[ARABNEWS] Sudanese President Omar Bashir -- in power since a 1989 coup -- will stand for re-election in 2015 after being retained Tuesday as leader of the ruling National Congress Party, a top aide said.
Bashir, the only sitting head of state wanted by the International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... (ICC), was re-elected as both leader and presidential candidate of the NCP at a party convention, said his chief assistant, Ibrahim Ghandour.
The 70-year-old career soldier took power in a coup, and there had been doubts about whether he would run again in the controversial election, slated for April.
In a March interview, Ghandour said Bashir "declared many times that he's not willing to" stand again but that the final decision was with the party.
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10/22/2014 00:00 ||
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[Libya Herald] Thinni hoped that neighbouring states "respect the will of the Libyan people and do not stand with the wrongdoers who seek to put the country under the control of a specific ideological party that wants to control the Libyan people and wants to impose its will on the Libyan people".
Prime Minister Thinni was responding to a question about his planned visit to Sudan, a country that allegedly supported the Libya Dawn ...aka Fajr Libya, the Islamist operation launched to counter that of General Khalifa Haftar (Operation Dignity). It is made up of the Libya Shield militia (Misrata and Moslem Brotherhood), Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (Moslem Brotherhood), and Tripoli Brigade (close to Abdul Hakim Belhaj, head of Al-Watan party). Financing and moral support come from Turkey and Qatar... forces in the early days of Libya Dawn's military takeover of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... this summer.
"This cannot happen", Thinni stressed in a television interview Friday on the Pro government and pro House of Representatives (HoR) Zintan TV.
"Whoever wants to rule the Libyan people has to resort to the ballot box and the choices of the Libyan people must be respected. But there is an aggressive group that has gone outside custom and law, claiming that it wants to rule Libya".
"It is an honour for us to die rather than be under darkness and tyranny. For if we are to accept darkness and tyranny it would have been better for us to accept it under the rule of Qadaffy. But after 42 years of injustice and tyranny for the Libyan people, comes a group belonging to the Moslem Brüderbund wanting to rule the Libyan people".
"Unfortunately, the word Moslem Brüderbund does not apply to them. Anyone who claims to follow Islam cannot performed such propaganda. They do not belong to Islam, either closely or from afar, and they use Islam as a cover for their own goals. They receive their orders from their masters abroad for the destruction of the Libyan people and this cannot happen.
Libya's fight against terrorism
"In all certainty there is a fierce campaigned waged against Libya by these (terror) groups. Support arrives to them from all the states that do not want stability in Libya and want to divide Libya".
"Of course, Libya has not been and will not be divided. After the struggle of Libya and the sacrifices of the ancestors, for a group to turn up and divide Libya and at the expense of a narrow ideology, an ideology with no connection or following to the homeland".
"Is it conceivable that a human being who claims to be patriotic to ignite a fire at the (Tripoli International) airport in igniting (the fire) say "Allah Akbar" (God is Greatest). Who is this person calling on God's help for? Against Israel? Or against the assets of the Libyan people which are destroyed now?"
"Who bears responsibility for what happened in Tripoli or what happened in Wershafana or Qasr Ben Ghashir or in the outskirts of Tripoli or in the region of 27 km? "
"This is systematic destruction and they claim that Tripoli is safe and say that fuel is available. Is life the availability of fuel. This is unfortunate. Whoever carried out this campaign is a failed director with failed actors".
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10/22/2014 00:00 ||
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[Libya Herald] Turkey's new Special Envoy to Libya, Emrullah Isler, is the latest of the group of international special envoys to visit to Libya to assess the situation and hold talks with Libyan leaders. In his case, he also flew to Malta where the Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thinni is on a two-day official visit.
In Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , in a move that is likely to anger the UN and other countries, he broke with the international community's refusal to recognise Omar Al-Hassi's anti-government by meeting with him and his ministers.
Isler, a former deputy prime minister and Ankara MP for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party who caused uproar earlier this month by tweeting his preference for IS over the outlawed Kurdish Death Eater group the PKK , was appointed Special Envoy yesterday just before he left for Libya.
"In these critical times when there is a pressing need in Libya for political stability and the support of countries friendly to it, this visit constitutes an opportunity to underscore that Turkey stands in solidarity with the people of Libya," a Turkish Foreign Ministry statement said yesterday.
He started his visit by flying to Tobruk where he met House of Representatives President Ageela Saleh and a number of other HoR members. In the their talks, the Turkish envoy, like all the other international special envoys, stressed the need for an immediate cease-fire and for all parties to take part in dialogue. Military force would not bring peace and stability to Libya, he said.
He is also reported to have expressed Turkey's continued willingness to help rebuild Libya. He then flew to Malta for talks with Thinni.
