy provincial police chief Mohammad Naeem Popal told AFP. "Five policemen were martyred and eight Taliban were killed," he said, adding that an unknown number of the Taliban were also wounded in the fighting.

Taliban also ambushed a convoy of police, the Afghan army and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) personnel in the same province on Saturday, an army spokesman said. "Two policemen and six Taliban were killed in the firefight after the attack and nine Taliban were wounded," said the spokesman, Abdul Basir Ghori. In southeastern Ghazni province, a vehicle carrying shopkeepers returning to their district on Saturday after purchasing goods hit a roadside bomb, a local official said.

Five people, including the driver, were killed, said Muhammad Yousuf Siraji, adding security forces had been the intended target. In Andar on Sunday, Taliban attacked a logistics convoy and killed an Afghan guard, provincial spokesman Ismail Jehangir said.

He also reported that a teacher had been murdered in the province on Saturday but it was not clear by whom. The Education Ministry said the attack was by the "enemies of education", a reference to insurgents. Also Sunday, a suicide attack on police near the eastern town of Jalalabad killed an eight-year-old child, provincial government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said. Five more civilians and four police were wounded, he said. In Helmand province in the south, police late Saturday swooped on a group believed to be behind the killing of eight policemen two nights ago and killed five of them, provincial police said.

ISAF announced that it had called in airstrikes on the mountain hideout of a insurgent commander in the eastern province of Khost on Saturday. "Coalition forces observed and identified suspected militants gathering at this location and called for precision air strikes to eliminate the target," it said in a statement that did not say how many insurgents were killed. Deputy Interior Minister Munir Mohammad Mangal told reporters in Kabul on Sunday that 49 civilians were killed and 122 wounded in insurgent violence across the country in the past week.

Eighteen policemen and 84 Taliban were also killed, he said. Another 63 suspected insurgents were arrested, the minister said. The rebels had also planted at least 88 roadside bombs in the past week of which 42 have exploded, he said.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


US Troops Arrive in Helmand
[Quqnoos] A contingent of additional 10,000 US troops recently arrived in Afghanistan's volatile province of Helmand, officials said. Major General Mart de Kruif, the Dutch commander for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in southern Afghanistan said the new troops will boost the counter-insurgency efforts in the Afghan restive region.

Soon after taking the office, President Obama vowed to send an extra 17,000 troops to Afghanistan ahead of the Afghan presidential and provincial council elections in August 20. The remaining troops are expected to arrive in Afghanistan within a month to safeguard the polls.

The troops landed in Helmand province where around 8,000 British forces have encountered a bloody Taliban fighting over the past four years. A part of the new forces are likely to be stationed across the southern region during the elections.

Gen Kruif revealed with the advent of the new troops on the ground in Helmand, will significantly increase the levels of operations against the Taliban militants. "We are beginning a new phase of operations against the militants," the Dutch Gen added.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  SWEET NEWS
Posted by: Play4Keeps || 06/29/2009 1:00 Comments || Top||

#2  P4K: Not particularly sweet if the new ROE says they can't shoot if there's a civilian within 10 miles...
Posted by: PBMcL || 06/29/2009 18:41 Comments || Top||

#3  PBMcL - you also have to remember that you can't shoot back if the guy shooting at you is a civilian, which he's not, since he's not Army.
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/29/2009 19:23 Comments || Top||

#4  which he's not, since he's not Army.

Er, 'which he is, since he's not Army.
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/29/2009 19:26 Comments || Top||

#5  I presume that includes "Children" shooting at you?

I suggest gun cams, sortalike fighter planes have. That'll disprove the "Poor Innocent Children" Background Whine.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/29/2009 22:03 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Morocco dismantles alleged terror cell in Ceuta
[Maghrebia] Moroccan authorities arrested five suspected members of a Salafia Jihadia cell last week in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, local and international press reported on Friday (June 26th). The suspects are charged with trafficking drugs between Spain and Morocco. The group's reputed leader, Abou Yacine, was released from prison in 2008 after serving two years for ties to another terrorist group, Ansar el Mehdi. Two of the suspects are Moroccan, while three are Spanish nationals of Moroccan origin.
O brave, drug trafficking Lions of Islam! Exactly the kind of people to whom I'd trust the future of my soul.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Salafia Jihadiya

#1  Ceuta is only a hop, skip and jump to Spain and Gibraltar.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 06/29/2009 13:39 Comments || Top||

#2  How would they do this IN Ceuta?

