The two militias involved in clashes last night around Tripoli’s Abu Sleem area have accused each other of being responsible.
The militia belonging to Abdul Ghani Al-Kikli (a.k.a. Ghneiwa) claim they were responding to the murder of a child by members of the forces of other local warlord Salah Al-Burki. They say that Burki’s men had targeted the boy’s father, who works Ghneiwa, while he was driving. The father, named as Hussein Al-Naib survived the attempt.
From their part, the Al-Burki militia claimed that they had been transporting a criminal to a prosecutor’s office when they were attacked by Ghneiwa’s forces, intent on freeing him. They named the alleged criminal as Ahmed Al-Bousifi, saying that he had been involved in several cases including kidnapping for ransom.
The neighbouring districts of Abu Sleem and Hadba where the two militias are respectively based were calm today but still tense, with fears that fresh clashes could break out at any minute.
There were reports that two, possibly three, members of Burki’s men were killed in last night’s clashes. One report had earlier suggested they were between the Ghneiwa and Al-Burki militias on one side and the Misratans on the another side. This was not so. However, many in Burki’s militia are said to be from families originally from Misrata.
[AnNahar] The flow of Bosnian jihadists to Syria and Iraq has almost stopped -- although nearly 200 of them are still there, including 60 minors, according to a new study.
"The departures of Bosnian citizens to Syria and Iraq continued throughout 2015 but at a slower pace. The trend almost completely stopped by early 2016," said the study published by the Sarajevo-based thinktank Atlantic Initiative.
The report out this week also noted that returns from Syria and Iraq to Bosnia had "ceased completely in 2015," except for a few extradition cases from Turkish prisons.
The reduced flow both ways was likely a result of "intensified efforts aimed at the criminal prosecution of aspiring fighters and returnees from Syria and Iraq," said the report.
The reduction could also be linked to changes in Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... -controlled territories, which are now more difficult to enter and leave, it said.
The report's authors said they knew of families that had departed with a number of children and little intention of returning -- in one case, with nine children and a five-month-old baby.
"This could be attributed to a change in (Islamic State Group) ISIS's rhetoric and a generally new understanding of the conflict -‐ as not only jihad but also hijra (migration)," their study said.
One in three of the Bosnians who are currently in Iraq or Syria are minors, said the study, which also warned of young boys aged 13 or 14 engaging in combat.
However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... the total number of Bosnian citizens in Syria and Iraq is declining.
Since 2012, 330 Bosnians have gone to the region to join jihad. Of the 188 men among them, at least 50 have been killed and 47 have returned to Bosnia.
Bosnian fighters' deaths are almost twice the European average rate, possibly due to a lack of proper military training before they join the conflict, the report suggested.
Despite "sensationalist" media reports of "jihadi training camps" in Bosnia, "extensive police investigations have thus far found no evidence to corroborate these reports," the study said.
About 40 percent of Bosnia's 3.8 million people are Moslem, the vast majority of them moderates. The rest are mainly Orthodox or Catholic Christian.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
So on top of everything else, we've reached peak Bosnians.
NASA is denying all travel for NASA employees and contractors to the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) conference to be held in Istanbul, Turkey beginning just five weeks from now. The reason: security. COSPAR President Lennard Fisk worries not only about the impact on COSPAR, but the messages NASA is sending about its commitment to leadership in space science and its resolve to not let terrorism be rewarded by changing what we do.
In a June 21 memo, Al Condes, NASA Associate Administrator for International and Interagency Relations, advised NASA employees and contractors, including the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), that "the Administrator has determined that the Agency will not sponsor or process travel for the 2016 COSPAR conference." Condes added that "As Administrator Bolden has consistently stated, the safety of our NASA family is paramount."
The COSPAR meeting runs from July 30-August 7. The Condes memo acknowledges that "a significant number" of employees and contractors "have made tentative plans" to attend.