Today he flew to Misrata, the de facto master of Tripoli, where he met local officals as well as members of HoR who are boycotting its proceedings.
In Tripoli, he met with Omar Al-Hassi and members of the rump Congress appointed government ‐ a development that is likely to further damage the already strained relations between Ankara and the international community over the IS in Syria.
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[Libya Herald] The official head of the Libyan Moslem Brüderbund, Bashir Kubti, has rejected the assertion by the Prime Minister that Libya Dawn ...aka Fajr Libya, the Islamist operation launched to counter that of General Khalifa Haftar (Operation Dignity). It is made up of the Libya Shield militia (Misrata and Moslem Brotherhood), Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (Moslem Brotherhood), and Tripoli Brigade (close to Abdul Hakim Belhaj, head of Al-Watan party). Financing and moral support come from Turkey and Qatar... is the military arm of the Moslem Brüderbund in Libya.
Speaking in a telephone interview with the German Press Agency, Kubti criticized Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thinni for making the claim and said that the Moslem Brüderbund does not have a military arm. He added some rather choice remarks about Thinni, saying that he could not be believed.
He also said that the Brotherhood was tired of being blaimed for all the problems in the country, saying that the government should be held responsible, starting back to the time of Ali Zeidan. According to Kubti, the government spent too much time blaming the Moslem Brüderbund and did not focus on finding a solution to the problems in Libya.
On the subject of Khalifa Hafter, Kubti declared he that was dictating not only military events in Libya but also the political process. He claimed that Hafter was "an illegitimate leader" and questioned the legitimacy of the House of Representatives since it was backing Hafter.
The Moslem Brüderbund, claimed Kubti, is not biased. "We are with the people and respect the people's choices", he said. "We supported the elections and the outcome of the elections."
The House of Representatives (HOR), however, had failed to follow the correct procedures for the handover, he stated. That had led to questions about its legitimacy.
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10/22/2014 00:00 ||
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[Libya Herald] Operation Dignity leaders expect to take complete control of Benghazi within a week despite almost continuous fighting in the city since the pro-government forces launched their counter attack on Wednesday.
At the same time, senior sources within the army told the Libya Herald that reinforcements had travelled from the east to bolster Operation Dignity and other government forces in Benghazi. The most recent reports had the convoys roughly 40 minutes away from the centre of the city, in the eastern suburb of Deryana.
The Commander of Operation Dignity's Airforce, Adam Saqr Geroushi, claimed, perhaps optimistically, that pro-government forces were in control of 80 percent of territory in Benghazi.
He reiterated that Dignity had forced February 17 Brigade and its allies into a retreat from Garyounis where a large portion of their sprawling central Benghazi base had been, destroying the walls around it. He explained that Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council (BRSC) forces had been pushed out of Garyounis to the south west and were forming on the outskirts of the city on the Ajdabiya road.
Geroushi said most senior figures form the (BRSC) had fled to Ajdabiya and that Islamist forces were being resupplied from there.
He claimed that a second area of strong resistance lay in the Hawari district in Mashroua Al-Sassafa. He said Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libyaand Yemen, with the Libyan versions currently most active. Tunisia's Shabaab al-Tawhid started out an Ansar al-Sharia and changed its name in early 2014. It still uses the old name now and then, probably because the stationery's not all used up and the web site hasn't expired yet... forces there had been shelling from their positions there in attempts to make the pro-government forces extend their resources.
There have been reports of shells falling on Juliana, Belawn and Kish district from Hawari.
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10/22/2014 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. -- in power since a 1989 coup -- will stand for re-election in 2015 after being retained Tuesday as leader of the ruling National Congress Party, a top aide said.
Bashir, the only sitting head of state wanted by the International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... (ICC), was re-elected as both leader and presidential candidate of the NCP at a party convention, said his chief assistant, Ibrahim Ghandour.
The 70-year-old career soldier took power in an Islamist-backed coup, and there had been doubts about whether he would run again in the controversial election, slated for April.
In a March interview, Ghandour said Bashir "declared many times that he's not willing to" stand again but that the final decision was with the party.
Two knee operations over the summer also raised worries over his health.
But Bashir's name was put on the party's shortlist of five candidates and his tally in Tuesday's vote was enough to rule out further voting, Ghandour said.
The president garnered 266 out of the 396 votes cast, Ghandour said, with the remainder of the 522 advisory council members choosing not to take part.
The other four nominees were all senior NCP officials seen as close to Bashir: Ghandour himself, senior member Nafie Ali Nafie, ex-vice president Ali Osman Taha and First Vice President Bakri Hassan Saleh.
Calls for 'transitional' government
The 2015 elections for the presidency, national and state parliaments will be only the second since the 1989 coup, and opposition parties have expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... s over them.
They have said the elections must come under the national dialogue announced by Bashir in January to try to resolve Sudan's multiple crises.
