(SomaliNet) The African Union (AU) has delayed paying allowances to the Ugandan peacekeepers in volatile Somalia since they deployed two months ago, Xinhua news agency reports. Maj. Felix Kulayigye, the army spokesman, was quoted by the state owned New Vision on Tuesday as saying that the 1,500 troops who were deployed under the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) have not yet received their allowances. "They have not been given the money yet," Kulayigye said but noted that the Ugandan Ministry of Defense had paid the troops their normal salaries. In the deal signed with the AU, every soldier on the African peacekeeping mission would receive an allowance of 400 U.S. dollars on top of their normal salary, while another 100 dollars would go to the Ugandan government.
According to the agreement, injured soldiers were to be compensated at a rate of between 100,000 dollars and 150,000 dollars depending on the degree of injuries. In case of death, the family was to receive 100,000 dollars.
Alpha Konare, chairman of the AU Commission, recently said that lack of funds was hampering the deployment of other peacekeepers. "Countries like Burundi, Nigeria, Ghana and others have pledged troops but they cannot deploy due to financial problems. If other countries do not commit troops soon, it will be a total disaster for Africa," Konare said here late last month.
Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, Uganda's Chief of Defense Forces, said that whereas the financial problem exists, the important thing is that the country is now stabilizing. "We are aware of the constraints. But what is more important is that there is no more war in Mogadishu. Our soldiers are participating in humanitarian work. They are doing well as they wait for others to come in," he said.
Maj. Gen. Benon Biraaro, who was recently appointed to the AU Planning Unit in Addis Ababa, confirmed that the peacekeepers in Darfur and in Somalia had not yet been paid allowances. An 8,000-strong AU force is needed to stabilize war-ravaged Somalia but only half of that number has been promised. Uganda is so far the only country that has sent 1,500 peacekeepers to Somalia.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/09/2007 00:00 ||
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(AKI) - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said Tuesday it has started distributing food in in battle-scarred Mogadishu to 16,000 people left hungry as a consequence of the worst fighting to hit the Somali capital in 16 years. On Monday, a Somali non-governmental organisation started distributing WFP maize, nutritious corn-soya blend and vegetable oil to 7,000 people at three sites in Mogadishu. On Tuesday dsitrbution will begin at another five sites to reach 9,000 other people in the capital, the Rome-based agency said in a news release. "These people are exhausted, said WFP Somalia Country Director Peter Goossens in Nairobi. Most of them are women and they were either forced to flee their homes with their children during the recent fighting or they stayed in the city throughout the worst bombardments. These families require food and other assistance after their terrible ordeal.
We started in the heaviest damaged areas in north Mogadishu, where the fighting was concentrated. But we are also reaching many of those who are still outside Mogadishu and are too frightened to return, but are struggling in terrible conditions under trees in the rain, he said.
Distributions of WFP food to 42,000 people displaced southwards from Mogadishu to the port of Merka were completed on Sunday and 9,000 displaced in Qoryoley district to the southwest of the capital received WFP food on Monday. Distributions to 13,500 people in Brava town are due to start on Wednesday. In late April, WFP food was distributed to 32,000 displaced west of the capital shortly before heavy fighting ended in Mogadishu on 27
April.
WFP says it needs an extra 10 million US dollars in donations for its operations in Mogadishu. The United Nations High Commmissioner for Refugees estimates that 395,000 people have fled the city over a third of the capitals population since 1 February. But following the end of heavy fighting, some are now trickling back.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Rights watchdog Amnesty International has accused China and Russia of supplying arms to Sudan for use in Darfur, in breach of a UN arms embargo. A report by Amnesty says the weapons end up in the hands of the government-backed Janjaweed militia.
It includes apparent photographic evidence of the Sudanese air force using military aircraft in Darfur.
But the Sudanese ambassador to the UN, Abdel Mahmood Abdel Haleem, said the allegations were a lie.
"Lies! All lies! And you can quote me!"
"Our reaction to the Amnesty International allegations is very easy - it is a total rejection as it is baseless and unfounded," he told the BBC. "These photos may be a plane in the Central African Republic or maybe for one in south Sudan, but it is not in Darfur at all. We are not on combat missions in Darfur at all."
"That's not our airplane! It belongs to .. um .. someone else."
In its report, the human rights group calls on the UN Security Council to strengthen the arms embargo on Darfur, which was extended in March 2005 to cover all parties. Amnesty says it is "dismayed that certain governments, including two permanent Security Council members, are allowing ongoing flows of arms to parties in Sudan". The report provides photographs of what it says was an Mi-24 attack helicopter at Nyala in Darfur and says its registration markings show it was a replacement for another.
The images were reportedly taken between January and March, during which time Amnesty says Chinese Fanfan jets were also seen at Nyala. And Amnesty provides photos of an all-white, Russian-built Antonov 26 military plane, with the registration code ST-ZZZ. It says it appears there are "three planes with this registration number" and links them to "unconfirmed bombing raids in Darfur".
Looks like Jamie Gorlick has gone to work for the Russians.
"The use of all-white aircraft and helicopters... in Darfur is in violation of applicable norms of international humanitarian law." Sudan denies using any white aircraft for military purposes, but says it has some white helicopters to transfer ammo officials.
Amnesty says its report is based on eyewitness accounts from Darfur and "confidential sources". The Amnesty report backs UN findings leaked this month that Sudan is flying weapons into Darfur in breach of UN Security Council resolutions. Sudan denied those accusations, saying it was just moving material.
"No, no, certainly not!"
Amnesty says Sudan is "continuing to divert and deploy imported attack and other military aircraft... as well as firearms and ammunition... to target civilians directly". Sudan is "routinely failing to seek [UN] approval to move weapons... into Darfur", it says.
The human rights group says Russia and China have transferred arms and ammunition to Sudan "aware that many such arms are being deployed... for direct attacks on civilians". It cites 2005 trade figures as showing China sold $24m and Russia $21m of military material to Sudan.
Amnesty has also accused Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Belarus of supplying arms.
We could pressure at least one of them ...
China has a close relationship with Sudan, increasing its military co-operation with Khartoum earlier this year. The relationship is based around Khartoum's plentiful supply of oil, which China needs to fuel its booming economy, says the BBC's Daniel Griffiths in Beijing. However, Amnesty now says it wants a list made of all items prohibited for transfer and for UN personnel to be stationed at all ports of entry in Sudan.
Amnesty also wants all UN states to suspend the transfer of any arms and ammunitions likely to be used by the parties in Darfur.
The UN report, a leaked copy of which reached the New York Times this month, said Sudan was painting aircraft white to make them look like UN planes. But Mr Haleem said that military assets were simply being moved around the country. Mr Haleem told the BBC: "We are moving these military assets to their respective places. We are not using these aircraft for any military function in Darfur."
Bahrain's largest opposition group, the Shi'ite Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, walked out of a parliamentary session on Tuesday after an investigation into the financial affairs of a senior minister was blocked. Wefaq, which won 17 of parliament's 40 seats in December, had demanded a probe into the financial affairs of cabinet affairs minister and royal family member Sheikh Ahmed bin Attiatullah al-Khalifa over allegations of poll irregularities made by his former adviser Salah al-Bander.
Parliamentary public relations chief Ghazi Abdul-Mohsen said members of parliament had voted against the investigation, and some had called for a committee to check the probe's legality. Wefaq spokesman Faheem Abdulla said the investigation had already been approved by parliament's cabinet committee, which sets parliament's agenda, and that the probe did not need to be put before a vote.
