[An Nahar] Somalia's parliament will hold a presidential election on September 10, the final stage of a U.N.-backed process to set up a new administration for the war-torn country, an election official said Friday.
"September 10, 2012, is the day that the presidential elections of the Somali Federal Republic will take place," Osman Libah Ibrahim, front man for the presidential elections committee, told news hounds.
The new parliament, whose members were selected this month by a group of traditional elders, will vote in a secret ballot.
The election has already been delayed several times -- having already missed an August 20 deadline -- but international pressure has increased on politicians to hold the vote swiftly.
At least a dozen candidates are expected to run for the top job, although officials will only begin accepting applications from September 3.
However, a woman is only as old as she admits... bitter arguments have begun between rival challengers, divided along Somalia's notoriously fractious clan lines, and the United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... Security Council repeated warnings this week of "intimidation and corruption".
The council warned of its "willingness to take action against individuals whose acts threaten the peace, stability or security of Somalia."
Outgoing president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, in power since 2009, is one of the favorites, though he cuts a controversial figure with Western observers.
A U.N. report in July said that under his presidency, "systematic embezzlement, pure and simple misappropriation of funds and theft of public money have become government systems" -- claims Sharif has rejected.
Veteran politician and former minister Mohamed Osman Jawari, a legal expert who helped draft a new constitution for Somalia, was elected speaker on Tuesday by fellow politicians.
Candidates will give their campaign speeches to parliament from September 7.
Somalia is trying to set up its first stable central government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, which sparked rounds of bloody civil war.
The political developments come as African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... and Somali troops make significant gains against the al-Qaeda-linked Shebab, although the Islamists remain a major security threat. Æthiopian troops are also battling the Islamic fascistifrom the south and west.
The myrmidonIslamic fascistithis week abandoned the port of Marka, leaving the Shebab with two major ports in southern Somalia -- Barawe and the key rebel bastion of Kismayo -- although an international naval blockade has already greatly squeezed maritime access there.
The Shebab abandoned their last fixed bases in Mogadishu a year ago, where they have since reverted to guerrilla tactics, claiming a series of suicide kabooms and roadside kabooms.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2012 00:00 ||
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Osama Ahmed el-Gendy, Commander of the Egyptian Navy said on Friday that Egypt has signed an agreement with Germany in which the former will acquire two German-built Type-209 attack submarines. "Egypt will not allow anyone to enter its territorial waters," said el-Gendy.
He added that during the year 2013, Egypt will further add four US-built missile ships to its navy.
This is insane. Egypt is using Saudi money to feed their people, and the troops' guns and sandles are held together with duct tape. They have neither the mindset nor the technical skills to maintain the machinery necessary to keep a submarine running, even if they had the surplus funds to buy one.
The Israelis have to be snickering. But it's good: the Saudis pay the Germans, Dieter and Hans have honest work, and Achmed and Mustafa at Port Suez get to play with shiny toys, hoping like hell they never have to sail in the danged things.
#3
As I've said before, any ship can be a submarine - once.
Handling a submarine is obviously much harder than a surface vessel. A very small error, like a valve left open can sink the sub. And when you are submerged, you can't see the enemy coming. If you're lucky, you can hear them. But you can't run away very quickly.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
09/01/2012 14:01 Comments ||
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#4
Also all that "Inshallah" maintenance practice should keep them sitting in port.
Days before a congressional deadline, the Obama administration is split over whether to designate the Pakistan-based Haqqani network as a terrorist group, with some officials worried that doing so could complicate efforts to restart peace talks with the Taliban and further undermine tense relations with Pakistan.
[Dawn] RAWALPINDI: Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) has grabbed credit for a terrorist attack at a private clinic in the garrison city and warned more attacks if the retired general's son will not pay them the amount they demanded, Dawn has learnt.
