[Daily Beest] Attorney General Eric Holder says he'll send FBI agents into Nigeria to aid in the rescue of more than 200 Nigerian girls being held hostage by terror group Boko Haram. John Kerry also proclaimed his support, saying, "we will do everything possible to support the Nigerian government to return these young women to their homes." Earlier Monday, self-proclaimed Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said in a video that he will sell hundreds of kidnapped Nigerian girls. "I abducted your girls," he said. "I will sell them in the market, by Allah." Some of the girls have been reportedly sold as brides for as little as $12 in neighboring Chad and Cameroon. It's unclear if Nigeria will accept the offer of U.S. assistance. Checking American White Privilege, bringing Benghazi murderers to justice will have to wait.
Unless Nigeria refuses the help. Last I heard they'd rather have money.
#1
Not sure these are the right people for providing the right help in this case. Thinking something more like the Marines, with air support. Of course with the way Zero's been up-arming the various Federal agencies...
#4
Hate to break the news to ya Erica - the girls are gone for good. I doubt you'll ever see any of them again. Think MH370 or Korean ferry.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
05/06/2014 6:47 Comments ||
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#5
WTF?? Since when is the FBI a foreign policy arm? What juristictional issues does this raise?
Are they going to be empowered to shoot people? Will there be an agreement about the liability for dealing with complaints from citizens (see Iraq)?
SQUIRRELS!!!!!!!!!!!
Can I make my disgust with this regime any more evident?
#9
Apparently, the FBI, like the BLM, is overbudgeted and looking for expanded job duties to justify their allocation. Looks like a prime area to cut spending
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/06/2014 10:22 Comments ||
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#10
Champ's sense of an Imperial Presidency just grows and grows. Now the FBI is being sent to help find kidnapped foreign citizens in a foreign country with no nexus to US interests beyond making the President feel good and look good, and divert attention from real issues of his widespread failures in every aspect of governance. What arrogance!
#11
200 teen-aged girls. Folks, put aside your contempt for holder and Obama on this one. The FBI assists other nations all the time. We have resources the other nations don't. He needs to send DOD in with them and get help from the other agencies. We needed to send them last Thursday when they went missing.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/06/2014 11:24 Comments ||
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#12
If you can find the girls, how about finding the demons that perpetrated this (and other bad stuff) and KILL THEM ON THE SPOT.
Posted by: Barbara ||
05/06/2014 11:43 Comments ||
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#13
Rescue or Purchase? Given Fast & Furious and Benghazi one has to wonder....
Nevertheless rescuing them would be a good thing. Send the FBI to help rescue.... then send the Marines (Rules of Engagement: Kill the bad guys) to clean up.
#14
I'm with Airandee, heck the airfare and M&IE alone for the FBI Posse could run Detroit for a month. And then there is the make-up of the FBI force, do they send the FBI Posse on the left or one on the right? My bet the one on the left...really blend in in Nigeria.
Posted by: Throsh Scourge of the Veal Cutlets8031 ||
05/06/2014 12:24 Comments ||
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#15
What, you think the guys on the RIGHT photo blend in in Nigeria?
#17
Can't sell anything if nobody's willing to buy. Be interesting to follow the purchasers and kill them. Might be easier one on one, although the aggregate wouldn't likely be high. But pulling them out of a BH campsite before the orcs could kill them would be a hell of a feat for somebody as slick as Delta Force. Most likely impossible.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
05/06/2014 13:27 Comments ||
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#18
Recipe for success.
1. Identify the perps.
2. Locate their villages.
3. Kill everyone and everything in the village.
4. Burn village, plow ashes.
5. Salt ground.
6. Rinse and repeat as required.
#20
The make-up of the Posse is Sarcasm on my part, I doubt there are any personnel in The Bureau, who could blend in, in Nigeria. They would really have to 'Go Native'.
Posted by: Throsh Scourge of the Veal Cutlets8031 ||
05/06/2014 13:39 Comments ||
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#21
I'm sure Malia and Sacha are so proud of their daddy!
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/06/2014 13:42 Comments ||
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#22
We have been involved in this conflict against Boko Haram for some time now, so this FBI Cooperation is likely just another extension of U S Foriegn policy under the Obama administration.
Nigeria's former National Security Adviser, General Owoye Andrew Azazi, has been working with other African governments, European and Middle Eastern governments, and the U.S. government to build cooperation against Boko Haram. He met in 2010 with CIA Director Leon Panetta, and in 2011 with AFRICOM Commander General Ham, and other U.S. officials, and was in the United States when the congressional panel was preparing its report on Boko Haram. He participated in a CIA conference at about the same time. After the Christmas 2011 bombings carried out by Boko Haram, U.S. President Barack Obama's office issued a statement that confirmed that the U.S. and Nigeria were cooperating against the terrorist group
Posted by: Throsh Scourge of the Veal Cutlets8031 ||
05/06/2014 13:56 Comments ||
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#24
What I heard is Obama learned one of the captive's has a stash of gold and he's hoping to get it to solve some economic problems back home (with the DNC).
#26
Only if the feckless idiots in this administration don't blab about it to their Hollyweird friends, DV.