Ceuta is part of Spain, not of Morocco
Posted by: European Conservative || 06/29/2009 15:23 Comments || Top||

#3  Which always made Spanish teeth-gnashing over Gibraltar seem a little ironic.
Posted by: Grunter in Belize || 06/29/2009 22:23 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Kyrgyzstan kills suspected militants
Security forces in Kyrgyzstan have killed three men they believe were militants from a rebel group, a state security official said on Sunday.

Earlier this week the Central Asian state said five militants had been killed in a gunbattle in the southern town of Jalal-Abad in which one state security officer had been killed. It said the militants belonged to the Islamic movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). A state security official who asked not to be named said its forces killed three more militants in a village in the Osh region, also in the south near the border with Uzbekistan, on Saturday night. "According to preliminary data three militants have been killed. Most likely they were terrorists from the group destroyed in Jalal-Abad," the official told Reuters. Another senior government official confirmed the killed militants were believed to be members of the IMU. "They (the militants) were from the same structure ... They (the security service) used two armoured personnel carriers to avoid casualties on our side," said the official, who also requested anonymity.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan


India-Pakistan
'Banned' Pakistani groups 'expand'
Militant groups banned in Pakistan are expanding operations and recruitment in Pakistani-run Kashmir, according to a government report seen by the BBC.

A copy of the report, which was submitted by regional police to Pakistan-administered Kashmir's cabinet on 25 March, was obtained by the BBC in Islamabad. It finds that three banned groups - Harkatul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba - are active in Muzaffarabad.

Harkatul Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammad are said to be planning to open madrassas, or Islamic schools, in the city where Lashkar-e-Taiba is already operating a madrassa. "No officials are allowed to enter these premises to gather any sort of information," the report says. "We fear these madrassas maybe a cover for furthering militant activities."

The report also elaborates how the militant groups are growing in size and number across Kashmir. It especially mentions the Neelum district, where they are said to be at their most powerful. The report says the militants are involved in the logging of trees, one of the most lucrative trades in the region. They have also set up offices in the Kandal Shahi market in Neelum, where they have become a major law and order headache, the report says.
It then goes on to say that the authorities should take up the matter with the intelligence agency responsible for the militants.

The report mentions an incident which led to the killing of some locals and a resulting stand-off with the militants. "The situation was only resolved by the intervention of the local administrator and senior army officials," the report says. It then goes on to say that the authorities should take up the matter with the intelligence agency responsible for the militants. The report says officials from that agency should relocate the militants to some area near the border, otherwise clashes with locals could take place.
Posted by: john frum || 06/29/2009 16:12 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Polish engineer's refusal to convert costs him his life
Islamabad - Piotr Stanczak did not exhibit the slightest hint of hesitation when the Pakistani Taliban asked him to choose between execution and conversion to Islam. Whether the Polish geologist acted out of pride or religious conviction, he decided to pay through his blood to save his faith, a choice that bewildered his killers and keep them talking about him with respect after his murder. Stanczak, 42, was kidnapped September 28 on his way to survey for oil exploration in Attock district, of Pakistan's eastern province of Punjab. The kidnappers also killed his driver and two guards.

Militants released a gruesome seven-minute video in early February showing his beheading. One of the murderers blamed the Pakistani government which failed to accept their demands for the release of detained militants.

Warsaw reacted angrily, slammed Islamabad's 'apathy' in tackling terrorism and offering a 1-million-zloty (300,000-dollar) reward for information leading to the capture of the Taliban militants who beheaded Stanczak.

Among the militants whose release was sought by the Taliban was Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British-Pakistani who was sentenced to death for the 2002 abduction and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl.

When negotiations between the representatives of the Pakistani government and the hostage-takers failed, the Taliban leadership gave the Polish man a last chance to save himself, Stanczak's captors revealed to another hostage, a Pakistani man Mohammad Amir. Amir - a pseudonym, as he asked for anonymity to avoid possible repercussions - was released recently after his family paid 1 million rupees (25,000 dollars) to agents of Taliban commander Tariq Afridi.