Reform Now, a leading opposition party, called in August for a transitional administration to be put in place as part of the dialogue and a discussion about the 2015 ballot.
Bashir is wanted by the ICC on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Darfur region of western Sudan.
At least 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur and two million forced to flee their homes since non-Arab rebels first rose up against the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime in 2003, the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... says.
The government puts the corpse count at 10,000.
Rebels are also currently battling the government in the South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions.
Bashir also oversaw South Sudan's split from the north, under a peace deal that ended a 22-year civil war.
The land-locked South left with most of the formerly united country's 470,000 barrels per day of oil production. Pipelines and the Red Sea export terminal remain in Sudan, but the loss of oil revenues hit the north's economy badly.
[DAWN] Twitter is nothing more than "a source of lies" and evil, 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... 's top Moslemholy man said, in comments that sparked lively debate Tuesday on the microblogging site.
"If it were used correctly, it could be of real benefit, but unfortunately it's exploited for trivial matters," Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh said on his "Fatwa" television show broadcast late Monday.
Twitter is "the source of all evil and devastation", the mufti said.
"People are rushing to it thinking it's a source of credible information but it's a source of lies and falsehood."
The social media platform is popular among both men and women in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia, where some supported the mufti's views but many others objected.
"This is why I will repent, and close my account to distance myself from this great evil," one Twitter user wrote with apparent sarcasm.
"Respected sheikh, how can you judge something without using it?" another post asked.
But a supporter of the sheikh wrote: "I swear the mufti has spoken the truth; the evils of Twitter are many."
Saudi Arabia adopts a strict version of Islam, including a segregation of the sexes, that influences all aspects of life in the Gulf kingdom.
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10/22/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
instagram = evil for people who can't read (h/t kat dennings on 2brokegirls)
facebook = for people who 'like' evil
rantburg = for evil rants
Posted by: lord garth ||
10/22/2014 0:19 Comments ||
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#2
I got behind a young fellow at the Publix grocery story yesterday attempting to pay with his handheld phone. Not exactly a NASCAR pitstop experience, but still less maddening than an EBT card payment. Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, I feel your pain.
Enough to make limericists bitter,
That seven score limit on Twitter!
Should we lop feet or head?
Their Procrustean bed
Will fit only the runts of the litter.
[DAWN] Iftikhar Hussain, a 52-year old suspect in the murder of former Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... (MQM) leader Dr Imran Farooq was released on Tuesday by the Police in London, DawnNews reported.
Hussain, who is purportedly a close relative of MQM chief Altaf Hussain, was released as no evidence was found against him, said a statement issued here. However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... British authorities were reportedly in contact with their Pak counterparts for collection of evidence in the murder case.
The London Met police jugged Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! Iftikhar Hussain from Heathrow Airport upon his arrival from Canada in June earlier this year.
Earlier in May, British detectives had released photographs of two suspects they wanted to trace in connection with Farooq's killing. The two Pak nationals were identified as 29-year-old Mohsin Ali Syed and 34-year-old Muhammad Kashif Khan Kamran.
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10/22/2014 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu unveiled sweeping new security laws branded as repressive by critics, saying those in possession of banned objects at protests would face up to four years in jail.
The changes were first announced last week by the Islamic-rooted government following deadly protests in Istanbul and the Kurdish-majority southeast over Turkeyâs Syria policy.
Davutoglu said the legislation is aimed at ending the ambiguity over the use in demonstrations of âweapons of violenceâ, including Molotov cocktails, stones and other sharp objects.
Those protesters possessing such objects â not currently regarded as a crime â will be detected and banned from entering rallies.
Police will be able to arrest those suspected of possessing such objects at a protest, and those convicted could face up to four years in jail, he added.
âMolotov cocktails are weapons of violence. If someone sets fire to ambulances, libraries, mosques or koranic institutions by throwing Molotov cocktails⦠we cannot call this freedom,â Davutoglu told a meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara.
He said the bill calls for stricter punishment for offenders wearing masks to conceal their identity, damaging public property, as well as resisting the police.
The detention time limit will be doubled to 48 hours, Davutoglu said.
Police will also be given greater authority to search demonstrators or their houses, without the need for âconcrete evidenceâ.
âCalls for violenceâ through social media will also be recognized a crime, he said.
The legislation will make it easier for authorities to wiretap suspects and allow for these recordings to be used as evidence.
At least 34 people were killed and 360 wounded earlier this month when Kurds took to streets over Turkeyâs lack of support for the mainly-Kurdish Syrian border town of Kobani, which is under attack from Islamic State jihadists.
Over 1,000 people were detained for their involvement in the protests which caused damage to hundreds of public buildings.