Particularly before the operation.
Posted by: Barbara ||
05/06/2014 15:26 Comments ||
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#27
Thanks for that backgrounder Veal Cutlets. I'm still curious as to the need for FBI involvement of non-US related criminal activity. I can understand the US Embassy Legal Attaché [LEGAT - FBI weenie] monitoring or providing investigatory or lab assistance, but beyond that, Bureau involvement would appear to be little more than 'mission creep.' What is the AFRICOM intelligence [CI/CT] section providing ?
#28
What is the AFRICOM intelligence [CI/CT] section providing ?
Circa February 4, 2013,The AFRICOM commander said, The intelligence capability of the US, on most occasions, is usually taken out of proportions and overrated. Despite our capabilities and technology, it took us more than 10 years to get bin Laden. The exercise took a huge amount of funds dedicated for that purpose.
So, the US intelligence is not automatic but we are working with the Nigerian authorities to curtail terrorist activities.
He added that the US had also been collaborating with the Nigerian military to stem the growing trend of maritime crimes like piracy, illegal bunkering and oil theft among others.
US assists Nigeria with intelligence.
Posted by: Throsh Scourge of the Veal Cutlets8031 ||
05/06/2014 16:43 Comments ||
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#29
Further information may be obtained via AFRICOM's website at http://www.africom.mil/.
Regards Y'all.
Posted by: Throsh Scourge of the Veal Cutlets8031 ||
05/06/2014 16:49 Comments ||
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#30
The AFRICOM commander said, �"The intelligence capability of the US, on most occasions, is usually taken out of proportions and overrated.
Still the best in the world, in my opinion.
Despite our capabilities and technology, it took us more than 10 years to get bin Laden. The exercise took a huge amount of funds dedicated for that purpose.
Or so we were led to believe. I'm a firm believer the attack on Abbottabad was a US/PAK collaborative effort.
Look, I want to help as much as anyone else. I'm horrified by this. But those girls were gone when a week passed. The best thing we can do is preventative measure's now. And THAT is something Obama just doesn't have the stomach for doing.
Posted by: Charles ||
05/06/2014 22:46 Comments ||
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#33
A real leader would also give the US AMBO to Mexico the nod to provide the Mexicans 24 hours to free that Marine, his truck and personal gear. Two Battalions of Marine volunteers conducting a vertical insertion of the prison might bring them to their senses.
[Daily Beest] KABUL, Afghanistan--The CIA is dismantling its frontline Afghan counterterrorist forces in south and east Afghanistan, leaving a security vacuum that U.S. commanders fear the Taliban and al Qaeda will fill--and leaving the Pakistan border open to a possible deluge of fighters and weapons.
"The CIA has started to end the contracts of some of those militias who were working for them," said Aimal Faizi, spokesman for outgoing Afghan President Hamid Karzai, a longtime critic of the CIA's Afghan operatives. "Some of them were in very important locations, so we deployed our troops there." Won't be a vacuum for long, they'll just pick up the first new contract availabler.
It must be heartbreaking for those involved, after all their effort.
#1
It's no longer about intelligence, it's about gun running and shaping political outcomes. But we didn't have to travel to the Afghanistan to know that.
#2
Arm all the friendlies to the teeth before Congress cuts off funding. With us out of the picture, might encourage them to take to war to the Pak NW Territories to give as much as they've received.
[Washington Post] Faced with rising public anger over a wave terror attacks, Kenya's deputy president appeared on Monday to blame the attacks on judges who have given bail to terror suspects.
William Ruto said that terror suspects Jamal Mohammed Awadh and Suleiman Mohammed Sayyed were free on bail and died Saturday while carrying out attacks on the Kenyan coast.
However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... the families of the two men deny the two were involved or had been charged earlier.
Ruto claimed 22 other suspects accused of terrorism are out on bail and roaming freely in the country. He also cited the case of Fuad Abubakar Maswab, who is believed to have fled to Somalia while out on $116,000 bail.
Fuad, along with two British citizens, is accused of planning attacks over Christmas and New Year's in 2011. One British suspect, Jermaine Grant, who has been remanded while his case is being heard, was found with explosives, Ruto said. The other British suspect, Samantha Lewthwaite, is still on the lam.
"We call on the judiciary to be a strong partner in the war against terror. We call on all players in the justice, law and order sector to stand with Kenyans. The Constitution provides a robust framework of civil liberties, which all Kenyans are meant to enjoy. The liberties must work for Kenyans, not against Kenyans," he said.
"We believe that there is more that the judiciary can do," Ruto said.
The families of Awadh and Sayyed held a presser Monday in the coastal city of Mombasa where they said they were victims of Saturday's blast at a bus stop.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2014 00:00 ||
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[MAGHAREBIA] The slaughter of nine soldiers by Ansar-al Sharia forces of Evil on Friday inaugurated another violent week-end in Benghazi.
The head of Benghazi's Joint Security Room (BJSR) on Saturday (May 3rd) narrowly escaped liquidation. Colonel Abdullah al-Saiti was returning from a funeral when shots were fired at his convoy on Venezia Street, Libya Herald reported.