Bander's report alleged that Attiatullah had made payments to various groups in an attempt to undermine Shi'ite support in last year's polls, a charge Attiatullah has denied. Bander was sacked last September for fomenting civil strife, Attiatullah said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/09/2007 00:00 ||
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A Dhaka court yesterday granted ad interim bail to Jamaat-e-Islami chief Matiur Rahman Nizami and nine other leaders of the party and its student front in a case for the killing of a Workers Party activist in the capital on October 28 last year.
Meanwhile, another Dhaka court placed Khelafat Majlish Nayeb-e-Ameer and former member of parliament Mufti Shahidul Islam on a five-day remand for his alleged ties with militant organisations in the country.
In the case for killing Workers Party activist Russell Ahmed Khan during a demonstration in Paltan area, Judge Momin Ullah of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court granted the bail to the accused till May 22 after Nizami and nine others surrendered to the court and sought bail. Nine other accused are former minister and Jamaat Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, Assistant Secretary General Muhammad Qamaruzzaman, Central Nayab-e-Ameer Mokbul Ahmed, Assistant Secretary General ATM Azharul Islam, Dhaka City Unit Ameer Rafikul Islam, Paltan Unit Ameer ATM Sirajul Islam, Islami Chhatra Shibir President Shafikul Islam Masud, General Secretary Zahid Hossain and President of Dhaka University Unit Shishir Monir.
Earlier on April 24, the court accepted the charge sheet of the case and directed them to appear before it on May 8 (yesterday). On April 11, investigation officer (IO) of the case Sub-Inspector AKM Idris Hossain of Detective Branch of Police pressed charges against the 10 Jamaat and Shibir leaders.
Posted by: Fred ||
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A senior cleric of the biggest mosque in Australias capital, Canberra, was ordered on Monday to stop attacking fellow worshippers after an outbreak of violence split the citys small Islamic community. Sheikh Mohammed Swaiti, the Imam of the Yarralumla Mosque, was issued with a court restraining order following a brawl at Friday prayers last week when his supporters attacked rivals seeking to replace him with another cleric. This Imam is responsible for initiating violence. We dont want any violence and so want him to step down, local Islamic Society President Sabre Poskovic said on Tuesday. Swaiti has divided the Islamic community with firebrand anti-Western sermons and accusations while failing to declare US funds paid to him from Saudi Arabia.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
There are plenty of jooooos and infidels you can attack.
#1
But only ok if you're Muslim. It's still not ok to kill children, or baby bunnies, even by accident, or if they are being held as shields by terrorists, if your are an infidel.
#2
"Prominent Sydney-based imam Khalil Shami said Sheik Shady's message was "dangerous" because it was open to being misconstrued by young Muslims.
Oh cmon now Shami youve almost cleared up those vexing questions for the youngsters about honour killing, genital mutilation, or if they need to wash their feet if they fart before prayers. And thats taken what only a few centuries? Surely, in the confusion there will be some indiscrimate slaughter of children for awhile but hey with a concerted effort it will probably only last a decade or two. A few at the most.
A few hundred local taxi drivers descended on City Hall today, protesting security requirements at Houston's airports that they say threaten their business. At issue is a recent requirement that drivers picking up passengers at Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports have new photo identification badges.
"It violates the constitutional rights of the cab drivers in that in enacts a very, very strenuous background check," said Deric Muhammad of the local Ministry of Justice for the Million More Movement, a group helping represent the drivers. "Many of them are being put out of business and not being allowed to work at the airport system for something they may have done in the past."
Airport officials say everyone else doing business in their facilities is required to wear a badge and undergo criminal background checks.
#5
How is it that all cabs in this country are being taken over by illegal Muslims ? Why wasn't this asshole taken in to custody ? If anyone in Houston gives an inch on this, they have lost their freakin' minds. Not only should they have current ID, they should be subject to a thorough backround check, including proving their legal papers on how they just appeared in Houston. These illegal cabs should be fed into a crusher and removed from the streets along with these illegal Muslims. Do I know they are illegal? No. Would it be safer wager than any bet I've ever made on a game? Hell yes.
#6
Actually, they may have a point. A lot of cab drivers are ex-cons. It is one of the better paying jobs they can get. And airports are the most valuable taxi turf in cities, with taxi companies paying a premium for their license.
The reality is that ex-cons driving taxis to airports are considerably less of a threat than having immigrant Muslims, who would be approved, doing it.
#7
We just had a taxi driver with a Muslim sounding name get arrested for driving a girl into an alley and shoving his hand down her blouse. She was able to run away, so who knows what else might have happened?
Cons and illegal Muslims (who consider unaccompanied women uncovered meat) should not be allowed to be licensed cab drivers. It is a position of public trust when a woman (or man) gets into a cab.
#8
Stay tuned for the next installment of : " As the Meter Spins," Where we find our hero Deric Muhammad petioning Airport officials for foot baths........
#9
"It violates the constitutional rights of the cab drivers in that in enacts a very, very strenuous background check,"
So, what Mister Muhammadthere's that name again!is saying is that the position of public trust held by cab drivers shouldn't require a background check? Bus drivers and other transportation providers all have to do this, why not cabbies?
More than anything, you do not have a "constitutional right" to a job or earnings. Position and income are earned. You do that by complying with the requirements of your employer and any other agencies that regulate whatever industry you're in.
This is merely more of the usual "Islamophobia" bullshit, carefully rebranded and repackaged to slip under radar.
#10
...not being allowed to ________________ for something they may have done in the past.
Strange how that works-- in Houston as well as where you're from I'm sure. I'm curious as to exactly which article of the constitution Mr Muhamad is citing. Don't these reporters ever ask questions?
#11
Angaiger Tojo1904: Be "allowed" to be taxi drivers? In most cities, taxi companies are always short handed. The only reason that most cabs aren't driven by illegal Mexicans, is because citizenship or having a green card is more important than about anything else.
#15
of them are being put out of business and not being allowed to work at the airport system for something they may have done in the past
That's funny, muslims never seem to forget anything bad that's happened to them in the past. Even if it was 1000 years ago. Why should they be forgiven until they learn to forgive?
WASHINGTON (AP) - Two retired Army major generals with experience in Iraq will appear in television commercials critical of President George W. Bush's handling of the war. The ads, to begin airing Wednesday, take aim at key Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Financed by VoteVets.org, the $500,000 (euro368,785) in ads will feature retired Maj. Gens. John Batiste and Paul Eaton, both of whom have criticized civilian leaders of the U.S. Defense Department in the past. Batiste commanded the 1st U.S. Infantry Division in Iraq, and Eaton oversaw training of the Iraqi military from 2003 to 2004.
The commercials are timed to coincide with congressional debate over the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
The media markets chosen by VoteVets are designed to pressure Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, John Sununu of New Hampshire, John Warner of Virginia and Norm Coleman of Minnesota, all of whom are up for re-election next year. The ads also will run in the congressional districts of Republican Reps. Mary Bono of California, Phil English of Pennsylvania, Randy Kuhl and James Walsh of New York, Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri, Tim Johnson of Illinois, Fred Upton of Michigan and Michael Castle of Delaware.
The ads represent the first time former military commanders in Iraq have appeared in commercials to criticize the conduct of the war, now in its fifth year.