One of the Sherlocks of the incident linked the incident to the terror threat received by Dr Hamid Hassan a few days ago and said: "A fresh telephone call made by the terror group was received by the doctor on Thursday morning who warned him of more such attacks if their demand was not met."
On the other side, the police have registered an FIR on the incident on the complaint of Jhangir Akhtar, the administration officer of Hassan clinic Beautiful Downtown Peshawar Road saying that he along with other staff members was sitting at the clinic, when a mighty kaboom occurred at about
10:15pm on Wednesday.
He said due to the kaboom five windowpanes and a single door was damaged in addition to a vehicle parked in the garage.
The complainant further said the cracker was lobbed by unidentified person into the clinic; however, nobody was injured or hurt.
Dr Hamid Hassan, who is associated with Rawalpindi Medical College (RMC) as a professor of surgery received a threat call from nidentified person last Friday.
The caller who identified himself as one of the members of Kaleemullah Mehsood group and demanded Rs100 million ransom and gave a 72- hour ultimatum to him.
When the superintendent of police Potohar Division Haseeb Hussain was contacted, he said a case had been registered with the police under relevant sections of the law and investigation started.
The SP said: "Police Sherlocks went to the doctor's clinic on Thursday and tried to have a meeting with him but he was not available.
The police will choose its lines of investigation only after having a session with the doctor."
The SP further said nobody was taken into custody by the police in-connection with the investigation into the terrorist attack on doctor's clinic so far.
According to the bomb disposal experts, the explosive used in the cracker was of low intensity as noting else was found from the scene of the blast except a piece of paper in which the kaboom was wrapped.
He said apparently the cracker's attack seems to be an attempt to create panic and fear.
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09/01/2012 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] ISLAMABAD, Aug 30: In a rare show of unity, religious scholars and liberals here on Thursday jointly called for government action against sectarian violence, warning that, if left unchecked, the menace can imperil the country.
They sounded the warning at two seminars held by the Jinnah Institute and the Organisation of Research and Education in the wake of killings and persecution in the name of religion across the country.
Allama Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi of the All Pakistain Ulema Council, who addressed at both seminars, accused Interior Minister Rehman Malik Pak politician, Interior Minister under the Gilani government. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. He had to give up the interior ministry job because he held dual Brit citizenship. of failing to provide protection to 350 Christian families who felt threatened after a little girl of the community was branded a blasphemer, and distributed a compilation of Fatwas by the leading schools of thought that declared killing of unarmed members of any religion or sect un-Islamic.
And security analyst Imtiaz Gul plainly declared that "until the society bury the culture of protecting and patronising the groups spreading
sectarian hatred, we will not be able to end faith-based violence in Pakistain."
Columnist Nadir Hassan noted that sectarian violence has long been treated as a law and order issue while it is one of political identity.
There is a need to address weaknesses in the system of law enforcement, he said.
Defence analyst Ayesha Siddiqa, expanding the point, said "the State's capacity to manage policing and public prosecution in an effective
way was a key issue in Shia killings".
She stressed that civil society in Pakistain needs to engage with Islamic jurisprudence and discourse and find inherent messages of peace
and pluralism in order to change public mindset on the issue of sectarianism, violence, terrorism and militancy.
Although critical of the interior minister, Allama Ashrafi felt that those trying to implicate the Christian girl in blasphemy case were conspiring to strengthen the cause of the anti-blasphemy law campaigners.
"It is strange that in the presence of all political parties and leaders, President Zardari and PM Raja Pervez Ashraf, the uprooted 350 Christian families are living in fear of some vested interests who were eying their properties," he said.
Allama Ashrafi criticised unnamed religious figures "who are threateningly opposing bail to the poor tossed in the clink Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! Christian girl and thereby
trying to deny her fair trial".
"Pakistain is threatened by violence in the name of religion," he said.
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.... women wing president Fauzia Kasuri said that her party is to hold a seminar next month to discuss inter-faith harmony.
