Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Bonita Granville aka Nancy Drew in "Nancy Drew Detective Series" aka Toddy in "Youth Runs Wild" aka Bonnie in "Song of the Open Road" (Died in 1988 at age 65)
[Tolo News] In an Afghan and foreign forces military operation in Laghman province on Monday night four Death Eaters were killed, officials said.
The operation was launched last night in Qarghayi district of Laghman province in which four cut-throats were killed, provincial officials told TOLOnews on Tuesday.
Afghan and foreign forces suffered no casualties in the operation, officials claimed.
The operation was conducted in the province to wipe out Death Eaters from the insure villages.
Taliban have not yet commented about the operation.
Afghan and Nato forces have increased military operations in Afghanistan to reverse the Taliban's momentum to pave the ground for a smooth security transition to Afghan forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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[Tolo News] Seventeen drug smugglers who had been nabbed have been sentenced to imprisonment, Afghan Judiciary Counter-narcotics office said in a statement.
Twelve of the smugglers were sentenced to 20 years in prison, and five others faced 2 to 6 years in jail.
The men were accused of being involved in smuggling 1.5 tonne of opium and other narcotics and were nabbed in different parts of the country including Helmand, Nimroz, Faryab, Heart, Nangarhar, Badakhshan and Takhar provinces.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... Afghan Counter-narcotics Ministry said on Monday that poppy cultivation has increased in some provinces.
A UN-funded survey conducted by the Ministry showed that many provinces where poppy cultivation was reduced to zero level, have begun recultivation.
Counter-narcotics Ministry cites high price of opium and drought as the reasons for Afghan farmers' turning to poppy cultivation.
The ministry confirms that poppy cultivation has risen in Farah, Ghor and Herat provinces.
It also plans to conduct a massive survey in the countries rural areas in the near future.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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[Tolo News] Thirty hard boyz in northern Kunduz province handed over their weapons to government on Monday night, officials said.
Thirty gunnies including three Taliban local commanders renounced violence in Dasht-e- Archi district of Kunduz province last night, Abdul Rahman Sayedkheli, police chief of Kunduz told TOLOnews on Tuesday.
Taliban have not yet commented.
Afghan officials recently said the province got cleared of hard boyz after Afghan and foreign forces launched operations in Dasht-e-Archi and Imam Saheb districts.
Dasht-e-Archi district was among insecure areas where hard boyz were active planting Improvised Explosive Devices to target Afghan and Nato forces.
The officials said they will soon deploy more than 1,200 village police in different parts of Kunduz to ensure lasting security.
Kunduz province that has been hit by Taliban-led insurgency has witnessed some deadly terrorist attacks that have claimed lives of a large number of people.
In the past three months, more than 1,000 hard boyz have laid down their arms and surrendered to Afghan government.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] Sudanese police beat and nabbed students on Sunday as hundreds protested throughout the capital demanding the government resign, inspired by a popular uprising in neighbouring Egypt.
Armed riot police broke up groups of young Sudanese demonstrating in central Khartoum and surrounded the entrances of four universities in the capital, firing teargas and beating students at three of them.
Some 500 young people also protested in the city of el-Obeid in North Kordofan in the west of the country.
Police beat students with batons as they chanted anti-government slogans such as "we are ready to die for Sudan" and "revolution, revolution until victory."
Groups have emerged on social networking sites calling themselves "Youth for Change" and "The Spark," since the uprisings in nearby Tunisia and close ally Egypt this month.
"Youth for Change" has attracted more than 15,000 members.
"The people of Sudan will not remain silent any more," its Facebook page said. "It is about time we demand our rights and take what's ours in a peaceful demonstration that will not involve any acts of sabotage."
The pro-democracy group Girifna ("We're fed up") said nine members were jugged the night before the protest and opposition party officials listed almost 40 names of protesters nabbed on Sunday. Five were maimed, they added.
Sudan has a close affinity with Egypt -- the two countries were united under British colonial rule. The unprecedented scenes there inspired calls for similar action in Sudan, where protests without permission, which is rarely given, are illegal.
Before Tunisia's popular revolt, Sudan was the last Arab country to overthrow a leader with popular protests, ousting Jaafar Nimeiri in 1985.
Opposition leader Mubarak al-Fadil told Rooters two of his sons were nabbed on their way to the central protest.
Editor-in-chief of the al-Wan daily paper Hussein Khogali said his daughter had been jugged by security forces since 8 a.m. (1 a.m. EST) accused of organising the Facebook-led protest.
PROTESTS IN WEST
Around 500 protestors engulfed the market in the North Kordofan capital el-Obeid in Sudan's west, before police used tear gas to disperse them, three witnesses said.
"They were shouting against the government and demanding change," said witness Ahmed who declined to give his full name.
Pro-government newspapers carried front page warnings against protests which they said would cause chaos and turmoil.
The Sudan Vision daily's editorial blamed the opposition.
"Our message to those opposition dinosaurs is to unite their ideas and objectives for the benefit of the citizens if they are really looking for the welfare of the Sudanese people," it read.
Sudan is in deep economic crisis which analysts blame on government overspending and misguided policies. A bloated import bill caused foreign currency shortages and forced an effective devaluation of the Sudanese pound last year, sparking soaring inflation.
Early this month the government cut subsidies on petroleum products and key commodity sugar, triggering smaller protests throughout the north.
Sunday's protests coincided with the first official announcement of results for a referendum on the oil-producing south's secession from the north showing an overwhelming vote for independence, which many in the north oppose.
Police front man Ahmed al-Tuhami told Rooters the police did not have figures for any injured or nabbed.
"We did not use more violence than necessary -- we did not want anyone to spoil this day with the referendum results."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
ION VOLTAIRE NET > [Commentary = long] THE BALKANIZATION OF SUDAN: THE REDRAWING OF THE MIDDLE EAST + NORTH AFRICA.
[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Egyptian anti-government protesters claimed on Wednesday that those demonstrating in favor of Egyptian geriatric President Hosni Mubarak are security personnel in civilian clothing.
The Egyptian Interior Ministry denied the rumors. "No, no! Certainly not!"
Al-Jazeera reported that the anti-Mubarak protesters kidnapped a man on the pro-Mubarak side, who turned out to be a military officer.
In addition, CNN reported that pro-Mubarak protesters have arrived in large groups that entered the square without identification checks, whereas anti-Mubarak protesters must go through checkpoints.
CNN added that the pro-Mubarak demonstrators seem to be "looking for a fight," and attempted to cross the divide between them and the other side.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 13:29 ||
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#2
My bet is that Mubarak knows that he won't have the US support if he leaves and won't have any support if he cracks down with his armed forces visibly. Which leaves this option.
#3
My bet is that Mubarak knows that he won't have the US support if he leaves and won't have any support if he cracks down with his armed forces visibly. Which leaves this option.
