[Pak Daily Times] Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid 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... said on Wednesday he had given a "wish list" of military equipment to India during a visit this week, presenting a conundrum for New Delhi as it weighs whether arming the Afghan army is in its interests.
India wants to stabilise Afghanistan and is concerned about the resurgence of bad boy groups after foreign combat troops leave in 2014. But arming Afghanistan would alarm Pakistain. It takes issue with the influence of its old rival in Afghanistan. India does not want to get drawn into a proxy war with Pakistain, which has ties to the Taliban. India and Afghanistan signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2011 under which New Delhi agreed to assist in the training and equipping of Afghan cops.
India has trained Afghan security force personnel in its military academies, but it has provided little military equipment, according to Indian officials. India's Afghan strategy has centred on boosting its influence through economic reconstruction projects.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Pashtuk is synonym with Tally Ban...
Incredible that India would fall for this Pashtuk crap!
#2
India needs to pay for its own equipment wish list before thinking of anybody else's. The Chinese already outspend them 4 to 1, mainly because the Chinese economy is 4x the Indian one. No reason to make the gap any bigger.
[Al Ahram] Rights campaigners say NGOs in Egypt -- both local and foreign -- are destined to draconian constraints if new govt-drafted legislation is passed
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Prime Minister Ali Larayedh said on Thursday that Tunisia is making progress in its bid to dismantle "terrorist" cells despite the presence in the country of gangs and recent festivities with Islamists.
"There is progress in dismantling the terrorist networks. We are confronted by small groups who practice terrorism and have links to terrorist parties," Larayedh told a news conference.
"We will continue to pursue them and all people who practice violence or have links with the terrorists."
But Larayedh acknowledged that the hunt for an gang linked to al-Qaeda along the Algerian border, which began in late April, was still taking place.
"Our units continue their search operations at Mount Chaambi and there is nothing new about this," he said.
Larayedh declined to label as "terrorists" the Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia ...a north African Islamist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends... that has been linked with al-Qaeda and with which police clashed last week.
"This is an illegal organization, and some of its leaders are involved in terrorism," said the premier, a member of Tunisia's moderate Islamist party Ennahda.
"I have not yet said that Ansar al-Sharia is a terrorist organization... it must quickly issue a statement clearly condemning violence and terrorism," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Seven members of the Egyptian security forces kidnapped by Islamist snuffies in Sinai last week were freed on Wednesday and President Mohamed Morsi announced a new crackdown on lawlessness in the desert peninsula.
Their abduction underlined the threat posed by jihadists who became active in a security vacuum that opened up in the isolated Sinai after the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... . The state has struggled to restore order there since.
The snuffies have launched attacks on Israel and targets in North Sinai, where security problems have been exacerbated by a flow of weaponry smuggled from Libya. An Israeli defence official, speaking after the release of the seven, said it was vital that Egypt succeed in crushing terrorism.
"I call on everyone in Sinai who has weapons to turn them in. This nation is bigger than all of us and weapons can only be in the hands of the government," Morsi said after greeting the ex-hostages on their arrival at a military airport in Cairo.
"This is not a short-term operation that ends, and (the release of) our sons without a drop of blood being spilt is the first part of it," added Morsi, an Islamist elected last June who faced intense domestic pressure to resolve the crisis.
Security sources said the men - six coppers and an army border guard - were freed after talks mediated by Bedouin tribal leaders. They were released in an area south of Rafah, a town straddling the border with the Gazoo Strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2013 00:00 ||
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The convert, who discovered Mormonism while working with a Utah-based charity, developed a solid reputation after turning around his Muslim-majority town as mayor.
[An Nahar] Tehran on Thursday denied a Bahraini claim it had found an Iranian drone in the sea near Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , and urged Manama to refrain from making "baseless accusations", the ISNA news agency reported.
It cited an unnamed foreign ministry source as denying Bahrain's assertion that the downed aircraft was Iranian. "!, !! ∴ !!"
"Instead of making baseless claims, it would be better to respond to the legitimate demands of its people," the source said of the Shiite-majority kingdom across the Gulf that is ruled by a Sunni Mohammedan dynasty.
On Wednesday, Bahrain government spokeswoman Samira Rajab said the unmanned aircraft "was found in the sea in north Bahrain, mainly between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, two weeks ago".