Indeed, international travel typically is booked many months in advance, often with non-refundable airline tickets. The biennial COSPAR conference is the premier event in the space science community where the world's top space scientists meet to share research results and discuss plans for new missions. It also provides a forum for broader space issues. This year's conference includes a panel on human exploration of the Moon and Mars, for example, at which NASA Deputy Administrator Dava Newman is (or was) scheduled to speak about NASA's Journey to Mars.
The Condes memo provides a link to a State Department advisory for travel to Turkey that warns U.S citizens of increased threats from terrorist groups throughout Turkey and especially advises against travel to southeastern Turkey. Istanbul is in northwestern Turkey.
The State Department advisory about Turkey is one of 43 alerts and warnings for countries around the globe. Among them are all of Europe and Israel. Administrator Bolden just returned from a trip that included France and Israel.
COSPAR President Len Fisk worries about the impact of NASA's decision not only for this COSPAR conference, but the next one, which is scheduled to be held at JPL in 2018 and for which planning will be done in Istanbul. More broadly, he wonders about NASA's commitment to global leadership in space science when a decision like this means that NASA's space scientists will be excluded from the discussions. On an even broader level, he questions what it means in terms of the U.S. response to terrorism and whether we should "reward" terrorism by changing what we do in our daily lives.
In a statement provided to SpacePolicyOnline.com, Fisk expressed his deep concerns.
NASA has cancelled all travel of NASA civil servants and contractors to the COSPAR-2016 meeting to be held in Istanbul on 30 July - 7 August. And by doing so it demonstrated that it has no intention of exerting strategic leadership in the world, and that terrorism should be rewarded. The leaders of all the major space programs will gather in Istanbul to discuss among other topics, the future of human space exploration, but NASA will be absent. The major scientists of the world will gather in Istanbul, to share the results of their research, to plan future projects, to promote international cooperation in space science, but NASA civil servants and NASA sponsored contractors will be absent. And for what reason: a misguided assumption that Istanbul is more dangerous than Paris, or Brussels, or Orlando, Florida, or for that matter Israel and Jordan where NASA Administrator Charles Bolden recently visited. Terrorism is rewarded if it causes us to cease to pursue that which is important, or for that matter our daily lives.
Fisk is the Thomas M. Donohue Distinguished University Professor of Space Science at the University of Michigan and a former NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications. He is a past chairman of the Space Studies Board at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
Mexico is among the 43 State Department alerts and warnings, less for terrorism than drug-related crimes. The 2016 International Astronautical Congress (IAC) will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico the last week of September. NASA employees and contractors would be well advised to take note of NASA's action in case it makes a similar decision with regard to that meeting.
[RUDAW.NET] The Turkish parliament has voted to give more powers and authority to the military by granting them immunity from prosecution for actions they take while conducting operations against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Granting them license to rape, pillage, torture, and murder, are they? How's that EU membership thingy going, by the way?
The law was passed late on Thursday and will make it significantly more difficult for alleged rights abuses to be properly investigated. Furthermore the permission of the military and politicianship of The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... will be needed before any soldier can face prosecution.
Critics have said this undermines civilian oversight over the military.
The law is being applied retroactively, meaning it covers the actions of the armed forces against the PKK since the war was reignited last July after the failure of the two year ceasefire.
This comes after human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... organizations and the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... have expressed serious concern over the actions of the Turkish Armed Forces in their ongoing fight against the PKK, especially the curfews and sieges they leveled against urban areas where the PKK were believed to have had a presence.
Scores of civilians have been killed in festivities between the military and the PKK since last July. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... estimates that the Turkish state has managed to kill 7,500 PKK members since the resumption of hostilities, with a loss of 500 troops and security forces.