#2
Two retired Army major generals with experience in Iraq will appear in television commercials critical of President George W. Bush's handling of the war.
...
The ads represent the first time former military commanders in Iraq have appeared in commercials to criticize the conduct of the war, now in its fifth year.
But do they say the war was wrong to begin with? Not that I can see. But that's how the Dems and Nutroots always spin these things.
#4
Remember before November the chorus was all about George not listening to the Generals. Now Pelosi and Reid don't have the time of day for Petraeus.
I'll give them credit for the balls to do what the Trunks refuse to do - that is spend the money now to hit their opponents and not wait for the normal election cycle.
The Donks are politicizing the military. Getting the military into the political arena means that in the end the military will run this country, not the wretched pols. Its repeated written in history. Human behavior is consistent. Keep making the same mistake in your desperate pursuit of power.
#5
What the article doesn't say is that there are three generals involved, not two. According to the VoteVets.org website, Gen. Batiste will be in the first ad. Then,
"Next week, we'll launch another ad with retired Major General Paul Eaton. And, after that, the campaign will wrap up with a powerful ad from former NATO Allied Supreme Commander, General Wesley Clark."
'Nuff said.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/09/2007 16:01 Comments ||
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#6
OK, Let's put these two statements in the cage to fight it out and see what comes out:
1) Two retired Army major generals with experience in Iraq ... critical of President George W. Bush's handling of the war
2) The commercials are timed to coincide with congressional debate over the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq
Hmm. Is it just me or does the first statement seem disingenuous given the second?
Given the way W doesn't counterattack, I'll bet he is just going to hope enough people start to read RB.
#7
Major General Batiste is a hypocrite. He was Paul Wolfowitz's aide during the planning for the liberation. He also commanded 1st Div in Iraq. He has never, never admitted the role he had planning the liberation or owned up to any mistakes on his part while commanding 1ID. He has blamed Rumsfeld for it all, to the exclusion of blaming anyone else.
Eaton is the perfect example of a general officer that made that rank without ever having seen a gun fired in anger. He managed to avoid every single instance of American troops in combat during his entire career. He boasts not one ribbon for combat, not even the CIB.
Both generals are Clinton generals, loyal to the core.
See my post General Nuisance for a list of General Eaton's ribbons.
U.S. News & World Report is traditionally known as the staid sister of Time and Newsweek, so its a little shocking to see these harsh words on the cover this week: "Bushs Last Stand: Hes plagued by a hostile CONGRESS, sinking POLLS, and an unending WAR. IS HE RESOLUTE OR DELUSIONAL?" (Capitals theirs.) The cover story by Kenneth T. Walsh is loaded with Bush-bashing quotes from named and anonymous sources. Walsh began by noting Bush has compared his trials to those of Abraham Lincoln and Harry Truman, and the diagnosis that Bush is mentally ill emerges from DNC chairman Dr. Howard Dean: "This is delusional comparing yourself to two of our greatest presidents!" Liberal historian Robert Dallek added, "a great majority see him as stubborn and unyielding...And everything he touches turns to dust."
In his article, titled "A Sinking Presidency," Walsh quotes a "Bush adviser" and "another confidant" to explain the White House view, and near the end, he included White House spokesman Dan Bartlett on the record suggesting the president receives a diversity of opinion and "I dont believe there any blind spots in the White House." But most of the people Walsh found to comment had negative things to say:
Columnist William F. Buckley Jr wrote a column predicting the waning of the GOP: "The political problem of the Bush administration is grave, possibly beyond the point of rescue."
Howard Dean a second time: "Some critics say Bush has lost his image of competence because of Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005. It ended the day after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, exposing vast faults in the governments disaster response system, says the DNCs Dean."
Former strategist Matthew Dowd declared Bush is "secluded and bubbled in."
An unnamed "former adviser" piled on with a "boy king" insult: "Because of the war, hes gone from incredible strength to incredible weakness. Shakespeare couldnt have written it any better the boy king."
Walsh concluded that while "legislators, journalists, and friends" are dazzled by the president's "command of the issues dear to him," the public at large is not: "The problem may be that many other Americans are tuning him out." If that's true, it might happen in part because "news" magazines are suggesting it's quite possible that he's nearing insanity.
#2
The same question could have been asked of Winston Churchill during the Battle of Britain. Maybe the answer is 'both' - resolute because he's right, but delusional in thinking anybody will believe him.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is threatening to take President Bush to court if he issues a signing statement as a way of sidestepping a carefully crafted compromise Iraq war spending bill.
Pelosi recently told a group of liberal bloggers, We can take the president to court if he issues a signing statement, according to Kid Oakland, a blogger who covered Pelosis remarks for the liberal website dailykos.com. The president has made excessive use of signing statements and Congress is considering ways to respond to this executive-branch overreaching, a spokesman for Pelosi, Nadeam Elshami, said. Whether through the oversight or appropriations process or by enacting new legislation, the Democratic Congress will challenge the presidents non-enforcement of the laws.
They'd like nothing better than a drawn-out courtroom drama that would drain Bush without having the Dhimmicrats take responsibility for anything.
It is a scenario for which few lawmakers have planned. Indicating that he may consider attaching a signing statement to a future supplemental spending measure, Bush last week wrote in his veto message, This legislation is unconstitutional because it purports to direct the conduct of operations of the war in a way that infringes upon the powers vested in the presidency.
Which seemed pretty simple. A president is allowed to say why he's vetoing a bill. He's also allowed to state, when signing a bill, what he thinks it means and how he's going to enforce it.
A lawsuit could be seen as part of the Democrats larger political strategy to pressure through a series of votes on funding the war congressional Republicans to break with Bush over Iraq.
Again, without actually taking responsibility for the war, since they understand that most Americans don't want a 'cut and run' policy, and they understand that if a cut and run results in an Iraqi bloodbath and a new middle eastern war, the Dhimmis will be blamed for the next half-century.
Democrats floated other ideas during yesterdays weekly caucus meeting. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) suggested that the House consider a measure to rescind the 2002 authorization for the war in Iraq. Several senators and Democratic presidential candidates recently have proposed that idea. There was a ripple around the room in support of the idea, said Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.).
A rescisson would be vetoed, and the Dhimmis would be back where they are today. They gave the President the power to conduct the war in 2002, and they're stuck unless they cut off the funding. That leaves them the fingerprint problem again. Funny they don't suggest the obvious solution in public.
In the 1970s, congressional Democrats tried to get the courts to force President Nixon to stop bombing in Cambodia. The courts ruled that dissident lawmakers could not sue solely to obtain outcomes they could not secure in Congress.
In order to hear an argument, a federal court would have to grant what is known as standing, meaning that lawmakers would have to show that Bush is willfully ignoring a bill Congress passed and that he signed into law. The House would have to demonstrate what is called injury in fact. A court might accept the case if it is clear that the legislature has exhausted its ability to do anything more, a former general counsel to the House of Representatives, Stanley Brand, said.
Not likely: the courts traditionally have been reluctant to referee political spats between the Congress and the President, and getting in the middle of whether or not to fight or end a war is a place no Supreme Court wants to be.
Lawmakers have tried to sue presidents in the past for taking what they consider to be illegal military action, but courts have rejected such suits.