Afridi heads a small group of Taliban in the Orakzai tribal district and is loyal to Baitullah Mehsud, the chief of local Taliban who has a 5-million-dollar bounty on his head for being an al-Qaeda facilitator. Pakistani troops have recently been ordered to take decisive action against Mehsud.

In an interview with the German Press Agency dpa in Attock, Amir said he was kept in the same cell where Stanczak was held for a month before the Polish man was decapitated. Amir said Taliban soldiers guarding the two-storey prison building in South Waziristan, a lawless tribal district bordering Afghanistan, frequently chatted with him and one day they mentioned the abduction and killing of Stanczak. 'Our people were keeping an eye on his movements for several months. We were expecting that we could exchange some of our mujahidin in the government's custody for him,' Amir quoted a guard as saying.

Because Stanczak was a high-profile target, the Taliban made extensive preparations to kidnap and shift him to a safe place from Attock, some 100 kilometres from Islamabad. 'You know the Indus River lies between Attock and North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) and our people could not use the bridge to cross it because it is heavily guarded. So we bought a boat to transport Piotr across the border,' the guard, who identified himself as Abdullah, told Amir. From NWFP, Stanczak was moved to the Tirah Valley of the adjoining Khyber tribal district, and a month later to the Taliban's stronghold of South Waziristan, a 14-hour drive through muddy mountain tracks.

'Piotr never showed any sign of nervousness or fear. He would finish the food we gave him and sleep well. We all admired his courage. It was not an easy decision even for our commander to kill Piotr,' Abdullah said. 'That's why he gave him a last chance. But he was very stubborn and refused our goodwill gesture to save his life,' Abdullah was cited as saying by Amir. 'Piotr said first we should release him. He will go back to his country, consult his family and read about Islam and only then deicide about converting to Islam. This surprised everyone but we had to kill him because principles are principles - we gave him a chance and he lost it, the guard told Amir. 'But undoubtedly he was a brave man.'
Posted by: john frum || 06/29/2009 16:01 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And now he'll live forever.
Posted by: gromky || 06/29/2009 16:09 Comments || Top||

#2  This is what you call a real martyr.

Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/29/2009 18:18 Comments || Top||

#3  A courageous man.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/29/2009 19:15 Comments || Top||

#4  Ths was a great man. Words fail me except to say this: the name Stanczak will be recalled with the name King Jan Sobieski for whom a prayer should be daily.
Posted by: MarkZ || 06/29/2009 21:38 Comments || Top||


Mumbai: What really happened
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/29/2009 12:29 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Pakistan army wanted a reason to take their troops from Western Pakistan where they didnt want to fight the taliban to the Eastern border where they would much love to fight the peace loving Indians!!

Scum/failed state is what pakistan is but look where they get their funding/ideology from our friends the Saudis!!!!

Ps Iran no better re Islamist ideology!
Posted by: Paul2 || 06/29/2009 13:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Missed an exclamation point in the last sentence.
Posted by: Pappy || 06/29/2009 13:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Pappy, the post was clearly striving for the prized five exclamation points!!!!!
Posted by: Mitch H. || 06/29/2009 16:01 Comments || Top||

#4  Touche, Mitch.
Posted by: Pappy || 06/29/2009 19:25 Comments || Top||


Attack on security convoy in NW; 12 soldiers martyred
[Geo News] Twelve soldiers were martyred and 10 others injured when militants ambushed a convoy of security forces in Garmalai area of North Waziristan.

According to a statement issued by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), 10 militants were also killed in an exchange of fire that took place between saboteurs and security men triggered by the above attack by militants. The wounded troops have been rushed to a nearby hospital.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Minister's brother escapes attack in Jacobabad, driver dies
[Geo News] Mir Mumtaz Jakhrani, brother of Federal Minister for Health Aijaz Jakhrani, escaped armed attack here in Garhi Kheru while his driver was killed on the spot. According to Geo TV, Jakhrani was traveling in his vehicle which came under fire attack in Garhi Kheru. He remained safe in the attack but his driver was killed on the spot.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


Pakistani forces kill 11 Taliban militants
[Jakarta Post] Warplanes and helicopter gunships pounded suspected militant positions in Pakistan's troubled northwest on Sunday, killing 11 Taliban fighters, intelligence officials said.

