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03/26/2011 14:08 ||
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Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Vicki Lawrence aka Thelma-Mae Crowley Harper in "Mama's Family" aka Mamaw Stewart in "Hannah Montana" aka Hit Singer for "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" aka Best selling Author of "The True-Life Adventures of Miss Fireball" (age 62)
[Tolo News] Afghan defence ministry is making efforts to launch a bigger programme with the security transition process on top of the agenda , military officials said on Thursday.
"Timely security handover, prevention of civilian deaths and improvement of Afghan army in terms of quality and quantity are on the top of our agenda," Defence Ministry spokesperson Gen. Zaher Azimi said.
Commander of Coalition Troops in Afghanistan General David Petraeus has described military gains "fragile and reversible".
"They want to regain these areas that were of such importance to them, but they will have to do it without owning those areas, needless to say. So, in some respects, as Secretary Gates has said, they will play an "away" game this year, rather than a "home" game as they have played in the past," Gen. Petraeus has said.
By the beginning of Afghan New Year President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... named a number of locations for the first phase of security handover this year.
Afghan cops, as planned, will start to take over security lead in a number of provinces and districts where there is little risk of Taliban attacks.
While emphasising that Afghan forces should be provided with modern equipment, Afghan army is preparing for the security handover.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2011 00:00 ||
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Where's the nearest cash machine? Buy Spiriva Online selected by the insurance carriers and their policyholders. This manual identifies the policies that are to be followed for adjudication Buy Spiriva the hearing, or the status of the case if the defendant has filed for appeal of the lower court decision.
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[Maghrebia] The crew of the Hannibal II arrived back in Tunisia on Tuesday (March 22nd) after being released by Somali pirates. A $2 million ransom was paid to free the sailors.
Their vessel was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on November 11th as it was heading towards Suez from Malaysia. The ship's 31 crew members, including 22 Tunisians, were released on March 17th.
"It was the worst time of our lives," ship captain Faouzi Fradi said. "We could have easily been killed if we did something rash or got involved in a fight with any of them. But we were quiet. I thought of my family and children and hoped to go home safe and my wish came true. Thank God, I am back and will see them again."
A unit of French Marines first had to find the ship, and later on, another unit had to ensure the ship's safety until it made it to Djibouti, explained Admiral Chedli Cherif, who was in charge of the negotiations with the Somali pirates. The Tunisian government also dispatched an aircraft with a military medical team to fly the crew home from Djibouti.
"We reached a solution nearly a month ago after long strenuous negotiations. Discussions were tough, because as time went by, their demands grew," Tunisian Transport Minister Yacine Ibrahim said.
That seems backward. Clearly none of them has read "The Ransom of Red Chief".
Negotiations reduced the ransom demand from $10 million to $4 million, according to the vessel's owner, Farid Abbas. "This is a standard practice among pirates. They always demand huge amounts of money at the start. It happened in several incidents before. We estimated the ransom at around $4 million," Abbas said.
As for how the ransom was handed over to the pirates, a Tunisian foreign ministry official explained that it was dropped aboard the Hannibal II by a helicopter.
Crew member Haitham Ka'loul told Magharebia, "We had to fast for days because the food was not enough. They gave us their leftovers which were mostly boiled rice and in some cases very little fish. We ate, slept and prayed at their commands.
"An' they didn't realize their compass pointed toward Rome instead of Mecca, neither!"
We were slaves at their beck and call and they kept a close eye on us. We were constantly held at gun point."
Aws Al-Khashini said they suffered the worst kind of treatment. "Human life is worthless to them. The only thing they care about is money. I don't think they are Mohammedans. Islam cannot have anything to do with those practices because ransoms are unlawful in Islam."
Muslims don't kill other Muslims either, or so we've been told.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2011 00:00 ||
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Libyan rebels have overcome Muammar al-Qaddafi's forces in strategic oil town of Ajdabiya, seizing control of the city Saturday.
Coalition warplanes struck Qaddafi's forces outside the strategic city of Ajdabiya Friday, the gateway to the rebel-held east, hitting an artillery battery and armored vehicles. Tiny Qatar also became the first Arab country to fly combat missions over Libya.
Pentagon officials say they considering more firepower and airborne surveillance systems to find and attack enemy troops in Libya. The proposed attacks would target forces loyal to Qaddafi, who still remain a threat to civilians in the area.
Among the weapons being eyed for use in Libya is the Air Force's AC-130 gunship, an imposing aircraft armed with cannons that shoot from the side doors with precision. Other possibilities are helicopters and drones that fly lower and slower and can spot more than fast-moving jet fighters. A good live fire range for A10s.
Yeah. Iran's got a bunch of innovative weapon systems built with "indigenous" talent. They never have proof of them, they just let us know they have them and that they will destroy us with them the moment we attack them. This must be something they gave to Libya.
[Arab News] NATO agreed has to take over part of the military operations against Libya -- enforcement of the no-fly zone -- after days of hard bargaining among its members. But attacks on the ground will continue to be run by the coalition led by the US , which has been anxious to give up the lead role.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who announced the NATO agreement late Thursday in Brussels, said the alliance operation would proceed in parallel with the bombing campaign carried out by coalition aircraft.
"At this moment there will still be a coalition operation and a NATO operation," Fogh Rasmussen said. "We are considering whether NATO should take on the broader responsibility in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution, but that decision has not been reached yet."
Makes me wonder if the Russians could have breached the Fulda Gap while the Euros were arguing about who would lead the response to stop them.
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton praised NATO for taking over the no-fly zone, even though the US had hoped the alliance would have agreed Thursday to take full control of the military operation that was authorized by the United Nations ... aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... , including the protection of Libyan civilians and supporting humanitarian aid efforts on the ground.
NATO expects to commence enforcement of the no-fly zone within 48-72 hours. The operation will be commanded from Naples, Italy, by Adm. Samuel J. Locklear. US warplanes will continue flying strike missions over Libya, the Pentagon said earlier Thursday.
NATO also agreed to launch military planning for a broader mandate, including a no-drive zone that would prevent Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy ... a proud Arab institution for 42 years ... 's armor and artillery from moving. The North Atlantic Council is scheduled to meet on Sunday to consider the plans.
"Without prejudging deliberations, I would expect a decision in coming days," Fogh Rasmussen said.
NATO'S top decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council, had been struggling for six days to reach an agreement on using its military command and control capability to coordinate the operation in Libya. The logjam appeared to have broken earlier Thursday when Turkey, which had sought assurances that the NATO operation would be limited, finally gave its assent. The alliance needs the approval of all 28 members to take such action.
Turkey's parliament authorized the government to participate in military operations in Libya, including the no-fly zone. Turkey is NATO's only Mohammedan member.
Before the approval of the mission, hundreds of people, including members of left-wing political parties, protested against the deployment outside Turkey's Parliament as well as the US Embassy, where protesters rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud against NATO and Stavridis' visit.
Separately, the 27 European Union heads of government, also in Brussels for a summit, issued a statement saying the EU stood ready to assist in building a new Libya "in cooperation with the United Nations, the vaporous Arab League, the African Union and others." In Rome, Italy's parliament approved the country's involvement in Libya with back-to-back votes in both houses. The lower Chamber of Deputies gave its approval on Thursday, a day after the Senate.