The vote to give the military immunity comes after the parliament voted to strip pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) parliamentarians of their immunity last May so they can be subject to criminal investigation for their alleged links to the PKK.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
It was only thanks to Turkish participation in the Korean War that the nation was able to escape its isolation that followed WWII. Kennedy kicked Turkey to the curb in 61. And its importance in the Cold War ended in 1990. Its significance in Europe is only due to the million Turkish workers German industrialists used to replace Jews as slaves -- and, ironicaly, who are now the tail that wags the dog. Turkey was given one sop with its entrance to NATO. Now an emerging Islamist nation, it certainly doesn't need another. Its entrance to the EU should be blocked -- which now seems moot thanks to Brexit.
[StrategyPage] There was also a problem with Islamic Lions of Islam hiding in some abandoned villages. These rural villages were often little fortresses built of mud brick, except for the roofs, which were usually wood or sheet metal (to deal with the heavy Winter snows). To help with the frequent aerial reconnaissance (using F-16s, helicopters and UAVS) ground patrols were ordered to remove the roofs of buildings likely to conceal remaining, or returning Islamic terrorists. Air strikes or artillery were used against any roofs that reappeared or were not removed in a remote area where Islamic Lions of Islam were spotted.
Strategy Page is always worth reading, but I thought this tactic used by the Pakistani Army in their war against jihadis in Waziristan to be of interest.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Inspector General A.D. Khawaja on Friday said the investigation of famed qawwal Amjad Sabri’s liquidation and the kidnapping of Awais Shah, son of chief justice of Sindh High Court, has produced no positive leads till now.
"So far no positive leads have emerged in our preliminary investigations," said the IG, chairing a presser after holding a high level meeting with bigwigs.
The province’s top cop added the investigation for both cases is at an initial level.
Suhail Anwar Siyal, home minister of the province, said joint investigation teams (JIT) will be constituted for both cases.
The minister also announced a reward of Rs5 million for information leading to Sabri’s attackers. He regretted the federal government appeared reluctant to provide access to GSM locators, geo-fencing and the Nadra family tree to Sindh police.
Famed qawwal Amjad Sabri was rubbed out on Wednesday afternoon in a assassination on his car by armed motorcyclists in Liaquatabad.
The 40-year-old Sabri, son of qawwali maestro Ghulam Farid Sabri, was heading to a private TV channel to perform in a Ramazan transmission when he was attacked, police said.
The qawwal was laid to rest on Thursday in the Paposhnagar Graveyard, next to his father Ghulam Farid Sabri.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday directed the Islamabad advocate general to assist the court in a matter related to the registration of a criminal case against Lal Masjid ...literally the Red Mosque, located in Islamabad and frequented by all sorts of high govt officials. The proprietors, Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and Maulana Abdul Aziz Ghazi, unleashed their Islamic storm troopers on the city, shutting down whorehouses and beating people up who weren't devout enough. The Musharraf govt put an end to the nonsense by besieging the place. Abdul Aziz Ghazi was nabbed while he was trying to escape dressed up like a girl. BBC reported that the corpse count at 173, but other claims, usually hysterical, say there were up to 1000 titzup. Among their number was Abdul Rashid Ghazi. Everyone then said tut-tut and what a nice guy he had been... holy manMaulana Abdul Aziz ...nutball holy man who runs the Lal Masjid in the heart of Pakistain's capital. After instigating a rebellion against the state in 2007, he was caught trying to sneak away dressed in a burka. He rejects democracy as un-Islamic, which it probably is... When the hearing of the case was resumed, the interior ministry informed the bench that it had sought the law ministry’s opinion on the matter.
Adjourning the matter until July 12, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... directed the Islamabad advocate general to appear before the court at the next hearing to assist the court.
During the last hearing, the interior ministry secretary Mohammad SLearned Elders of Islamn told the IHC bench that neither Mr Aziz nor the students of Jamia Hafsa ... the Islamic nunnery maintained by Lal Masjid.... were running any sort of institution that posed a danger to the state’s safety and security.
The bench was hearing the case of a petitioner seeking the registration of an FIR against Mr Aziz, his wife Umme Hassan and the students of Jamia Hafsa for inviting ISIS ‐ also known as the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... ‐ to avenge the killing of the late Osama bin Laden ... who doesn't live anywhere anymore... and the 2007 Lal Masjid operation.