"It has been proved that this is a drone used by Iran and could be linked to the Iranian spy cells discovered in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain," she added.
It was unclear if the aircraft had crashed into the sea or was brought down.
The U.S. navy's Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain, and the Islamic republic, Washington's arch-foe, has fleets of drones which it says can be used for attacks as well as for surveillance.
On Tuesday, Iran's main rival across the Gulf, Saudi Arabia, said its authorities have tossed in the calaboose ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... 10 more suspects in an alleged Iranian spy ring unveiled two months ago. Tehran has denied links to the cell.
Bahraini Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid al-Khalifa on Wednesday urged "further cooperation and collaboration between security services in the region and with friendly states to face these threats" by Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Of course not Iran"s - theirs are invisible and never fall down!
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/24/2013 9:43 Comments ||
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I'll believe it when I see something meaningful being done, but most of them suffer so much from Stockholm Muslim Syndrome that they will start attacking everyone except those they should be attacking. Gotta be all multicultural and anti-hate, don't ya know.
A fresh drive to prevent radicalisation of impressionable students on campus is being launched in which universities will be asked to draw up guidelines on how to handle preachers who have a track record of inciting hatred, at the end of a dramatic week that saw a soldier murdered in Woolwich in the first terror-related incident on mainland Britain since the 7 July 2005 bombings.
Universities UK, which represents higher education institutions, launched a new campaign in an attempt to show students, unions and academics what they can do to constrain controversial preachers.
Ministers are reluctant to reach for a barrage of new legislation in the wake of the terrorist murder of a soldier outside Woolwich barracks, but recognise they need to do more to revive Labour's stalled Prevent strategy, which was introduced by the previous government in an attempt to forestall young people becoming involved with extremist groups.
One of the suspects in Wednesday's murder of Lee Rigby, Michael Adebolajo, converted to Islam in 2003 and attended events of the now banned al-Muhajiroun group. But it is not clear that there was any university link.
The limited government response emerged on the day that the family of murdered soldier Lee Rigby fought back tears at an emotionally charged press conference describing their shock that a soldier who had served in Afghanistan was killed in broad daylight on the streets of London.
[An Nahar] Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... said on Thursday the brutal murder of a soldier by two suspected Islamists on a London street was an attack on Britannia and a betrayal of Islam. Britain and Islam are not the same thing. Yes, it was an attack on Britain. No, it was not a betrayal of Islam. It was part of the price of being colonized by Moslems.
"This was not just an attack on Britannia and on the British way of life. It was also a betrayal of Islam and of the Mohammedan communities who give so much to our country," he said. "Things like no-go areas, violence-prone cultural islands, and a continuing influx of new first cousins from Pakistain.
"There is nothing in Islam that justifies this truly dreadful act." Most of Salafism, on the other hand, does.
In a video taken shortly after Wednesday's brutal attack near a barracks in Woolwich, southeast London, one of the suspects says that "we swear by the almighty Allah we will never stop fighting unless you leave us alone" and demands British troops are brought back from "our lands". Good idea. And send every man with a beard and every woman in a sack back to "their lands," never to return.
Speaking outside his Downing Street office following a meeting with national security chiefs, Cameron said Britannia was "absolutely resolute in its stand against violent extremism and terror". Sounds like they're still resolutely ignoring what the Moslem population says regularly, and acts upon nearly as regularly.
"We will never give in to terror or terrorism in any of its forms," he said, adding that this view was shared by every community in Britannia. Nor, on the other hand, will they resist. That's not what Henry V would have stood for. And the first Queen Elizabeth would have had row upon row of the little suckers' heads dangling by their beards, with everything from the neck down someplace else.
"We will defeat violent extremism by standing together, by backing our police and security services and above all by challenging the poisonous narrative of extremism." "We certainly wouldn't meet violence with violence, would we? I mean, what would Winnie say?"
He added: "There is absolutely no justification for these acts and the fault for them lies solely and purely with the sickening individuals who carried out this appalling attack." Didn't Charles I say something like that shortly before having his head chopped off?
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Da PM DAVIDE' ...
versus
* TOPIX > [Russia Today] "WE BUILT FRANKENSTEIN MONSTERS, SPAWNED MILYUHNS [+ Dilyuhns + ...] OF RADICALIZED MUSLIMS" - MP GEORGE GALLOWAY, vee support + participation in the US-led GWOT around the World, espec in Muslim regions.