Italy has offered the coalition attacking military targets in Libya the use of seven military bases for its aircraft.
It has also made available eight of its own jets for use in missions. But it has been pushing for NATO to take over command of the operation.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy ...23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. Sarkozy is married to singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit... said the United Arab Emirates had committed 12 planes to the coalition.
Sarkozy said on Friday it was up to Libyans themselves to decide on the fate of leader Qadaffy.
"The future of Libya, the political choices of Libya, including what they decide to do with Muammar Qadaffy and his henchmen is the problem of the Libyans, it's not our problem," Sarkozy told a news briefing after talks between EU leaders in Brussels.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2011 00:00 ||
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So EUropeans fly high high waiting (mostly in vain) for Qadaffy planes, while Uncle Sucker attacks ground targets and gets blamed for "civilian" casualties.
#2
But, but, but..... the Kandahar red brick barracks and offices, koffee shops, British DFAC, Canadian hockey rink, Dutch and German PX's have not even been BUILT yet!!! Nor have the scores of NTV's arrived along with fuel points. Not to mention the stinking, vermin filled 100 man tents for the US and TCN contractors. How can this be?
#3
Besoeker, any sign yet of the Fighting 515th Belgian Heavy Barbers?
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/26/2011 13:00 Comments ||
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Whahaha.... no "Belgiam heavy barbers" just yet Dr. Steve. I have spotted a few 'broom in hand' Québec heavy curlers. I try to avoid KAF and stay down range, especially with the weather warming up. The infamous KAF "Poo Pond" is getting quite ripe. Seriously, we owe a debt of gratitude to the Albanian Special Forces, they fight!
[Ennahar] Members of Muammar Qadaffy's entourage are putting out feelers to seek a ceasefire or safe passage from Libya, according to U.S. and European officials and a businessman close to the Libyan leadership.
Messages seeking some kind of peaceful end to U.N.-backed military action or a safe exit for members of Qadaffy's entourage have been sent via intermediaries in Austria, Britain and La Belle France, said Roger Tamraz, a Middle Eastern businessman with long experience conducting deals with the Libyan regime.
Tamraz said Saif al-Islam Qadaffy, Muammar's eldest son, and Abdullah Senoussi, the Libyan leader's brother-in-law, were the most prominent Qadaffy entourage members involved in seeking ways to end the fighting.
A U.S. national security official, who asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive information, said that U.S. government agencies were aware that Saif al-Islam and Senoussi had been involved in making peace overtures.
The U.S. official, and a European government official who is also following Libyan events closely, said that U.S. and European governments were treating the purported outreach with caution, but not dismissing it out of hand.
PLAN "B"
"It's clear that some of Qadaffy's family members always have a plan B up their sleeve. That doesn't mean they'll leave and certain Qadaffys are probably going to stick with their crazy dad no matter what happens," the U.S. official said.
In an interview on Tuesday with a U.S. television network, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Edward Everett ... said she was aware that people close to Qadaffy had been trying to make contact.
"I'm not aware that he personally has reached out, but I do know that people allegedly on his behalf have been reaching out," Clinton told ABC America's Diane Sawyer.
"This is what we hear from so many sources...Today, yesterday, the day before. Some of it...is theater, some of it is kind of, shall we say, game-playing...But some of it, we think, is exploring, 'what are my options, where could I go, what could I do.' And we would encourage that," Clinton said.
The U.S. national security official added: "It's not at all surprising that members of the Qadaffy regime might be looking for ways out of this mess."
Tamraz, a financier and oil man who sold a chain of European gasoline refineries and retail stations to Libya's sovereign wealth fund three decades ago, claims strong connections in Libya and the Middle East.
The businessman indicated he had been in contact with people in the Middle East and Europe with knowledge of the Libyan overtures. Tamraz spoke to Rooters by telephone from the United Arab Emirates.
ANTI-GADDAFI SANCTIONS
During the last six months, Tamraz said, he had begun discussions with Libyan representatives to buy back the oil company, which operates under the Tamoil brand in Italy, Switzerland and Germany.
Tamoil's Swiss branch said earlier this month that it might be subject to anti-Qadaffy sanctions.
But later the company said it would not be affected by European Union or Swiss sanctions and that it no longer has ties to a former Tamoil director associated with the Libyan Investment Authority who is personally named in the EU's anti-Qadaffy sanctions order.
Tamraz told Rooters that some of the most aggressive efforts by members of Qadaffy's entourage to start dialogue were being channeled through Austria. A European government financial investigator said that Libya was believed to have extensive wealth and investments in Austria.
Tamraz said that he believed Saif al-Islam, Senoussi and other members of the Qadaffy entourage were proposing a ceasefire between government forces, rebels and the anti-Qadaffy Western alliance, or plans which would enable members of the Libyan leader's entourage to go into exile peacefully.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2011 00:00 ||
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No-one ever accused either of those assholes of being crazy, grom. Evil? Occasionally, but crazy, never. Not saying that Gaddafi actually is as crazy as he presents, but I'm generally inclined to take public figures at their behavioral word, as it were. Reagan was amiable, Bush the Younger goofily friendly, Mondale bureaucratically dull, Obama a narcissist, and Gaddafi acts like a crazy man.
You can deal with an evil man, because even the evil are capable of recognizing logic and self-interest. At least some significant sub-set of the crazy are incapable of recognizing self-interest and are at best passing acquaintances with logic.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
03/26/2011 10:30 Comments ||
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#4
Who's crazier: Qadaffy who managed to rule an Arab country i.e., a country of clinically certifiable sociopaths for 42 years, or people who think that a such a country can be a democracy and USA ally?
[Tolo News] The allied Arclight air strikes on Libya continued for the fifth night, with reports of military and civilian casualties.
The Libyan government forces have reportedly been able to contiue their attacks on Misrata despite the Arclight air attacks by the allies.
Canada has newly started taking part in the Arclight air strikes.
Yesterday, the British commander of air attacks over Libya claimed that Col Qadaffy's air force was no longer able to function as a fighting force.
A lound kaboom has also been heard in the capital Tripoli on Thursday.
While the state TV has shown pictures of civilians killed in the Arclight air strikes, the allies claim there have been no reports of any civilian casualties.
Libyan government have taken some journalists to a hospital in Tripoli to show bodies of a number of military and civilians killed in the strikes.
The US has said a no-fly zone has been establish over much of the coastal areas.
The bombardments so far are said not to have deterred President Qadaffy's forces from continuing their ground operations.
Though much focus is now put on Libya, the situation in some other Arab countries are also tense.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2011 00:00 ||
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The allied air "peace" strikes on Libya continued for the fifth night, with reports of military and civilian casualties.
#2
Better continue the sorties as fast as we can before Turkey realizes that it's more than just a no-fly zone and exercise their NATO political committee veto.