I doubt Mubarak's actions have anything to do with the measly amount of US aid (< 1% of Egypt's GDP) he gets. It's more a question of worrying about the balance of power between his loyal supporters, liberal reformers and Islamist infiltrators in the security services, and the potential shift of allegiances depending on what he does to crack down and when he does it. His grip on power depends on good timing. Too early, and he loses support in the power structure from people who think he jumped the gun. Too late, and he get shoved out of office on momentum alone. I think he has to get to the point when the security services get disgusted with the mob. Then he can clean house and be applauded for it, at least internally. And that's all he needs to stay in power.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 16:25 Comments ||
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#5
That's what Louis XVI thought, too.
Louis XVI inherited his throne, whereas Mubarak had an arduous climb to the top of the greasy pole. No one gets to Mubarak's position without considerable political skills within the power structure. The reason his son Gamal will not succeed him is because the guy's a technocrat, a paper pusher. Guys like Gamal work for people like Mubarak - he can be a capo but never capofamiglia.
#6
The internet came back up in Egypt--the reason is unclear. May fit in with what Zhang Fei says about furthering dissent only to come in and clean it up.
[Asharq al-Aswat] Supporters of geriatric President Hosni Mubarak attacked protesters with fists, stones and clubs in Cairo on Wednesday as the Egyptian government rejected international calls for the leader to end his 30-year-rule now.
Anti-Mubarak protesters hurled stones back and said the attackers were police in plain clothes, a charge that the government denied.
The attack caused chaotic scenes in central Tahrir Square, some of the Mubarak supporters rode into the crowd on horses and camels and in carriages, wielding whips and sticks.
Opposition figurehead Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace laureate, called on the army to intervene to stop the violence, the worst in the nine-day uprising against Mubarak since protesters fought street battles last Friday.
But troops stood by and watched.
The emergence of Mubarak loyalists, whether ordinary citizens or police, thrust a new dynamic into the momentous events in this most populous Arab nation of 80 million people.
The uprising broke out last week as public frustration with corruption, oppression and economic hardship under Mubarak boiled over.
The crisis has alarmed the United States and other Western governments who saw Mubarak as a bulwark of stability in a volatile regional, and has raised the prospect of unrest spreading to other authoritarian Arab countries.
Mubarak went on national television on Tuesday night to say he would not stand in elections scheduled for September but this was not good enough for the protesters, who demanded he leave the country immediately.
President Barack B.O. Obama telephoned the 82-year-old to say Washington wanted him to move faster on political transition.
"What is clear and what I indicated tonight to President Mubarak is my belief that an orderly transition must be meaningful, it must be peaceful and it must begin now," Obama said after speaking to him.
But Mubarak dug his heels in on Wednesday. A Foreign Ministry statement rejected U.S. and European calls for the transition to start immediately and said they "aimed to incite the internal situation in Egypt."
International backing for Mubarak, for three decades a stalwart of the West's Middle East policy and defense against the spread of cut-thoat Islam, crumbled as he tried to brazen out the crisis.
La Belle France, Germany and Britain also urged a speedy transition.
Some of the few words of encouragement for him have come from oil-giant Soddy Arabia, a country seen by many analysts as vulnerable to a similar outbreak of discontent.
Israel, which signed a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979, is also watching the situation in its western neighbor nervously, weighing the possibility that anti-Israeli Islamists might gain a share of power.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 13:20 ||
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#1
Opposition figurehead Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace laureate, called on the army to intervene to stop the violence, the worst in the nine-day uprising against Mubarak since protesters fought street battles last Friday.
But troops stood by and watched.
Guess the army isn't going to auto support ElBacardi either.
The emergence of Mubarak loyalists, whether ordinary citizens or police, thrust a new dynamic into the momentous events in this most populous Arab nation of 80 million people.
Maybe they are not necessarily loyalist to the Mubarak clic, but against the El Baradei clan. Maybe they have issues with the MB and/or such heavy internationally forced installment of an unelected regime, as a couple possible motives.
#3
...or maybe something that could pass for the Egyptian 'middle class', relatively speaking, who are connected enough to things outside their immediate life to realize what happened to their equivalent in Iran when the imams took over.
#4
Could be MB, who also cannot visibly be involved in voilence or their gambit is over, trying to spoil image, or secret police vice versa.
I just do not think it is as simple as pro-whoever. I just wonder how many, if placed between pro-mubarak and pro-baradei forces would attack in both directions.
#5
An Egyptian (born and bred in the US) acquaintance blames Egypt's troubles (or, specifically, Mubarak's dictatorship) on the US. As I've said before, if my acquaintances and much of what is recorded in the media are representative of Muslim public opinion, it's hard to see how we could mollify these people short of sending annual tribute amounting to trillions a year so that Muslims can live in the style to which they'd like to become accustomed, since anything short of that is obviously the result of American imperialism.
The Mullahs executed the entire senior military heirarchy in Iran, and Egypt's AF will be well aware of their likely fate should a mullahocracy come to power.
The Mullahs executed the entire senior military heirarchy in Iran, and Egypt's AF will be well aware of their likely fate should a mullahocracy come to power.
Excellent point. I expect the military to fight to the bitter end, if it's not already thoroughly infiltrated with Ikhwan agents.
#8
I'm calling this for Mubarak and the military. When all this nonsense started a few weeks ago in Tunisia, I was surprised. Ben Ali just folded and fled, which I think surprised a lot of people and gave false hope to a lot of the bad guys. However Mubarak seems to have weathered the storm, with a few casualties, his son for instance. Watch the Muslim Brotherhood, who identified themselves during the demonstrations to start doing a runner to all points of the compass, declaring themselves as "democrats" needing asylum, over the next few weeks.
I suggest that they are machined gunned at the border of any country they try to pull their mewling trick on.
#9
I'd wait till Saturday to say he's weathered the storm. People are probably starting to hurt, food shortages, no pay, etc. And the mullahs will pump them up Friday. If he's still in good shape Saturday, he's got a chance. But he'll have Barry nipping at his heels until then.
#10
On NPR they remarked today that the banks are still closed, which means remittances can't come in from abroad... and that people can't withdraw their savings.
#11
The media has become worse than the Soviet's Pravda.
No mention of last year nasty riot by policemen over starvation pay.
No mention of the nastier food riots ten years ago where over a thousand where killed.
Aaaaand even less mention of the Hama, Syria,
Ikhwan(Muslim Brothers) riots where Rifaar al Assad bragged of poison gassing 80,000 of
allah's sand monkeys...
[Ma'an] CNN's top international correspondent was attacked Wednesday by supporters of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak during clashes at a rally in Cairo, a CNN producer said. Anderson Cooper said he "was punched 10 times in the head," CNN's Steve Brusk wrote on Twitter. Cooper and his production crew were shoved and punched but no one was seriously hurt, CNN reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 13:09 ||
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#1
Could be they've seen his show.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 13:11 Comments ||
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#2
given his alternative lifestyle, he might've enjoyed it
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/02/2011 13:16 Comments ||
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Whew! Lucky for him they didn't hit him anyplace that might do some actual damage....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/02/2011 13:42 Comments ||
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#7
Hey---that's a hate crime. Beating on Anderson while calling him a f*g and even worse identifying him as an American is surely over the top and punishable by "O"
Posted by: Don c ||
02/02/2011 13:59 Comments ||
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#10
Ten blows to the head and he didn't go down? That's one tough metrosexual.