* SAME > LONDON TERROR SUSPECT A "SHY" CONVERT FROM CHRISTIANITY.
[POINTER SISTERS' "HE'S SO SHY" here].
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Guardian.UK] WOOLRICH ATTACK SUSPECT IDENTIFIED AS MICHAEL ADEBOLAJO.
British-born Nigerian whose Christian parents divorced, got himself into certain Police-Legal "troubles", + converted to Islam circa 10 years ago.
#2
Funny. Cameron, without ever opening the Coran or a "Life of Muhammad" knows more about them than highly religious musims who have studied them for years.
#12
Personally, I think British soldiers should go out in uniform - in pairs, and armed to the teeth.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
05/24/2013 12:06 Comments ||
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#13
Maybe we could swap him for Kirk Cameron. Can't be any worse, and at least appears to care about the future of civilization...
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/24/2013 12:38 Comments ||
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#14
Came in with JFM and EH2660; what does this kuffir know and not know about sloom? Convert or Jizya.
It should be remembered that back in the day France entered into an alliance with the Barbaries as an axis vs. Spain. The slooms were offered Marseille to port, approached as allies, and when they arrived they defiled the churches, sacked the town, set up no go areas, and were paid a treasure to leave taking slaves with them.
Lets see how dhimmi the Swedes will go in appeasing their yoofs
Reinforcements of specially trained police are being sent to Stockholm after five nights of unprecedented rioting in the capital's suburbs.
Police officers are being sent from the cities of Gothenburg and Malmo, both of which saw rioting in recent years, a spokesman told BBC News.
"They are trained and educated for the police tasks going on in Stockholm," Kjell Lindgren said.
Several schools and scores of cars have been burnt in Stockholm this week.
The nightly riots began on Sunday in the north-western suburb of Husby, a deprived, largely immigrant area. It is believed they were sparked by the death of a man nearly a week before, who was shot by police after he allegedly threatened to kill them with a machete.
The unrest has since spread around the city, with groups of youths stoning police and firefighters summoned to tackle arson attacks.
The rioting has raised questions about the success of the country's attempts to integrate foreign-born residents, who now make up some 15% of the population.
In Husby, more than 80% of the 12,000 or so inhabitants are from an immigrant background, and most are from Turkey, the Middle East and Somalia.
Community activists have accused the police of using racist language during the unrest and prosecutors are investigating complaints. Police have tried to calm the situation by speaking to community leaders, such as in mosques.
[Dawn]Declaring America at a "crossroads" in the fight against terrorism, President Barack Obama My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it... on Thursday revealed clearer guidelines for the use of deadly drone strikes, including more control by the US military, while leaving key details of the controversial program secret. Remember that scene in that first movie about Obama, where they were gonna bomb this factory whatever it was, and Michael Douglas didn't want to kill a whole lot of innocent people, so they changed the time on the strike and he still felt bad about the night watchman getting killed, and everybody was all goopy and wished we had that kind of humane-spirited president? (I think the president at the time was George H.W. Bush, who was way too bloody-minded for the humane-spirited among us.) You know, the kind of guy who would bomb a building rather than the activity that went on inside it. And then Bill Clinton did the same thing, because he'd seen the movie, and the Sudanese said he'd destroyed an aspirin factory and umpty-nine people were out of work because of it, and the guy that owned it was ruined financially, and the night watchman's family were howling for American blood. Nobody mentioned the movie where Michael Douglas played Barack Obama much after that.
The president also announced a renewed push to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba, including lifting a moratorium on prisoner transfers to Yemen.
However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... shutting the prison will still require help from Republicans reluctant to back Obama's call to move some detainees to US prisons and try them in civilian courts.
Obama framed his address as an attempt to redefine the nature and scope of terror threats facing the US, noting the weakening of al-Qaeda and the impending end of the US war in Afghanistan.
"Neither I, nor any president, can promise the total defeat of terror," Obama said in remarks at the National Defense University.