The petitioner, activist Mohammad Jibran Nasir, has contended that students of Jamia Hafsa invited IS to Pakistain in a video. He said that in a separate video, Mr Aziz endorsed his students’ actions, and poses grave danger to the safety and security of Pakistain.
Mr Nasir initially reached out to the Aabpara police in this regard, who refused to lodge an FIR. He then filed an application before a civil court that dismissed the application on March 9. The petitioner has asked the court to annul the civil court’s decision and direct the police to register an FIR in this matter.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) chairman Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... on Friday said Darul Uloom Haqqania ...an Islamic seminary located in Akora Khattak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The seminary propagates the Deobandi trend of Sunni Islam and is headed by Maulana Samiul Haq, known as the Godfather of the Taliban. It has been dubbed The University of Jihad due to the methods and content of instruction along with the future occupations of its alumni.... agreed to implement reforms in return for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... (KP) government's budget allocation of Rs300 million for the religious seminary.
The seminary is located in Nowshera district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and currently run by Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...the political wing of the Pak Taliban... -Sami chief Maulana Samiul Haq ...the Godfather of the Taliban, leader of his own faction of the JUI. Known as Mullah Sandwich for his habit of having two young boys at a time... . It has faced several controversies in the past as its students Abdullah alias Saddam Nadir alias Qari Ismail, Rasheed alias Turabi and Faiz Muhammad have been accused of involvement in the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... . The seminary is also said to be the alma mater of many prominent Afghan Taliban leaders.
"Musharraf received billions from the west for madressah reform and even Maulana Samiul Haq was approached but he rejected the grant, now they are ready for reforms as they trust PTI's government," Imran Khan told journalists during a presser in Islamabad.
Imran added that progressive reforms are being implemented to better integrate seminary students in to the mainstream, and said those opposing such moves know "little of Pak society."
"Are millions of students studying in these seminaries terrorists?"
The PTI chief further added he has asked the KP government to conduct a presser to better explain the grant.
Related: Imran defends KP govt's Rs300m grant for Darul Uloom Haqqania
When asked if he will visit PM when he returns to Pakistain, as the PM visited him when he fell from the container, the PTI chief stated he has sent flowers to the PM and would have visited him "if he were treated in a Pak hospital."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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Come hell or high water, this president will stay the course for the important things.
[IsraelTimes] US and 36 other members of Financial Action Task Force welcomed Tehran commitment to fight terrorism financing
The world’s major economies on Friday suspended anti-money laundering measures against Iran for a year despite concerns that the Islamic Theocratic Republic uses its financial sector to protect criminal enterprises and fund terrorist activity.
The announcement is another sign of progress in Tehran’s campaign to return to the global economy after last year’s nuclear accord.
At a meeting in South Korea, the United States and the 36 other members of the Financial Action Task Force welcomed Iran’s commitment to address shortcomings in how it tackles money laundering and fights terrorism financing. The Iranians also are seeking technical assistance in their efforts.
To protect the international financial system, FATF members are supposed to apply countermeasures against any country on the organization’s blacklist. The body, which meets three times a year, said banks should continue applying due diligence in business relationships and transactions with Iranian individuals.
If Iran fails to make progress over the next 12 months, "FATF’s call for counter-measures will be re-imposed," it said in a statement. "If Iran meets its commitments under the action plan in that time period, the FATF will consider next steps."
The FATF urged Iran to fully address its deficiencies, "in particular those related to terrorist financing."
Friday’s move will alarm some opponents of the Iran nuclear deal in the United States.
The seven-nation agreement promised Iran significant relief from financial, trade and oil sanctions in exchange for steps to curtail a program that many Western countries feared was close to nuclear weapons capability. Iran has adhered to its commitments thus far, according to the UN nuclear agency, but Republican and other critics say the US shouldn’t be doing anything more than it is required under the agreement.