Benghazi's security chief, Colonel Ramadan al-Wahaishi, reportedly resigned following the Friday battle with Ansar-al-Sharia fighters that left at least nine soldiers and coppers dead. Twenty-four others were maimed and four soldiers were reported missing.
The assailants were "armed brigades belonging to the so-called Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libya, Tunisia and Yemen, with the Libyan and Tunisian versions currently most active... and other terrorist groups", the interim government said in a statement read by front man Ahmad Amin. The government also "strongly condemned the blatant infringement conducted by these gangs".
"We will not hesitate to disallow the presence of terrorist or gangs or groups outside the legitimacy of the state and we do not accept the existence of a state within the state," the statement read.
Colonel Milad Zwei, front man for Saiqa Special Forces in Benghazi, described the attack as a terrorist operation. "The attack on the Security Directorate is an attack on the state itself," he asserted.
Colonel Mohammed Hijazi, former BJSR front man, said that what happened was "an attack by murderous Moslem entities on state institutions after the Criminal Investigations Department seized a car filled with ammunition and weapons belonging to Ansar al-Dhalam ['Supporters of Darkness', a reference to Ansar al-Sharia]".
"These murderous Moslem groups conducted a criminal attack on the headquarters of the CID of the directorate. Two members of Saiqa had their throats slit after being tortured," the front man said.
Hijazi added, "As long as murderous Moslem entities exist and use their weapons, the Libyan state will not exist. Libya will not have security and safety in the presence of these entities."
Car bombings and liquidations in Benghazi are now a routine occurrence. Just last Tuesday, a suicide kaboom left two soldiers dead and another two maimed.
For their part, the Saiqa Special Forces issued a statement reassuring the people of Benghazi, adding that they were prepared "for any emergency, armed with their faith in God and your trust in them".
Meanwhile on social networking sites, calls went out for Benghazi residents to rally in front of the February 17 Battalion to support the city's security forces.
Roueid Boughrara, a 25-year-old nurse, said, "Where is the compassion in killing people! Where is the compassion in bombings and laying traps! Where is the compassion in targeting humanity! Our religion protects the sanctity of blood, even birds and animals and cannot accept the killing of innocent people, whatever the reason and whatever the motives."
"Yet they are killing every day in the name of religion, which is innocent of them and their actions," she continued.
Zahra Cherif, a 33-year-old employee, asked, "Where are the people of the city that led the revolution and the entirety of Libya? Why can't the people of the city join forces with Saiqa to protect it? Are they satisfied with what is happening? Is this passivity weakness, or is the enemy stronger than Qadaffy?"
"In order for the caravan to move forward, no Brotherhood, no takfir and no Ansar al-Sharia," remarked Hassan Houni, an employee. "Of note, they are all al-Qaeda and against the army and the police. They are currently following the rule, my brother and I against my cousin, meaning they all think the same way."
"It is not enough to condemn bloodshed in general," commented Tariq Cherif, an accountant. "We must denounce explicitly the attack yesterday on the Benghazi Security Directorate and consider the attack to be an attempt to undermine the idea of the state and a threat to its security, and the attackers to be outlaws.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2014 00:00 ||
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[Beirut Daily Star] Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the former Egyptian general who deposed Islamist President Mohammad Morsi and is expected to win in presidential polls this month, has said there have been two attempts to kill him.
In his first interview since announcing his candidacy, Sisi told Egypt's privately owned CBC and ONTV television channels that there were "two attempts to assassinate me. I believe in fate. I am not afraid."
He did not say when the liquidation attempts took place.
Sisi is expected to easily win the May 26-27 presidential election. The only other candidate is leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, who came third in the 2012 election won by Morsi.
Since the army deposed Morsi last July, bully boyz have killed several hundred members of the security forces in bombings and shootings. The interior minister survived an attempt on his life in September.
The army-backed authorities have outlawed Morsi's Moslem Brüderbund, while thousands of the group's supporters have been nabbed ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... and hundreds killed.
Sisi said he decided to run because of the threats facing the nation after he removed Morsi.
Sisi's campaign is likely to largely be composed of TV and media interviews and private meetings, with few street appearances, mainly because of security concerns, given the fierce emotions surrounding his candidacy and the wave of bully boy attacks on the military and police.
The lack of street campaigning is unlikely to damage the 59-year-old, who has been riding a media frenzy lauding him as the savior of the country from the Moslem Brüderbund -- once Egypt's most powerful political force, but now all but crushed by a ferocious crackdown.After ousting Morsi after massive protests against the then-president, Sisi said he did not have political aspirations, and in Monday's interview he repeated the claim, saying: "I can't respect myself if I thought ... that I made a plan to seize power in Egypt. I wouldn't be respecting myself or the people."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2014 00:00 ||
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[Libya Herald] Libya ended up on Sunday night with two prime ministers after Abdullah Al-Thinni refused to recognise the legality of Ahmed Maetig's election by 121 members of Congress this afternoon and the First Deputy President of Congress, Ezzidden Al-Awami instructed him to remain in office.