The heavy-handed tactics used by Turkish police, who frequently resort to tear gas and water cannon, have drawn widespread criticism from rights groups at home and abroad.
A brutal police crackdown on anti-government protests in May-June 2013 left eight people dead and thousands injured.
The reform package has sparked outrage from the opposition, which said it would turn Turkey into a âpolice stateâ and threaten citizensâ right to protest.
But Davutoglu said it is aimed at âstrengthening the guarantee of public liberties and securityâ.
He also warned foreign media not to characterize the reforms as authoritarian, saying the same measures are in place in other countries.
âMedia outlets in Europe should not make a fuss about this law⦠They need to engage in self-criticism first,â he said.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also lashed out at criticism of the legislation, saying the government was taking the same measures âas Europe and the USâ.
âI personally know how the security forces in the West handle violence and vandalism,â Erdogan told a symposium in Ankara.
The legislation will also impose tougher penalties for drug dealers, who are âseeking to eradicate the next generationsâ and âwill be treated like terroristsâ, Davutoglu said.
These measures are part of a crackdown on bonzai, a synthetic drug which has become a serious social problem in Turkey.
[DAWN] 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.... and Al Qaeda do not yet pose a threat to India, the national security adviser said on Tuesday, despite attempts by the ultra-radical groups to enlist support from among India's huge Moslem population.
Flags of the Islamic State have appeared in Indian controlled Jammu and Kashmire, the country's only Moslem majority state, setting off concern that the murderous Moslem group is drawing support in a region where Indian forces are trying to end a 25-year revolt.
Continued on Page 49
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[DAWN] A federal minister sought on Monday to draw world attention to the dangers of nuclear rivalry between Pakistan and India as lawmakers in the National Assembly, across party lines, blamed India for the recent spate of cross-border clashes along the disputed Jammu and Kashmir.
But the Minister for States and Frontier Regions, retired Lt Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch, stressed that he was not making a threat after he said countries possessing nuclear capability would ânot keep it merely in cold storageâ but could use it âin time of needâ.
However, he promised a âmatching responseâ to what he called Indiaâs âaggressive policyâ while opening the debate on a motion moved by Kashmir Affairs Minister Chaudhry Birjees Tahir over what was described as indiscriminate Indian firing and shelling across the Line of Control (LoC) dividing the Jammu and Kashmir and what is called working boundary between Indian-held Jammu and Pakistanâs Sialkot and Narowal districts.
The series of clashes, which have so far claimed more than 20 civilian lives, 13 on the Pakistani side, since early this month, have been some of the most serious violations of a 2003 ceasefire between the two sides.
Mr Baloch, who said he had served along the LoC for seven years while in the army, accused India of seeking to complicate matters and incite Pakistan, but said this âserious situationâ could not be mtade an excuse for war.
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[DAWN] The police department has suggested registration of non-custom paid vehicles in Malakand division and tribal areas to stop use of such automobiles in criminal and bully boy activities.
Inspector General of Police Nasir Khan Durrani has informed ministry of interior, Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) and chief secretary of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... through a letter about use of non-custom paid vehicles in bully boy activities.
Taking advantage of the easily available non-custom paid vehicles, miscreants have started using these vehicles which has caused serious threat to the law and order situation in the country in general and in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in particular, says the letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn.
Since there is no mechanism for ascertaining and verifying the ownership of such vehicles, these are increasingly used by hard boyz and criminals. It is very difficult for police to investigate and apprehend the miscreants and criminals, who use non-custom paid vehicles for their activities, the letter says.
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[DAWN] Pakistain Awami Tehrik (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri ...Pak politician, and would-be dictator, founder and head of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran and Pakistain Awami Tehrik. He usually resides in Canada, but returns to Pakistain periodically to foam at the mouth and lead demonstrations. Depending on which way the wind's blowing, Qadri claims to be the author of Pak's blasphemy law. Other times he says it wasn't him... on Tuesday night announced an end to his party's protest demonstration in the federal capital.
The announcement ends over two months of protest sit-in in Islamabad which set off a political crisis in the country.
The PAT leader at the same time also said that protests will now be held all over the country, which he termed as the "next stage of the revolution".
"This sit-in has achieved its purpose, it has awakened the nation and played its role in the path of revolution," Qadri told his supporters ‐ many were women and some were in tears.
Soon after Qadri's announcement, his supporters started packing up their camps and hugging one another goodbye.
"We have spent a difficult time here and have established good relationships with each other," said Fauzia Habib. "Now when we are leaving I am a bit grim but happy too that we have spent time for a good cause," said Habib, a young girl clad in an all-encompassing gown and head scarf.
Qadri told protestors to "pack their bags and return home with a victorious spirit".
He said that protests will now be held in cities throughout the country for two days where he will speak and urged the people to come out and support the movement.