In a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew last week, Rep. Ed Royce, the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, urged the B.O. regime to fight to keep Iran remained on the blacklist. He said Iran’s support for terrorism continues. That State Department upheld that conclusion, too, in its latest terrorism report. Iran also is backing Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... ’s government in its civil war with US-backed and Arab-backed rebel groups.
"Hezbollah, Iran’s leading terrorist proxy, is currently playing a central role in Iran’s effort to prop up the murderous Assad regime in Syria," Royce wrote. "This US designated ’Foreign Terrorist Organization’ also has tens of thousands of rockets pointed at Israel."
Tyler Cullis, legal fellow at the National Iranian American Council, hailed the FATF’s decision as recognition of improvements in Iran’s banking sector.
But Mark Dubowitz, an Iran sanctions expert at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, played down the practical effects of the change. "Global financial institutions understand that this illicit conduct, not empty expressions of intent, must be changed before risking business with Iran," he said.
American officials said Friday’s announcement in Busan, South Korea, has no effect on the US government’s Iran-related sanctions.
Also Friday, the FATF maintained its call for financial institutions to apply countermeasures on North Korea and uphold UN Security Council sanctions against the communist government. It cited the threat posed by North Korea’s "illicit activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and its financing."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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#3
FATF is one thing, the American courts another. Congress has permitted lawsuits against US-designated state sponsors of terrorism for injury or death of US citizens. Because Iran is a state sponsor of terror since 1984, US citizens have brought court cases against Iran for its support of Hamas, Hezbollah, PIJ, Al=Qaeda, etc.
"Iran has long held that such lawsuits violate its immunities and has refused to defend itself in US courts. This has led to a situation where most judgments against Iran in US courts have been by default – the alleged facts being taken for granted and judgments being awarded on that basis. In this manner, US plaintiffs have accumulated outstanding judgments against Iran totaling close to $50 billion."
[RUDAW.NET] The Iraqi government has put out an arrest warrant for the head of the bank of Jalawla in northern Diyala on charges of "neglect of duty" and the disappearance of billions of Iraqi dinars, charges denied and described as discriminatory by the accused.
Abdulhameed Rashid, head of Rafidain Bank in Jalawla told Rudaw on Friday that the Iraqi government wants him to answer for 23.4 billion ($20 million) Iraqi dinars disappeared from his bank which he claims to have handed over to the local police before leaving town in 2014.
Rashid said that he decided to leave Jalawla after two Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) jacket wallahs blew themselves up in front of the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) that killed and maimed 80 people.
"The day two ISIS suicide bombers targeted the PUK security I started to feel the danger that the town may fall to ISIS and therefore I formally asked Iraq’s central bank to deliver the money to Khanaqin which they didn’t allow," explained Rashid.
"The same day I counted the money with eight staff members which came up to 23, 487,000,000 dinars," he added. "Then we locked the doors and handed the bank over to the police."
The town fell to ISIS bully boyz shortly after.
"The bank has two keys one of which is with me and the other with an Arab employee who due to the war left for Kirkuk with his family," said Rashid.
Now the Iraqi government through the integrity commission wants Rashid jugged Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! to answer for the disappearance of the cash which he says is unfair and discriminatory.
He asks why the heads of the banks of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , Fallujah and Tikrit all of which fell to ISIS and plundered have not been arrested.
The town of Jalawla saw some of the heaviest battles between Kurdish Peshmerga forces and ISIS in 2014 until its recapture by the end of that year.
The mayor of the town believes that ISIS bully boyz are responsible for the disappearance of the money, adding however that the bank manager should respect the law and his arrest warrant.
"We are one hundred percent certain that ISIS took the money in the Jalawla bank," Yakoub Yousif told Rudaw. "But if the arrest warrant on Rashid is legal then he must be arrested."
The arrest warrant for Rashid does not accuse him of stealing the money but rather of "neglect of duty" which caused large amounts of cash to end up in the coffers of ISIS.