PML-N chairman Raja Zafarul Haq said the minorities in Pakistain enjoyed equal rights with others "but things flare up out of proportion
when western elements indulge in negative statements".
Minorities' representative Akram Masih Gil agreed with him to the extent that the minorities are "living in safety like other citizens" but stressed that peace and interfaith harmony could only be achieved when all segments of society respect each other's religious sentiments.
Leaders of the 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 maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. 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... and PML-Q also spoke in same vein.
At the Jinnah Institute, Imtiaz Gul cited examples where state allocated green belts in Islamabad to seminaries and mosques even though no construction was permitted in these areas.
Fawad Chaudhry, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Human Rights, reiterated the government's commitment to fighting extremism and militancy in the country and highlighted "the high risks public officials face in their line of duty".
Human Rights Activist, Tahira Abdullah, noted that it is not just fear but also the lack of unity among civil society that prevents them from coming together as one cohesive unit that is capable of demanding change.
She said that the Rimsha Masih case is a test case for the Pak state and civil society.
Farman Ali, a journalist, said that the judiciary needed to play a more active role in clamping down on and punishing bully boy and sectarian outfits "operating with impunity across the country -- even in the federal capital".
Justice (retired) Ali Nawaz Chohan observed that while judges do operate in an environment of fear, and with minimum resources, it was
their duty to write judgments in accordance with the law of the land, without letting fear dictate their pronouncements.
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09/01/2012 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] The tribal elders have urged the government to negotiate a truce with Taliban, fighting against security forces in the border areas of Bajaur Agency, aka Turban Central, ...Smallest of the agencies in FATA. The Agency administration is located in Khar. Bajaur is inhabited almost exclusively by Tarkani Pashtuns, which are divided into multiple bickering subtribes. Its 52 km border border with Afghanistan's Kunar Province makes it of strategic importance to Pakistain's strategic depth... and provide food and shelter to the people affected by the festivities.
Addressing a presser here on Thursday, Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability... -Fazl general secretary in Bajaur Agency Abdul Rashid said that violence escalated in the region after festivities broke out between security forces and Taliban near Afghan border in Salarazai area.
Flanked by JUI-F activists and tribal elders, he said that Taliban had attacked security checkposts on August 24 to which forces retaliated and exchanged fire with the attackers.
Mr Rashid said that all kinds of weapons including missiles, rockets and helicopter gunships were being used in the festivities.
He said that innocent people were being killed and their houses destroyed in the festivities.
The JUI-F leader claimed that about 12 innocent tribal people were killed and 100 others trapped in the conflict zone. Similarly, he said, thousands of people fled the area.
He said that a large number of people had left their homes to take shelter at safer places.
However, there's more than one way to stuff a chicken... government failed to cater to the needs of conflict-hit people at their makeshift shelters in settled areas, he added.
The former politician demanded of the government to make arrangements for displaced people of Salarzai area. He also demanded immediate ceasefire in border areas of Bajaur to save the trapped tribal people. "Use of force is not solution to the issue. There is need of using peaceful means for settlement of the all issues in Fata," Mr Rashid said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the alley, Slats Chumbaloni was staring into a hole that was just .45 inch in diameter and was less than three feet from his face ... the leader of Fata joint parliamentary group, Hamidullah Jan Afridi, has called for convening of an All-Fata Peace Jirga to prevent further bloodshed in the tribal areas.
In a statement issued on Thursday, he condemned drone attacks and indiscriminate artillery shelling on private houses and said that situation in tribal areas would further deteriorate if the attacks were not stopped forthwith.
Mr Afridi said that only a true representative jirga of reputed tribal elders could bring lasting peace in Fata if they were given a chance and supported by the government.
He urged the government to foil conspiracies of those, who were sabotaging all honest and sincere efforts for a lasting peace in tribal areas at the behest of their foreign masters.
"It is time that we shun all our internal differences and work for getting all human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... for the oppressed people of Fata alongside protecting their lives and properties," Mr Afridi said.