"What we can do, what we must do, is dismantle networks that pose a direct danger, and make it less likely for new groups to gain a foothold, all while maintaining the freedoms and ideals that we defend."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
So all the al Qaeda leaders have to in order to avoid being drone zapped is to keep somebody's child nearby. This will be a win-win (for al Qaeda). Either they dont get zapped, or al Qaeda can show the mangled corpse of the kid, and wail what heartless monsters we are.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
05/24/2013 9:03 Comments ||
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[Dawn] The Afghan government is reluctant to hand over Roohullah, the alleged murderer of the advocate general of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. High Court, to the Islamabad police, Dawn has learnt.
The Kabul police and its foreign office declared Roohullah an Afghan national a claim, which was contested by the investigating team.
The Sherlocks told them that he was Pak. Though his wife is an Afghan national, she also uses Pak documents, including CNIC and traveling (passport).
Besides, the Sherlocks also informed the Afghan authorities that the alleged killer was using the Afghan passport of his paternal cousin, Fazal Ahmad Khan, as both were identical. However, Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... the authorities response is awaited, the officers added.
"An Afghan parliamentarian is providing protection ever since he beat feet from District Headquarters Hospital Rawalpindi on July 29, 2012," they added.
The Sherlocks are still in touch with the Afghan police and keep informing them about the locations of the alleged killer during the last two months, which changed twice, but action is not taken against him yet, the officers said.
Although there is no extradition treaty between the two countries, the Sherlocks acted on the assurance of Afghan ambassador in Islamabad that his government would assist the police in arresting the alleged killer.
After the assurance, a team dashed to Afghanistan and met governor and police chief of Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province. Besides, it also met the senior officer of Afghan Foreign Office and representative of Interpol (international police) there.
The police team informed the location of the killer and also visited the area along with the local law enforces where Roohullah was hiding. The local police of the area -- a rural area located few kilometers away from Jalalabad -- was also gave guidelines over the action against the killer which led to his arrest.
In March, the alleged killer was hiding at a residence of an Afghan Senator from Kabul, located few kilometers away in a rural area near the city of Jalalabad.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] The MNA-elect from NA-47, Darra Adamkhel, Qaiser Jamal Afridi has said that Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) will approach the Taliban and security forces to reopen and rebuild educational institutions in tribal areas and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... He said that people of Federally Administered Tribal Areas, in particular, had suffered a lot during the ongoing wave of terrorism. He was speaking as chief guest at a gathering held at Khyber Union Hall of Islamia College, Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. , on Wednesday.
The young MNA-elect said that in the beginning his party leadership was not even willing to award him election ticket because of his young age, but PTI chief Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the brightest knife in the national drawer... trusted him and his people gifted him an unprecedented victory.
"I ran my campaign in the most dangerous area in just 23 days. My party will not let the nation down and will deliver. When I was the student of Islamia College, Peshawar, I had made a blood donation club and used to collect blood for the needy patients. I used to donate blood to even those patients whom I never knew. This was the spirit I got from this great seat of learning. I shall contribute a considerable amount to the Senior Alumni Association (SAA) annual fund in future," Mr Afridi recalled and pledged.
He said that the youth was an asset and the PTI had pinned high hopes on them to work for the betterment and development of the country.
He maintained that young people had risen for bringing about a remarkable change in the country and if he could not make it possible for his poor people he would not be part of any such setup in the power corridors.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] A writ petition was filed before the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. High Court on Wednesday against the statement of former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... that he would hold talks with the myrmidons, requesting the court to declare that no person could engage in negotiations with any private army.
The petition, filed by freelance journalist Shahid Orakzai, requested the court to declare that Mr Sharif's inclination to come to table with a private army belied his allegiance to Pakistain.
The petitioner stated that immediately after his party's election victory, Mr Sharif invited the Indian prime minister to attend his oath-taking ceremony and did so without the approval of the President of Pakistain who was to conduct the oath. He contended that the promotion of good neighbourly relations was not a higher constitutional priority than the preservation of Islamic ideology of Pakistain.
The petitioner requested the court to instruct the Election Commission of Pakistain (ECP) to inquire into Nawaz Sharif's relationship with the private army at war with Pakistain and give a ruling on his qualification to be elected as an MNA.
He has also requested the court to allow him interim relief by restraining the ECP from notifying the return of Mr Sharif or suspend such a notification until decision on this petition. The respondents in the case are Mian Nawaz Sharif and the ECP through its secretary.