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[DAWN] India warned Pakistain on Tuesday of more "pain" if it continued to violate a ceasefire on their disputed border in Kashmire and said it was up to Islamabad to create the conditions for a resumption of peace talks.
The two sides exchanged mortars and intense gunfire this month, killing at least 20 civilians and wounding dozens in the worst violation to date of a 2003 ceasefire. While the firing has abated, tension remains high along a 200-km (125-mile) stretch of the border dividing the nuclear-armed rivals.
"Our conventional strength is far more than theirs. So if they persist with this, they'll feel the pain of this adventurism," Indian Defence Minister Arun Jaitley told NDTV in an interview.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government came to power in May promising a tough response to violence in the Himalayan territory. It accuses Pakistain of helping keep alive a 25-year armed revolt in India held Kashmire. Pakistain has denied this allegation on many occasions.
Military officers on both sides say Indian border commanders adopted a more aggressive stance in the festivities this month, firing 1,000 mortars on one day this month.
It was not clear what triggered the fighting.
Mighty Pak Army officials said the trouble began with India's decision to beef up border defences, in violation of the ceasefire pact.
Adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz said in an earlier statement that India was not cooperating on the issue.
"The Pakistain government has been exercising utmost restraint and responsibility. Unfortunately, all our efforts to secure peace and tranquility on the Line of Control and the Working Boundary have elicited no cooperation from the Indian side," he said.
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[Ynet] Iran is pushing what it portrays as a new compromise proposal in nuclear talks, but Western negotiators say it offers no viable concessions, underscoring how far apart the two sides are as they enter crunch time before a Nov. 24 deadline.
In the negotiations with six major powers, the Iranians say they are no longer demanding a total end to economic sanctions in return for curbing their nuclear program and would accept initially lifting just the latest, most damaging, sanctions.
Western officials dismiss the proposal as nothing new and say the Iranians have always known that the sanctions could only end gradually - with each measure being suspended and later terminated only after Iranian compliance had been proven.
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[IsraelTimes] UN Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... urged Paleostinian and Israeli leaders on Tuesday to halt "unilateral initiatives" that fuel mistrust and thwart peace efforts, an appeal almost certainly aimed at Israel's continued settlement building and the Paleostinians' demand that Israel withdraw from its territory by November 2016.
Ban challenged the leaders to rise to the occasion and display the "courage and vision" needed to overcome their differences and negotiate a comprehensive peace agreement that leads to the establishment of a viable and independent Paleostinian state.
Continued on Page 49
[IsraelTimes] Reacting to a number of high profile sales of Paleostinian homes to Jewish organizations in East Jerusalem, Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... has toughened the penalty for citizens selling property to Israelis.
According to the official Paleostinian Wafa news agency, Abbas on Monday imposed a sentence of hard labor for life on "anyone diverting, renting or selling land to an enemy state or one of its subjects."
According to the official Paleostinian Wafa news agency, Abbas on Monday imposed a sentence of hard labor for life on "anyone diverting, renting or selling land to an enemy state or one of its subjects."
Jordan's penal code number 16 article 114, applicable in the Paleostinian territories, previously subscribed "temporary hard labor" to perpetrators of the crime.
Paleostinian government and civil society reacted angrily to the recent acquisition of 26 apartments in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan by Elad, an Israeli foundation dedicated to the settlement of Jews in the historic City of David.
On Sunday night, Jews entered 10 apartments in two buildings bought by another Israeli nonprofit, Ateret Kohanim, in a different part of the neighborhood.
The Paleostinian Ma'an news agency reported the buildings were sold by their owners to a man named Shams al-Din al-Qawasmi, who sold them to Jewish groups.
An Ateret Kohanim spokesperson said the nonprofit facilitated the purchase on behalf of an overseas company called Kudram. Haaretz reported the purchases were made through a straw man.
In the closing statement of a conference Monday night, Fatah's Revolutionary Council accused Paleostinians who sold their Jerusalem Paleostinian properties of "high treason," calling on the government and legal system to "take the necessary steps to deter them."
The movement also called on the public to "boycott and humiliate them on all popular levels." Abbas's decision was issued immediately afterward.
"Those whose sick souls allowed them to sell their land or homes, or enable such sales to the enemies of the Paleostinian people, are a gang of traitors to their nation and religion," said Fatah front man Osama al-Qawasmi in a statement published by Wafa. "They have brought shame and scorn upon themselves in this world and in the afterlife."
"One would rather die than sell his honor and betray the most sacred land in the world, saturated with the blood of prophets and deaders throughout history," he added. "Those traitors are destined to die a humiliating death."
Since the late 1990s, Paleostinian courts have been dealing out death sentences to convicted land dealers, though Abbas has not authorized the implementation of executions since his election in 2004.