Posted by: regular joe ||
02/02/2011 17:09 Comments ||
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#11
From another post: In addition, CNN reported that pro-Mubarak protesters have arrived in large groups that entered the square without identification checks, whereas anti-Mubarak protesters must go through checkpoints.
CNN added that the pro-Mubarak demonstrators seem to be "looking for a fight," and attempted to cross the divide between them and the other side.
Fox reporters were keeping their distance, as they said the mob was told to quit watching satellite news as they were "spreading lies". I'm not a fan of Cooper or CNN but the clamp down on the freedom of the press = Mubarak's quash of democracy.
"Mohammed?"
"Yes, Abdul?"
"Isn't that Anderson Cooper from CNN?"
"Do you mean the one who lives in a firehouse in Greenwich Village and was ranked second behind David Geffen in Out Magazine's list of the fifty most powerful gay men and women in America."
"The same."
"He's even prettier in real life Mohamed! Let's go kick his ass 360-degrees."
"Hold on Abdul! Let us plead our pitiful plight to him, so he can place us at center-stage of the world forum, and we can all hope for meaningful and lasting change"
"Or we could throw a brick, Mohammed..."
"Right you are, bricks it is..."
[Ennahar] More than two million Egyptians gathered Tuesday in Tahrir Square (Liberation) in downtown Cairo in the largest mobilization in eight days of protest against geriatric President Hosni Mubarak who was symbolically hanged. Protesters have used a dummy representing the Egyptian President Mubarak that they hang.
Taking advantage of the support of the all-powerful army, which has pledged not to fire on them, men, women, children and elderly have demonstrated to demand the departure of Mr. Mubarak who seems to cling to power by proposing dialogue and reform immediately rejected.
No violent incidents were recorded during the demonstrations held at the call of the opposition to the "walk of a million" in Cairo and Alexandria against their president accused of all evils: poverty, unemployment, violation of freedoms, corruption and political locking.
Mohamed ElBaradei, the most prominent figure of the opposition, urged Mr. Mubarak to leave "not later than Friday," by proposing a "honourable exit" for the President, 82, more and more distressed.
Given the continuing showdown, the U.S. came in contact with both sides: a former U.S. diplomat Frank Wisner was to meet in Cairo senior regime leaders, while U.S. Ambassador Margaret Scobey spoke on the phone with Mr. ElBaradei who has also received a phone call from the British ambassador.
At the same time, they ordered the departure of nonessential personnel from their embassy, while the protest movement, the most important since 1981, although it continues peacefully, has caused since January 25 at least 300 dead according to an unconfirmed report of the UN, and thousands injured.
In central Cairo, the vast Tahrir Square (Liberation Square), the epicentre of the movement, was stormed by a human tide. The atmosphere was very festive, protesters, dancing and singing in jeering the Egyptian president.
Passers-by cheered at the sight of two dummies representing Mr Mubarak hung with the Star of David on his tie and wads of dollars into the pockets.
"I think governments everywhere should support us. We expect them to say he's gone, he is in the air. It is our dream," said one of the demonstrators, Basma Mahmoud, 30.
The army closed in the morning access to the capital and other cities, and helicopters flew regularly downtown Cairo. Rail traffic was halted to prevent an onslaught on the capital.
In Alexandria, the second largest city on the Mediterranean, hundreds of thousands of people gathered outside Qaeda Ibrahim Mosque and the railway station.
In Suez (east), 15,000 people marched, while they were 40,000 in Mansoura, 5000 in Tanta and 10,000 in Mahalla, in the Delta.
A few hours after the commencement of the curfew (1:00 pm GMT to 06:00 am GMT), the crowd began to disperse in Cairo in good order, under the gaze of the army.
Also in Alexandria, people began to return home, while insecurity reigns in the country because looters emerged in the early days of the demonstration after the withdrawal of the police. This latter, hated by the protesters on whom she had shot, reappeared on Monday.
To mobilize protesters, groups from civil society, supported by Mr. ElBaradei, part of the secular opposition and the Mohammedan Brotherhood, most influential opposition force, have relied on word of mouth, the Internet remains blocked and mobile messaging service disrupted.
The announcement of a new government and the proposal of Vice-President Omar Suleiman a dialogue with the opposition were rejected by the protesters and the opposition, for whom only the departure of Mr. Mubarak would empty the streets of Egypt.
After a week of protests, the economic repercussions of the revolt are being felt. The tourists, one of the main sources of revenue for Egypt, gave up coming, and foreigners decamped.
Banking and Stock Exchange are closed, and then the missing fuel and the Egyptians made their provisions.
After Moody's on Monday, rating agency Standard and Poor's lowered the rating one notch to Egypt. But the IMF was ready to help Egypt. Unesco has launched an appeal to safeguard the heritage of Egypt, calling for measures to protect "the treasures" of the country.
Fearing for his part in a possible future power in Egypt hostile to his country, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the international community to "demand" respect for the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 12:48 ||
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[Ennahar] Hundreds of protesters demanding the departure of geriatric President Hosni Mubarak were maimed Wednesday in festivities with supporters in Tahrir Square in central Cairo, reported AFP journalists.
Supporters of the Head of State threw boulders at the demonstrators from rooftops overlooking the square.
Supporters of the Head of State threw boulders at the demonstrators from rooftops overlooking the square.
A journalist and an AFP photographer saw hundreds of people injured, many of whom were carried on the shoulders of their comrades.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 12:47 ||
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#1
Supporters of the Head of State threw boulders at the demonstrators from rooftops overlooking the square.
[Ennahar] Two soldiers were seriously maimed by the kaboom of a roadside kaboom in Mezeraa, a town in the province of Tebessa (634 km southeast of the capital), said learned Monday a source in the hospital in Tebessa.
The bomb went kaboom! Sunday evening on the passage of a truck belonging to a military convoy that was conducting a sweep operation in Jebel Labiod, located about sixty miles southwest of Tebessa. This area is considered the stronghold of the gang perpetrators of deadly bombings in recent years in the east.
Given the seriousness of their wounds, both victims were evacuated to a military hospital in Constantine Monday morning.
The army launched a search operation in the provinces of Tebessa and Khenchela after locating the places where gangs were digging.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] Two armed hard boyz were killed Monday morning in the region of Chlef, 200 km west of Algiers, said Algerian security source. The two men were killed during a raid by security forces in the town of Gouadjlia, 25 km east of the city of Chlef, the source said, quoted by news agency APS . Weapons and ammunition were recovered after the operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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May the bomb planters and their planners spend a long time in Hell being blown up in slow motion, again and again without surcease. Unless they're masochists, in which case... may they spend that time yearning to join their fellows without being permitted. (?? I don't know how to curse masochists) Thank goodness the security troops handled things.