#4
Folks are getting a little too enamored of the "bombardments don't win battles" common wisdom. It's generally true, but if there's any spot on earth where it might be particularly or locally incorrect, the open Libyan coastal plains might be that place. People absorbed a lot of stupid ideas from Rommel's gavottes through the desert in WWII, because it was actually possible to play the sort of games he played in that specific theatre, and not anywhere else.
Mercenary armies are fragile, if you break them, the pieces will fly to the four corners of the world. Especially now that Obama mid-levelers are making noises about turning over Gaddafi's frozen funds to "the Libyan people". I couldn't believe I heard that yesterday on NPR. it doesn't even need to be true - just the threat is powerful.
How many of Gaddafi's troops are actual Libyan (presumably western tribal) nationals? Because the foreign mercenaries are ephemeral, aren't they?
Meanwhile, it looks like Syria's coming apart from the sheer drama of it all. Obama's refusal to permit a formal replay of Hama in Benghazi seems to be provoking the Syrian majority & other minorties into testing the standing Alawite threat of a second Hama bloodletting.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
03/26/2011 10:43 Comments ||
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#5
Gadaffy's biggest concern has to be holding his mercenary army together. They're the ones who stiffen the rest of his fighting forces. Problem is, mercenaries like to live to spend their money.
If we had a CIA worth anything, and one that could keep its mouth shut, I'd have that CIA working in every way possible to sow dissent and confusion amongst the mercenaries and the pool of potential mercenaries in sub-Saharan Africa. Chad, Zimbabwe, CAR, Zambia, wherever they're coming from, there should be all sorts of disinformation flowing right now. After all, while the mercs' don't necessarily know that air power alone can't win a war, they do know that an airplane can bomb them dead, dead, dead.
Remember boys, you can't spend your money if you're dead.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/26/2011 14:50 Comments ||
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#6
And if they weren't mercs they'd probably already be dead. Do not impose your Western perspective values upon those who've literally grown up in a very Darwinist system where death is treated as much of a natural aspect of existence as breathing. For many of them, as short as life may seem to us, being a merc is the best they're going to experience on this planet. Good, bad or indifferent that's what is. To take a line from an minor movie, "our cuts just got bigger" is just as valid a point from their view.
[Maghrebia] Days of attacks by Libyan government battalions left 40 people dead in Misrata, including 4 young brothers who died when a shell hit their car, a spokesperson for the opposition said on Thursday (March 24th). More than 70 people were maimed when government forces opened fire on a crowd of people in the mid-town area.
On Wednesday, coalition planes launched 2 air strikes on pro-regime forces assembled in a section of Misrata controlled by the rebels, a Misrata resident said. "Qadaffy's forces didn't fire any artillery shells after that," he added.
In Az Zawiyah, meanwhile, residents say that regime forces are "digging up graves and throwing the corpses into the sea". One man said that his son died 3 days ago but that he has been afraid to bury him. Qadaffy's battalions also attacked the city of Yfren in western Libya, killing 8 and arresting scores others. Gunfire was also reported in Gherian and al-Riaineh.
"From one hour to another, we hear news about the martyrdom of a hero here and another there, in Benghazi, Ajdabiya, Misrata, Az Zawiyah, Zintan, Zuwara, Brega, Ras Lanuf, Radjban, al-Bayda, Shahat, Darnah and Tobruk while taking part in the liberation battle," said a news hound who declined to give his name. The regime already threatened that journalists may be placed in durance vile for entering conflict zones without permits.
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03/26/2011 00:00 ||
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[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Qatar on Friday became the first Arab country to begin patrolling a UN-backed no-fly zone aimed at preventing Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy ... a proud Arab institution for 42 years ... 's forces from attacking civilians, the coalition task force said in a statement.
A Qatari Mirage 2000-5 jet joined a similar French air force plane to patrol a sector of Libyan air space, the statement said.
Qatar has deployed six Mirage 2000-5 warplanes and two C-17A transport aircraft to Europe to support the no-fly zone and deliver humanitarian assistance to Libyan civilians.
The United Arab Emirates announced on Thursday it would join the coalition, but it has not yet begun flying missions, the statement said.
Western warplanes continued bombing Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy's armor in eastern Libya on Friday to try to break a battlefield stalemate and help rebels take the strategic town of Ajdabiyah.
The African Union said it was planning to facilitate talks to help end war in the oil producing country. But NATO said its no-fly zone operation could last three months, and La Belle France cautioned the conflict would not end soon.
In Washington, a US military spokeswoman said the coalition fired 16 Tomahawk cruise missiles and flew 153 air sorties in the past 24 hours targeting Qadaffy's artillery, mechanized forces and command and control infrastructure.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2011 00:00 ||
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OTOH WAFF > UAE DEPLOYS 12 FIGHTER JETS IN SUPPORT OF NO-FLY ZONE OVER LIBYA.
and
* TOPIX - LIBYA CRISIS: RAF SMASHES GADDAFI'S TANKS [four] TO BREAK HIS GRIP ON KEY TOWN [Adjabiya]. The Frenchies struck at Muammar's support Arty.
* SAME > {Report]PRO-ASSAD ARMED IRANIANS CAPTURED IN [Deraa]SYRIA.
Armed, FARSI-speaking, "UNITS" OF MEN-IN-BLACK
[Not-Will-Smith's "Galaxy" = Caliphate? Defenders].
[Dawn] At least 114 people have been killed and 445 maimed in four days of coalition strikes on Libya, a health ministry official said on Friday.
"From March 20 to March 23, raids (by the coalition) killed 114 people and maimed 445 others," the official, Khaled Omar, told a news conference in the Libyan capital.
But he was not able to say how many civilian casualties and how many were from the armed forces.
Omar said 104 people were killed in Tripoli and the suburbs between Sunday and Wednesday, while 10 were killed in Sirte, the hometown of Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi, some 600 kilo metres (372 miles) south of the capital.
A government front man, giving a provisional toll, had said on Thursday that almost 100 "civilians" were killed in the coalition raids launched Saturday against Qadhafi's forces.
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03/26/2011 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Forces loyal to Libyan ruler Muammar Qadaffy have attacked the western city of Misratah, killing a mother and her four children, a witness says.
"The artillery shelling has been going on since Thursday night," the witness told AFP. "They are firing on everything that moves."
"A mother and her four children were killed," he said on Friday night.
This is while revolutionary forces are gearing up for a new attack on troops loyal to Qadaffy to win back the eastern city of Ajdabiyah, 150 km (90 miles) south of Benghazi.
Latest reports say US-led Western warplanes have struck Libyan ground forces for a seventh consecutive day near strategically-important towns.
The US and its Western allies have carried out a bombing campaign against Libya since the Security Council ratified the no-fly zone over the African state.
Libya says many civilians have been killed in the Arclight airstrikes.
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[Iran Press TV] Senior Libyan officials say the country's longtime ruler Muammar Qadaffy is ready to accept an African Union-mediated political solution to the unfolding crisis in the country.
"We are ready to implement the Road Map envisaged [by] the High-Level Committee mandated by the Peace and Security Council of the African Union," the Libyan delegation to AU talks said in a statement in Addis Ababa on Friday.
"They're kicking our asses! Get 'em off of us!"