The petitioner has raised several points asking whether any member of the National Assembly can review or revise any state policy without taking any oath under the Constitution. He questioned whether any member-elect of the National Assembly could assume control and command of the armed forces or dictate a ceasefire before assuming the office of prime minister. He asked whether any member-elect of the National Assembly could hold talks with a private army in contravention of Article 256 of the Constitution.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2013 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] A court on Wednesday refused bail to former military ruler Pervez Musharraf over the detention of judges during his 1999-2008 rule, the state prosecutor said.
The ruling came two days after a court granted bail to Musharraf over the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was killed in a gun and bomb attack in 2007. The retired general has been detained in his farmhouse on the edge of the capital Islamabad since April 19 on charges of conspiracy to murder Benazir and over the judges' detention case. "Judge of the anti-terrorism court rejected Pervez Musharraf's bail application after listening to defence and prosecution," public prosecutor Aamir Nadeem Tabish told AFP, adding that Musharraf can appeal to the high court.
Court official Mohammad Aslam Joya confirmed bail was refused in the case which relates to the sacking and detention of judges when Musharraf imposed emergency rule in 2007. In his arguments, Tabish added that judges and their family members had been detained in their homes for months, their children were not allowed to appear in examinations and that the charges against the former army strongman were of a serious nature, and therefore he should not be granted bail. He further said that the emergency imposed by Musharraf in the country on November 3, 2007 was detrimental not only to the judges but for the public at large.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
How long did it take for them to stop laughing?
[Pak Daily Times] Former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... law minister and Awami National Party leader Barrister Arshad Abdullah was nabbed You have the right to remain silent... moments after his pre-arrest bail application was rejected in Charsadda district. Arshad Abdullah was charged along with others with "attacking" a police checkpost to free his associate who was arrested with unlicensed weapon before the May 11 general polls in Charsadda district. Local police had lodged an FIR against the former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa law minister and 18 others who were accused of attacking the police checkpost in Utmanzai area on April 26 and freeing an associate who was apprehended by the security personnel at the checkpost for carrying an unlicensed weapon. "The former minister and his accomplice were arrested on the court premises and handed over to the city cop shoppe," police sources in Charsadda district, hometown of ANP President Asfandyar Wali Khan.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2013 00:00 ||
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Lebanon's President Michel Sleiman cautioned the Shiite terrorist group Hizbullah on Friday over its fighting alongside regime troops in neighboring Syria, AFP reported.
The resistance is more noble and more important than anything, and should not get bogged down in the sands of dissension, whether in Syria or Lebanon, he said in a statement, referring to Hizbullahs strong stance against Israel.
The statement comes after at least 75 fighters from Hizbullah were reported killed in Syria since first becoming involved in the war months ago.
A source close to the Shiite group told AFP on Thursday, There have been 57 killed and 18 others who have died of their wounds since the start of its (Hizbullahs) participation in the war in Syria.
The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) has held Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah personally responsible for the situation in the Syrian border town of Qusayr, as sectarian tension was on the rise in neighboring Lebanon.
We announced that Hassan Nasrallah will be held personally responsible for the current situation because he in person is meeting with all of [his fighters] before they head to Qusayr, FSA spokesperson Louay Almokdad told Al Arabiya.
We are today calling Nasrallah a killer of the Syrian people, he added.
On Sunday about 30 Hizbullah terrorists, including one senior commander, were killed in fierce fighting in Qusayr.
Hizbullah denied its involvement in Syria for some time, quietly burying terrorists killed in Syria.
The movement stopped hiding its dead when its leader Hassan Nasrallah paid homage to terrorists killed across the border on April 30.
Iranian authorities on Tuesday announced the approval of eight candidates who will be allowed to compete in the June 14 presidential election. The Guardian Council, which vetted the candidates, made sure that Irans next president will be a pliable servant of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The regime hopes to repair its sagging popular legitimacy and avoid a rerun of the disastrous 2009 presidential election, which provoked widespread protests against vote-rigging when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was awarded a second term. This time the authorities eliminated all candidates even remotely connected to the opposition Green Movement and approved only 8 of the almost 700 declared contenders.
Among those eliminated was former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a pillar of the 1979 revolution who had criticized the 2009 crackdown, and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a protégé of current President Ahmadinejad, who is barred from seeking a third term. Both candidates were considered threats to the power of hard-liners backed by Khamenei.