A law professor at Georgetown Law Center, Nicholas Rosenkranz, said Bush is likely to express his view on the constitutionality of the next supplemental in writing. Whether Bush has leeway to treat any provision of the supplemental as advisory, however, depends on the wording Congress chooses, Rosenkranz added.
Bruce Fein, who was a Justice Department official under President Reagan, said Democrats seeking to challenge a signing statement would have to try to give themselves standing before filing a lawsuit. Youd need an authorizing resolution in the House and Senate to seek a declaratory judgment from the federal district court that the president, by issuing a signing statement, is denying Congresss obligation to [hold a veto override vote], Fein said.
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) introduced legislation to that end last year, but the idea of a lawsuit has yet to gain traction in Congress.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said that the odds would be good for a signing statement on the next supplemental, considering that Bush has in the past shown a predilection for excusing his administration from contentious bills. But Levin did not offer any clues as to how Democratic leaders would counter Bush.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/09/2007 00:35 ||
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#1
So, with the same quality of logic...
Bush could sue Pelosi for trying to be the president?
#2
Lawsuit lawsuits lawsuits. Sounds like it's trying to be used as blackmail to me, only not illegal. Now exactly how legal was that trip to the ME, Pelosi? Prove it . . . .
#3
Last November the President admitted Operational problems in the Iraq Theater and solicited solutions. Rantburgers, Reps, Editorialists and others joined in what was an open and inclusivist democratic process. Field troops and scrutineers - as myself - are generally supportive of the new policies.
Nancy: your no-nothing contribution to the debate was heard and waste-basketed. It is time for you to shut up and act out your wallpaper role.
#5
The longer the dems chase their tails over Iraq to the exclusion of all other concerns, the more it looks like a Bush / Rove jedi mind trick has been played. Works for me...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/09/2007 9:09 Comments ||
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#7
"Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) introduced legislation to that end last year, but the idea of a lawsuit has yet to gain traction in Congress."
Again, why did we support this old a-hole for reelection when there was a better candidate that was thrown to the wolves? Thanks RNC, you'll never see another dime from me.
#9
These "signing statements", made by several presidents, but overused by Bush, carry no impact. They are merely opinions. If the executive uses these to actually modify laws, this is illegal and Congress has a remedy. It is impeachment.
#10
Woozle: technically correct on signing statements: they are indeed opinion. The opinion of the President. Now that opinion doesn't have the force of law, but it makes clear a) what the President thinks the new law says and b) how he's going to enforce it.
Congress could impeach a President if said President fails to enforce a law. But then you get into whatever that means. And let's face it, most legislation has a lot of ambiguity and slackness written into it.
Again: if the Dhimmicrats want the war to be over, all they need do is withhold funding. They have a majority in both houses; if they keep their caucus together, there's no money come October 1. The President would have no choice then but to exit the war.
And the Dhimmicrats would be seen then as responsible for whatever happened next. If the fighting stopped and everyone in Iraq kissed, made up and started grooming fluffy bunnies, the Dhimmicrats would get credit.
And if there was a bloody civil war and an even bloodier middle east war in the next year, the Dhimmicrats would get blamed, and correctly so.
Now then, Woozle: which outcome do you think is more likely?
I bet Pelosi has put her marker down on option #2. She wants us out of Iraq but she doesn't want to be blamed for what happens afterwards. And that's why, instead of just stopping the funding, she and her party are partaking of all this stooopid nonsense.
She doesn't want her fingerprints on what happens. Not exactly a leader.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/09/2007 12:18 Comments ||
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#11
At one time in this nation, traitors were shot. Now, I guess, we elect them to Congress. Our nation is in deep doo-doo.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/09/2007 13:31 Comments ||
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#12
Like the Pearson Puppeteers - she's a Hindmost! see Ringworld and Known Space Sagas
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/09/2007 16:18 Comments ||
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#15
Congress could impeach a President if said President fails to enforce a law. But then you get into whatever that means
SCOTUS recently came down on the side of making a Federal Bureaucracy regulate. Not that they COULD regulate something, but that they have been negligent in NOT previously regulating.
#1
Don't they know all us infidels are too busy drinking beer and watching pr0n to pay attention to their "message?"
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/09/2007 9:08 Comments ||
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#2
Al-Qaeda has previously tried to impact US domestic politics through its video and audio tapes. Osama bin Laden's "Speech to the American People" on the eve of the 2004 presidential election is perhaps the most famous of these efforts.
#3
I am a supporter of freedom of the press, but not abject sedition. It's stuff like this that inspires people like the 6 nutballs in New Jersey recently.
#4
A whole hour? the average TV-o-phile has the attention span of a cocker spaniel and the retention ability of, of, words fail me. I cannot imagine very many sitting through something like this and then giving it any credibility. Oh ther may be scattered pockets of stupidity, in hollywierd and Rosiefatchick-ville, but Mr and Mrs America are going to switch it off or tune in the naked co-ed curling finals.
A nice fair and balanced unsigned hit piece from Editor & Publisher.
Michael Fechter, a reporter the Tampa Tribune, quit his job Monday to do writing and editing work focusing on Islamic extremeists for Steven Emerson, director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, according to the newspaper. Now CAIR critics are claiming that Fechter's work at the paper was tainted by his relationship to Emerson and his project.
Fechter has for a decade correctly claimed in his writing for the newspaper that Sami Al-Arian, a University of South Florida professor, was linked to the Palestinian terrorist group Islamic Jihad. He never named Emerson as a source of the information, but Emerson used the information from Fechter's articles in his own writing about the subject.
"We always had suspicions that Fechter was virtually an agent for Emerson," Ahmed Bedier, executive director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, was quoted as saying. "Now we know that their relationship was close enough for Emerson to hire Fechter and for Fechter to take the job. So much for objective reporting."
Fechter was quoted as denying that he was influenced by Emerson. "My work on Al-Arian was 99 percent driven by documents, not Emerson, " he is quoted as saying by the paper. "The documents showed Al-Arian had links to a terrorist group and lied about it. Maybe there was no violent, criminal activity there, but the connection was real."
Al-Arian was acquitted in 2006 of eight counts of links to terrorism, while a jury remained deadlocked on nine others. The professor pleaded guilty to a charge of providing nonviolent aid to Islamic Jihad's associates.
HANGU: People dealing in CDs and owning net cafés here have asked the government to protect their businesses against Taliban threats.
We have received threatening letters and demand protection from the state, Muhammad Rafique Khan, owner of a net café in Hangu bazaar, told reporters after a protest demonstration in front of the Hangu Press Club on Tuesday. Tuesdays protest demonstration was the first of its kind where locals demanded that the MMA government protect them against militant threats. We have invested money and we want a profit, Khan said, adding that the government looks indifferent as no one from the district administration is lending a helping hand to guard CD shops and net cafés against militant threats.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/09/2007 00:00 ||
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(AKI/DAWN) - The administration of the radical mosque in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, Lal Masjid has rejected a decision by the city authorities to rebuild four demolished mosques on alternative locations and said the government was not groveling enough sincere in resolving the contentious issues. The mosques administration conveyed its reservations to the president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain who visited the mosque on Monday night.
The clerics of the Lal Masjid have increasingly been challenging the government in recent months. The stand-off began over when the city administration demolished some unauthorities mosques in Islamabad. Students from the madrassa or Islamic seminary affiliated to the mosque then proceeded to occupy a children's library in Islamabad in protest against the demolition. They also kidnapped three women and a child for allegedly running a brothel and recently threatened the owners of shop selling videos and CDs carrying material which they say is obscene and vulgar.