[Maghrebia] Algerian security services on Friday defused eight bombs near the scene of a terror attack that killed a Tizi-Ouzou communal guard earlier the same day, Tout sur l'Algerie reported on Sunday (January 30th). Investigators found two devices hidden inside juice containers stored in a schoolyard. The primary school shares a wall with the Assi Youcef communal guard headquarters. Six more bombs were found near a mosque on the other side of the guard facility.
Taqfiris. The mosque wasn't pure enough in exactly the right way. Such lovely people.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Sorry. I just can't take a terrorist group seriously with a name that sounds like a Greek stripper bar. Titsy-ouzo, indeed.
#4
Tizi Ouzou is an Kabyle-tuareg name of a town.
Descendants of Germanic Vandals who settled north africa before the arabic muslim plague...
And the "Takfir wal Hijra"(Banned Heretics)
are at the core of the Mahdi cult working for
the Imam Caliphate.
They laugh at the "Sharia" concept and date back
to Hassan ibn al Sabbah, the medieval old
man of the Alamut mountain and his Hassansins,
or assassins.
This is the core of islam, it disregard the koran and have only two precepts:
[Maghrebia] Mauritanian troops are on high alert after being forced to open fire on a car near the military garrison in Nema, ANI reported on Sunday (January 30th). In a separate incident Sunday night, a suspicious Toyota Land Cruiser approached the entrance to the barracks of the 6th Military Region in Toujounine, Journal Tahalil reported. Last August, an al-Qaeda jacket wallah was shot by soldiers as he attempted to dive an SUV rigged with explosives into the Nema military garrison.
A credit to their training.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] Egyptian geriatric President Hosni Mubarak must leave power "by Friday," said Mohamed ElBaradei on Tuesday to the satellite channel Al Arabiya. "Or what?"
"Or we'll wait until Saturday!"
The Egyptians, who demonstrate since last week for the resignation of President Mubarak, "want to end today, or Friday at the latest," said ElBaradei. "Friday (next) was called "the day of departure," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Whatever Mubarak does, I hope it insures that ElBaradei never, ever rules anything more complicated than an outhouse. I deeply suspect that if he was ever in charge of Egypt, the *first* thing he would do is try and get them nuclear weapons from Pakistan--which the Pakistanis would be more than happy to do.
ElBaradei is a duplicitous, treacherous and cunning pig.
#3
Well, because obooboo wants Mubarak out, that means el baradei will be dancing on the end of a rope before the week is out...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/02/2011 8:45 Comments ||
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#4
El Baradei is so obviously a cloying jackass that the moslem brotherhood doesn't trust him anymore.
The MB is working directly with various army brass.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
02/02/2011 11:03 Comments ||
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#5
A coup does not usher in democracy. If ElBaradei was serious, he would encourage a fair election in September and put his name forth, giving the people a real choice and opportunity at freedom. Same for King Abdullah II--just appointing someone different in name only, expecting hope and change, is the definition of insanity, not true freedom and self-rule.
#6
It's kind of a surprise that this guy is still using oxygen. You'd think that Mubarak still has at least enough teeth in his head to make sure that ElBaradei has some kind of an accident.
#8
See also HINDUSTAN TIMES > EGYPTIAN'S TELL MUBARAK THEY WON'T WAIT UNTIL SEPTEMBER.
ARTIC = By his decision to not leave office until after the formal September elections in Egypt, MUBARAK in the interim also potens risks losing his vital support amongst the Egyptian Armed Forces via seemingly hanging on too long + losing any semblance of legitimacy???
* OTOH SAME > [Egypt Foreign Ministry] MUBARAK GOVT. REJECTS INTERNATIONAL CALLS FOR QUICK TRANSITION.
Again personally I agree or support his decision to stay - Before September, President Mubarak's priority SHOULD BE to initiate any vital, pro-democracy internal reforms or measures deemed important for the protection + empowerment of Egypt's DEMOCRATIC future, ESPEC AGZ HARDLINE EXTREMIST ELEMENTS OR AGENDAS E.G. RADICAL ISLAM.
* BUSINESS INSIDER > ELEVEN COUNTRIES THAT RISK BECOMING THE "NEXT EGYPT".
Several high-profile MAJOR ARAB-MUSLIM STATES, including IRAN, but also VIETNAM + VENEZUELA [Hugo] + even RISING CHINA.
* PEOPLES DAILY FORUM > IMF WARNS OF CIVIL WARS AS GLOBAL INEQUALITIES WORSEN.
* GULF NEWS > ISRAEL MUST ACCEPT ARAB NATIONS' KEY ROLE IN SHAPING REGION'S FUTURE. Ditto for the US = US-WEST as per their proactive recognition of Regional Arab-Muslim interests, + changing of traditional attitudes.
[Ennahar] Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians invaded the streets Tuesday for the largest mobilization in eight days of protest against geriatric President Hosni Mubarak called more than ever to leave after 30 years in power.
Taking advantage of the support of the all-powerful army, which has pledged not to fire on them, men, women, children and elderly have demonstrated to demand the departure of Mr. Mubarak who seems to cling desperately to power proposing a dialogue and reforms immediately rejected.
The demonstrators answered the call of the opposition to the "walk of a million" in Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt's second city, after its president is blamed for all ills-poverty, unemployment, violation of freedoms, corruption and political locking.
Mohamed ElBaradei, the most prominent figure of the opposition, urged Mr. Mubarak to leave "not later than Friday," declaring for a "honorable exit" of the President.
Given the continuing showdown, the U.S. came in contact with both sides: a former U.S. diplomat Frank Wisner was to meet in Cairo senior regime leaders, while U.S. Ambassador Margaret Scobey spoke on the phone with Mr. ElBaradei.
At the same time, they ordered the departure of nonessential personnel from its embassy in Cairo, while the protest movement, the most important since 1981, has caused since January 25 at least 300 deaths according to an unconfirmed report of UN, and thousands injured.
In central Cairo, the vast Tahrir Square (Liberation Square), the epicenter of the movement, was stormed by a human tide.
The atmosphere was very festive, protesters dancing and singing in jeering the Egyptian president.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
that human tide was receding on Fox news just now, in the face of a larger pro-Mubarak tide. Both sides throwing rocks. The MB is gonna face some push-back
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/02/2011 8:37 Comments ||
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#2
Anderson Cooper got beat up by an Egyptian mob.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/02/2011 12:12 Comments ||
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#3
#2 Anderson Cooper got beat up by an Egyptian mob.
Good times. Good times
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/02/2011 13:17 Comments ||
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[Arab News] Google Inc. launched a special service to allow people in Egypt to send Twitter messages by dialing a phone number and leaving a voice-mail, as Internet access remains cut off in the country amid anti-government protests.
"Like many people we've been glued to the news unfolding in Egypt and thinking of what we could do to help people on the ground," read a post on Google's official corporate blog on Monday.
The service, which Google said was developed with engineers from Twitter, allows people to dial a telephone number and leave a voice-mail. The voice-mail is automatically translated into an audio file message that is sent on Twitter using the identifying tag #egypt, Google said.
Google said in the blog post, titled "Some weekend work that will (hopefully) enable more Egyptians to be heard," that no Internet connection is needed to use the service.