He said that developmental activities were at a standstill, educational institutions were either closed or destroyed and private
houses were targeted with drones and mortar shells. He warned that targeting of innocent people would force them to rebel.
The Fata politician said that most of the innocent people, who suffered human and financial loses during the military
operations, were not compensated properly.
Mr Afridi urged government to immediately convene a representative jirga of all tribes so that the issue of Fata could be resolved through peaceful means.
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09/01/2012 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt-Gen Zaheerul Islam has ruled out handing over Dr Shakil Afridi to the US, DawnNews reported.
Speaking at a press briefing, the ISI chief said that the US should consider the chapter of Dr Shakil Afridi, who helped the US kill al Qaeda chief the late Osama bin Laden ... who has made the transition back to dust... in Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... , closed.
"He (Dr Afridi) will never be bartered for Dr Afia Siddiqui, no such proposal is under consideration," said Islam.
Afridi was picked up by the ISI from near Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, two weeks after Osama's death. The official said that Afridi had accepted helping the CIA by running a fake vaccination campaign in Abbottabad a month before the raid on OBL's compound.
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Washington has greatly reduced the scale of US participation in the long delayed an upcoming joint military exercise with Israel, slashing by more than two-thirds the number of American troops going to the Jewish state and reducing both the number and potency of missile interception systems at the core of the drill, Time Magazine reported, citing American and Israeli sources.
A massive US-Israeli military exercise that was scheduled for this fall amid mounting concerns over an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities might not be as grand as it was initially expected to be, with Washington deciding to significantly scale back on its participation in the drill, Time Magazine reported on Friday, citing Israeli and American sources.
In January, the two countries decided to postpone the drill, but while it is expected to go forward this October -- weeks prior to the presidential elections -- it won't be nearly the same event.
According to the report, the US slashed the number of American troops who were slotted to travel to Israel by more than two-thirds; instead of the approximately 5,000 troops originally announced for Austere Challenge 12, as the exercise is dubbed, the Pentagon will send only 1,500 service members, and perhaps as few as 1,200.
The number and the potency of missile interception systems that were to be used in the maneuvers were also reduced. Patriot anti-missile systems will arrive in Israel as planned, the crews that can operate them won't. Instead of two Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense warships, only one is to be deployed -- and even that is not certain, Time said, citing officials in both the US and Israeli militaries.
The report postulated that a smaller US deployment may make it more difficult for Israel launch a pre-emptive strike on the Islamic Theocratic Republic.
"Basically what the Americans are saying is, 'We don't trust you,'" a senior Israeli military official told the magazine.
"Basically what the Americans are saying is, 'We don't trust you,'" a senior Israeli military official told the magazine.
Curbing strike aspirations
A Pentagon spokesperson refused to comment on the reduced contingent, noting that the specifics are classified. But Commander Wendy L. Snyder of the US military said in an e-mail that Israel has been informed of the changes.
The official explanation was budget restrictions; however, the decision coincided with growing tensions between the Obama Administration and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government on Israel's persistent threats attack Iran.
Israeli analyst Efraim Inbar told Time that the rationale for the retreat was quite clear.
"I think they don't want to insinuate that they are preparing something together with the Israelis against Iran -- that's the message," says Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. "Trust? We don't trust them. They don't trust us. All these liberal notions! Even a liberal president like Obama knows better."
Assistant secretary of state Andrew J. Shapiro last November branded Austere Challenge as "by far the largest and most significant exercise in US-Israeli history."
According to the report, the goal was to "improve interoperability" between American and Israeli anti-missile systems -- which are already significantly linked. The US has intalled a radar in the Negev, pointed toward Iran and linked to Israel's Arrow anti-missile system.
While the radar is so sensitive it can detect a softball thrown into the air from thousands of miles away, only American officials are allowed to see what's on the screens, a safeguard likely meant to prevent Israel from striking Iran on its own -- after all, the US' equipment can detect an Iranian missile six to seven minutes earlier than Israel's best radar.