However the stand-off appeared to have been somewhat resolved last month after negotiations in which the madrassa students would continue to occupy the children's library until the reconstruction of the mosques that had been torn down for being unauthorised. The person in charge of the Lal Masjid Media Cell, Abdul Qayyum, told the Pakistani daily Dawn that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had two days ago issued a notification saying that it had agreed to reconstruct four out of a total of seven razed mosques on alternative spots in the same areas. This is the violation of an understanding reached between Lal Masjid and Chaudhry Shujaat a few days ago in which the two sides agreed on rebuilding of mosques at their same plots, he said.
He said the Lal Masjid administration would not accept the notification, adding that the razed mosques should be constructed at the existing sites. The PML chief told reporters after the meeting that the issue of mosques had been resolved and sincere steps had been taken to improve the situation. Whatever task was entrusted to me has been completed and I hope that all settled issues will be fully implemented. No hidden hand will try to sabotage this initiative, he said.
The deputy cleric of the Lal Masjid and the Jamia Hafsa madrassa Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi said Chaudhry Shujaat had indicated that some high-ups were trying to mess up the matters. Earlier at a press conference, Maulana Ghazi said the government was giving a deceptive signal that tribesmen and terrorists would occupy the capital. He said madrassa followers would continue their struggle for the implementation of Sharia in the country to eradicate corruption, nepotism and bribery. The constitution allows us to make such demand and many government officials had agreed to this, he said.
Maulana Ghazi said the government should not accept a proposal of Religious Minister Ejazul Haq to invite Imam Kaaba (the prayer leader at Islam's most sacred place of worship in Mecca) to give a decree on the Lal Masjid issue. He should be invited for a major cause and not for a petty issue of Lal Masjid, and if he comes we will ask him to give his verdict on major issues, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/09/2007 00:00 ||
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The National Assembly on Tuesday rejected a bill moved by minority member MP Bhandara seeking amendments to the blasphemy laws. It was Private Members Day and for the first time during the current session the House completed its legislative agenda of the day. The House, especially Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) members, protested when Bhandara sought the speakers permission to introduce the bill.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan Niazi called the bill un-Islamic, saying the speaker should have killed it in his chamber. He said Bhandara had moved such a bill earlier also, which created a lot of controversy. Fareed Paracha and Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali of the MMA said the new rules of procedure and conduct of business had clearly stated that any bill contrary to Islamic teachings could not be brought to the House.
Bhandara said the overreaction of his fellow members had disappointed him. Bhandara proposed amending Section 295-B and 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (Act XLV of 1860) and inserting a new section 203-D in Act V of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898. Bhandara proposed life imprisonment for someone who willfully defiled, damaged or desecrated the Quran or any other holy book held sacred by any class of persons, or an extract therefrom or used it in any derogatory manner or for any unlawful purpose. In the present form of the section the punishment is restricted to the desecration of the Quran only.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Sounds like unislamic is the muslim equivalent of the western screech "politically correct".
Vice President Dick Cheney said Wednesday that Iraq remains a dangerous place, a point underscored by a thunderous explosion that rattled windows in the U.S. Embassy where he spent most of the day.
After talks with Iraqi military and political officials, the vice president said Iraq's leaders seem to have a better sense now that they need to do more to reconcile sectarian and political differences.
"I think they recognize it's in their interests as well as ours to make progress on the political front," Cheney said.
"They do believe we are making progress but we have a long way to go," the vice president said.
Cheney spoke less than an hour after an explosion could be heard in the U.S. Embassy where he spent most of the day. Windows rattled and reporters covering the vice president were briefly moved to a more secure area.
Said Cheney spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride: "His meeting was not disturbed and he was not moved."
Asked about security in Baghdad, Cheney told reporters, "I have to reply on reports, because obviously I spent the day here basically in our embassy in the Green Zone."
But he said based on conversations he had throughout the day, Iraqi leaders felt that sectarian violence was "down fairly dramatically."
"I think everybody recognizes there still are some security problems, security threats, no question about it," Cheney said.
In Washington, White House counselor Dan Bartlett said President Bush wanted Cheney to travel to Baghdad to press upon Iraqi leaders the need to quickly pursue reconciliation measures and meet the benchmarks set by them and Washington.
"This gives an opportunity at a very high level for this message to be delivered," Bartlett said.
The White House also said Bush would veto any bill drafted by House Democratic leaders that would fund the Iraq war only into the summer months. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said such short-term funding would be very disruptive and "have a huge impact" on contracts to repair and replace equipment.
Earlier, Cheney met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The prime minister said they discussed "practical steps ... to support our efforts working on both the security front as well as the domestic political issues."
Al-Maliki is coming under increasing pressure from Washington to demonstrate progress in easing sectarian violence, and Cheney's unannounced visit to Iraq was depicted by U.S. officials as an attempt to press al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders to do more to achieve reconciliation among factions.
Cheney said that much still must be done by Iraq to reconcile differences.
"I do sense today that there is a greater awareness on the part of these Iraqi officials I talked to of the importance of their working together to resolve these issues in a timely fashion," he said.
Cheney also said that, while he didn't want to butt in on domestic legislative issues, he did make Iraqi leaders aware of U.S. concerns about talk of a two-month summer recess. With many pending important issues, including how to share oil revenues, "any undue delay would be difficult to explain," Cheney said.
Echoing officials in Washington, Cheney rejected Democratic proposals that would provide only short-term money to pay for war efforts.
Cheney said efforts to restrict funds resulted in the first Bush veto and that the administration still believes that spending for operations in Iraq should "not contain conditions that limit the flexibility of our commanders on the ground in Iraq or interferes with the president's constitutional prerogatives."
Appearing before reporters with Cheney, Gen. David Petraeus, commander of coalition forces in Iraq, cited progress on the ground in reducing sectarian violence, especially in volatile Anbar Province. Still, he said, he still believes that the conflict in Iraq will continue to require a substantial U.S. commitment.
#1
Hmmm....there are places in LA, Detroit, Miami, etc that remain a dangerous place too. Certainly, streets and neighborhoods I wouldn't want to be caught dead found. BTW, which party dominates the governing of those places?
Rome, 9 May (AKI) - Mario Lozano, the US marine who admitted to killing an Italian intelligence official in Iraq, told Italy's main paper Corriere della Sera in an interview published Wednesday he was sorry "I killed one of your heroes" but stressed that the car Nicola Calipari was travelling in failed to stop at a blocking point, forcing him to fire at it." "Two days before the tragedy two of my friends were blown up at a checkpoint by a car bomb," Lozano told Corriere. "But ours, on that terrible 4 March 2005, was a blocking point, not a checkpoint. We had received the order not to make any vehicle pass because ambassador John Negroponte was in the area."
Lozano, 37, is standing trial in Rome over the death of an Italian intelligence agent in Iraq in March 2005. After a brief hearing in April, the trial is scheduled to resume on 14 May. The agent, 51-year-old Calipari, was shot dead as he was travelling in a car to Baghdad airport to escort journalist Giuliana Sgrena back home. Sgrena, an anti-war journalist, had just been freed by kidnappers after a month in captivity. Lozano, who will likely be tried in absentia as he has been cleared of all charges in the US, is accused of Calipari's murder and the attempted murder of Sgrena and another agent, Andrea Carpani, who were travelling together in the car.