In a letter to Thinni, published on the Prime Minister's website, Awami said that in the only session of Congress that was constitutionally legal, Maetig had gained 113 votes -- insufficient for him to become prime minister. Consequently, Thinni was to remain in post until such time as Congress voted for a new prime minister in accordance with the Constitutional Declaration of 2011.
"We only deal with formal letters sent to us from the GNC," the Prime Minister's front man, Ahmed Lamin told the Libya Herald. "The First Deputy [President of Congress] has sent us a formal letter saying that the election of Maetig did not reach the required number of 120 votes and that accordingly Thinni was to continue in office until the General National Congress issued a legal decision about appointing a new Prime Minister."
Awami had chaired the early session of Congress today that saw Maetig garner 113 votes. He then closed the proceeding. They were then reopened, illegally he claims, by the Second Deputy President, Saleh Makhzoum, and the second vote held in which Maerig gained 121 votes.
With Congress now split wide open and is likely to be held in even higher disdain than ever by the Libyan public.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Perhaps the duel PM solution is the key to success. At least one of them could potentially be happy, agreeable, and load-share. Obviously, a spiteful, bipolar golfer with a credibility deficit and a penchant for expensive foreign holidays is not the desired outcome.
[Beirut Daily Star] The Islamist murderous Moslem group Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... grabbed credit Monday for the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls in northeast Nigeria ... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border... last month and threatened to "sell them on the market," the French news agency AFP reported, citing a video.
Boko Haram on April 14 stormed an all-girl secondary school in the village of Chibok, in Borno state, then packed the teenagers, who had been taking exams, onto trucks and disappeared into a remote area along the border with Cameroon.
The brazenness and sheer brutality of the school attack shocked Nigerians, who have been growing accustomed to hearing about atrocities in an increasingly bloody 5-year-old Islamist insurgency in the north.
"I kidnapped your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah," Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said in the video, according to AFP, which is normally the first media outlet to get hold of Shekau's videos.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
"I kidnapped your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah," Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said in the video,...and the parents were agast by the next video
Posted by: Big and Company5526 ||
05/06/2014 1:15 Comments ||
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#2
Islam - which predates the Euros by centuries - in the long game of African slavery. Outrage from Lee, Oprah, the Revs in 8, 7, 6, ...oh, wait. Never mind.
[Egypt Independent] Sources close to the Moslem Brüderbund said that Qatar has started carrying out the Riyadh agreement which stipulates the country must expel the Brotherhood figures, adding that some of them has already left Doha.
The expelled members include Mahmoud Hussein, the group's secretary general, Gamal Heshmat and Bassem Khafagy.
The sources added that Qatari government is working on a list of wanted figures or others involved in activities against the gulf countries or Egypt to turn them in to Gulf Cooperation Council.
A meeting by Qatar with other member states at the Gulf Cooperation Council mid April had reportedly hashed out a solution or the GCC crisis which surfaced when 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 United Arab Emirates withdrew ambassadors from Doha early March, citing Qatar's intervention in their domestic affairs.
Qatar hosts a number of Saudi and Moslem Brüderbund activists opposed to their regimes at home. Qatari al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr channel is banned in Egypt and Saudi Arabia for materials critical of both regimes.
The recent meeting reportedly discussed requests by Saudis and the UAE to deport Moslem Brüderbund figures. Both kingdoms are allies with the Egyptian interim authorities that had ousted the Brotherhood regime last year.
An Algerian newspaper reported on Sunday that the country is mulling a proposal to host Islamic Preacher Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi ...crackpot Egyptian Islamist theologian. He is best known for his program Shariah and Life on Al Jazeera, with an estimated audience of 60 million kindred souls worldwide. He is also well-known for IslamOnline, which occasionally advocates things like slavery and thumping the old lady with a rod no thicker than an inch, and has published more than 120 books, including Islam: The Future Civilization. Joe has long had a prominent role within the intellectual leadership of the Moslem Brüderbund. Some of his views have been controversial in the West, though less so among the rubes of the Mysterious East, and he was refused entry to the United Kingdom in 2008. In 2004, 2,500 Muslim academics from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and from the Palestinian territories condemned Qaradawi, and accused him of giving Islam a bad name.... , head of the International Union of Mohammedan Scholars
The newspaper, which is close to decision-making circles in Algeria, said that the Algerian foreign minister was informed about the decision during his visit to gulf countries.
It added that it was intended that Qaradawi be hosted in Mauritania, Tunisia or Morocco. However, a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package... all were ruled out due to lack of guarantees of personal security to the sheikh.
The newspaper quoted an anonymous source as saying that Algeria will condition, in case of acceptance, that the sheikh does not intervene in any political activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2014 00:00 ||
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[Beirut Daily Star] French President Francois Hollande on Monday condemned "in the strongest terms the cowardly attack" in Sanaa, Yemen, that left one Frenchman dead and two others injured.