The government also upped the stakes in its conflict with Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, offering a reward of 50 million rupees ($615,000) for information leading to Mehsud's capture or death.

Clashes between the military and Mehsud and his militants are increasing in the volatile northwest, where the army appears to be preparing for a fresh offensive aimed at eliminating the Taliban chieftain.

In North Waziristan, insurgents ambushed an army convoy on Sunday, killing six soldiers, intelligence officials said on condition on anonymity because they weren't authorized to disclose the information. The four officials say some soldiers were also wounded in the attack.

Insurgents also killed one government soldier in twin attacks on a pair of army outposts near Wana in South Waziristan shortly after morning prayers, the army said.

Pakistan's military kept up its bombing campaign on suspected militant hideouts in the region. Jet fighters struck the village of Kani Guram overnight, leaving eight militants dead, while helicopter gunships hit positions in Shah Alam and Raghhzai, killing three more fighters, the intelligence officials told The Associated Press.

It was not possible to independently confirm the casualty counts or the identities of those reported killed. Journalists have little access to the remote, dangerous region.

Islamabad has set its sites on Mehsud in recent weeks, and on Sunday the government published an announcement in two national newspapers offering a the reward for the Pakistani Taliban leader. His group has been blamed for a string of suicide attacks across the country that have killed more than 100 people in the past month. Smaller amounts were offered for information on his top lieutenants.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Iraq
Baghdad puts police on high alert, cancels leave
Iraq cancelled leave for all its police and put them on high alert on Sunday ahead of the withdrawal of US combat forces from Iraqi towns and cities at the end of the month, an official said. Security was tightened across the capital on Sunday, with troops and police closing roads and carefully searching cars. "The alert has gone to all of our forces. There will be no days off. They are at their full strength across the whole country, at 100 percent," said Major General Abdul-Karim Khalaf, spokesman for the interior ministry, which controls the police. "All of our units have seen an increase in their numbers, not only at the checkpoints," he told Reuters. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Saturday that the US withdrawal sent a message to the world that Iraq could handle its own security. The government trusted its forces to defeat Al Qaeda militants and criminal gangs, he added.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency


Southeast Asia
Bomb attack kills two, wounds eight in Mindanao market
Two people were killed on Monday and at least 8 others wounded in a bomb attack blamed by the military to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the restive Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao.

Colonel Jonathan Ponce, a regional army spokesman, said the powerful explosion occurred at around 6 a.m. near a market in Kitanggo village in town of Datu Saudi Ampatuan in Maguindanao province. He said the explosion killed Malimpunok Nunokan, 65, and Tong Hadji Omal, 25. “One of the dead was the courier of the bomb and a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s special operations group,” Ponce said without identifying the bomber.

It was unknown if the bombing was a suicide attack. Other reports said the improvised explosive was planted near a café. Ponce said the bomb was assembled from an 81mm mortar. “The series of IED bombings in central Mindanao are the handiwork of the special operations group of the MILF,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

No individual or group claimed responsibility for the blast, but the MILF denied it was behind the bombing and said soldiers planted the explosive as part of its campaign to discredit the rebel group. “Villagers saw soldiers arrived in the area at dawn and there was an explosion several hours later,” Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader, told reporters.
Posted by: ryuge || 06/29/2009 06:34 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Village chief killed by terrorists in southern Thailand
Terrorists Suspected insurgents gunned down a village chief in Thailand's restive south on Sunday, police said. Police Sgt. Sarawut Suwanmanee said Mayuso A-dae, the chief of a village in Yala province, was shot dead by suspected insurgents as he rode his motorcycle home from a tea house.

Authorities also found the body of Sunee Kaewkongtham, a 38-year-old teacher from neighbouring Narathiwat province. Police initially said she had been killed by insurgents while riding her bicycle but later in the day said she died after hitting a cow - after finding skid marks in the road and the injured animal nearby.
Posted by: ryuge || 06/29/2009 06:13 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Manhunt for sons of terrorist
[Straits Times] INDONESIAN police are hunting for two more suspects, believed to be Singaporeans, in their crackdown on the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist network in the country.