Lozano told Corriere he has pictures taken at the scene of the incident that prove his version of facts: "I have already handed them over to Roman magistrates. They leave no doubt on the dynamics of the accident."
The incident placed under serious strain US-Italian relations with separate investigations from the two sides giving very different results on the shooting at a checkpoint on the road to the Baghdad airport, in which Calipari was shot and killed as he shielded Sgrena's body, who was wounded in the shoulder. The US military said the car the two were in rapidly approached a checkpoint and ignored repeated warnings to stop. Sgrena and Carpani instead said the vehicle was traveling at a low speed and braked very swiftly when a light shone on it.
"The car was travelling at 80 km/h. As my pictures show, I fired when it was about one hundred metres away and, contrary to the other cars visible on the horizon, did not stop when I fired warning shots into air," claimed Lozano in the interview. "At the end the driver waved a cell phone. I should have fired again, as the protocol says, given that cell phones in Iraq are often carbomb detonators but instead I preferred to risk my life."
Lozano, who is still serving in the US army, told Corriere della Sera he is scheduled to leave for Afghanistan in November.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/09/2007 08:25 ||
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"...so I hit him, and he just folded up like a sleeve!"
#3
...Am I the only one here who feels that this just doesn't sound right, or am I not allowing for translation?
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/09/2007 13:40 Comments ||
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What do they mean, "on trial?" Is this a criminal proceeding, civil. How the hell do they have jurisdiction to try him? Who delivered him to the Italians for trial? Why? This doesn't make sense to me either.
#5
The only thing that doesn't sound right is that the Italians are pursuing this in spite of all the evidence. The Italians did not tell us this operation was going on, the guy tried to run through a blocking point, and he approached the troops at a high rate of speed without identifying himself.
If Mario Lozano should be charged with anything, it is not puting enough bullets into those assholes.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
05/09/2007 13:59 Comments ||
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What do they mean, "on trial?"
He's being tried "in absentia" (without him being there) by an Italian court. He isn't going anywhere near Italy, we already told the Italians to f***off. The Italian left is pushing it.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/09/2007 15:20 Comments ||
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I think it is awesome these Italian spies were shot up by an Italian-American.
#8
steve beat me too it and the US authroitied would have too extradite him too italy which i very doubt that is gonna happen since he is already being redeployed
LONDON - There is a possibility that five Iranian officials held by the United States for nearly four months could be released soon, Iraqs foreign minister said in an interview published Wednesday.
Hoshyar Zebari, speaking to The Independent from Baghdad, said that because of legal rules, the United States can only hold the group for six months, at which point they must make a decision on their fate. Zebari said that there was a possibility they will be released because the US can detain them for 90 days and this can be renewed once.
And in six months we'll have wrung them dry.
This is the military rule for holding such people: charge them, hand them over to the Iraqi authorities or release them. The time for their detention will expire in June when a decision will have to be made.
On January 11, US troops stormed an Iranian liaison office in Arbil, capital of the northern Iraqi Kurdistan region, and detained six employees, one of whom was later released. The United States has said the men had links to Irans elite Revolutionary Guards, and none of them held a diplomatic passport.
"Yew ain't from 'round here, are yew."
Zebari also said that a summit in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Shaikh involving several countries meeting on Iraqs future was a success in terms of defusing tensions between the United States and Iran, who have not had formal diplomatic relations since 1980.
No matter how dismissive the Iranians are about talking to the Americans, the Americans are players here, Zebari said. And even if the Americans view the Iranians negatively they are here; they are players whether we want it or not.
Iran doesnt want to bring down this government ... Its friendly, its Shia-led; they know everybody in it. They could not find a better government in the lottery. It came to power legitimately through the popular will of the people.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/09/2007 00:27 ||
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#1
It came to power legitimately through the popular will of the people.
Of course a few truckloads of ballots smuggled in from Iran may also have played a part.
#2
think they'll return to their past activities in Iran? Doubt it. They'll be under suspicion from now on. In six months they were assuredly wrung dry of any intel
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/09/2007 7:29 Comments ||
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Ramallah Ma'an Palestinian police sources have reported a sharp rise in crime in Ramallah. The police in Ramallah governorate revealed that they discovered the corpses of two victims of theft and announced that a father sold two of his daughters. The two girls, aged 13 and 15, were sold to two men aged 23 and 25, for 7,000 shekels ($1,800 US). The two men who bought the women were accused of rape and luring minors. I'm sure they were just having problems in the adoption system, right, pops. You were just trying to help out, right?
Police sources also reported a homicide, in which a man, Ibrahim al-Bayrouti, went to Ramallah to conclude a transaction worth $60,000, but his money was stolen and he disappeared. Later his corpse was discovered with two bullet and several stab wounds and his leg had been severed with a chainsaw. Yeeeeesh...
Police officers say that crime in the city has risen 200%. The police said they followed-up 260 crimes in recent months. The sharp rise in crime is an indication of the malfunction of social structures, as well as the prevailing political situation creating unemployment and poverty, say the police. ...and, oh, yeah,... psychopaths with lotsa guns.
Gaza - Ma'an - Nine people were injured, one critically, in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, in a dispute between two families around midnight on Tuesday. Palestinian medical sources said that that the injured were taken to Abu Yousef An-Najar Hospital in Rafah city. The injury of Abdullah Al-Hashash, in his twenties, was described as critical due to a back injury while the others' injuries were described as slight. Could you turn the music down?
BANGBANGBANGBANG...
Nablus - Ma'an - A Palestinian man was shot dead by unknown gunmen in east Nablus city on Tuesday evening, according to Palestinian sources. The sources added that the unknown armed men shot at Salim Al-Sharabi, 32, in one of the streets of Khalet Al-'Amoud, a neighbourhood in east Nablus city, in the north of the occupied West Bank. Palestinian medical sources said that Al-Sharabi was hit with several bullets in his body which led to his immediate death. Whaddya think, Quince?
Hmmmmmmmm...might have something to do with these several bullets in his body? Let's do more tests.
Bethlehem Ma'an Members of the Palestinian national security services attacked physicians and nurses in the emergency room of the government hospital, in the central West Bank city of Ramallah, on Tuesday. The motivation of the attack was to force the medical staff to treat a member of the force.According to the director of the hospital, Dr Husni Al-Atari, who spoke to Ma'an via telephone, a similar incident occurred on Monday; the assailants threatened staff, until they were forced to admit a patient from the military services. Suspicious device casulty? Mysterious gunfire? Mishandled weapon?
The director added that the doctors checked both cases and decided that it was not necessary to admit them into hospital; however, the security men forced staff to allow the two patients to stay. Second opinion, doc. They stay, or youze get hurt. Inshallah...
The emergency department closed in protest against the assaults.
Dr Al-Atari said that he informed the minister of health, who sent a report to Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. Aw, jeez. Are the boys being mischeivious again? Give them a time out...
Gaza - Ma'an - A 32-year-old Gazan woman, from the Tal As-Sultan area of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, was shot dead by her brother on Tuesday. Palestinian security sources reported that the killer is being interrogated. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights reported that the assassination was a so-called 'honor killing'. PCHR said that when the Palestinian police arrested the murderer, Alaa Owaida, on Tuesday morning, he declared that he killed his sister, Khawla Ahmed Owaida, aged 35, "for family honor". PCHR reported that she was killed by a gunshot to the head. Her corpse arrived at the hospital riddled with bullets. Hmmmmmmm. Alaa must've "lost control of his weapon".