"In liaison with Yemen's authorities, the state will use all its powers to shine a light on circumstances of this odious act so that its authors are rapidly identified," said the president in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2014 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] The Awami League government apparently has managed to hush Hefajat-e-Islam ...a madrassa-based false nose and mustache of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, formed in 2010 to protest against secular education. In 2011 demonstrated violentyly against women's rights and in 2013 held large rallies demanding capital punishment of Shahbag Square protesters and banning women working outside the home... which only a year ago literary declared war against the Hasina government for "backing atheist bloggers" of Gonojagoron Mancha, a youth platform to lead the Shahbagh movement.
The Qawmi madrasa-based organization last month announced that it has no enmity with Awami League or Chhatra League ... the student wing of the Bangla Awami League ... or Jubo League ... the youth wing of the Bangla Awami League... . This change in attitude, according to Hefajat insiders, owes much to various advantages offered by the government.
Besides, the coincidence between the split of Gonojagoron Mancha and the Hefajat's new stance gives the impression to many, including Shahbagh movement activists, that the government has withdrawn its support from the Mancha to please the Islamist group.
While talking to The Daily Star yesterday, a number of Hefajat leaders in Dhaka admitted that they believe the Hefajat has become "bankrupt" at present by receiving undue benefits from the Awami League government.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2014 00:00 ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] The chief of Qawmi madrasa-based Hefajat-e-Islam ...a madrassa-based false nose and mustache of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, formed in 2010 to protest against secular education. In 2011 demonstrated violentyly against women's rights and in 2013 held large rallies demanding capital punishment of Shahbag Square protesters and banning women working outside the home... , Shah Ahmed Shafi, yesterday said the people of Awami League had always been with them and donating in their madrasas.
"So why should we castigate them? We are not criticising [Awami League chief] the loathesome Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums.. or her government," he said while addressing an Islamic conference at the Hathazari Madrasa premises.
Also principal of the madrasa, Shafi said they were against the atheists who could not live in the country.
The programme was organised to mark the May 5, the day of crackdown by law enforcement agencies on Hefazat men at Shapla Chattar in the capital. Hefazat Nayeb-e-Ameer Mohibullah Babunagari chaired the meeting.
One of the key demands of Hefazat's 13-point charter is passing an anti-blasphemy law to give death penalty for demeaning Islam and the Prophet.
Regarding the incident of Shapla Chattar, Shafi said they had done nothing wrong on that day.
The allegation of torching the Qur'an in front of the Baitul Mukarram mosque was merely propaganda against them. "We went there to save the Qur'an. Why should we set the holy book on fire?"
Hefazat Secretary General Junaid Babunagari and other top leaders of the platform addressed the conference.
Babunagari claimed that thousands of people had been killed by the RAB and police on the night during the crackdown. He said they had gone to Shapla Chattar neither for ousting the government nor for conquering the Secretariat.
"We went there demanding implementation of our 13-point demands," he said adding that the demands were not contradictory with the constitution or the independence and illusory sovereignty of the country.
Other factions of Hefazat held separate programmes in the capital's Baridhara and Kamrangirchar yesterday to mark the day.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2014 00:00 ||
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[Dhaka Tribune] Bangladesh Chhatra League ... the student wing of the Bangla Awami League ... leaders beating students suspected of being Islami Chhatra Shibir ... the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh... activists has become somewhat commonplace at Dhaka University. Assaults on such students are said to stem from the feeling that the Jamaat's student wing should be banned.
Several media reports say Chhatra League activists have beaten over 100 DU students in the last one and a half years suspecting them to be Shibir activists. Many of them received serious injuries in the attacks but were later found to not be involved with Shibir.
In most of the cases, Chhatra League men attacked to avenge personal feuds with friends, juniors or even seniors and using the Shibir tag was just a trick.
In the wake of the assaults, general students at the university are fearful that they may also be labelled as Shibir and be subjected to attacks at any time.
A month ago, Shazidur Rahman, a second-year student of the Peace and Conflict Studies Department, was ejected from his dormitory and handed over to the police by Chhatra League leaders, alleging that he was linked with Shibir. However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... Shazidur, also the Secretary of Information and Research Affairs of the DU FR hall Chhatra League unit, said he had a conflict with one of his big shots which is why the allegation of involvement with Shibir was brought against him.
Chhatra League activists of the DU Zahurul Haq hall unit yesterday brutally beat up two students of the Islamic Studies Department, suspecting their involvement with Shibir. The beating took place in front of the DU Arts Faculty at around 2pm.
The two were Masum Billah and Ahmadullah Siddique who had obtained their master's degrees lately and came to the department to attend a farewell programme. Chhatra League men began beating the duo with wooden and bamboo sticks in front of hundreds of students when they were leaving the campus after the programme.
At one stage, three professors came forward to save the victims but the attackers did not pay heed to the professors' call and pushed them back, causing one of them to fall to the ground.
University Proctor Amzad Ali arrived at the scene shortly but could not pacify the attackers either.
Masum Billah was in a critical condition when the Chhatra League men left. He and Ahmadullah were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital immediately.
Their classmates said the two got into a quarrel with some of their friends over publishing a souvenir a few days back. The department's Chairman later settled the dispute.
Students of the Islamic Studies Department, who were present during the beating, said neither Masum nor Ahmadullah had any involvement with Shibir.