This comes after the African leaders gathered in the Ethiopian capital to discuss the ongoing Libyan crisis.
Qadaffy had also dispatched a high-level delegation to join the African Union talks. The talks also included EU, UN and Arab League representatives.
"Damned Americans and French are actually serious! Don't let 'em kill us!"
It could not immediately be confirmed if representatives from the Benghazi-based National Libyan Council were present at the talks.
The council, headed by Libya's former Justice Minister Mustafa Abdel Jalil, plans to lead the country to an election.
Libya had a 'Justice' minister? What was he doing all these years before he turned on his master?
Jalil was among the first high-profile Libyan figures to join protesters following the Qadaffy regime's brutal crackdown on the opposition.
Latest reports say US-led Western warplanes have struck Libyan ground forces for a seventh consecutive day near strategically-important towns. The developments also come as revolutionary forces are gearing up for a new attack on troops loyal to Qadaffy to win back the eastern city of Adabiyah.
This article starring:
Mustafa Abdel Jalil
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AL-QAEDA'S offshoot in North Africa has snatched surface-to-air missiles from an arsenal in Libya during the civil strife there, Chad's President says.
Idriss Deby Itno did not say how many surface-to-air missiles were stolen, but told the African weekly Jeune Afrique that he was "100 per cent sure" of his assertion.
"The Islamists of al-Qaeda took advantage of the pillaging of arsenals in the rebel zone to acquire arms, including surface-to-air missiles, which were then smuggled into their sanctuaries in Tenere," a desert region of the Sahara that stretches from northeast Niger to western Chad, Deby said in the interview.
"This is very serious. AQIM is becoming a genuine army, the best equipped in the region," he said.
His claim was echoed by officials in other countries in the region who said that they were worried that al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) might have acquired "heavy weapons", thanks to the insurrection.
"We have sure information. We are very worried for the sub-region," a Malian security source who did not want to be named said.
AQIM originated as an armed Islamist resistance movement to the secular Algerian government.
It now operates mainly in Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Niger, where it has attacked military targets and taken civilian hostages, particularly Europeans, some of whom it has killed.
"We have the same information," about heavy weapons, including SAM 7 missiles, a military source from Niger said.
"It is very worrying. This overarming is a real danger for the whole zone," he added
"AQIM gets the weapons in two ways; people go and look for the arms in Libya to deliver them to AQIM in the Sahel, or AQIM elements go there themselves."
Elsewhere in the interview, Chad's president backed the assertion by his neighbour and erstwhile enemy Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi that the protests in Libya have been driven in part by al-Qaeda.
"There is a partial truth in what he says," Deby said.
"Up to what point? I don't know. But I am certain that AQIM took an active part in the uprising."
[Ennahar] President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, after serving as a lieutenant colonel in the army. He had been part of the conspiracy that bumped off his predecessor, Ibrahim al-Hamdi, in the usual tiresome military coup, and he has maintained power by keeping Yemen's many tribes fighting with each other, rather than uniting to string him up. ... said on Friday he was ready to cede power to stop more bloodshed in Yemen but only to what he called "safe hands" as tens of thousands rallied against him in "Day of Departure" protests.
Western countries are alarmed that al Qaeda snuffies entrenched in the Arabian Peninsula country could exploit any disorder arising from a messy transition of power if Saleh, a pivotal U.S. and Saudi ally fighting for his political life, finally steps down after 32 years in office.
"We don't want power, but we need to hand power over to safe hands, not to sick, resentful or corrupt hands," Saleh said in a rousing speech to supporters shown on state television as tens of thousands of his foes rallied elsewhere in the capital Sanaa.
Thousands of Saleh supporters in Sanaa were also out early on the streets for what they dubbed the "Friday of Tolerance", with banners saying, "No to chaos, yes to security and stability." Some were carrying guns and traditional Yemeni daggers, others were waving flags and playing patriotic songs.
"We are ready to leave power but only for safe hands," Saleh said. "We are against firing a single bullet and when we give concessions this is to ensure there is no bloodshed. We will remain steadfast and challenge them with all power we have."
Protesters encamped in their thousands outside Sanaa University for six weeks declared Friday a "Day of Departure" when they hoped to bring hundreds of thousands onto the streets in a further attempt to oust Saleh, a serial survivor of civil war, separatist movements and thug attacks.
Similar mass protests on March 18 left 52 people dead, apparently bumped off by plainclothes snipers. That bloodshed prompted a string of generals, diplomats and tribal leaders to abandon Saleh, severely weakening his position.
"The government cannot just shoot its way out of this crisis," Philip Luther, Amnesty's Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement. "Whether in uniform or in plainclothes, security forces must be immediately stopped from using live ammunition on unarmed protesters."
SALEH MEETS DISSIDENT TOP GENERAL
A source close to top general Ali Mohsen, who has thrown his weight behind the protesters, said he and Saleh had discussed a deal to resolve the crisis in which both men would quit their posts and go abroad, taking their sons and relatives with them.
"The deal is not signed yet. But we believe that Saleh backed out," the source told Rooters, adding that Mohsen was now reconsidering his stance although he remained open to the deal. He said the talks had taken place under U.S. auspices.
The Wall Street Journal had reported on Thursday the sides were close to a deal in which the two men would resign, bringing in a civilian transitional government.
A Saleh front man denied that report but said Saleh had held a meeting over the past 48 hours with the general. "Ali Mohsen clarified why he did what he did and requested assurances that nothing would happen against him," Ahmed al-Sufi said.
Saleh was defiant in a speech on Thursday, offering only an amnesty to defecting troops at a meeting with commanders.
Soldiers loyal to Mohsen fired in the air later on Friday to prevent a crowd of Saleh supporters from reaching the anti-government protest where tens of thousands were rallying.
Security was tight, as the army conducted five separate checks on people entering the zone on Friday morning.
Positions have hardened since last Friday's bloodshed.
"I came here to get rid of this butcher because he killed our comrades," said Abdullah Jabali, 33, a student, who said he did not believe Saleh's promises to stand down within a year.
Shortly before Saleh spoke, mosque preacher Tawhib al-Doba'i praised protesters for keeping up the pressure.
"You have achieved so much in Taghyeer (Change) Square. God's wisdom was that the people of Yemen should stay in the street for weeks, for dignity to take the place of humiliation," he told worshippers outside Sanaa University.
Saleh, who oversaw the 1990 unification of north and south Yemen and emerged victorious from a civil war four years later, has shown no signs publicly of being prepared to quit now.
He has offered a string of concessions, all rejected by opposition parties, including this week to hold presidential elections by January 2012. He has also warned military officers who have turned against him not to plot a coup.
ANTI-QAEDA BULWARK
Washington and Riyadh, Yemen's main financial backer, have long seen Saleh as a bulwark against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has tried to stage attacks beyond Yemeni soil since 2009 in both Soddy Arabia and United States.
"The chaos of a post-Saleh Yemen in which there is no managed transition may lead to conditions that could allow AQAP and other jihad boy elements to flourish," analyst Christopher Boucek wrote in the thug affairs periodical CTC Sentinel.