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is conducting secret talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Ha'aretz daily reported in its edition published on Tuesday. But don't tell nobody, okay? 'Cuz they're secret.
Olmert and Abbas have been negotiating through secret channels in addition to recent publicly known meetings, the newspaper pointed. Have they, by Gad?
The newspaper said both leaders held informal talks, noting that Olmert discussed the issue with other Israelis officials. Why, if that got out, who knows what'd happen?
The discussions apparently dealt with prospects of reaching consensus on diverse issues of dissension between the two sides. "Diverse issues of dissension" is it? That explains so much!
The Haaretz daily quoted unidentified Israeli cabinet ministers and other politicians as saying Olmert had given them the impression he expected "significant political progress", apparently through the secret talks, in the coming months. Reeeeeeally? What kind of political progress?
"Significant political progress, my boy! Significant!"
Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Olmert, said: "I don't know anything about back channel talks." The spokeman is always the last to know, isn't he?
Hassan Asfour, a Palestinian negotiator close to Abbas, said: "I confirm there are no secret talks and no back channel talks." I'll bet Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat's completely in the dark, too.
Haaretz said the participants in the secret talks and the content were not known but that the discussions had apparently gone beyond confidence-building measures and had covered some core political issues. Wow. Beyond confidence-building measures! Betcha this is really gonna be something big!
Olmert and Abbas have held several public meetings at the urging of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. According to statements, the talks have focused on confidence-building measures. And now they're beyond that...
But U.S. officials said last month there were expectations the two sides may begin to discuss final status or core issues soon.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Olmert and Abbas have held several public meetings at the urging of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Perhaps Condi canceled her stop in Israel last week because she caught wind of this clandestine meeting. Another explanation might be she was actually the one who arranged this cloak-and-dagger sit down. Heyyy wait just a gul-darned second here has anyone seen Shimon Peres lately?
Israel's army has developed a plan to create a "buffer zone" inside the edge of the Gaza Strip to halt the latest wave of Palestinian rocket attacks, military officials said on Tuesday. Such Israeli action would likely torpedo a six-month Trucefire truce in the Gaza Strip and could threaten US efforts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
The military's plan for a 300-meter-deep (yard) zone inside Gaza is one of several options Israel is considering to counter the rocket fire, the military officials said on condition of anonymity since they were not allowed to discuss the plan with the media. Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, called the proposal a "dangerous idea." "It will cause more confrontations. It won't provide stability," he said.
Military commanders have presented the plan to Olmert's Cabinet but it has not yet been approved, the officials said. The plan will be debated by senior Cabinet ministers next week, Haaretz reported on Tuesday. Israel periodically carries out "pinpoint" operations on the edges of Gaza to halt rocket launchings. The military's plan calls for a greater presence that would be constant in some places, the officials said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Now they are thinking. 300 meters is a OK start they should just make the statement that it will continue to be expanded 300meters at a time deeper and deeper until the rockets STOP. At some point there will either be no more rockets, or no more paleo's in Gaza to fire rockets.
The Paleo's wont compromise becuase they think they have hit bottom and cannot be hurt any worse. The Isrealis need to make the Paleo's understand they can lose what little they have left ALSO. Once they understand they can lose all the Paleo's will be ready to accept a compromise.
#10
Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, called the proposal a "dangerous idea." "It will cause more confrontations. It won't provide stability," he said.
Which, in realspeak, means it will reduce confrontations and increase stability. Israel needs to turn a deaf ear to world opinion and flush out Gaza and the West Bank. Let these vicious thugs find homes elsewhere. There will never be any peace so long as the Palestinians exist.
(AKI) - A Muslim religious edict (fatwa) issued by Mohammed Sayyed Al Tantawi, Sheikh of Al Azhar, the highest seat of Sunni learning, has pitted Muslim moderates and Shiites against Sunnis in Egypt. The fatwa states that "any Muslim offending the Prophet Mohamed or one of his associates must be considered an infidel" because "accusing the Prophet's followers of being liars amounts to questioning the truthfulness of the Koran itself." Some Shiite clerics have cast doubt on some of those associated with the Prophet during his lifetime.
Egyptian weekly 'Al Fajr' (Dawn) a few weeks ago published an article by Mohamed el Baz, in which he accused Abu Huraya, one of Mohammed's followers - and one of the main sources of 'hadith', which relate the Prophet's words and actions that are key to establish the Muslim way of life - of being a liar.
Even though there is no official data on the Shiite population in Sunni-majority Egypt, estimates range between 5,000 and 7,000 out of the 72 million Egyptian Muslims. Overall, the Shiites make up about 15 percent of the world's 1.2 billion Muslims.
Under the fatwa, el Baz can be accused of being an infidel. The researcher for his part has slammed the edict as "a way to go back to the Middle Ages" saying that "nobody has the right to tell a Muslim that they are an infidel."
Al Baz, according to whom "fundamentalists are putting pressure on Tantawi so that he issues similar fatwas," has told the local press that "the sheikh should learn to clarify that anything they say is their own personal opinion and not a principle of Islam."
'Al Fajr' is an independent Egyptian weekly. In its first edition on October 2005, Al Fajr published on its front page six of the 12 cartoons satirizing the Prohet originally published by Danish daily Jyllands-Posten, which sparked violent Muslim protests worldwide.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/09/2007 00:00 ||
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I've been soliciting people to program an online fatwa generator, that will say things like "The Mufti of Burbank has declared putting funny hats on dachshunds to be punishable by wedgies."
#2
What? The Bukhari Hadith contains 8000 hearsay comments and stories that are accepted as originating with the Muslim "prophet" (Pig-crap Be Upon Him). But Bukhari's biographer claims the compiler gathered Hadith from collections totalling 600,000. Compilers reject based on the weight of evidence, consistency to already accepted Hadith, and obvious deceit resting on self-interest (the basis of the formation of the Shiites). If falsification was admitted by Bukhari - whose collection is deemed "holy" by the al-Azhar Sunnis - then Tantawi can hardly produce a credible fatwa that denies that Muslims have been faking Hadith from the origin of the cult. Muslim' "sacred" text should be converted to toilet paper.
#6
Any fatwa that puts the Shiites and Sunnis at each others' throats is a good thing. These stupid SOBs will all die in an attempt to be more Islamically pure than one another. Sadly, it just cannot happen fast enough.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington might seek to force the setting up of a tribunal in the murder of a Lebanese former premier. The tribunal will be set up under a chapter of the UN Charter which makes Security Council decisions mandatory. "Absolutely. If we have to, we would push for setting up the tribunal under Chapter 7 because it is extremely important that the court is set up so that Lebanon goes back to normal," Rice told Al Arabiya television in remarks aired on Monday.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sent special legal counsel Nicolas Michel to Beirut last month to seek a way out of a domestic impasse over the tribunal, but without success. Diplomats have said that Western powers believe Lebanon's feuding politicians are unlikely to agree any time soon to endorse the tribunal and that U.N. action is needed; but some other council members, including Russia, disagree.