Sources said they are the sons of Samad Subari, 53, a long-time JI member nabbed in Bandarlampung shortly after the anti-terror squad Densus 88 detained fugitive Husaini Ismail in Central Java last weekend. Both men are Singaporeans

'The two sons escaped. We're still after them now,' said a police source who spoke on condition of anonymity. 'Both of them are young adults and are involved in this. Both of them work as sellers of banana fritters.'

Police criminal investigation director Susno Duadji would not reveal the number of Singaporeans nabbed during last weekend's security blitz in Central Java and Lampung in southern Sumatra.

'We have arrested six people,' said the commissioner-general, declining to provide further details.

Husaini was the last member of a five-man cell arrested for plotting to crash a plane into Singapore's Changi Airport in 2002. Their leader was Mas Selamat Kastari.

Among the six in custody now are Husaini's wife, Rasidah Subari, 44, their sons Lukman, 20, and Mukmin, 19, said Kompas daily.

The Jakarta Globe, quoting sources, said yesterday that Husaini's wife and sons had entered Indonesia legally using their Singapore passports. But they had obtained Indonesian identity cards by using falsified documents.

The Jakarta Globe also said that Husaini was related to Samad.

Mas Selamat was deported to Singapore in 2006. He escaped in February last year and was recaptured in Johor in April this year.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jemaah Islamiyah


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran: Some Members of British Embassy Staff Released
Iranian state media is reporting that authorities have released some members of the British Embassy staff in Tehran, one day after eight Iranian staffers there were detained for alleged links to the nation's post-election unrest. It is unclear how many staffers remain in custody.

A report quotes the nation's intelligence minister, Qolam Hosein Mohseni-Ejei as saying Sunday it has proof that some British embassy employees collected news about the recent protests.
But that's part of the job of a diplomatic corps. It's only a problem if they are actively spying.
Earlier in the day, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband demanded their release, calling their detention an unacceptable form of harassment and intimidation. European Union foreign ministers Sunday vowed the EU will respond in a "strong and collective" manner to any harassment or intimidation of staff members at embassies in Iran.
They'll pass a UN-style strongly-worded resolution.
Also Sunday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused British and U.S. officials of making absurd comments about Iran. Tehran has accused both Britain and the United States of involvement in the street protests and violence that swept the country after its June 12 presidential election.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Tehran has accused both Britain and the United States of involvement in the street protests and violence

A bit premature I suspect. The real tipping point for "involvement" will be when you see the "protestors" forming into squads and platoons and hear them returning small arms, sniper, and mortor fire. Of course I would never be so naive as to think Barry would authorize such a measure.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/29/2009 7:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Let me know when it reaches 444 days...
Posted by: Spot || 06/29/2009 7:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Anyone remember... another time in Britain's history? Here, let me assist:

The war concluded with Argentina’s surrender on 14 June 1982, after a three-week British amphibious and ground operation on East Falkland Island.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/29/2009 9:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Besoeker,

We had Maggie Thatcher in charge then not a polictial correct weak minded Labour party who like Barry rather speak than act!
Posted by: Paul2 || 06/29/2009 13:00 Comments || Top||

#5  Parachute pistols and ammo beneath Green parachutes and I'll start believing Ohblahblah is changing.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/29/2009 14:52 Comments || Top||


Beirut gunfight kills one, injures two
[Iran Press TV Latest] In the first outbreak of violence since this month's elections, political factions in Lebanon's capital Beirut traded fire killing a woman and injuring two others.

It was not clear what sparked the gunfight on Sunday evening when automatic rifle fire and three explosions were heard which underlines continued tension despite recent pledges by political leaders to work together.

Supporters of Lebanon's Western-backed billionaire Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and rivals from the Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri's political faction traded brief gunfire in Beirut's Aisha Bakkar neighborhood.

Lebanese troops, who rushed in to restore calm, cordoned off the area to prevent any further tension between the rival groups.

Hours earlier, Hariri was holding talks with his predecessors as part of a process to form a unity government.