It listed listed three phone numbers for people to call to use the service.
Internet social networking services like Twitter and Facebook have been important tools of communications for protesters in Egypt who have taken to the streets since last week to demonstrate against the 30-year rule of geriatric President Hosni Mubarak.
Internet service has been suspended around the country and phone text messaging has been disabled.
A source familiar with the matter said Google, whose corporate motto is "Don't Be Evil," was not taking sides in the crisis in Egypt, but was simply supporting access to information as it has done with other services such as video website YouTube.
YouTube has been streaming live coverage of Al Jizz's broadcasts of the events in Egypt.
Dozens of the so-called speak-to-tweet messages were featured on Twitter on Monday. The messages ranged from a few seconds to several minutes and featured people identifying themselves as Egyptians and describing the situations in various parts of the country.
"The government is spreading rumors of fear and of burglary and of violence," said one of the messages from an English speaker. "The only incidence of theft and burglary are done by the police themselves."
Google listed the following numbers for people to use the service: +16504194196 or +390662207294 or +97316199855.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] A number of Islamists in Britain have demanded that the Egyptian army side with the people regarding the ongoing protests in the country against the Hosni Mubarak regime. Yasser al-Sirri, Director of the "Islamic Observation Centre", a body that campaigns for Islamist detainees rights around the world, released an open statement addressing the Egyptian army. This statement read "To the Egyptian army, men of the armed forces: move and side with the people before it is too late".
Whilst Dr. Kemal Helbawy, former front man for the International Organization of the Mohammedan Brotherhood in the West, has provided Asharq al-Awsat with four decisive scenarios with regards to how Hosni Mubarak's regime could collapse, and what will happen after this:
- The first scenario would see Mubarak's new appointments remaining in government, in this case, demonstrations would continue in full, or intermittently, until the regime fell.
- The second scenario would see Mubarak leaving [office], after he has -- constitutionally -- appointed somebody who can succeed him and rule Egypt, namely his vice president General Omar Suleiman, and so there would be no political vacuum in this case. Perhaps Mubarak would seek refuge in Switzerland, Germany, Britain, or even go to Soddy Arabia, at the kind invitation of the King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques , King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz.
- According to Helbawy, founder of the Islamic League of Britain, the third scenario would see the entire Egyptian government being tossed due to the continuous demonstrations in all Egyptian cities. Mubarak would be ousted as a result of this, and the people would opt for Dr. Mohammed ElBaradei, who was yesterday nominated by five opposition groups to form a temporary 'National Salvation Government'. In this case, constitutional amendments would be made, emergency law abolished, and there would be freedom to form political parties. Elections would then be held in 6 months or a year, with the people free to choose the leader they wanted.
- Helbawy described a fourth scenario with regards to how Mubarak could lose power, and this would see the Egyptian army directly intervening and nominating a head of state, or imposing a leader upon the country, regardless of Mubarak's preferences with regards to a successor. Perhaps there will be a forthcoming role for the Egyptian Army's Chief of Staff, General Sami Annan, who will have the final [military] decision after coordinating with the Republican Guard. According to Helbawy, the worst-case scenario would see the Egyptian army acceding to Mubarak's choices.
Egyptian Islamist, Dr. Hani al-Sibai, who is the director of the 'al-Maqrizi Centre' in London, similarly issued a statement to the people of Egypt. This statement, which addresses "the descendants of Amr Ibn al-Aas, Ubada Ibn al-Saamit, and Abdullah Ibn Hudhafah", called for "God to remove the fear from your hearts, and make your views neither eastern nor western, but Islamic". Al-Sibai warned of "the people's uprising being hijacked by a [radical] Islamist trend".
He also revealed to Asharq al-Awsat that a number of Islamists from al-Fayoum prison had beat feet, after the guards decamped following an exchange of gunfire and tear gas, leaving the prison gates open. Al-Sibai said that some of the imprisoned Islamists' families had been in touch with him, and had informed him that their relatives had contacted them after escaping from prison, that they did not have any money, and that they intended to hide for fear of prosecution and being pursued.
For his part, Yasser al-Sirri told Asharq al-Awsat that it was the duty of the armed forces to "protect the country from thieves and traitors... and act swiftly before the streets are overflowing with Egyptian blood... Oh people of Egypt, you are a free people, who reject humiliation and shame, so continue the fight against injustice". Al-Sirri added "I ask God Almighty to realize the demands of the Egyptian people, in obtaining their rights to freedom, and a decent standard of living, without government men thieving and looting. I ask God to respond to the honorable members of the armed forces, to settle the future of the nation".
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Egyptian geriatric President Hosni Mubarak plans to speak Tuesday night, announcing he will not run in Egypt's next election, Pan-Arab news network Al Arabiya reported. He will not answer the protesters demands that he resign immediately, according to the report. The decision not to run in Egypt's next elections came at the urging of US President Barack B.O. Obama, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
The B.O. regime on Tuesday opened talks with a possible successor to the embattled Mubarak as the US ramped up outreach to the hundreds of thousands determined to force their long-time leader out of power.
The context of the discussions with Nobel peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei was not immediately public. But they were taking place as more than a quarter-million Egyptians gathered in Cairo's main square in defiance of Mubarak, which signaled the United States is strengthening its push for a peaceful transition to democracy -- and looking for alternatives to its ally of three decades.
While the US envoy to Egypt, Margaret Scobey, spoke with ElBaradei, the escalating anti-government protests led the United States to order non-essential American personnel and their families to leave the country. Respected former ambassador Frank Wisner was visiting members of Mubarak's government and Defense Secretary Robert Gates had a telephone conversation with his Egyptian counterpart, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi.
"The US Embassy in Cairo has been especially busy in the past several days with an active outreach to political and civil society," State Department front man PJ Crowley said in a message posted to Twitter. "As part of our public outreach to convey support for orderly transition in Egypt, Ambassador Scobey spoke today with Mohamed ElBaradei."
Wisner, who represented the US in Cairo from 1986 to 1991, was being counted on to provide the US government with an evaluation of the fast-changing situation. "As someone with deep experience in the region, he is meeting with Egyptian officials and providing his assessment," the State Department said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. John I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry, ... the Senate's current foreign policy expert, filling the empty wingtips of Joe Biden... a Democrat, gave public voice to what senior US officials have said only privately in recent days: that Mubarak should "step aside gracefully to make way for a new political structure."
"It is not enough for President Mubarak to pledge 'fair' elections," Kerry wrote in The New York Times. "The most important step that he can take is to address his nation and declare that neither he nor the son he has been positioning as his successor will run in the presidential election this year. Egyptians have moved beyond his regime, and the best way to avoid unrest turning into upheaval is for President Mubarak to take himself and his family out of the equation."
By midday Tuesday, the administration had yet to make any public comments on the protests or Mubarak, but renewed a travel warning for Egypt advising Americans to leave and ordering the departure of all non-essential government personnel and their families "in light of recent events." It was an indication of Washington's deepening concern about developments in Egypt and replaces a decision last week to allow workers who wanted to leave the country to do so at government expense.