Central to the dispute is Lebanon's relationship with neighbouring Syria, which some Lebanese officials blame for the killing of Rafik al-Hariri, a close ally of Damascus turned foe. Most opposition leaders are close to Damascus, which denies any role in the bombing. The world body had hoped Lebanon would agree on a law establishing the court after it asked the council to approve the tribunal and investigate the killing of Hariri and 22 others in a bombing in Beirut on February 14, 2005. "Setting up the tribunal should take place despite the dead end it reached in Lebanon because the killers of Premier Hariri should face justice," Rice said in remarks dubbed in Arabic.
The tribunal is a key issue of disagreement between the U.S.-backed government of Fouad Siniora and its political opponents. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has refused to call a session of the house to ratify the tribunal. "The democratically elected government of Siniora should be supported. Lebanon and the Lebanese people can count on the United States," said Rice. "I would like to say to all in a very direct fashion that the democracy and sovereignty of Lebanon are critical issues for the United State and that we see them as some of our most prominent interests."
Many opposition politicians question U.S. backing to Lebanon especially after Washington's support to Israel in its war with Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group last year. Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah rejected creation of an international tribunal into the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter and said Hizbullah was not willing to give up its "defensive" weapons. "We say no to the establishment of a tribunal under chapter seven," Nasrallah told an Iranian television channel on Sunday.
The U.N. has already signed a deal with Prime Minister Fouad Saniora's government to set up a special court to try suspects in the Hariri killing, but the Hizbullah-led opposition has been blocking its ratification, saying the U.N. would use it for political ends. The Security Council has the power to impose the court on Lebanon if the deadlock continues, under chapter seven of the U.N. charter.
About 1,200 Lebanese and 158 Israelis were killed in the war in which Israeli air, land and sea bombardment destroyed wide areas of south Lebanon and large sectors of the capital. Hezbollah rockets also inflicted material damage in several parts of northern Israel.
Opposition politicians had said they would not discuss the tribunal until the government was reconstituted to give them the blocking minority they have so far lacked, he said. Some Security Council members oppose the use of Chapter 7 to impose a tribunal, a move Hezbollah, also a political party, has said could plunge the country into strife.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/09/2007 00:00 ||
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No one has had to answer for 1983 Beirut Marine barracks bombing. How about a tribunal for that bombing?
(AKI) - A former top Iranian nuclear negotiator, arrested last Monday and detained in Tehran's Evin prison, is formally facing no specific charge despite having jeopardised the security of the state. However reports on pro-government news agencies Rajanews and Fars quote unnamed sources speaking openly about spying charges against Hossein Moussavian, a former Iranian ambassador to Germany. Rajanews quotes sources saying that Moussavian, close to the former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, had in recent years collaborated with a "European enemy power" which many in Tehran take to mean Germany. However, according to the daily Asre Iran, Moussavian was "betrayed" by Russian secret service agents who have reportedly given the Islamic Republic evidence of his collaboration with Britain.
The arrest of Moussavian seems to some analysts an attack against Rafsanjani, who in recent weeks has fiercely criticised the economic and foreign policy of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Moussavian had recently published a book on his experience as nuclear negotiator under president Mohammad Khatami.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/09/2007 00:00 ||
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WAFF.com > IRNA > IRAN POSSESSES 280 TONS OF UF6. Iran ranks itself as 7th or 8th in producing same - also heavily critiques parts of NPT as "illegal" and exploitive-abusive of nations such as itself, as opposed to more powerful Nations such as the USA.
#3
Nice and vague. Just the way they like it. Probably allows them to back out at any time.
Why would Russia be so interested in protecting Iran's interests? Is their relationship with Iran so tight that they would pi$$ off the EU like that? Has Russia confirmed or denied this? Perhaps Iran just has some suspicions and is doing some fishing to see what pops up.
I notice the language used re. what might be Germany is "enemy", not adversary. I wonder if something was changed in the translation. You would think "adversary" would be better.
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.
(SomaliNet) The African Union (AU) has delayed paying allowances to the Ugandan peacekeepers in volatile Somalia since they deployed two months ago, Xinhua news agency reports. Maj. Felix Kulayigye, the army spokesman, was quoted by the state owned New Vision on Tuesday as saying that the 1,500 troops who were deployed under the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) have not yet received their allowances. "They have not been given the money yet," Kulayigye said but noted that the Ugandan Ministry of Defense had paid the troops their normal salaries. In the deal signed with the AU, every soldier on the African peacekeeping mission would receive an allowance of 400 U.S. dollars on top of their normal salary, while another 100 dollars would go to the Ugandan government. 
(AKI) - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said Tuesday it has started distributing food in in battle-scarred Mogadishu to 16,000 people left hungry as a consequence of the worst fighting to hit the Somali capital in 16 years. On Monday, a Somali non-governmental organisation started distributing WFP maize, nutritious corn-soya blend and vegetable oil to 7,000 people at three sites in Mogadishu. On Tuesday dsitrbution will begin at another five sites to reach 9,000 other people in the capital, the Rome-based agency said in a news release. "These people are exhausted, said WFP Somalia Country Director Peter Goossens in Nairobi. Most of them are women and they were either forced to flee their homes with their children during the recent fighting or they stayed in the city throughout the worst bombardments. These families require food and other assistance after their terrible ordeal.
Rights watchdog Amnesty International has accused China and Russia of supplying arms to Sudan for use in Darfur, in breach of a UN arms embargo. A report by Amnesty says the weapons end up in the hands of the government-backed Janjaweed militia. 
A Dhaka court yesterday granted ad interim bail to Jamaat-e-Islami chief Matiur Rahman Nizami and nine other leaders of the party and its student front in a case for the killing of a Workers Party activist in the capital on October 28 last year.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is threatening to take President Bush to court if he issues a signing statement as a way of sidestepping a carefully crafted compromise Iraq war spending bill. 
(AKI/DAWN) - The administration of the radical mosque in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, Lal Masjid has rejected a decision by the city authorities to rebuild four demolished mosques on alternative locations and said the government was not 
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is conducting secret talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Ha'aretz daily reported in its edition published on Tuesday.
Israel's army has developed a plan to create a "buffer zone" inside the edge of the Gaza Strip to halt the latest wave of Palestinian rocket attacks, military officials said on Tuesday. Such Israeli action would likely torpedo a six-month 
(AKI) - A Muslim religious edict (fatwa) issued by Mohammed Sayyed Al Tantawi, Sheikh of Al Azhar, the highest seat of Sunni learning, has pitted Muslim moderates and Shiites against Sunnis in Egypt. The fatwa states that "any Muslim offending the Prophet Mohamed or one of his associates must be considered an infidel" because "accusing the Prophet's followers of being liars amounts to questioning the truthfulness of the Koran itself." Some Shiite clerics have cast doubt on some of those associated with the Prophet during his lifetime.
(AKI) - A former top Iranian nuclear negotiator, arrested last Monday and detained in Tehran's Evin prison, is formally facing no specific charge despite having jeopardised the security of the state. However reports on pro-government news agencies Rajanews and Fars quote unnamed sources speaking openly about spying charges against Hossein Moussavian, a former Iranian ambassador to Germany. Rajanews quotes sources saying that Moussavian, close to the former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, had in recent years collaborated with a "European enemy power" which many in Tehran take to mean Germany. However, according to the daily Asre Iran, Moussavian was "betrayed" by Russian secret service agents who have reportedly given the Islamic Republic evidence of his collaboration with Britain. 