Indeed, the PLO's Revolutionary Penal Code (1979) applies the death penalty both to traitors and to those accused of "transferring positions to the enemy." Since the late 1990s, Paleostinian courts have been dealing out death sentences to convicted land dealers, though Abbas has not authorized the implementation of executions since his election in 2004.
But details of the suspected property salesmen of Silwan have been disseminated on Paleostinian social media Monday.
While Paleostinian law does not apply in East Jerusalem, Bassem Eid, a Jerusalem-based Paleostinian civil rights activist, says he has followed cases of Jerusalemites kidnapped in the city and tortured to death in Ramallah by the Paleostinian Authority's Preventive Security Agency.
In 1997, Farid Bashiti, an Israeli citizen, was enticed to Ramallah and murdered for his involvement in property sales. An Israeli court recognized Bashiti as a terror victim in February 2000. Another person, once a resident of the Shuafat refugee camp in Jerusalem, Eid recalled, was kidnapped from Damascus Gate in the Old City and died of torture in a Ramallah prison.
"I didn't see Israel raise hell over the arrest of these men," Eid noted. "If a Jew were kidnapped in Ramallah, I presume Netanyahu would shut the city down."
According to Eid, the Paleostinian Authority takes advantage of Israel's complacency about Jerusalem residents to intimidate and persecute those suspected of property soliciting. But the new law will do little to stop the phenomenon, he said.
"Those who want to sell land don't go consulting Abbas," Eid said. "The PA only finds out about them when they leave the country and go live abroad."
[JPOST] Israel will not allow construction materials to enter the Gaza Strip if Hamas rebuilds infiltration tunnels destroyed by the IDF during Operation Protective Edge, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said on Monday.
During a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at his officein New York, Ya'alon expressed his concern over a Hamas claim that its members were continuing to dig underground passageways leading from the coastal enclave into Israel.
"We [Israel] want the resident of Gaza to live in dignity and prosperity, rebuild their homes and return to normal life. But, we are very worried. Just yesterday Hamas representatives said they intend to reconstruct the infiltration tunnels, instead of rebuilding the home of Gaza's residents," Ya'alon told Ban.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/22/2014 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Jordan's King Abdullah II and other Jordanian government officials have been working to ensure that the Knesset does not ratify a bill that would allow Jews to pray at the Temple Mount, a Jordanian official said Tuesday.
Khalid al-Shawabka, Jordan's Ambassador to the Paleostinian territories, claimed that Israeli MKs were attempting to pass a resolution which would effectively divide the compound between Moslems and Jews, the Paleostinian Ma'an News Agency reported.
"Jordan's foreign minister has sent strongly-worded messages to foreign ministers of member states of the UN Security Council and to the UN demanding an end to the systematic assaults on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and on worshipers," al-Shawabka told the news agency in an interview.
"[T]he Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem are red lines," al-Shawabka said, using a Moslem name for the compound. He added that the situation on the ground in the Israeli capital was "unacceptable," though he did not elaborate.
Amman sees it's role as custodian of holy sites in East Jerusalem. Last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered workers to take down a temporary ramp that had been built next to the sole entrance for non-Moslem visitors, in order to avoid a diplomatic kerfuffle with Jordan.
Jews are currently forbidden from outwardly praying on the site, which is the holiest place in Judaism and the third holiest site in Islam. Jewish visits to the site have lately provoked protests by Paleostinians, who clashed with police on several occasions, prompting its temporary closure.
In May, MKs Miri Regev (Likud) and Hilik Bar (Labor) said they would present for Knesset discussion a controversial bill to allow Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, according to Ynet, but it is still unclear when they plan to do so.
Bar has since backed down from his support of the legislation, apparently after being heavily pressured to do so by members of his party, Haaretz reported.
"There is no reason that Jews should not be allowed to pray in the holiest site in the world," Regev said, adding that she would fight for the initiative.
"I firmly believe that each event of Moslem unrest on the Mount should lead to its closure to Arabs. The prime minister is not the only decider on the issue, and if the proposal does not pass I'll turn to the High Court of Justice in a public petition until Jews are allowed to pray with tallit and tefillin on the Temple Mount," Ynet quoted Regev as saying.
The Temple Mount compound, which holds the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque, is considered the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest site to Jews as the site of the two ancient Jewish temples.
Regev stressed that the bill will in no way change the status quo inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque, located on the southern perimeter of the plaza.
But Regev's assertion did not prevent senior Paleostinian political analyst Abdel Raouf Arnaout from reporting that the Likud MK and Bar were scheming to divide prayer times inside Al-Aqsa between Jews and Moslems, as is the case in Hebron's Tomb of Patriarchs.
The law, he wrote in Saudi daily Al-Watan, "claims that the mosque is holy to Jews as it is to Moslems and that Jews should be allowed to pray in it, as is the case with the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron in the West Bank."