US Joint Chiefs chairman General Martin Dempsey told news hounds in London this week that a military strike could damage but not destroy Iran's nuclear capability, and added, "I don't want to be complicit if they choose to do it."
On Friday, the White House on reiterated President Barack Obama Why can't I just eat my waffle?... 's commitment to Israel's security, claiming that the US' ties with Israel have never been closer.
"I can simply say that, under President B.O., cooperation with Israel between our military and intelligence communities has never been closer," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told news hounds.
"Assistance provided to Israel by the United States has never been greater than it has been under President B.O.."
Queerly enough, undermining of Israel by the United States has also never been greater than under President Obama. It's a conundrum, to be sure.
A US-Israeli ballistic missile exercise postponed until this autumn will involve fewer U.S. military personnel than initially planned, the Pentagon said on Friday, but it rejected a media report portraying the decision as a sign of US mistrust.
"Austere Challenge-12 remains the largest-ever ballistic missile defense exercise between our nations and a significant increase from the previous event in 2009," said Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jack Miller, a Pentagon spokesman.
That's all very well, but. Two years ago, Iran was not probably within months of assembling its first nuclear weapon. Now it is.
#3
Obama, "Where's Hillary when you need her?. Do I have to do everything myself?. Send her down there to take one for the gipper".
With the election so close no interest in getting tangled in another conflict. Israel is on her own. Mr.B perhaps as you said yesterday that this is a good thing for Israel.
#4
You will either do as I say or there will be no more candy!
Yesterday's comment: Letting Israel 'go it alone' could actually be more catastrophic to the area than assisting them. If they find themselves pushed into a Masada scenario, all hell will break lose. They will kill everybody in the region before they go down.
Prime minister bashes Obama's ineffectual stance, US Ambassador Shapiro says he's misrepresenting president's position, newspaper claims
Tensions between the Israeli and United States governments reached fever pitch over the issue of Iran's nuclear program in a recent high-level meeting between the prime minister and the American ambassador, Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Friday.
Last week Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a closed-door meeting with visiting Congressman and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers and American Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro. Netanyahu opened the discussion by lambasting the B.O. regime for what he considered its ineffectual policy vis à vis Iran.
Netanyahu then expressed his belief that the US should be pressuring Iran to stop its nuclear program rather than pressuring Israel not to attack.
"Instead of effectively pressuring Iran, Obama and his people are pressuring us not to attack the nuclear facilities," he reportedly said. He concluded by saying that the time for diplomacy had run out, the Yedioth report said.
At one point during the meeting, Shapiro grew enraged by Netanyahu's remarks, broke diplomatic protocol, and snapped at the PM, saying he was misrepresenting Obama's position on Iran.
According to a source at the meeting, "sparks and lightning were flying."
The US embassy did not comment on the Yedioth Ahronoth report.
The folks in Tel Aviv better understand one thing. This next ME conflict is not just a "strike on Iran's nuclear facilities". It is a cage fight between Israel and Iran. The war will go on until there is only one winner.
#2
We didnt split Afghanistan, which would be quite easily done, given the tribal nature and the spread geography, so why would we do it with Iran? The geographic minorities are there, but mainly at the edges - mainly Kurds in the north and Arabs in the southeast. I would much rather arm them and give them air support if they were to somehow break away, than invade. The only thing American that should hit the ground in Iran are high explosives, not boots.
I have no doubt the Azeris would vote to separate given the chance.
The irony is that had not the USA (in possesion of the A bomb) not forced the Soviet Union to leave Northern Iran after WWII, it would already be part Azerbaijan.
[An Nahar] A Syrian deputy foreign minister slammed Turkey on Friday for training and facilitating the passage of "terrorists," according to a television interview given during a summit of non-aligned states in Iran.
Turkey had a particularly "destructive role" in the conflict, Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad told Iran's Arabic-language Al-Alam television.