Yemen lies on key shipping routes and borders Soddy Arabia, the world's leading oil exporter. It has often seemed to be on the brink of disintegration: Northern Shi'ites often taken up arms against Saleh and southerners dream of a separate state.
With no clear successor to Saleh in line and conflicts gripping north and south Yemen, the country of 23 million faces the risk of a breakup, in addition to poverty, a water shortage, dwindling oil reserves and lack of central government control.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2011 00:00 ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] Bahrain has made a formal complaint to the Lebanese government over Shi'ite MohammedanHezbullies's offer of support to mainly Shi'ite protesters demanding reforms in the Sunni-ruled Gulf Arab kingdom.
Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said his country would not tolerate threats from what he termed a terrorist group and would consider lodging a complaint to "international sides" if Leb was not able to act.
The warning highlights growing tensions in the world's largest oil-exporting region between Sunni-ruled Arab countries and non-Arab Shi'ite power Iran, just across Gulf waters.
Bahrain has withdrawn top diplomats from Iran in protest over criticism of last week's crackdown on demonstrations.
"We did not take this decision without consulting the Gulf Cooperation Council," Khalifa told Al Arabiya television, referring to a six-member Gulf Arab economic and political bloc.
"When it gets to a situation where there is a conspiracy, that does not just affect Bahrain but several countries."
Bahrain has suspended flights to Leb and warned its nationals not to travel there after Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Iranian-backed guerrilla group, criticised Arab states for backing Bahrain's rulers while supporting the rebels in Libya.
Some Lebanese expatriates in Bahrain say they have not been allowed back into the country when returning from business trips or holidays. About 1,500 Lebanese live in Bahrain and the community has sought to distance itself from Nasrallah's speech.
In his televised speech, Nasrallah offered support to the protesters in Bahrain, but did not specify what kind of help.
"The terrorist threats we heard forced us to take this decision," he said. "There is training and organisation and some of those nabbed.... came from London via Beirut."
The comment apparently referred to Hassan Mushaimaa, leader of Bahraini opposition group Haq, who returned from exile in London on February 26 via Beirut.
After arriving back in Bahrain, Mushaimaa escalated what had hitherto been calls for a constitutional monarchy to demand the overthrow of the ruling Al Khalifa family. Mushaimaa was nabbed last week after Bahrain called in troops from fellow Sunni-ruled neighbours and drove protesters off the streets.
Hezbullies withdrew its politicians from Leb's parliament in January, toppling the government over its refusal to cut links with a tribunal over the liquidation of former premier Rafik al-Hariri.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2011 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Colombian security forces have killed 10 members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia FARC or FARC-EP, is either a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization or a narco mob based in Colombia. It claims to represent the rural poor in a struggle against Colombia's wealthier classes, and opposes United States influence in Colombia, neo-imperialism, monopolization of natural resources by multinational corporations, and the usual raft of complaints. It funds itself principally through ransom kidnappings, taxation of the drug trade, extortion, shakedowns, and donations. It has lately begun calling itself Bolivarian and is greatly admired by Venezuela's President-for-Life Chavez, who seemingly fantasizes about living in the woods and kidnapping people himself. He provides FARC with safe areas along the border. (FARC) in a military raid in the western province of Choco.
The armed forces also tossed in the clink four FARC guerillas in the early Thursday raid, according to the The Colombian Report.
They were able to locate a FARC base used by the guerrillas accused of extorting money from local businesses following two months of tracking in the pacific coast area.
The raid comes on the heels of an announcement on Monday that FARC commander "Jeronimo Galeano" was killed in the province of Huila.
Galeano was reportedly the head of 16 security rings charged with protecting the FARC supreme leader, "Alfonso Cano."
In February, FARC released six political hostages as part of a unilateral pledge to release high-profile captives.
FARC, Latin America's oldest krazed killer group, has been battling the Colombian government since 1964.
The leader and founder of the group, Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda, died of natural causes in 2008, dealing a huge blow to the rebels' morale.
The rebel organization is believed to have an estimated 8,000 fighters operating across a large swathe of the eastern jungles of the Andean nation.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2011 00:00 ||
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A total of 13 armed suspects died in a firefight with a detachment of the Mexican Army in Rio Brava, Tamaulipas, Wednesday afternoon, according to Mexican news reports.
Reports say the unit was moving from of Valle Hermoso to Reynosa, Tamaulipas when a suspect convoy carrying a number of men was observed near the Atizapan ejido (farm) travelling at a high rate of speed.
Failing to evade the army unit, suspects then fired on the unit.
The ensuing firefight last for several minutes and killed 13 armed suspects. One unidentified suspect was detained at the scene.
Soldiers seized seven vehicles, including one armored vehicle, 25 rifles, six pistols, two hand grenades, 173 weapons magazines, 6,687 rounds of ammunition, two Kevlar helmets and other materiel.
[Dawn] Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Näwaz Shärif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. said on Friday that suspects involved in the liquidation of Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto have been tossed in the calaboose, DawnNews reported.
Malik said that the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Pakistain People's Party will decide if the investigation report will be made public.
He said that while speaking to the media and added that the government had made a promise to the nation to arrest the culprits behind the liquidation of the former Prime Minister.
The interior minister said that they had all the information regarding where the killers came from, what car they used and where they stayed.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] A blast in Hashtnagr area of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar left 19 people critically injured and destroyed a vehicle as well as a rickshaw, DawnNews reported.
DSP Faqir Abad, Saleem Daad told the media that it was a minor blast but as the region was densely populated, a large number of people were affected.
He said that 50 to 60 grams of kaboom was used in the bomb which an unknown assailant threw near a vehicle at Hashtnagr chowk. Not only did the people inside the vehicle and a rickshaw get injured but also affected were passerbys.
The bomb disposal squad immediately reached on site and gathered evidence. The squad said that the kaboom used was of less intensity.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Eight people were killed and five maimed Friday when gunnies opened fire on two vehicles carrying Shia Mohammedans in Pakistain's Kurram tribal region in suspected sectarian violence, officials said.
The vehicles were ambushed in the Bagan town of Kurram district, near the Afghan border, and the victims "were all Shia Mohammedans", a security official said.
The area has a history of sectarian festivities between Pakistain's majority Sunni Mohammedans and minority Shias.
Local administration official Fazal Hussain told AFP the Shias in a three-vehicle caravan were heading from the northwestern city of Parachinar to Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... province.
"The attackers came in two vehicles. They opened fire and decamped, leaving eight people dead, including a woman and a child," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Meanwhile, over the border in Afghanistan, ...
* PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > US: THOUSANDS [5000] OF AFGHAN TALIBAN LAY DOWN ARMS [US-Afghan Govt. led "Reintegration" = Back-into-Govt-N-Society Program underway].
[Dawn] At least four people were killed in Bloody Karachi on Friday as incidents of murders continued in the city by unidentified gunnies, DawnNews reported.
The number of assassinations in the city has risen to 166 in the month of March, DawnNews reported.
A perforated carcass of a youth was recovered from under a bridge in the city's Karimabad area. The victim was identified as one Adnan.