On Friday, Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... called for Jews to be barred from the Temple Mount in a fiery ...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob... address.
"It is our sacred place, al-Aqsa [mosque] is ours, this Noble Sanctuary is ours. They have no right to go there and desecrate it," Abbas said, according to Israel Radio.
He insisted that defending al-Aqsa was tantamount to defending Jerusalem, which the Paleostinians are demanding as the capital of their future state.
"Jerusalem is the jewel in the crown and it is the eternal capital of the Paleostinian state. Without it, there will not be a state," he said.
On Saturday, he reiterated the statement, calling Jewish visitors "a herd of cattle."
[Ynet] Israeli military manufacturer publishes simulation of new system to identify, destroy hidden bombs ‐ both above and below ground.
Israel Aerospace Industries released a simulation on Tuesday of the CIMS, a system designed to identify and locate mines and IEDs from a safe distance. The Counter IED and Mine Suite was developed by Elta, a subsidiary.
Currently the IDF relies on massive D9 bulldozers to leads its ground forces into combat by unearthing and absorbing the impact from hidden explosives. Still, Operation Protective Edge showed that no definitive solution has been found for dealing with such explosives during force maneuvers.
The IAI suite can be installed on nearly every combat vehicle from reconnaissance humvees to armored personnel carriers. The system is composed of two central components: ADS (Above-surface Detection System) and MIDS (underground Mine and IED Detection System).
The above and below approach to explosive detection, in real-time and in all weather conditions ‐ regardless of terrain.
The Elta team worked tirelessly on the system for two and a half years of their own initiative after analyzing the potential demands of the security market, and not by request of defense establishments in Israel or abroad.
"We tried to understand what slows down the advance of forces during maneuvers," Ofer Sharon, the IAI project manager, told Ynet.
"We realized that the issue of IEDs was a central cause of delays. The system includes a firing position which can shoot explosive charges at the device to destroy it safely ‐ for underground charges it will be easier to maneuver around them or call on engineering units from the convoy to disable them," he added.
Operating the underground scanner would limit the vehicle to 10 kilometers per hour, while using solely the above-ground component only limits the vehicle to 20 kilometers per hour ‐ a reasonable speed for mobile force maneuvers in enemy territory.
"We believe operational tests would conclude by mid-2015 and production will begin in 2016," said Sharon. The system is expected to cost a few million dollars per unit.
[AnNahar] The army has shrunk by nearly half since Syria's conflict erupted in 2011 but experts say the remaining military force is now both more flexible and capable.
It has transformed itself from a traditional military built on the former Soviet model into an effective counterinsurgency force. And with sustained military support from Russia and Iran, and the guerrilla warfare expertise of its ally, Hizbullah, it has gradually regained ground.
Aram Nerguizian, a military affairs expert from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Syria's standing army has lost around half of its manpower.
"Defections, desertions and attrition after three years of civil war saw Syria's total manpower decline from a high of 325,000 in 2011 to 295,000 in 2012 to an estimated 178,000 in 2013 and 2014," he told Agence France Presse. But the remaining "100,000 to 150,000 loyal troops tested in battle over more than two years of fighting are arguably more lethal than a 300,000-strong Syrian military in 2010, complacent after some 30 years of sitting idle."
"Wars of this kind typically last seven to 10 years, and some last a generation or more."
Syria's armed forces were hurled into an unprecedented conflict after the government moved to quell an uprising that began in March 2011. They have battled rebel groups ranging from the moderate Free Syrian Army to al-Qaida's Syria affiliate Al-Nusra Front and the jihadist Islamic State (IS) group.
- Call to arms -
Nearly 190,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far, including some 40,000 soldiers and 27,000 pro-regime forces, as well as 55,000 rebel fighters, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
That'll go a long way toward right-sizing the population vis a vis national water and food production...
The real toll among the military may be even higher, according to the Britain-based monitoring group.
Despite its losses, the army has avoided recruitment campaigns and relied on compulsory military service to replenish its ranks. Men of between 18 and 50 have to serve for at least 18 months, and the term can be extended on orders from the military leadership.
Last week, the Central Committee for Popular Reconciliation, a government body, issued an unusual public call in newspapers for Syrians to sign up. It vowed to try to "resolve the situation" of those who had deserted or failed to report for military service and "to secure their wages".
An official source in the army, meanwhile, played down the need for reinforcements, insisting losses in personnel and materiel were being quickly replaced. "The power of the army has increased qualitatively and quantitatively," he said.
- 'Adapt or die' -
The army lost control of large parts of Syria in the early days of the conflict, but it has recaptured significant territory in the past year, with a focus on protecting the capital Damascus.
Its successes have been partly the result of a shift to the close-quarters guerrilla warfare in which Hizbullah specializes.