"The integrity commission says that he [Rashid] did not take out the money or find a way out when war was breaking wit between ISIS and Peshmerga,’ the mayor said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
#1
he's screwed
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/25/2016 9:47 Comments ||
Top||
[RUDAW.NET] The former Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki ... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Maliki imposed order on Basra wen the Shiites were going nuts, but has proven incapable of dealing with al-Qaeda's Sunni insurgency. Reelected to his third term in 2014... praised Iran and Shiite militias for fighting the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) while simultaneously alleging that Sunni politicians in Iraq have sided with "terrorists", and arguing that Iraq’s Kurds had no right to call for independence.
Speaking to Iran’s al-Alam news channel on Tuesday Maliki insisted that the Shiite-majority coalition of militia groups known as Hashd al-Shaabi are "essential" for the war against Islamic State (ISIS).
Given their combat experience Maliki believes they should become a new security force in Iraq which wouldn’t necessarily replace the existing Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) but would nevertheless "address situations like the one Iraq currently finds itself in."
Maliki said that without Iraq’s Sunnis and Kurds there could be no Iraq arguing that there needs to be more trust between them for Iraq to progress as a unified nation state.
He slammed the idea that the Sunnis were marginalized arguing that such talk "is rhetoric" which is used by "political and regional forces that oppose the new Iraq and use it [as] a hook to hang their ideas, attitudes, desires and struggle."
Furthermore, Maliki accused Sunni members of government of directly supporting terrorist groups.
"These people supported the government by day and by night they are part of terrorist organizations. And this is what happened, and this is not marginalization," Maliki alleged.
The former Prime Minister also argued that Iraq’s Kurds have no right to opt for full independence from Iraq arguing that such a move would have a negative effect on Baghdad, Erbil and the surrounding region and said a partition of Iraq would be an "absolute evil."
Maliki praised Iran’s contribution to the Iraqi war effort against ISIS arguing that Iran has done more than anyone else to help Iraq. He disputed the notion that Iran’s heavy involvement in the war against ISIS on Iraqi soil constituted interference in Iraq’s internal affairs.
On Moqtada Tater al-Sadr ... the Iranian catspaw holy man who was 22 years old in 2003 and was nearing 40 in 2010. He spends most of his time in Iran, safely out of the line of fire, where he's learning to be an ayatollah... ’s supporters, who have pressured the government to implement fundamental reforms, Maliki argued that pressuring the government to reform through protests "is robbery [done] in order to control the political process and direct it how these political currents and entities want."
Maliki was Prime Minister of Iraq from 2006 until 2014; he was unable to stand for a third term in late 2014 after he was blamed for losing large swaths of Iraqi territory to ISIS.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[EN.FARSNEWS] A senior Iraqi politician called on his government to take serious measures against the Saudi Ambassador to Baghdad, and said that Thamer al-Sabhan is in Iraq to support the ISISTakfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed... terrorist group.
"The reinstatement of al-Sabhan in Baghdad is meant to support the ISIS," the Arabic-language media outlets quoted member of the Iraqi Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee Mesal al-Alousi as saying on Thursday.
He underlined that Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... meddles in the internal affairs of all the regional countries, and said, "For the same reason the Iraqi government should confront that country's ambassador to Baghdad."
"Saudi Arabia claims that it respects the Iraqi people and Shiites, but it supports the ISIS," Al-Alousi said.
On Sunday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ebrahim al-Jafari slammed Saudi ambassador's remarks about Iran’s role in the Arab country, including its advisory assistance to fight Takfiri holy warriors.
Al-Jafari's remarks came in reaction to al-Sabhan's meddling in his country's internal affairs.
"The Saudi envoy's comments represent flagrant meddling in Iraq's domestic affairs and run counter to standard diplomatic norms," al-Jafari said.
In a Twitter post, Sabhan wrote that Iranian military advisers were in Fallujah to incite sectarian violence and change the demographic composition of the city.