In another incident, an unknown motorcyclist rubbed out one Abdul Sattar in the Liaquatabad area. Moreover, the body of an unidentified man was recovered from a playground in Landhi's sector 36-G.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2011 00:00 ||
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[Arab News] The Paleostinian Authority (PA) security forces on Thursday placed in durance vile two officials of Islamic Jihad in the West Bank city of Jenin in connection to Wednesday's bombing attack in Jerusalem.
The Islamic Jihad said in a press statement that the Paleostinian Preventive Service forces placed in durance vile its officials Khalid Jaradat and Tariq Qa'dan in Jenin. "The forces broke into the homes of Jaradat and Qa'dan placed in durance vile them, and evacuated them to unknown location for questioning."
The movement said that the arrest of the two officials is due to Israel's claims that its military wing, Al-Quds Brigades, is responsible for the attack in Jerusalem that left a British tourist dead and some forty injured.
Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, Islamic Jihad expressed support for the attack as Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... and his Prime Minister Salam Fayad condemned it.
In English, anyway. What they said in Arabic was no doubt quite different.
Fayad said in a statement that he "strongly condemns the terror attack in Jerusalem regardless of the identity of the perpetrators."
Referring to the possibility that Paleostinians were behind the attack, Fayyad said it would it be despicable if any Paleostinian party was involved, especially in light of the huge damage that such attacks have inflicted on the Paleostinians in the past."
The deposed Hamas government declared a state of emergency in the Gazoo Strip in anticipation of a massive Israeli military response to the bombing and the recent spate of rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israeli communities.
The Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot said that the Islamic Jihad in Gazoo ordered all its commanders to go into hiding for the next few days at least, for fear that the Israeli army will aim to assassinate group leaders in response to the attack.
The Israeli Army Radio quoted top Israeli officials as saying that it was decided to offer a firm yet measured response to the recent "terror wave", in the aims of avoiding escalation.
The report said that the Israeli national security council decided on moves that will aim to deter Paleostinian military groups from firing rockets and mortars on southern Israeli communities. The Israeli operations will not necessarily be carried out immediately, but rather, when the army identifies operational opportunities to act, the report said.
On Tuesday, Israel killed eight Paleostinians, half of them civilians, in two separate strikes in Gazoo City.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] Israel will deploy its "Iron Dome" multi-million-dollar missile defense system in southern Israel for the first time next week in the wake of rocket attacks from Gazoo, officials said Friday.
"I authorized the army to deploy in the next few days the first battery of "Iron Dome" for an operational trial," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said as he toured the tense Gazoo Strip border.
The order comes after a spate of rocket fire by GazooOrcs and similar vermin in recent days, some of them striking deep into Israel.
The deployment of the Iron Dome interceptor, designed to combat short-range rocket threats from the Gazoo Strip and Leb, has been delayed until now with officials saying operating crews needed more training and suggestions the system was prohibitively expensive.
The system, developed by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems with the help of US funding, is designed to intercept rockets and artillery shells fired from a range of between four and 70 kilometers.
Each battery comprises detection and tracking radar, state-of-the-art fire control software and three launchers, each with 20 interceptor missiles, military sources said.
However, The well-oiled However... Barak said the deployment would be experimental and partial and complete protection could take years.
"The complete acquisition of Iron Dome will take a number of years, dependent on suitable funding," he said.
Militants in Gazoo and those allied with Leb's Hezbullies militia have fired thousands of projectiles at Israel in the past.
The system will first be along the border of the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,-run Gazoo Strip, from where Orcs and similar vermin fired home-made rockets prompting Israel to launch a devastating 22-day offensive in December 2008.
It will then be deployed along the Lebanese border, from where HezbulliesOrcs and similar vermin fired some 4,000 rockets into northern Israel during a 2006 war. It was that experience which prompted the development of Iron Dome.
Israel believes Hezbullies now has an arsenal of some 40,000 rockets.
In May, US President Barack B.O. Obama asked Congress to give Israel $205 million to develop the system, on top of the $3 billion Israel receives from Washington.
Iron Dome will join the Arrow long-range ballistic missile defense system in an ambitious multi-layered program to protect Israeli cities from rockets and missiles fired from Leb, the Gazoo Strip, Syria and Iran.
A third system, known as David's Sling, it currently being developed with the aim of countering medium-range missiles.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
The estimated cost of the Tamir intercept missile is $35,000$50,000,[7] whereas a crudely manufactured Qassam rocket does not cost more than a few hundred dollars.
#3
Well, one option that suggests itself would be to buy a whole pile of cheap Qassams and make sure that there are ten outgoing for every one incoming. But you guys aren't permitted to do that kind of thing, I suppose.
Posted by: Matt ||
03/26/2011 8:51 Comments ||
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#4
The estimated cost of the Tamir intercept missile is $35,000$50,000...
You are leaving out the cost of damage inflicted, the terror created and the public relations value of annoying the Juice. Once you add those in, Iron Dome becomes a much better deal.
#5
Why not have both? A Tamir Interceptor accompanied by 10 Quassam.
"We fired 11 missles to defend our people from your unprovoked attack targeting our civilians. Too bad - so sad - that 10 of them missed and landed close to the launch site. Maybe you shouldn't attack our civilians..."
Unfortunately the Palieos (and lamestream media) probably still won't get that Cause->Effect relationship even if it's spelled out to them.
I think something gun-based might have given more bang for the buck. Say, something like the Centurion system, but with a slower-firing-rate, larger-caliber gun.
Or something with a high-power microwave pulse to detonate the warhead.
#9
The estimated cost of the Tamir intercept missile is $35,000--$50,000
What's the cost of a 105 mm howitzer shell?
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/26/2011 15:08 Comments ||
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#10
$50,000 is cheap if it saves a life, honestly. Weren't these things supposed to be deployed in November? Hopefully they get the bugs knocked out with the Kassams - that's mostly harassment fire, isn't it? The real game is when Hezbollah lets loose with the big rockets, and that might be any minute now with Baby Assad looking for any distraction in a storm.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
03/26/2011 16:58 Comments ||
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#11
Sure, Disproportionate Force is an ugly thing. The media, the UN, and Hamas told me. But it also works.
Build two or three of these things. Then put the word out, one inbound = one outbound. And since it's pretty primitive technology, we have no idea where they'll come down. Have a nice day...
Let's see how supportive of the bottle rocket boys the locals are when they pop off a couple and Mahmoud watches his block go up in smoke in retaliation.
#12
Pikers. Israel has MRLS, instead of 1 for 1, send back one full battery of fire on the launch site. Be sure to use the DPICM rockets too;) Or if you're feeling mean, FASCAM. Running away after firing your rockets at Israel isn't fun when they dump a minefield on you;)
Posted by: Silentbrick - Lost Drill Bit Division - Halliburton ||
03/26/2011 17:56 Comments ||
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#13
Several minutes of lag take place even with radar target acquisition.
#14
Its' a scale problem. Israel will run out of $50K missiles before Hamas or Hiz run out of cheap missiles.
The only way to stop the missiles is disproportionate counter fire.
I can see the point of anti-missile systems when the incoming might contain chem/bio/nuclear, but otherwise they are counter-productive IMO. Since it allows people to argue that Israel can solve the missile problem by spending a bucketfull of money. Ref the first sentence.