Hariri was named by Lebanon's President Michel Suleiman as the country's next prime minister on Saturday.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  Now, that's Lebanon I remember.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/29/2009 4:38 Comments || Top||


2,000 still detained, hundreds missing in Iran: rights group
[Geo News] More than 2,000 people are still in detention and hundreds more are missing in Iran since a government crackdown on protests over a disputed presidential election, the FIDH human rights group said Sunday.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


US, Israel behind Iran vote-rigging rumors: Ejei
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iran's Intelligence Minister has dismissed claims of vote-rigging in the presidential election, blaming the US and Israel for the spread of such rumors among the people.

"I announce that no organized rigging which could affect the result of the election has taken place," Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei said in an interview with IRIB's Channel Two on Sunday night.

He said the nation's enemies conspired several months before the presidential election to stir unrest in the country and dissuade the Iranians from voting.

"Americans and Zionists sought to destabilize Iran ... they were upset with a stabilized and secure Iran ... even months before the election they started to talk about the possibility of vote-rigging in the election and they continued the course following the vote," Ejei said.

He said the Iranian intelligence services were aware of US and Israeli plots to mar the election months before the vote, adding that Iran foiled some assassination attempts masterminded by Washington and Tel Aviv.

Incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner of the presidential election with almost two-thirds of the votes.

The announcement triggered opposition rallies in protest at the result with defeated candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi calling for the result to be annulled.

Ejei took a swipe at Mousavi, saying his demand for holding the election anew would undermine the credibility of the electoral system.

The three defeated candidates -- Mousavi, Karroubi and Mohsen Rezaei -- have lodged more than 600 alleged 'irregularities' with the electoral watchdog, the Guardian Council.

Mousavi and Karroubi believe these irregularities are enough for the election results to be annulled.

However, the head of Iran's Electoral Office, Kamran Daneshjou, has criticized the complaints filed by the defeated presidential candidates for being 'too general'. The Guardian Council has also stressed that there were no 'major' irregularities in the presidential election.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Mousavi supporters join Beheshti commemorators
[Iran Press TV Latest] Hundreds of Iranians have gathered in a mosque to commemorate the martyrdom of former chief justice Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti.

Supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi also marched down Tehran's Shariati Street from north to south and silently gathered outside the Ghoba Mosque -- where the event was being held.

Ayatollah Beheshti was killed in a terrorist attack on June 28, 1981, along with over 70 government and the Islamic Republic Party officials.

The pro-Mousavi gathering was the first post-election demonstration in five days. Latest reports say that the demonstration ended peacefully on Sunday night.

Opposition rallies were held almost on a daily basis, following the announcement of the election results, in which incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner with almost two-thirds of the votes.

However, once the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, called for an end to the street rallies, the protests drew down on scale and frequency.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Candidates have no proof of vote violation
[Iran Press TV Latest] The head of Iran's electoral office, Kamran Daneshjou, has criticized the complaints filed by the defeated presidential candidates for being "too general".

In an expansive speech on Sunday, Daneshjou addressed the candidates who had complained about the ejection of their representatives, and asked for the details of the districts.

He touched on many issues raised by the opposition candidates, including the question of the number of ballots printed and the shortage of ballots at a number of stations.

Daneshjou said that there was no truth in having extra ballots printed in the day before the election. But, on the day of the election 2 million ballots were printed, in addition to the 60,875,000 that had been printed earlier.

His remarks came as Iranian officials continue their efforts to clarify some of the issues raised by Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi and Mohsen Rezaei -- the defeated presidential hopefuls.

Following a hotly-contested campaign, Iranians cast their votes on June 12 in unprecedented numbers. However, when the Interior Ministry announced the official results indicating an almost 2-to-1 for President Ahmadinejad win over his closest rival, Mousavi, the three opposition candidates cried foul and large numbers of their supporters took to the streets in protests.

More than 600 alleged "irregularities" have been lodged with the electoral watchdog, the Guardian Council, and the country's political establishment has been trying to probe into the allegations through lawful channels.

Coming to the accusations that some of the ballot boxes had already been stuffed with votes before the start of the election, and that the absence of the candidates' representatives made it impossible to rule this out, Daneshjou said that 14 individuals had signed off each ballot box, each with a different tendency, and they testify to the boxes being empty.