"We could not exactly recognize the attackers who beat Masum and Ahmadullah but learned that they were Chhatra League activists of the Zahurul Haq hall unit," said one of their classmates preferring anonymity.
Professor Dr Mohammad Shamsul Alam of the department said the beating was not sparked by any political clash.
"Personal conflict could be behind this," he said.
Proctor Amzad Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune neither of the two students had any political involvement.
"It might have stemmed from a previous enmity. If we found their involvement with Shibir, we would have handed them over to the police," he said.
The proctor said the victims were told to submit a written complaint against the attackers. He also assured them of action against the offenders.
Chhatra League Zahurul Haq hall unit President Rifat Rahman, however, denied the allegation of beating made against his organization's activists.
He said the Chhatra League activists did not beat the two.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
[Pak Daily Times] The once violence-inflicted Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency has now been cleared of terrorists, local media quoted officials as saying, on Sunday. According to security sources, the internally displaced persons of Tirah Valley will now start returning to their native areas from May 7. The immigration will take place in four different phases. The victims will return home after a gap of three years, sources said. The entire process of return of IDPs will be completed by June 5. Security sources said that the affected people will be provided six months of ration, free-of-charge.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Pak Daily Times] Member of the Taliban negotiating committee Yousuf Shah Saturday said the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) has given a list of 765 'non-combatant' prisoners they want to be released.
Talking to the media at local airport, he said dialogue was the only solution to the problem. However, Switzerland makes more than cheese... he said, there were some obstacles which needed to be removed for the success of the grinding of the peace processor. He said those who were opposing the dialogue did not want peace in the country.
"What was the outcome of engaging the war machine in those areas for the last 12 years? None of the tribal region was cleared ever," he said.
He urged both Taliban and the government to reconsider a ceasefire.
To a question, he said both sides would present their demands which would be discussed during talks.
About kidnapped Syed Ali Haider Gilani, he said former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... had visited Akora Khattak for help and they had tried their best to find a clue to Ali Haider Gilani but to no avail.
Yousuf also advocated dialogue with estranged Baloch people.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shattered spaceship, Fffflirgoll the Arcturan slithered stealthily toward the control room, where the humans had barricaded themselves... Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... leader and member Taliban negotiating committee Professor Ibrahim once again expressed his reservations over the progress in government-Taliban dialogue process.
Talking to a private TV channel, Ibrahim said that the committee was trying to take the process ahead despite several difficulties.
To a question about the dissolution of government committee, he said government has the authority to take any decision about its committee. He said that the committee is constantly in contact with the Taliban leadership to decide about the venue and time for the next meeting.
Ibrahim said it was necessary to remove reservations of both sides so that the dialogue process moves ahead.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Pakistani passport is one of the worst to travel with, a new report by the Visa Restriction Index has revealed. The report, prepared by the Henley & Partners, ranked Pakistan at 91st along with Somalia, followed by Iraq and Afghanistan at 92 and 93 respectively.
The forged passports, of course, don't have these problems...
According to the Express Tribune, the index ranks countries according to the travel freedom their citizens benefit from. Pakistan citizens enjoy visa-free access to only 32 destinations out of a total of 218 countries.
The survey found that the United Kingdom, Sweden and Finland top the index, as their passport holders enjoy hassle free travel to 173 countries, the report said. The United States is ranked at second position along with Denmark, Germany and Luxembourg with visa free access to 172 destinations.
India is ranked at 74 with easy access to 52 countries, while Bangladesh is ranked at 85 with visafree access to 41 destinations.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/06/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under:
#1
We have British born Pakis/Somalians who like Jihad.This must be a headache for security services.
#2
The name is Joel Cairo you don't believe me it's the same tie! I'm sure Mr Cairo has one from each country. The Great Lileks has the screen shot. http://www.lileks.com/bw/noir/falcon/3b.jpg
[Ynet] The interior ministry in Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,-ruled Gazoo said it freed six prisoners from rival party Fatah on Monday as part of a Paleostinian unity pact the Islamist Hamas signed with Fatah two weeks ago.
The move came as Paleostinian president and Fatah leader the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... met exiled Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal in the Qatari capital Doha, for their first talks since the groups agreed to soon form a unity government and hold elections.
Hamassaid the men had been serving sentences for "security offences". Fatah officials say over 40 of their members remain in Gazoo jails. (Rooters)
[FreeBeacon] The Iranian and Chinese defense ministers held high-level talks Monday in a bid to expand the military relationship between Tehran and Beijing, according to reports in China and Iran's state-run media organs. blahblahblah, wishful thinking about Israel, etc...
"Given Iran and China's common views over many important political, security, regional, and international issues, Beijing assumes Tehran as its strategic partner," Wanquan said according to Fars.
China is already Iran's third largest buyer of crude oil and traded about $45 billion worth of goods with Tehran last year.
"China-Iran relations have maintained a positive and steady momentum of growth," Wanquan said according to China's Xinhua news agency. "High-level contacts have been frequent between the two countries, while the bilateral political mutual trust has deepened continuously."