The Saudi ambassador's repeated meddling in Iraq's internal affairs came after Iraqi troops retook Fallujah from the Saudi-backed ISIShard boyz on Friday and prepared to retake djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , the last Takfiri bastion in the country.
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry summoned Sabhan "to inform him of its official protest regarding his divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... statements." The ministry said Baghdad would not allow anyone to stoke divisions in the country through making sectarian comments.
Baghdad also said it would not allow Riyadh to draw Iraq into the kingdom's conflict with Tehran.
Iraqi officials have at times stated that Iranian military advisers are in the Arab country at the request of Baghdad.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[Iraq Sun] British clergyman who was?involved in 'helping to' get back sex slaves seized by ISIS has been suspended from his own charity after questions were raised about how it was achieved.
Canon Andrew White, who is also known as the Vicar of Baghdad, was suspended from the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East after the Charity Commission started an investigation into the charity on June 9.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State
#1
so he bought them? What ever works ... and don't whinge about "giving money to ISIS". Buying slaves back from Islam to free them is an ancient and honourable custom. Of course killing the slavers first would be ever so much more satisfying.
[Iraq Sun] Secretary General of Leb's Hezbollah, His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... , asserted that the participation of the Lebanese resistance in fighting terrorism in Syria, including its participation in defending Aleppo, is in defense of Leb and its people and future, because Leb's fate can't be separated from what is happening in Syria and Iraq.
In a speech on Friday, Nasrallah said that fighting to defend Aleppo today is in defense of Leb, Syria, Iraq, and even Jordan, which is why the resistance had to be present in Aleppo to defend it, adding "we indeed are present in large numbers in that area."
He said that what is happening in Aleppo is a fierce battle, but the Arab Gulf-funded media is carrying out a campaign of exaggeration and rumors to imply that Hezbollah is collapsing and suffering heavy losses, noting that the media team that is doing this supports ISIS in its heart.
"To evaluate the battle precisely, there have been since the beginning of June 26 deaders, one captive, and one missing person, and every other talk is inaccurate and seeks to exaggerate and carry out psychological warfare against the resistance," Nasrallah explained, adding that a universal war is taking place in Aleppo in which the Syrian Arab Army and its allies - including the resistance - stood up to the US plot and foiled it, making great achievements in that area to the point that the other side nearly collapsed and Washington stepped in and demanded a "truce" so that it can rally support for terrorist groups.
He noted that according to the documented statistics of the resistance, the losses of terrorist groups in Syria between June 1st and 24th amounts to 617 dead terrorists, including dozens of field commanders and some notorious leaders, in addition to having over 800 injured members and losing over 80 tanks and vehicles, adding "let's compare the losses of the resistance with those losses of the terrorist groups and see if their project is achieving success in light of all those losses."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Leb’s Hezbollah said on Friday it would increase its military presence in Syria’s Aleppo, saying the battle for the northern city was a fight to defend the entire country.
Hezbollah leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... said that as fighting in Syria intensified, 26 of the group’s fighters had been killed in the Aleppo region since the beginning of June, a rare acknowledgment of the toll the battle is taking.
Hezbollah is fighting on the side of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Terror of Aleppo ... "We are facing a new wave, or a new stage, of projects of war against Syria which are being waged in northern Syria, particularly in the Aleppo region," Nasrallah said in a speech broadcast live on the group’s Al Manar TV.
"The defence of Aleppo is the defence of the rest of Syria, it is the defence of Damascus, it is also the defence of Leb, and of Iraq," he said.
"It was necessary for us to be in Aleppo ... and we will stay in Aleppo.
"We will increase our presence in Aleppo," he said.
Shiite Hezbollah, Iranian troops and Russian air power have been backing Syrian government forces against an array of mostly Sunni snuffies in bitter fighting that has escalated in recent weeks in and around Syria’s former commercial hub.