#15
Goody. Say, living in Israel has still got to be better than living in The Jewish Autonomous Oblast (Russian: Евре́йская автоно́мная о́бласть, Yevreyskaya avtonomnaya oblast; Yiddish: ייִדישע אווטאָנאָמע געגנט, yidishe avtonome gegnt[11]) is a federal subject of Russia (an autonomous oblast) situated in the Russian Far East. (Read: Siberian)
Soviet authorities established the autonomous oblast in 1934. It was the result of Joseph Stalin's nationality policy, which allowed for the Jews of the Soviet Union to receive a territory in which to pursue Yiddish cultural heritage within a socialist framework.[12] According to the 1939 population census, 17,695 Jews lived in the region (16% of the total population). The census of 1959, taken 6 years after Stalin's death, revealed that the Jewish population of the JAO declined to 14,269 persons.[13] As of 2002, 2,327 Jews were living in the JAO (1.2% of the total population), while ethnic Russians made up 90% of the JAO population..
And people wonder why my Russian Jewish Ancestry fled to greener pastures and converted. Nah, Siberia or Judaism? Ill take neither. Something with a temperate climate and nice people thank you very much.
Posted by: Fi ||
03/26/2011 21:57 Comments ||
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#16
Above: www.Wikipedia.com from 3/26/2011
L'Chayim, Comrade Stalin!
Oh Phuck no on that. Nobody is going to relegate me to some territory or region or religion and tell me what I can have and make me fight over it like a hobo over the last crust of bread. Israel ought to fluff their balls up and start blowing up anyone that is on their land. I cannot really respect anything less, since my folks went through deporations, death marches, friggin siberian winter. Grow some ball Israel, quit letting people steal what is yours and box you into some corner. The pity party is over!
Posted by: Fi ||
03/26/2011 22:11 Comments ||
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[Ma'an] A man died and 130 people were maimed on Friday as pro-reform protesters and government supporters clashed in Amman, prompting police to use water cannons to disperse them.
"Khairy Saad Jamil, 55, died today at the Prince Hamzeh Hospital" in Amman, a medical source told AFP without specifying the cause of death.
It was the first death since the outbreak of pro-reform protests in Jordan three months ago.
Another medical source said 130 people, including a policeman, were maimed in the festivities. "Two of them are at death's door," he said.
An AFP journalist at the scene said police used water cannons to break up festivities between students protesting to demand reforms and government supporters.
Anti-riot police also broke up a protest camp for the students and nabbed several of them, a security official told AFP.
The festivities erupted after around 200 government supporters hurled large stones at more than 2,000 young demonstrators from different movements, including the powerful Islamist opposition, urging regime reforms and more efforts to fight corruption, an AFP journalist reported.
Spots of blood marked the location of the demonstration next to Amman's Interior Circle, or Gamal Abdel Nasser Square.
On Thursday night, government supporters attacked the young protesters with stones, injuring at least 30 people.
The demonstrators had complained that "our gathering is peaceful, but this did not prevent the attacks".
"Does the king agree with such actions? We are Jordanians and we have the right to express ourselves," said Reda Darwish, 20.
At nightfall on Thursday, police attempted to disperse the youths, cutting off electricity to the square around 11:00 pm, an AFP journalist witnessed.
Protesters said around 50 "loyalists" attacked them with rocks after the power supply was lost, adding that police who surrounded the scene did not intervene.
"We hold the interior minister responsible for this incident and we call on the king and the people to protect us from these thugs who are attacking us," said Nihad Zuhair, another protester.
The students want corrupt officials to be put on trial and security services to stop interfering in their affairs.
"The revolution is happening all around us," they shouted. "Jordan, your turn is coming."
"We want constitutional amendments to have parliamentary governments," said Alaa Fazaa of the Jayeen (We are Coming) group, adding the protests would go on until their demands were met.
The protesters, including some expatriates, have created "committees" to clean up the location and provide food, water and beverages as well as medical care to each other.
"I am here today to express solidarity with the Jordanian people and back democracy and justice," Lise Olivarius, 25, of the ActionAid international charity, told AFP.
Since January, left-wing activists have joined forces with nationalists and the Islamist opposition in calling for far-reaching political reforms and an end to what they say is rampant corruption.
More than 200 supporters of the Islamist movement and other groups demonstrated after Friday midday prayers near the Israeli embassy to push reforms and mark the 43rd anniversary of the Battle of Karameh with Israel.
"The government and the regime should realise that time is not on their side and it is on the country's side," Said Diab, leader of the Jordanian Popular Unity Party, told AFP as the protesters called for the expulsion of Israel's ambassador to Amman.
Elsewhere, thousands gathered in Al-Hussein Gardens west of Amman to express loyalty and allegiance to the king, dancing to national songs and waving large national flags and pictures of the monarch.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] The armed wings of two Paleostinian factions claimed joint responsibility Thursday for firing Grad rockets at Ashkelon.
"The shelling was in response to Israel's escalations against our unarmed people,"
Because unarmed people have Grad rockets, which they shoot off at Jewish kindergartens. These people are clearly not rocket scientists.
a joint statement from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Paleostine ... a breakaway faction of the Pöpular Frönt för the Liberation of Paleostine. The are regarded as the most intellectual of Paleostinian fedayeen groups, smoking cheap cigarettes and drawing heavily on Marxist-Leninist theory to explain their crappy lives. They can occasionally be seen strutting through the streets of Paleostine, dressed up like soldiers and lugging firearms, though they seldom manage to hit anything and then usually by accident. This may be because of their habit of wearing black masks that cut off most of their vision. That would also explain their habit of occasionally walking into walls, which is a well-known attribute of those immersed in true understanding of the dialectic... 's National Resistance Brigades and Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds Brigades said. Islamic Jihad later denied that its armed wing took part in the attack.
The statement said that "we in the National Resistance Brigades and Al-Quds Brigades affirm that resistance is out path to gaining national rights."
At least two Grad rockets slammed into the port city of Ashdod and just north of it, police and the Israeli army said.
Medics said no one was injured in the strikes, which came a day after Gazoo's Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, rulers vowed to rein in recalcitrant cut-thoat groups who had vowed to hit ever-deeper into Israel.
Police front man Micky Rosenfeld confirmed that two Grad rockets had landed in Israel, saying: "One landed in the city and the other landed north of the city."
An army spokeswoman confirmed two Grads had hit Ashdod.
Earlier, security sources had told AFP one of the rockets landed in an area "just south of Rishon-le-Tzion" -- which is significantly further north, in an area around nine miles from Tel Aviv.
Officials in the area had "heard a loud blast" but it later transpired the blast was not caused by the second rocket, which had landed just north of Ashdod.
The rocket fire came a day after Islamic Jihad's military wing, the Al Quds Brigades, fired three Grads at Beersheva and Ashdod and vowed to fire more at cities deep inside Israel as it entered "a new phase" of resistance.
"The Al Quds Brigade has entered a new phase of bombing targets which are further away, where thousands of Israelis live," group front man Abu Ahmad told AFP.