"In recent years, the exchange of visits between army groups of the two militaries has increased, and special exchanges and cooperation in personnel training have continued to expand," Wanquan was quoted as saying. "It is believed that with the joint efforts by the two sides, friendly relations between the two countries and militaries will definitely develop further."
China also has been accused of participating in an illicit scheme to skirt economic sanctions on Iran.
Closer ties between Iran and China could also complicate Western efforts to scale back Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
As a member of the P5+1 negotiating team, China could potentially stand in the way of efforts to pressure Tehran into making concrete concessions on the nuclear front.
The relationship could also be a boon for the Iranian military, which has been building more advanced drones, missiles, and warships.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain ||
05/06/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[Beirut Daily Star] Lebanese security services are following up on information suggesting that Nusra Front cells have resumed activity and planned more terrorist attacks in Leb, security sources told The Daily Star Monday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said the security services received information that a Paleostinian identified by his initials T.M.T. was recruiting members for the cells with the aim of carrying out terrorist attacks.
The sources said the man had been a bigwig of Fatah al-Islam A Syrian-incubated al-Qaeda work-alike that they think can be turned off if no longer needed to keep the Lebanon pot stirred. in Leb in the past and is currently among the most prominent members of Al-Qaeda in Leb.
The Paleostinian suspect is in constant contact with Al-Qaeda officials in Syria, Pakistain and Iraq via the Internet, the source said.
The source said the security services were monitoring the movement of these cells, headed by Ghazi A., 31, a Lebanese man from the northern region of Wadi Khaled.
The sources added that Ghazi often goes to the Bekaa Valley town of Arsal, where he coordinates with Abdel-Mohsen H., a Lebanese explosives expert.
Abdel-Mohsen also trains fundamentalists about various ways of using boom belts, they said.
According to the information, T.M.T. recently distributed CDs to members of fundamentalist organizations in the Paleostinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh on the outskirts of Sidon and in some Beirut neighborhoods, containing instructions on how to rig cars and cycle of violences.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Nusra
[Beirut Daily Star] The B.O. regime gave approval Monday for the Syrian opposition to open a formal diplomatic mission in Washington, on the first day of a visit to the American capital by National Coalition leader Ahmad Jarba.
The move came as an anticipated deal to see rebels exit the Old City of Homs was pushed back by another day due to logistical details, according to the governor of the province.
The steps announced by the State Department to upgrade the status of the coalition, which had been represented by an informal liaison office, and increase nonlethal assistance to the opposition by $27 million.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
He will meet U.S. officials to discuss the supply of sophisticated weapons to the FSA to enable it to change the balance on the ground, his office said.
Just the other day Obama said Vlad needed to respect the sovereignty of Ukraine and collar his rabble prior to the upcoming elections. Meanwhile, Kerrys folks say the Syrian election will be a sham and Jarba is jetting to his new digs in DC to have pow-wow about heavy metal shipments. Is it just me or is that a whiff of irony in the air
Concerns are growing among Western intelligence services that Syria still has a significant and undeclared arsenal of chemical weapons, including crude chlorine-filled bombs, secret stockpiles of sophisticated nerve gasses or their componentsâand the scientific know-how to rebuild a larger-scale, higher-grade chemical weapons effort once the Bashar al-Assad regime has escaped the international spotlight. But itâs not the only worry. Within the U.S. intelligence community, thereâs also lingering unease about the Assad regimeâs biological weapons program that has never been the focus of international inspections and that American officials confess they just donât have the resources to track down.
Such allegations inevitably evoke comparisons with the bogus intelligence used to justify the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. There is the critical difference that in this case the U.S. administration is not looking for a pretext to go to war. Indeed, far from it. But the issue of remaining Syrian WMD raises the question once again of whether the United States regards these weapons as a âred lineâ justifying armed intervention or not.
Washingtonâs relations with Moscow, severely strained by the Ukraine crisis, are another complicating factor. Russia played a key role in brokering the deal that was supposed to eliminate Assadâs chemical weapons capability once and for all, and helped avert an American bombing campaign last fall.
But some of the biggest concerns in the American intelligence community arenât about what individual chemicals or germs that the Assad regime might have squirreled away. Theyâre about Syriaâs biologists, chemists and engineersâthe people who helped build up Assadâs massive unconventional weapons program, and could do so again, given the proper resources and time.
Posted by: Pappy ||
05/06/2014 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Of course PencilNeck has a secret chemwar stockpile. Who doesn't nowadays? Come on, admit it. You all do.
#2
Well, I had about 1200 micrograms stashed in the fishcamp freezer that I was saving for the first manned Mars Landing, but nature intervened, as it will.
#3
Within the U.S. intelligence community, there's also lingering unease about the Assad regime's biological weapons program that has never been the focus of international inspections and that American officials confess they just don't have the resources to track down.
Best funded intelligence service in the world also missed 9/11, PAK nuclear weapons development, and the Boston Bombing.
#5
The threat and argument against Assad must grow if the Benghazi 'executive privilege' default must come into play. We'd like to tell you more about it, but trust us, you really don't want to know.
Such allegations inevitably evoke comparisons with the bogus intelligence used to justify the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. There is the critical difference that in this case the U.S. administration is not looking for a pretext to go to war. Indeed, far from it.