The department said it would continue to evacuate private US citizens from Egypt aboard government-chartered planes.
The US evacuated more than 1,200 Americans from Cairo on such flights Monday and said it expected to fly out roughly 1,400 more in the coming days. Monday's flights ferried Americans from Cairo to Larnaca, Cyprus; Athens, Greece; and Istanbul, Turkey.
On Tuesday, the US added Frankfurt, Germany as a destination and the Egyptian cities of Aswan and Luxor as departure points.
The Cairo airport is open and operating but the department warned that flights may be disrupted and that people should be prepared for lengthy waits.
Egypt's army leadership is reassuring the US that the powerful military does not intend to crack down on demonstrators, but is instead allowing protesters to "wear themselves out," according to a former US official in contact with several top Egyptian army officers. The Egyptians use a colloquial saying to describe their strategy -- a boiling pot with a lid that's too tight will blow up the kitchen, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... to discuss private conversations.
The officers expressed concern with White House statements appearing to side with the protesters, saying that stoking revolt to remove Mubarak risks creating a vacuum that the banned-but-powerful Mohammedan Brotherhood could fill, the official said.
While the Brotherhood claims to have closed its paramilitary wing long ago, it has fought politically to gain power. More threatening to the Mubarak regime, it has built a nationwide charity and social network that much of Egypt's poverty stricken population depends on for its survival.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Uh, uh, I think President Mubarak already announced it early this AM on CNN [Guam = CST time].
The Protestors are NOT happy about his decision to stay in power until the country's September Elex.
Personally I agree wid his decision to stay on for several months.
OTOH Mubarak needs to ensure that important democratic reforms are begun, + that those whom succeed him as Egypt's President after September will protect the pro-democracy decentralization process, Arab-Israeli peace treaty, + continue the fight agz Radical Islam + violent Regional, Global Jihad.
#2
Elections take time to have anyways. Besides this ElBaradei turd, there are no other candidates. Mubarak made a sound pledge and September makes sense to me. We cannot have every country throwing their leaders out whenever they want. If a stable way is possible, by all means take it. Things are not easy out there already.
[Yemen Post] At least two people were killed and others maimed in festivities between two tribes in Khanfer, Abyan province.
Boys will be boys.
The armed clash erupted between the Al Al-Rahowi and Al Fith tribes in a public market in Khanfer district, killing at least two rustics belonging to Al Fith's tribe, and wounding several others.
Sources said that the festivities came after an attack was carried out by Al Fith tribe against the deputy of Abyan province, Ahmed Khaleb Al-Rahowi, who beat feet an liquidation attempt in which two of his children were maimed.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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An alleged criminal was killed in a "shootout" between his cohorts and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) in the city's Cantonment area early yesterday.
The dear departed, identified as Asgar Ali, 35, was accused in twelve systems several cases including four for murder.
Acting on a tip-off, tip o' the hat to Mahmoud the Weasel
a team of Rab raided Chowdhury Kunja at Manikdi around 2:00am, Ruhul Amin, senior assistant director of Rab-4 told The Daily Star. Hey, sarge? What do the day shift guys do around here?
I don't know if we have a day shift, Mahmoud...
At one stage, the criminals opened fire on the elite force members prompting them to retaliate. [BANG! BANG! BANGETY BANG!] Hey Sarge? How come the bad guys never, ever hit any of us?
Shaddup Mahmoud and help me drop Asgar on the spot.
Asgar was caught in the line of fire and was struck down in his prime though his associates managed to flee the scene. ... as though they had never been... he claimed.
Rab members recovered two firearms, four rounds of bullets and some cartridges from the spot. If he'd only had an alias he could have been honored with the shutter gun
Billal Hossain, husband of Asgar's sister, however denied the accusation saying that his brother-in-law was a contractor, not a criminal.
The man had cohorts. Q.E.D.
According to him, Asgar was staying over at his house in Baburhat area of Narsingdi when Rab picked him up around 5pm on Monday. Say Asgar, why don't youse come wit us?
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
four rounds of bullets and some cartridges
Ummm, bad translation? Those are the same things.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/02/2011 12:34 Comments ||
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For a map click here. For a map of Nuevo leon, click here. For a map of Tamaulipas, click here
A Mexican Naval Infantry base in Valle Hermosa came under small arms attack Monday, according to Mexican press accounts.
Reports say two marines were wounded when they were attempting to counter the attack. Air support in the form of a helicopter had to be called in to assist the marines in countering the attack.
During the counterattack the marine unit was made aware of a firefight between armed elements of the Los Zetas and Gulf cartel nearby, although the unit did not intervene.
The original attack developed after armed suspects aboard several pickup trucks drove by the base firing their weapons at marine personnel. Return fire from marine effectives disabled two of the vehicles, and afterwards two armed suspects were arrested and weapons and munitions were seized.
In other action in Nuevo Leon, a Mexican Marine detachment placed two men under arrest and seized weapons and ammunition in an apparent traffic stop. The stop took place in the Hidalgo-Monterrey highway in General Escobedo municipality.
In Tampico, Tamaulipas, two unidentified suspects were arrested after they attempted to ram a Mexican Marine patrol vehicle travelling in a convoy. The subsequent ended when the driver crashed his vehicle into a pickup truck.
Arrested in the Valle Hermosa, Tamaulipas incident were Juan Francisco Chapa Gonzalez, 39, alias El Chapas and Luis Emiliano Vasquez Mendoza, 24, alias Luisin. Seized were one each AK-47 and AR-15 assault rifles, one 9mm pistol, two fragmentation grenades, 10 weapons magazines. and 197 rounds of ammunition.
Arrested in the General Escobedo incident were Luis Manuel Alarcon Garcia and Jesus Hernandez Gonzalez. Seized were eight weapons magazines, about 180 rounds of ammunition, tactical gear and a vehicle.
For a map, click here. For a map of Nuevo Leon, click here
Several clashes involving Mexican security forces since last Sunday in and around Monterrey, Nuevo Leon has left six dead and 18 wounded.
An ambush of Mexican Federal agents by armed suspects in Apodaca, Nuevo Leon has left one agent dead and four wounded. Reports say the Policia Federal were traveling along avenida Guadalajara when they were fired on. The shooting prompted a pursuit through the streets of Residencial La Noria and ended at a pharmacy near the intersection of avenidas Mexico and Guadalajara, where the four agents were hurt in the pursuit. A civilian working at a nearby garage was also wounded in the crossfire.
Three Mexican Federal agents and one civilian female were injured in a car accident in Monterrey Tuesday. A Policia Federal unit was sent to to investigate a reports of a grenade detonation near the intersection of avenidaa Pablo Gonzalez Garza and Gonzalitos when the driver of the federal pickup truck ran into a Dodge Stratus.
A shootout between armed suspects and local security forces left three unidentified suspects dead and a fourth under arrest in Santa Cataria, Nuevo Leon Tuesday. The shooting took place near a shopping mall on Avenida Luis Donaldo Colosio. Reports say three vehicles were abandoned at the scene along with an unreported number of rifles. The shooting started when suspects refused to stop when ordered by an element of the Gruppo de Base de Operaciones Mixtas, a mixed detachment of municipal state and federal police.