Ashdod lies about 18 miles up the coast from Gazoo, while Rishon-Le-Tzion is located another 15 miles further north.
Grad rockets are understood to have a range of up to 30 miles.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2011 00:00 ||
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Protesters demanding reforms clashed with government supporters in the center of Jordan's capital on Friday, pelting each other stones until security forces charged in and beat protesters, killing one, as unrest intensified in this key U.S. ally.
The clashes, in which more than 100 were injured, were the most violent in more than two months of protests inspired by the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, and the death was the first of a protester since the unrest began.
[Ennahar] Protests spread across Syria Friday, challenging the rule of the Assad family after their forces killed dozens of demonstrators in the south.
In the southern city of Deraa, which has been in revolt for a week, gunfire and tear gas scattered a crowd of thousands after people lit a fire under a statue of late president Hafez al-Assad, whose son Bashar has ruled since his death in 2000.
Al Jizz aired comments by a man who said security forces had killed 20 people Friday in the nearby town of Sanamein.
In Hama, in the center of the country, where the elder Assad put down an Islamist revolt in 1982 at a cost of many thousands of lives, residents said people streamed through the streets after weekly prayers chanting "Freedom is ringing out!" -- a slogan heard in uprisings sweeping the rest of the Arab world.
The same chant had earlier marked funeral processions in Deraa for some of the at least 37 people killed Wednesday, when security agents attacked pro-democracy groups at a mosque. In all, 44 deaths have been reported in the past week in Deraa.
Security men, on alert across the country during weekly prayers at mosques, quickly stifled a small demonstration in the capital Damascus. They hauled away dozens among a crowd of some 200 who chanted their support for people of Deraa.
In Tel, near Damascus, about 1,000 people rallied and rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud calling relatives of Assad "thieves."
DERAA VIOLENCE
In Deraa itself, a bastion of the Sunni majority which resents the power and wealth amassed by the Alawite elite around Assad, a Rooters correspondent saw thousands rally unchallenged until the sound of heavy gunfire sent them running for cover.
Unrest in Deraa came to a head this week after police jugged more than a dozen schoolchildren for writing graffiti against the government. In Damascus, a couple of protests by a few dozen people shouting slogans were broken up last week.
Among the targets of the crowd's anger Friday was Maher al-Assad, a brother of the president and head of the Republican Guard, a special security force, and Rami Makhlouf, a cousin who runs big businesses and is accused by Washington of corruption.
Allied with Shi'ite, non-Arab Iran against the Western powers and neighboring Israel, Assad's Syria sits at the heart of a complex web of conflict in the Middle East.
His anti-Israel stance has protected him against some of the criticism aimed, for example, at Egypt's deposed leader Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... , who defended a peace treaty with the Jewish state.
Demonstrators in Deraa turned that hostility to Israel against the government Friday, highlighting the use of force against them and the failure of the Assads to take back the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in a 1967 war.
"Maher, you coward!" they chanted. "Send your troops to liberate the Golan!"
n Deraa, before the Friday midday prayers which are the high point of social interaction in much of the Arab world, a procession of cars coursed through the streets honking horns and raising pictures of the president. There were also pro-Assad congregations in other parts of the city.
Minarets in Deraa echoed throughout the morning with the calls of imams to the faithful to attend funerals of some of the civilians killed, most of them when security forces fired on demonstrators in the mainly Sunni Mohammedan city Wednesday.
A Facebook page called Syrian Revolution called on people to gather on the "Friday of Dignity" after prayers, "in all mosques, in all provinces, in the biggest squares."
Bashir al-Assad promised Thursday to look into granting Syrians greater freedoms in an attempt to defuse the outbreak of popular demands for political freedoms and an end to corruption.
He also pledged to look at ending an emergency law in place since 1963 and made an offer of large public pay rises.
Syrian security forces pulled out Thursday from the mosque where several people were killed. People later converged on the mosque to celebrate its "liberation," setting off fireworks and honking car horns.
POSSIBLE REFORMS
As an aide announced Assad would study a possible end to 48 years of emergency rule, a human rights ...which often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... group said a leading pro-democracy activist, Mazen Darwish, had been tossed in the clink.
On January 31, Assad had said there was no chance political upheavals then shaking Tunisia and Egypt would spread to Syria.
The Baath Party, which has ruled Syria tightly since a 1963 coup, would draft laws to provide for media freedoms, and look at allowing other political movements, Assad's aide said. The party would also seek to lift living standards.
Assad, who has strengthened Syria's ties with Iran, has come under criticism for his handling of the protests. The United States described the shootings of protesters as "brutal."
"For now, this remains a geographically isolated tragedy. But it also constitutes an ominous precedent with widespread popular resonance that could soon be repeated elsewhere," the International Crisis Group think-tank said.
Syrian authorities released all those tossed in the clink in the Deraa region since the protests erupted, an official statement said, without giving a figure.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that Syria should follow the example of Egypt, where the army held fire and helped the people overthrow the rule of Hosni Mubarak.
"I would say that what the Syrian government is confronting is in fact the same challenge that faces so many governments across the region, and that is the unmet political and economic grievances of their people," Gates said.
In Gay Paree, Syria's colonial ruler between the two world wars, the foreign ministry said: "La Belle France condemns in the strongest terms the violence of recent days that have led to the deaths of several dozen people and many injured."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
why aren't we actively fomenting revolt and covertly arming resisters in Syria? Radio Free Pencilneck.Must.Go
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/26/2011 12:07 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Its' worth recalling what happened in Hama.
Hama became a major source of opposition to the regime during the Sunni Islamist uprising that began in 1976. In Spring 1982, Government forces led by the president's brother, Rifaat al-Assad, quelled the revolt with very harsh means. Tanks and artillery shelled the neighbourhoods held by the insurgents indiscriminately, and government forces are alleged to have executed thousands of prisoners and civilian residents after subduing the revolt. This became known as the Hama massacre. In the clean-up operations after the end of the fighting, large districts of the city, including most of the Old City, were levelled by bulldozers and later rebuilt, permanently changing the face of the city. Deaths in the Hama massacre have been estimated to range between 25,000 to 30,000, with no reliable figures available. (Regime opponents, particularly the Syrian Human Rights Committee, put the figures at 30,000 to 40,000.)
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/26/2011 20:19 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Syria's Alawite leadership understands that the protesters are not non-violent; they're just disarmed. From Rubin Reports:
As for Syria, can anyone tell us why the Syrian army will stand by the regime? Okay, Iâll do it. Syria is run by the Alawite minority who simply arenât real Muslims but pretend to be Shia when that suits them. The Alawites know that a revolution would almost certainly produce an Islamist takeover and certainly a Sunni Muslim one. And such a regime would line a lot of the Alawites up against a wall andâ¦bang, bang, bang.
Thatâs a good incentive for shooting down unarmed demonstrators. Kill or be killed.
Why did Hafez Assad shell the town of Hama, home of the Ikhwan? Alawites would have been massacred if the Ikhwan had taken power. Better to be called a war criminal than be slaughtered at will like Iraq's Christians and Yazidis.
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