"Turkey nowadays trains and allows in terrorists, allows in al-Qaeda. Most of the snuffies in Syria come from Turkey," he said.
"This needs to be tackled, because if Turkey does not respond to this issue then Turkey should be put on the list of nations supporting terrorism."
Muqdad said Ankara's policies on Syria ran contrary to its own interests, "and we ask the Turkish government to come to its senses."
He did not elaborate on reports that Syrian officials gave U.N. chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... , also in Tehran for the summit, a list of countries -- including Turkey and Gulf Arab nations -- that they consider to be actively meddling in Syria.
But he said: "We warn everyone... the situation is Syria will reflect on them, the situation will endanger the region and threaten stability in the Middle East."
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09/01/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
The economy and political situation in Turkey stinks. The economic benefits of this activity is what Turkey wants. Politically this activity will not help Erdogan in my opinion.
#2
Politically this activity will not help Erdogan
Turkey is playing host to US, British, and Saudi efforts to support the Syrian opposition. Those are political chips that can be cashed-in later.
It's also being done for domestic consumption, partly to deflect from the economy, but also partly old "strong horse gambit". The latter is useful when you're trying trying both to cast yourself, your party and Turkey (in that order) as a leader in the Islamic world, and you and your party as an indomitable force within Turkey.
[An Nahar] U.N. chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... on Friday told Syria's prime minister in Tehran on Friday that fighting must stop in Syria "with the primary responsibility resting on the government to halt its use of heavy weapons." Never happen. Too much of Arab manhood is wrapped up in weapon heft...
In the meeting with Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, Ban said he set out "my demands for all sides to cease all forms of violence," with Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... bearing the greatest responsibility. Have you noticed that people have stopped coming out in the streets to demonstrate against Pencilneck? Does that mean they're happy with him now?
"What is important at this time is that all the parties must stop the violence. All those actors who may be providing arms to both sides... must stop," Ban said at a news conference broadcast live on Iranian television.
The U.N. secretary general held his meeting with Halaqi on the sidelines of a two-day Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran that was to end on Friday.
Ban said he had asked Iran to support his call on Syria, "and I have a strong assurance from Iran that it will do so."
He also said he had a series of meetings with joint U.N.-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... envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who has taken over from Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... international efforts to broker peace in Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
halt its use of heavy weapons."
And are they supposed to slap them across the face with a glove shoe to express their displeasure? And then the seconds can meet at the UN over a 5* lunch and discuss the meeting place for the duel?
This sort of crap just makes me sick. It's time to acknowledge that you're dealing with dark age death cult mentality all around and deal with it. Or better yet, let them fight it out on their own.
[An Nahar] The United States and Israel are responsible for the conflict scorching Syria by "flooding weapons" to rebels there, the supreme leader of Iran -- the main ally of Syria's regime -- said on Friday, according to his official website.
"The main and behind-the-scenes operators behind the painful issues in Syria are America and the Zionist regime," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a meeting with Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi on the sidelines of a Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran.
"The main operators in the Syrian issue are those who have been flooding weapons into Syria and financially backing the irresponsible groups," Khamenei said.
Halaqi thanked Khamenei for Iran's support, and delivered greetings from Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... , who did not attend the NAM summit.
"The Syrian government is determined to confront all terrorist groups and to cleanse areas of these groups while moving ahead with political reforms and national dialogue," he was quoted as saying.
Khamenei, whose country is seeking a mediating role in the Syrian conflict, said the NAM was a more legitimate forum "to tackle Syria's issues than America, NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... and some European nations."
He called the bloodshed in Syria "unacceptable" but said it was "the Syrian government that has been the victim of current events."
He urged Halaqi to "remove all pretexts" preventing the opposition from engaging in dialogue and to press on with promised political reforms.
Khamenei also called on Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... to denounce "this plot in Syria to the world and Arab public opinion."