Mexican Army units were reported on patrol in the Monterrey city center early Tuesday. Reports say Mexican soldiers were searching for suspects and stolen vehicles. Soldiers conducted searches of local businesses. No action and no arrests were reported.
A presumed 40mm grenade was launched at a bus stop in Monterrey Monday wounding five civilians. The attack took place near the corner of Avenida Garza Sada and Calle Juventino Rosas in the Caracol colony. Among the wounded was Lucinda Sepulveda Garcia is director-elect of Faculty of Communication Sciences of the Universidad Autonomous de Nuevo Leon (UANL), and municipal police officer Maria Patricia Beltran. Reprots say the grenade was likely launched from a nearby pedestrian bridge. The detonation site was near a pair of Monterrey municipal police patrol vehicles deployed as a checkpoint.
A direct assault launched by armed suspects killed one civilian and wounded six others in the town of China, Nuevo Leon Sunday. Armed suspects entered the town at about 1515 hrs, firing assault rifles at a pickup truck the deceased victim had been driving. Residents said the assault was directed at anyone in the suspects' sights. Reports say the shooting was confined to the city center.
An unidentified suspect was shot to death by elements of a Mexican Army unit in Apodaca, Nuevo Leon early Monday morning. The unit signalled the driver of a stolen Nissan sedan to pull over when the suspects fired on the soldiers near the intersection of avenidas Santo Domingo and Constitucion between the Balcones del Mezquital and Garcia Mireles colonies.
Four police officers were gunned down on Wednesday when terrorists opened fire in a cafe in Kabardino-Balkaria province. The four had been dining at the cafe in the small town of Chegem, west of the provincial capital Nalchik, when the gunmen opened fire, immediately killing four and wounding a fifth officer before stealing their weapons.
North Korea is apparently constructing a military base for combat hovercraft just 50-60 km from South Korea's Baeknyeong Island in the West Sea.
A government source on Monday said South Korean and U.S. intelligence late last year detected construction work being done for the base in the Koampo area in Hwanghae Province.
The base can apparently accommodate up to 70 of North Korea's hovercraft. Each of the vessels can carry a platoon and travel up to 90 km/h across water and mud flats. Once it is completed, North Korean troops would be able to land on South Korea's five West Sea islands, including Baeknyeong, in 30 to 40 minutes.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
What they didn't know was that South Korea is likewise building a hardened firebase on Baeknyeong for a battalion of crack artillerymen newly equipped with the much-feared 120mm Eel Mortar.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/02/2011 12:38 Comments ||
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#2
Lie imitates film, Die Another Day (Bond) had NORK hovercraft.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/02/2011 12:39 Comments ||
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#3
LIFE Dammit, fingers not cooperating this morning.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/02/2011 12:43 Comments ||
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#4
Intermediate step to bolstering their submarine forces....?
[An Nahar] King Abdullah II of Jordan named Maruf Bakhit as prime minister on Tuesday with orders to carry out "true political reforms," the palace said, after weeks of opposition protests demanding change.
"King Abdullah II designated Maruf Bakhit to form a new government to replace the government of Samir Rifai," a palace statement said.
"Bakhit's mission is to take practical, quick and tangible steps to launch true political reforms, enhance Jordan's democratic drive and ensure safe and decent living for all Jordanians."
Jordan's powerful Islamist opposition said on Monday that it had started a dialogue with the state, saying that unlike the situation in Egypt, it did not seek regime change.
Opposition demands included "the resignation of the government, the amendment of the electoral law and the formation of a national salvation government headed by an elected prime minister," a member of the Islamic Action Front's executive council, Zaki Bani Rsheid, told AFP.
Rifai formed a first government in December 2009, and reshuffled it in November 2010. Bakhit, who was born in 1947, served as prime minister from 2005 to 2007.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] King Abdullah II of Jordan has sacked his prime minister Tuesday to calm the street who is demanding his departure, but the powerful Islamist opposition immediately criticized the choice of his successor and promised further demonstrations, keeping Egypt and Tunisia in head.
This reshuffle comes as the Arab world is shaken by a wave of claims following the fall of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali under pressure from the street in mid-January in Tunisia and the massive protests that shook Egypt since last week.
The opposition Islamist and leftist organized several demonstrations in recent weeks to protest against high prices and demand reforms. The slogans have often targeted the Prime Minister Samir Rifai, slammed for his economic policy, despite a series of social measures.
On Tuesday, the royal palace announced the sacking of Mr Rifai, replaced by Maarouf Bakhit, 64, who has been prime minister (2005-2007).
In his letter of appointment issued by the palace, the king has appointed Mr. Bakhit "to take swift and clear action to carry out real political reforms (...) supporting our action in favor of democracy."
The Islamic Action Front (IAF), the main opposition party, immediately criticized the king's choice, saying that Mr Bakhit was "not a reformer."
"It seems that the train of reform is not yet running. We are against this prime minister", told AFP the general secretary of the FAI, Hamzeh Mansour, ensuring that the protests would continue as "the reasons for these events (were) still valid.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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A family of four has been gunned down beside a road in Yala province after they went missing on Sunday. The bodies of Prasit Boonlong, 43, his wife Manee Srikwan, 36, their daughter Rungrachanee Boonlong, 16, and their seven-year-old son Rungrapee Boonlong were found together near a roadside ditch at about 2:40 p.m. yesterday. They had all been shot. The family is assumed to have been killed on Sunday.
Relatives of the family reported their disappearance on Sunday. They said the family had left their home in their pickup truck to take their daughter to school.
The killing of the family is just one of a number of violent incidents across the lower South in the past day or two.
A latex collector was shot dead on Monday while riding his motorcycle in Yala district at 9:50 p.m., and a fruit trader was shot in the leg while closing up his shop at a local market also in Yala at 10:25 p.m.
Pol Snr Sgt Maj Preecha Thongsrimai was injured yesterday morning when a pickup truck carrying his squad was bombed on a road in Narathiwat province.
Authorities yesterday arrested Pol Cpl Theerapat Thaweenart, 36, of Yaring police station in Pattani for being in possession of illegal weapons. Rifles, pistols, bullets, grenades, bombs, bomb parts and mobile phones were found in his vehicle.
Suspected terrorist militant Madae Mayorkaseh, 43, was arrested yesterday during a search of houses in Narathiwat province, involving over 100 security officers. Mr Madae is suspected of leading a group of terrorists insurgents responsible for several attacks including the Jan 19 raid on an army base in which four soldiers were killed.
The cabinet yesterday responded to the continuous daily violence in the lower South by approving an extension of the emergency decree in the region for another three months. Only Mae Lan district in Pattani is not covered by the decree as it was lifted in the district on Jan 19.
Meanwhile, army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha said the government would neither consider the terrorists insurgents in the South as separatists nor launch violent suppression methods against them in an effort to prevent them from attracting overseas attention and support.