Aleppo is split between government and rebel control, and is seen as a strategic prize for Damascus, which has vowed to recapture it.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
If they're in Allepo they can't be fighting the Juice. So that's a good thing, right? Why can't we just let these people fight amongst themselves?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
06/25/2016 12:36 Comments ||
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Also a useful thing to be able to give "migrants" heading toward European targets...
[AhlulBayt News Agency] - To prevent further escapes of its members, especially among the leading ranks, the ISIS has confiscated its members' passports, a Kurdish commander said.
Since IS is facing successive failures, especially in Iraq its members are reportedly no longer willing to risk their lives and fight for the group, looking for an opportunity to escape.
Qadir Qadir, a Kurdish Peshmerga commander, said they have received intelligence saying that IS has confiscated and burned its leading members’ passports to prevent them from escaping.
According to Qadir, many IS insurgents in Iraq have reportedly fled the group to Syria and then outside the IS-held territories.
Additionally, the number of IS insurgents surrendering to the Peshmerga forces in the areas near Mosul has recently increased, as four IS militants giving up on the group earlier this week and capitulating to the Kurdish forces.
The Peshmerga commander also revealed that IS has withdrawn part of its forces from Mosul to its self-declared capital of Raqqa in Syria as the group is seemingly disappointed by its losses in Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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[RUDAW.NET] The United States Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) said it is reluctant to cut internet connections to Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS)-held cities despite the fact they are actively engaged in a cyber-war against the murderous Moslems.
"It’s a careful balance, even in Raqqa or djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , or anywhere on how we balance the rights to have access to the internet versus the use of the internet illegally by folks like ISIS [ISIS]," Thomas Atkin, the acting assistance defense secretary for homeland defense and global security, told the US House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.
Fighting ISIS online has given CYBERCOM valuable experience. Also ISIS’s online presence has actually helped the US undermine the murderous Moslems.
The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... reported that CYBERCOM has successfully manipulated ISIS networks online, altering and imitating messages sent by ISIS commanders to turbans on the battlefield in order to direct them to areas where the US military can more easily take them out in either air or drone strikes.
US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter explained earlier this year that the aim of US cyber-attacks against ISIS in Mosul is to "interrupt [the group’s] command and control, to cause them to lose confidence in their networks, to overload their networks so they can’t function, and to do all of these things that will interrupt their ability to command and control forces there, control the population and the economy."
The telecommunications infrastructure in Mosul was installed by the Americans during the Iraq War, meaning it’s potentially easier for them to hack into.
CYBERCOM, established in 2010, has officially been engaged against ISIS in a war in cyberspace since April to counter that groups use of the internet to promote their propaganda and attempt to recruit foreigners to join their rank and file.
The UN Security Council tasked the UN’s Counter Terrorism Committee (CTC) last month with finding ways to prevent ISIS from luring foreign volunteers to join them via sophisticated online propaganda.
The UN released a blurb at the time which said the Security Council is concerned about the ability of ISIS to "craft distorted narratives that are based on misinterpretation and misrepresentation of religion to justify violence."
ISIS has released very well made propaganda movies since its rise to global infamy, many of them depict the groups sordid torture and murder of their enemies.
The turbans were also caught earlier this month actively using social media in order to sell women, likely Yezidis, they had put into sex-slavery two years ago
Posted by: Fred ||
06/25/2016 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
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.
[RUDAW.NET] The Turkish parliament has voted to give more powers and authority to the military by granting them immunity from prosecution for actions they take while conducting operations against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). 
[DAWN] Inspector General A.D. Khawaja on Friday said the investigation of famed qawwal Amjad Sabri’s 
[DAWN] The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday directed the Islamabad advocate general to assist the court in a matter related to the registration of a criminal case against 
the 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
North Korea
[RUDAW.NET] The Iraqi government has put out an arrest warrant for the head of the bank of Jalawla in northern Diyala on charges of "neglect of duty" and the disappearance of billions of Iraqi dinars, charges denied and described as discriminatory by the accused.
Nouri al-Maliki
Moqtada 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