The "insurgency in Syria forced Syrian ground forces, and manpower in general, to either adapt or die," said Neguizian. "Large units were divided up into smaller nimbler units, ineffective and ageing leadership was sidelined, and new or emerging junior officers began to take on greater operational responsibility," he said.
Among those officers is Colonel Suhail al-Hassan, nicknamed "The Tiger" and described on pro-regime social media accounts as Assad's "favorite soldier". Despised by the opposition, he is credited by supporters with the regime's advances around the second city of Aleppo in the north, in particular the opening of the road to the city a year ago.
But despite the shifts in its capabilities, experts see little chance that the army will be able to restore all the territory it has lost. Opposition forces control most rural areas in northwest Syria's Idlib, large parts of Aleppo city and the surrounding province, and parts of the countryside in Damascus, Hassakeh and Daraa provinces.
The IS, meanwhile, controls all of northern Raqa province and much of the oil-rich eastern province of Deir Ezzor.
"For the near to mid-term future, Assad is very unlikely to be able to destroy the insurgency and retake all the areas now controlled by rebels," according to Stephen Biddle, a defense policy expert at the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations. "Wars of this kind typically last seven to 10 years, and some last a generation or more."
Posted by: trailing wife ||
10/22/2014 00:00 ||
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[ARABNEWS] An elderly Syrian took part in stoning his daughter to death for alleged adultery, in a video posted on YouTube by 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.... group on Tuesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the execution took place in August or September in an IS-controlled rural area in the east of the central province of Hama.
In the video, a bearded gunman in combat fatigues stands behind the father, who is dressed in the white robe and checkered headdress typical of the Syrian countryside. They both face the young black-clad daughter as the gunman addresses her in the classical Arabic of the Qur'an.
"The punishment is the result of crimes which you committed under no duress," he says.
"You must accept the punishment of God. Do you accept the punishment of God?"
She nods her head in assent, then turns to her father and asks his forgiveness. He refuses until the assembled IS fighters persuade him to relent.
But it makes no difference to his daughter's fate. She is permitted to speak briefly before the stoning commences.
"I say to every woman: preserve your honor ... and I appeal to every father to pay attention to the surroundings your daughter lives in," she says.
Her father then takes a rope, and ties it round his daughter's waist before forcing her to lie down. The IS gunman then orders punishment to begin and the father joins in stoning her to death.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/22/2014 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Fearless Leader of the Islamic Revolution ...Iran's doddering head theocrat... Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei ...the successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the actual dictator of Iran... says Iran has no trust in the sincerity of governments claiming to be fighting the ISIL Takfiri ...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... Death Eaters.
"We have no trust and confidence in the honesty of those making these remarks (against ISIL) and believe that the issue of ISIL and terrorism should be resolved by regional countries," Ayatollah Khamenei said in a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Tehran on Tuesday.
The Leader said Iran attaches great significance to security, welfare, might and dignity of Iraq as an important country in the Middle East region, adding that the Islamic Theocratic Republic firmly and seriously supports the new Iraqi government.
"The present circumstances in the region, including in Iraq, are the outcome of irresponsible policies adopted by transregional powers and certain regional countries in Syria," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
"We believe that the Iraqi nation and government, particularly the country's youths, are capable of overcoming forces of Evil and establishing security and there is no need for the presence of foreigners," the Leader added.
Ayatollah Khamenei also stated that Iraq has pursued a correct and wise policy in recent years by refusing to allow its soil to be used against Syria.
The Leader described as quite correct the new Iraqi government's policy of fostering national, ethnic and tribal unity and stated that it would be meaningless to divide Iraqis into Shia, Sunni, Kurd and Arab.
The Iraqi premier, for his part, appreciated Iran's stance and role in the fight against the ISIL hard boyz and said that insightful people of Iran and Iraq can force forces of Evil to withdraw.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/22/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Iran does not trust anti-ISIL coalition: Ayatollah Khamenei
Whatta coincidence. We don't trust you either.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/22/2014 9:32 Comments ||
Top||
#3
See RELATED TOPIX > IRAN PROPOSES AXIS [Nexus?] AGZ ISLAMIC STATE TO IRAQ AS ALTERNATIVE TO US COALITION.
I was expecting this to occur last week, but better late than never.
Looks like OWG Superpower Rising Iran's rival in the ME remains the KSA, + Turkey PM Erdogan + "Turkey is a Superpower in ME" Turkey, as due to ... ...
* WORLD NEWS > [Daily Press]NO PLANE FOR EGYPTIAN MILITARY ACTION AGZ ISLAMIC STATE IN IRAQ, SYRIA.
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.
International Criminal Court
[DAWN] Twitter is nothing more than "a source of lies" and evil, 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