#1
Compare wid WAFF > [Lee Kuan Yew] SINGAPORE'S LEE: WE CAN'T INTEGRATE MUSLIMS. SINGAPORE can integrate Any + All variable Races + Religions EXCEPT ISLAM = MUSLIMS WHOM TEND TO INSIST ON STANDING APART FROM OTHERS.
IOW, SEPARATE-BUT-EQUAL???
Other than the above, LEE > thinks MUSLIMS [as a Class]ARE BROADLY A-OKAY = SOCIOCULTURALLY ACCEPTABLE TO BE WITH.
[US POST-CIVIL WAR "JIM CROW" SEGREGATION ERA here]???
[Ma'an] A group of Syrian online activists are promoting a day of anger after prayers on Friday to call for a peaceful "2011 Syrian revolution" to end what they say is corruption and tyranny.
The group has been using Facebook, which is officially banned but can easily be accessed through proxies, to call for a day of anger in an echo to Egypt's week-long mass protests demanding regime-change.
Its message, which has spread to Twitter, tells young Syrians to begin protests on Friday "after prayer, in what will be the first day of anger and civil rebellion by the Syrian people in all Syrian cities."
"You are like the youth of Tunisia and Egypt. We do not want a violent revolution but a peaceful uprising ... Raise your voice in a peaceful and civilised manner, because freedom of expression is guaranteed by the constitution and the law," the group said in an online statement.
"We must no longer accept injustice. It's the last straw," says the group, which had amassed more than 7,800 members by Tuesday morning.
Addressing President Bashar Al-Assad, they said: "We are not against you as a person but against 'monocracy', corruption and tyranny and the fact the your family and friends have grabbed riches."
Another group called for a sit-in on Thursday at 3:00 pm in front of parliament "in solidarity with students, employees, the unemployed and penniless pensioners."
On Saturday afternoon, security forces prevented youth from gathering outside the Egyptian embassy in Damascus to express their solidarity with the popular Egyptian uprising against geriatric President Hosni Mubarak's regime.
That show of solidarity with the Egyptian people was also organized online.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Frozen Al ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Given the problems this plant must have (some parts were installed in the 80s and were obsolete when installed, thousands of design changes some of which were probably not documented well), if I were a Russian operator of Bushehr, I would be looking for excuses as to why it isn't running the way it was advertised.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
02/02/2011 0:20 Comments ||
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#2
If I were a Russian operator of Beshehr, I'd be looking for a way to get to the Caymans with my loot before my used up my last excuse ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/02/2011 0:27 Comments ||
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OTOH NEWS KERALA > EXPERTS: CYBER-WEAPON STUXNET [originally] TARGETED FOR IRAN, BUT CAN BE TURNED ON US, + other Industrialized Countries espec as per national electric power grids.
#4
All they have to do is suggest somebody is a juice spy and they'll be fine.
Posted by: Charles ||
02/02/2011 7:02 Comments ||
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#5
The neat thing about Stuxnet is that it is the gift that keeps on giving. Their computers might be free of it, but they don't know that for sure, unless they manage to reverse engineer their computers operating system.
The Russians sold the Iranians Bushehr for cash up front in installments. Not that they did not trust the MMs....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/02/2011 11:07 Comments ||
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#8
Wouldn't be any surprise if the Ruskies took Iranian money knowing full well that the plant would never work...wouldn't be a surprise if they knowingly installed Stuxnet themselves. As long as they get the money and the Juice get the blame, what do they care?
Sure is a good thing Bambi just exchanged ambassadors with the Syrians. Now we'll have a personal representative there so that Bambi can 'counsel' Pencilneck to give it up, just like he did to Hosni.
BEIRUT: Syrians are organizing campaigns on Facebook and Twitter that call for a "day of rage" in Damascus this week, taking inspiration from Egypt and Tunisia in using social networking sites to rally their followers for sweeping political reforms.
Pencilneck remembers how his father handled dissent. This one could be bloody.
Like Egypt and Tunisia, Syria suffers from corruption, poverty and unemployment.
Pencilneck is even more ruthless in suppressing dissent than the Mubarek regime. He has to be; he's an Alawite which is either an offshoot of the Shi'a or a non-Muslim sect, depending on who you believe, and the Alawites are ten percent of the population.
Golly. Isn't that about the same percentage as the Copts in Egypt?
All three nations have seen subsidy cuts on staples like bread and oil. Syria's authoritarian president has resisted calls for political freedoms and jailed critics of his regime.
I'd like to thank Archer Daniels Midland for buying up all the corn for ethanol.
The main Syrian protest page on Facebook is urging people to protest in Damascus on Feb. 4 and 5 for "a day of rage." It says the goal is to "end the state of emergency in Syria and end corruption." The number of people who have joined Facebook and Twitter pages calling for protests on Friday and Saturday is still relatively small, and some are believed to live outside the country.
I'd suggest the use of an alias if you're in the country. Y'know, just to be safe.
President Bashar Assad said in an interview published Monday that his nation is immune from the kind of unrest roiling Tunisia and Egypt.
He was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as acknowledging that the events signaled a "new era" in the Middle East.
But he said Syria, which has gradually shed its socialist past in favor of crony capitalism the free market in recent years, was insulated from the upheaval because he understood his people's needs and has united them in common cause against Israel.
They love him, y'know, and they all hate the Joooz. His advisors tell him that every morning.
Social networking sites were integral to rallying protesters in Tunisia and Egypt.
Perhaps Facebook and Twitter should get the next Nobel Peace Prize. They've done more to earn it than the 2009 winner.
Facebook is banned in Syria, which makes organizing more difficult -- even though many Syrians manage to access the social networking site anyway. More than 2,500 people have joined the page calling for protests on Feb. 4-5, with another 850 joining a page in favor of President Assad.
Assad, a 45-year-old British-trained eye doctor, inherited power from his father, Hafez, in 2000, after three decades of authoritarian rule. He has since moved slowly to lift Soviet-style economic restrictions, letting in foreign banks, throwing the doors open to imports and empowering the private sector.
While making sure he and his boyz got a cut of everything.
But Assad has not matched liberal economics with political reforms and critics of the regime are routinely locked up, drawing an outcry from international human rights groups.
And of course, Lebanon...
He is seen by many Arabs, however, as one of the few leaders in the region willing to stand up to arch enemy Israel.
Though his air force would prefer he didn't...
And his support for Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups opposed to the Jewish state as well as his opposition to the US invasion of Iraq has won him more support among his people than other Arab rulers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/02/2011 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Tolo News] In an Afghan and foreign forces military operation in Laghman province on Monday night four 
[Tolo News] Thirty 
[Asharq al-Aswat] Sudanese police beat and 
[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Egyptian anti-government protesters claimed on Wednesday that those demonstrating in favor of Egyptian 
[Asharq al-Aswat] Supporters of 
[Ennahar] Two armed 
[Ennahar] King Abdullah II of Jordan has sacked his prime minister Tuesday to calm the street who is demanding his departure, but the powerful Islamist opposition immediately criticized the choice of his successor and promised further demonstrations, keeping Egypt and Tunisia in head.