I'm not sure if it's a blatant partisan suck-up, or a perverse endorsement of the concept. But then again, it is from the online roadkill that was Newsweek.
#7
Such allegations inevitably evoke comparisons with the bogus intelligence used to justify the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
It was not "bogus intelligence" I can assure you. Saddam ignored dozens of UN resolutions, and denied access to inspectors. Tons of chemical warfare munitions were destroyed by UN teams.
On August 19, 2003, at 4:45 p.m. local time, a truck bomb exploded outside the Canal Hotel, the United Nations Headquarters in Baghdad. The top United Nations envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, a Brazilian national, was killed during the explosion. Trapped inside the rubble of the damaged building, Mr. Vieira de Mello had been able to communicate via his cellular telephone before dying of his injuries.
Following the bombing of the Canal Hotel, the UN inspections were terminated.
Saddam was a murdering bastard. Many are alive today because he is gone. We should all be glad he is dead.
Point of trivia. Following his execution, his coffin and lifeless body arrived at FOB Speicher in the middle of the night aboard a US Army UH-60. He was buried in nearby Tikrit, his ancestral home.
He could try, I suppose. But it would make a great many think who have not been thinking up 'til now...
With Congress breathing down his neck on Benghazi, President Obama has a legal ace in his hand -- executive privilege -- which he could assert to protect the documents explaining exactly why the White House came to blame the attack on a YouTube video.
Politically, however, it's a hand he dare not play. To get the strongest legal backing for the privilege, Obama would need to claim he personally participated in the conversations about telling America the falsehood that the 9/11 Benghazi terrorist attack was due to the video.
There are two types of the executive privilege. The stronger one is the presidential communications privilege, and the (much) weaker one is the deliberative process privilege. In the Fast and Furious scandal, Obama asserted deliberative process privilege. The issue is now being fought in court, where court precedent is against the Justice Department's arguments. While the move did buy Obama time, in all likelihood the defense won't ultimately stand up, granting Congress, and the public, the right to see the documents in question.
If Obama were to exert the presidential communications privilege in Benghazi, the the public will never get White House testimony or documents to find out what really happened, in part because the issue is in the realm of foreign policy, an area where courts have held the executive privilege is strong. But that would require a scandalous assertion by Obama that he participated in the discussions to blame the attack on a YouTube video.
If it's only the deliberative process privilege, then Congress will steamroll the Obama administration in court, and the American people will learn everything. Already, Democrats are discussing whether Obama will assert executive privilege.
When Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace asked former Congresswoman Jane Harman (who also has a Harvard law degree) why this possible "smoking gun" email was not disclosed prior to a federal court ordering its release, Harman said there "may be some claim of executive privilege."
Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes' email to then-U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice instructing her to blame the Benghazi attacks on an anti-Muslim Internet video has raised new questions and put the issue again on the front burner.
Who told Rhodes to blame the video? Was that person was acting on his/her own or instead passed along orders from someone higher UP the food chain? From the CC list on the email, America now knows that a whole constellation of people around President Barack Obama was aware of this communication and strategy, including Press Secretary Jay Carney who has repeatedly assured the nation that these talking points came from the CIA, not the White House.
The House of Representatives will soon act on Speaker John Boehner's call to form a House Select Committee solely dedicated to investigating the attacks. No doubt Rhodes will be subpoenaed to testify under oath, and all White House emails and documents relevant to this topic will be subpoenaed as well. And whatever names he reveals, those people will be subpoenaed as well.
Tough choices are coming for this White House.
#3
You mean covering their arms trafficking with AQ while a state of war exists with AQ (SJR 23, 2001)? You better bet their treasonous little hearts they will.
#4
Sure, and the ineffectual Republican eunuchs will stamp their tiny, impotent feet and do absolutely nothing. Look at the stellar results for IRS, F & F, so far.
And today's refusal by Kerry to NOT comply with the House's subpoena is only the cherry on top.
#5
Sure, and the ineffectual Republican eunuchs will stamp their tiny, impotent feet and do absolutely nothing.
USN Ret., I agree with you, can you figure out something that they could do that would be effective?
The only thing I can think of is investigate all of the scandals and concentrate on criminal proceedings against the mid-level actors and work up to the upper echelons.
Kind of like fire fighting. Start at the edges and work into the middle. I doubt the media and Dems would allow it but going after the head of the snake only works if a) you can get to it, and b) if the still functional body would die too.
#7
AlanC, To answer your question, I seriously doubt that even if the R's take control of both houses in November that they will do anything. they will keep that RINO-In-Waiting Boner in charge, and continue to grovel at the feet of the LightBringer.......(lest they be dubbed racist)
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.
Excuse me stewardess, I speak Nigerian. 
[Beirut Daily Star] Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the former Egyptian general who deposed Islamist President Mohammad Morsi and is expected to win in presidential polls this month, has said there have been two attempts to kill him.
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as 
With Congress breathing down his neck on Benghazi, President Obama has a legal ace in his hand -- executive privilege -- which he could assert to protect the documents explaining exactly why the White House came to blame the attack on a YouTube video.