Six of the eight remaining presidential candidates are closely linked to the Supreme Leader. The frontrunner appears to be Saeed Jalili, a longtime adviser to Khamenei who now serves as Irans negotiator on the nuclear issue. Jalili is an uncompromising revolutionary who lost a leg in the IranIraq war. A western diplomat noted that Jalili specializes in monologuenot dialogue.
Other prominent hard-line candidates include Tehran Mayor Mohammad Qalibaf, former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, and former Revolutionary Guard commander Mohsen Rezai.
Two centrists were also allowed to run: Hassan Rowhani, an ally of Rafsanjani, and Mohammad Reza Aref, who served as vice president under former President Mohammad Khatami. Both of them will be sure to mute their criticism of the hard-line establishment candidates. After all, Mir Hossain Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, reformist candidates who protested the 2009 rigged elections, are still under house arrest.
Syria said it targeted an Israeli vehicle that crossed a ceasefire line into its territory earlier this week because it was heading toward a village with a large rebel presence.
In a letter to the U.N. Security Council circulated Friday, Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari said his country exercised its right to self-defense and would respond immediately to any other violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Syria accused Israel of violating the U.N. Charter and the separation of forces agreement that followed the 1973 Arab-Israeli war when it sent the vehicle into Syrian territory and launched two missiles on Tuesday. He said Syria expects the Security Council "to put an end to Israel's violations."
Israel said an Israeli jeep came under fire during an overnight patrol on its side of the cease-fire line in the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau which Israel captured from Syria in 1967 and later annexed. Syria has demanded its return.
Syria claimed it destroyed the vehicle, but Israel said the jeep suffered only minor damage and no one was hurt. Israel said it returned fire at the source and scored a "direct hit."
Hezbollah's deputy chief says the European Union would be making a "big mistake" to label the Lebanese Shiite militant group "terrorist."
Sheikh Naim Kassem told Al-Mayadeen TV Friday that such threats "do not concern" or worry the group. He did not elaborate.
France this week joined an EU push to declare the group a terrorist organization amid frustration with Hezbollah's support for Syria's military.
France's move could prove pivotal after Germany joined a British effort to name Hezbollah terrorist. The U.S. has long pressured Europe add Hezbollah to its terrorist list, which would hamper its operations in Europe.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said France will ask that the military branch of Hezbollah be considered as a terrorist organization.
[Ynet] Iranian Ambassador to Leb Ghazanfar Ruknabadi met with former Lebanese President Emile Lahoud to discuss the developments in the country and in Syria.
Asked about Iran's position regarding the possibility of an Israeli attack in Syria, Ruknabadi said: "We will not stand by should Syria find itself in any sort of trouble, particularly if it emanates from the Zionist enemy."
Y'all are getting low on spare boys to send across the mine fields carrying only plastic golden keys to open the gates of Paradise, your nuclear weapons aren't anywhere near ready yet, and you're sending ever greater numbers of IRG and Hizb'allah hard boys into the Syrian maw. Still, there are always the missiles stored under houses in southern Lebanon, the ones Israel pinpointed the location of a while ago.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/24/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
You may find that someone bigger opposes you as well.
[An Nahar] Germany's foreign intelligence service believes Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... 's forces have gained strength, revising its prediction from last year of a quick regime collapse, a media report said.
Assad's forces are now able to keep the rebels in check, although victory remains elusive, according to a report by the service chief Gerhard Schindler, news site Spiegel Online reported.
The assessment is a reversal from last year when the service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), pointed at a wave of desertions by regime troops and predicted the regime's fall by early 2013.
Schindler reportedly told top German security officials in the secret briefing that in recent months Assad's forces had rebuilt supply lines for weapons and for fuel for tanks and airforce jets.
Assad forces had also severed many supply and retreat routes of the divided rebel forces, which include Islamist bully boys, he said according to Spiegel Online.
On current trends, Syrian forces backed by Leb's Hizbullah could, after recent advances in Damascus, secure the entire south of Syria by the end of the year, he reportedly said.
Schindler also said that there was no clear chain of command between the Syrian opposition abroad and the rebel fighters on the ground, complicating the outlook for peace talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#2
Without foreign air support, the Libyan rebels would have lost. Unless NATO jumps in, the Syrian rebels are likely to be destroyed piecemeal. Assad's probably hoping a few million more Sunni refugees leave so the country becomes easier to control.