He also blamed the candidates' representatives for arriving too late at the polling stations and consequently finding it impossible to observe the emptiness of the boxes.

He said that charges of ballot-rigging are an insult to the 600,000 who took part in the election administration.

Daneshjou claimed that some of the opposition candidates' real gripe was that the election watchdog, the Guardian Council, had not disqualified the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from running for a second term.

"They do not have the audacity to say this openly, and instead begin to find excuses to nitpick against the execution of the election," he added.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  "I didn't do it, nobody saw me, you can't prove a thing!"
Posted by: mojo || 06/29/2009 15:12 Comments || Top||


Hashemi-Rafsanjani urges fair vote probe
[Iran Press TV Latest] Head of Iran's Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani has called for a "fair and thorough" study of the legal complaints made about the disputed presidential election.

"The developments following the presidential vote were a complex conspiracy plotted by suspicious elements with the aim of creating a rift between the people and the Islamic establishment and causing them to lose their trust in the system," Rafsanjani said Sunday.

"Such plots have always been neutralized whenever the people have entered the scene with vigilance."

Following the June 12 election, which saw President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected to a second four-year term, Iran became the scene of rallies with defeated candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi rejecting the result as fraudulent and demanding a re-run.

In his Sunday remarks, Rafsanjani praised the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei for extending by five days the Guardian Council's deadline to review issues pertaining to the elections and removing the ambiguities surrounding it.

"This valuable move by the Leader to restore the people's confidence in the election process was very effective," he said.

He expressed hope that "those who are tasked with this issue (election) can thoroughly and fairly review and study the legal complaints."

On Saturday, the Expediency Council called on all defeated candidates in the disputed presidential election to legally pursue their complaints through the proper channels.

"As the best and most appropriate way, the Expediency Council asks all to observe the law and resolve conflicts and disputes [concerning the election] through legal channels," the council said in a statement.

The statement came after the Guardian Council on Thursday announced that it would form a special committee to investigate the June 12 election.

Mousavi has rejected the offer of a partial recount, refusing to cooperate with the Guardian Council's special commission.

Karroubi has also refused to send a representative to the commission. He has criticized what he considers the "lack of impartiality" among the group's members, some of whom have publicly supported President Ahmadinejad.

The third candidate, Mohsen Rezaei, will not be sending a representative to the commission either.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Battle for Iran shifts from the streets to the heart of power
[Mail and Globe] The power struggle inside Iran appears to be moving from the streets into the heart of the regime itself this weekend amid reports that Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani is plotting to undermine the power of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Rafsanjani's manoeuvres against Khamenei come as tensions between the speaker of the Parliament, Ali Larijani, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also appeared to be coming to a head.

Mass demonstrations on the streets against the election results have been effectively crushed by a massive police and basiij militia presence that has seen several dozen deaths and the arrests of hundreds of supporters of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. But the splits within Iran's political elite are deepening.

In the past few days, Larijani -- who was fired by Ahmadinejad as chief negotiator on nuclear issues with the West -- has announced his intention of setting up a parliamentary committee to examine the recent post-election violence in an "even-handed way". In response, Ahmadinejad supporters within the Parliament have discussed the possibility of impeaching Larijani.

In a move with even greater potential significance, according to several reports Rafsanjani has been lobbying fellow members of the powerful 86-strong Assembly of Experts, which he chairs, to replace Khamenei as the supreme leader with a small committee of senior ayatollahs, of which Khamenei would be a member. If Rafsanjani were successful, the constitutional change would mean a profound shift in the balance of power within Iran's theocratic regime.

"Although Hashemi Rafsanjani is not a popular politician in Iran any more, he is the only hope that Iranians have ... for the annulment of the election," said an Iranian political analyst who asked not be named. "He is the only one who people think is able to stand against the supreme leader."

The membership of the Assembly of Experts, which has the power to appoint the supreme leader, is split between those supporting Rafsanjani and those who have gravitated around the highly influential ultra-hardline cleric Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah Yazdi, who is widely seen as both a supporter of Ahmadinejad and the president's religious mentor. Yazdi is also believed to have his own ambitions to succeed Khamenei as supreme leader. Like Ahmadinejad, he is fiercely opposed to the push by reformists for more democratic representation in Iran.