Syrian and Iran have accused the United States, Israel, 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 their national face... , Qatar and Turkey of sustaining the uprising.
The Syrian opposition and U.S. officials charge that Iran is supplying money, arms and fighters to help Assad maintain his grip on power.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
Meanwhile, not to be outdone by BFF Iran, as per DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS Pakistan's ISI is accusing the US, i.e. US Special Forces, of training, suppor + masterminding the Militant attack agz its KAMRA BASE, as these were no ordinary Taliban.
The Pak ISI claims ...
> Militant attack squad were too well-trained + disciplined.
> possessed tech-advanced equipment or wares not commonly found on dead or captured Hard Boyz.
> unusually effective tactics.
#2
Khamenei got one thing right recently. Just 2-3 weeks ago he predicted that his country would be at war in a "matter of weeks". That puts the war in Sep/Oct. That's a pretty good call, actually.
Iran is going to wind up like a dead dog with its feet in the air. Unfortunately, it is going to cost a lot of Israeli blood to get to that point.
[An Nahar] Iran on Friday rejected allegations in a new ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency report that it was frustrating U.N. inspection of a suspect military site by apparently scrubbing it clean.
"These statements have no technical basis. Anyone who has expertise in this area knows that these statements are mere pretexts and that one cannot clean a site" of nuclear work, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told the ISNA news agency. Why is there an IAEA if anything they say can be "rejected" at will?
The restricted report, seen by Agence La Belle France Presse on Thursday, says the IAEA's ability to inspect Parchin has been "significantly hampered" by the clean-up.
It repeated its suspicions that the base might have been used for experiments using conventional explosives to design a nuclear warhead, and stressed that Iran has repeatedly refused access to the site on the grounds it was a non-nuclear facility.
The IAEA report also said Iran has doubled its uranium enrichment capacity at an underground nuclear facility in Fordo by installing more than 1,000 new centrifuges, although they have not been put into operation.
The IAEA said it was still "unable to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran, and therefore to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities."
Western and other governments suspect Iran has been trying to develop a nuclear weapons break-out capability. Tehran denies any such ambition, insisting its nuclear program is exclusively for power generation and medical purposes.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The Progressive Socialist Party on Friday staged a demonstration demanding the expulsion of Syrian Ambassador to Leb Ali Abdul Karim Ali and the summoning of the Syrian officers who are "involved" in the case of former minister Michel Samaha.
Members of the party's youth organization gathered at 7:00 p.m. at the Samir Kassir Garden in downtown Beirut under the slogan "In rejection of the massacres being committed against the Syrian people."
The demonstrators carried the flags of Leb, the PSP and the Syrian revolution, in addition to banners that read, "The Spring of Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... Will Inevitably Arrive", "Syria and Leb are Two Peoples Against the Same Regime," and "The Expulsion of the Ambassador is a Lebanese Duty towards Syria's Children."
The youth organizations of the March 14 forces on Wednesday also held a demonstration outside the foreign ministry to demand Ali's expulsion and criticize the performance of Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/01/2012 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.
[An Nahar] Somalia's parliament will hold a presidential election on September 10, the final stage of a U.N.-backed process to set up a new administration for the war-torn country, an election official said Friday.
...Smallest of the agencies in FATA. The Agency administration is located in Khar. Bajaur is inhabited almost exclusively by Tarkani Pashtuns, which are divided into multiple bickering subtribes. Its 52 km border border with Afghanistan's Kunar Province makes it of strategic importance to Pakistain's strategic depth...
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt-Gen Zaheerul Islam has ruled out handing over Dr Shakil Afridi to the US, DawnNews reported.
A Syrian deputy foreign minister slammed Turkey on Friday for training and facilitating the passage of "terrorists," according to a television interview given during a summit of non-aligned states in Iran.
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Iran on Friday rejected allegations in a new 
[An Nahar] The Progressive Socialist Party on Friday staged a demonstration demanding the expulsion of Syrian Ambassador to 