[An Nahar] Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... told a Tunisian delegation on Thursday he was determined to crush the rebellion against his regime and to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria, SANA news agency reported.
"Syria is determined to tackle terrorism and those who support it regionally and globally, and to find a political solution to the crisis," Assad was quoted as telling the delegation, the official agency said.
Damascus officials refer to rebels fighting Assad's rule as "terrorists".
Assad also said that the "Syrians appreciate the positions of Tunisian people and are aware that some Tunisians came to fight in Syria, but they represent only themselves."
Tunisian Foreign Minister Othmane Jarandi estimated 10 days ago that some 800 Tunisians were fighting alongside Salafist tough guys against the regime in strife-torn Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Ansar al-Sharia
#1
Of course he is opposed by terrorists. Is not every narcissistic, tin-plated dictator with delusions of God-hood?
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/24/2013 11:18 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] Syria's outgoing opposition chief published an initiative for his war-torn country on Thursday that would grant Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Scourge of Qusayr... a safe exit, and urged dissident factions to adopt his plan.
Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib published his initiative on Facebook, as the main National Coalition he headed until March gathered in Istanbul to choose a new leader and discuss a U.S.-Russian peace initiative dubbed Geneva 2.
Under Khatib's initiative, Assad would have 20 days from Thursday to give "his acceptance of a peaceful transition of authority".
After accepting, Assad would have one month to hand over power to either Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi or Vice President Faruq al-Sharaa, who would then govern Syria for a transitional period of 100 days.
As part of the transition Khatib envisages, Assad would "leave the country along with five hundred people whom he will select, along with their families and children, to any other country that may choose to host them".
This is the first time one of Syria's opposition chiefs has made an offer of political immunity to Assad and key members of his regime.
Khatib's proposal is an effort to pull Syria "out from the catastrophe that has struck our nation", said the former Omayyad mosque imam and controversial opposition figure on Facebook.
It is also "a practical response to the need of a political settlement ensuring a peaceful transition of authority", Khatib added.
"This initiative is a product of Syria and its goal is Syria," he said.
While calling on dissident groups to adopt the initiative "as a way out from the catastrophe that has struck our nation", Khatib also said the international community should "oversee it and ensure that it is implemented".
This would be accompanied by the release of all political prisoners in Syria, Khatib wrote.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[An Nahar] Al-Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... Movement leader MP Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. on Thursday warned against the "conspiracy" targeting the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , considering that the battles aim at diverting the attention from Hizbullah's participation in the Syrian war alongside Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... 's forces.
"The ongoing killing in Tripoli aims at providing a cover for the war of Hizbullah and the Syrian regime against (Syria's border town of) al-Qusayr," Hariri said in a released statement.
He added: "These battles, that are causing destruction and the fall of many victims, only serve in keeping Leb under the mercy of Hizbullah's arms, which is being distributed in Tripoli and in other cities."
"The killing machine plans to change Tripoli's national and Arab identities and to weaken its position in the political equation in Leb."
Hariri confirmed, however, that the Syrian regime's attempts "will not succeed in transforming Tripoli into a submissive city."
Addressing the residence of the northern city, Hariri urged them "not to confront arms with the use of arms".
"Illegal weapons that are used to serve foreign projects will never triumph over the people," he stressed.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
!,!! ∴ !!
[Pak Daily Times] Iran denied on Wednesday any link to members of a spying ring tossed in the slammer Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! by its Sunni Mohammedan regional rival Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , according to Iranian media.
Saudi state media reported on Tuesday that officials had detained 10 people accused of spying for Iran after arresting 18 people in the same case in March.
Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, accuses the Islamic Theocratic Republic of stirring up unrest among minority Saudi Shi'ites. Tehran rejects that charge and has repeatedly denied any involvement in espionage in Saudi Arabia. Iran Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Araqchi repeated that denial on Wednesday, in comments to the ISNA news agency. "We expect the Saudi government to pursue the issue through correct channels rather than creating an atmosphere through the media," Araqchi said, according to ISNA. Saudi officials said the 10 most recently tossed in the slammer Please don't kill me! included eight Saudis, a Turk and a Lebanese citizen. Those arrested in March included 16 Saudis and an Iranian.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
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.
David Cameron
Nawaz Sharif
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