Yazdi is also understood to have a large following among both the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and the basiij militia, both also sources of support for Ahmadinejad.

Rafsanjani has long been a proponent of weakening the power of the supreme leader. He is understood to be arguing in favour of replacing Khamenei with a leadership council of three or more senior clerics.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Sounds like Rafsanjani is leaning towards the Soviet Troika model for the Supreme Leader : after Stalin died, there was an agreement that any future leader of the Soviet Union would have to be approved by the Army, the KGB, and the Communist Party. Anyone who failed to get all 3 votes would NOT be made Premier. And it appears Rafsanjani's motives are the same - never again to have a Supreme Leader with the unlimited power of Khomeini.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 06/29/2009 18:02 Comments || Top||


Moussavi rejects partial vote recount
[Khaleej Times] Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi Saturday refused to support a panel set up by the electoral watchdog Guardian Council to conduct a partial recount of votes in the disputed presidential election, a media report said. Refusing to be cowed by attacks on his party offices, Moussavi again demanded for fresh polls. "Limiting the probe into complaints about electoral irregularities to recounting 10 percent of the ballot boxes cannot attract people's trust and convince public opinion about the results," Moussavi said on his campaign website.

Moussavi said: "Reaching a just judgment is not within the domain of the Guardians Council and above all a board which is appointed by this council. I insist again on canceling the election (results) as the most suitable way out of the problem," Geo TV said citing Moussavi.

The issue should be referred to a body which observes (Islamic) Sharia law, has legal status and is independent, said the former prime minister, who trailed in 11 million votes behind incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to official results from the June 12 election.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Mousavi's website shut down, supporters tortured
[Khaleej Times] Iran has shut down opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi's website that was the only source for US officials to monitor events in the Islamic country, according to a media report Saturday.

State Department officials, who have been monitoring events in Iran from Dubai via Mousavi's website "Kalemah", said the website - the opposition leader's last link to the outside world - was completely shut down, the Fox News reported

The officials also noted reports on Iranian websites alleging that Mousavi's supporters, who have been in jailed for anti-government protests, were being tortured in a bid to force them into "confessions" on TV that the demonstrations were part of a foreign plot against the Islamic regime, the report said.

It also cited a report by Iranian newspaper with close ties with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps that called on the country's justice minister to prosecute Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi for allegedly violating Islamic and constitutional law through her human rights advocacy.

There were also reports that the authorities were planning to recount only 10 percent of the ballots in presence of the media and the Guardian Council's post-election committee to show that there was no electoral fraud.

Since the June 12 presidential election reults, which saw incumbent president Mahmoud Ahamadinejad retaining power with a landslide victory, were out Mausavi's supporters took to streets in thousands to protest the alleged electoral fraud.

Iranian authorities have used a combination of warnings, arrests and the threat of police action over the last week to drive mass rallies off Tehran's street with smaller gatherings dispersed with tear gas and baton charges.

According to state media, at least 20 people have lost their lives in the violence.
Posted by: Fred || 06/29/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran



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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2009-06-29
  Mousavi's website shut down
Sun 2009-06-28
  Saad al-Hariri Leb's new premier
Sat 2009-06-27
  Council appoints commission to probe election
Fri 2009-06-26
  Mousavi warns of more protests
Thu 2009-06-25
  Somali legislators flee abroad, Parliament paralysed
Wed 2009-06-24
  Khamenei agrees to extend vote probe
Tue 2009-06-23
  Revolutionary Guards Say They'll Crush Protests
Mon 2009-06-22
  Guardian Council: Over 100% voted in 50 cities
Sun 2009-06-21
  Assembly of Experts caves to Fearless Leader
Sat 2009-06-20
  Iran police disperse protesters
Fri 2009-06-19
  Khamenei to Mousavi: toe the line or else
Thu 2009-06-18
  Iran cracks down
Wed 2009-06-17
  Mousavi calls day of mourning for Iran dead
Tue 2009-06-16
  Hundreds of thousands of Iranians ask: 'Where is my vote?'
Mon 2009-06-15
  Tehran Election Protest Turns Deadly: Unofficial results show Ahmedinejad came in 3rd

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