[Iran Press TV] The Afghan government has retreated from a plan to disband all foreign security firms amid intense foreign pressure to reconsider the decision. President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai's office said in a Sunday statement that the firms responsible for the protection of embassies and military bases could maintain operations.
"Providing security for embassies, transport of diplomats, diplomatic residences, international forces' bases and depots can continue operation within these limits," the statement read.
Some diplomats and military officials say Karzai has been under intense pressure to reconsider his decision.
The move comes days after notorious American contractor Xe Services LLC, formerly known as Blackwater was awarded a five-year State Department contract worth up to USD 10 billion for operations in Afghanistan.
Perhaps for all the screeching and complaining, Xe is the only private security contractor that knows what it is doing in that region of the world?
The company has been struggling with a trail of legal cases and civil lawsuits, including one for killing 17 Iraqi civilians during a Storied Baghdad shootout in 2007.
However, The infamous However... the Afghan government says it will continue dissolving other private security firms without exception as planned.
In August, Karzai ordered all private security firms to end their operations by the end of the year. He has blamed the security guards operating under the foreign firms for the deaths of camp-followers and snuffies civilian deaths.
According to the Afghan government's estimates, around 4,000 armed security guards are working in the country. The private companies are said to be in charge of providing security for foreign officials and embassies as well as development projects in Afghanistan.
Earlier this year, Karzai called for the foreign security guards to be removed from the streets of Afghanistan over the next few months. He has accused the security companies of running what he called an economic mafia based on crooked contracts.
And who would know more about crooked contracts in Afghanistan than Karzai?
Earlier in June, the CIA reportedly admitted that Blackwater had been loading bombs on US drones that target suspected hard boyz in Pakistain.
"Just helping out!"
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
the CIA reportedly admitted that Blackwater had been loading bombs on US drones that target suspected hard boyz in Pakistain. OMG - that's even worse than using white phosphorus. Is there no level beneath which these miscreants will not stoop?
[Al Jazeera] The Sudanese government has objected to a proposal to move United Nations peacekeepers to the tense border between the north and south ahead of a referendum on independence for the south.
A senior Sudanese official said on Friday that the UN would need Khartoum's approval to move troops to the region to avoid violence ahead of the the January referendum that could see the break-up of Africa's biggest nation
"I don't think that it would be legal, the UN Security Council cannot deploy more soldiers without the government's approval," Rabie Abdulatti, a senior official with the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), told the AFP news agency.
The statment came after Alain Le Roy, the UN peacekeeping chief, said troops would be moved toward the north-south border within weeks.
"We will increase our presence but only in some 'hotspots'," Le Roy said.
Unmis, the United Nations Mission in Sudan, was established to support the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the two-decade war between the north and south. January's referendum was called as part of the peace accord.
About 10,600 troops have been deployed in the UN force, but Le Roy acknowledged that this would not be enough to create a buffer zone along the whole of the 2,000km border.
Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN, said Salva Kiir, the president of semi-autonomous south Sudan, had asked for a frontier buffer zone when he met Security Council ambassadors last week.
"President Kiir also warned that he fears the north may be preparing for war and may be moving troops southward," Rice told the council.
Southern Sudan and the oil-rich Abyei border region are to hold a referendum on January 9 on whether they want to break with the north.
The votes are widely expected to lead to secession, but preparations are seriously behind schedule and many in the international community fear a conflict if there is a delay.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2010 00:00 ||
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The Free Travel and Per Diem group of the African Union has called upon the UN Security Council to pretend it has a no-fly zone and block sea ports using its blue water navy in Somalia to prevent infiltration of competitors who have failed to pay a bribe and the support trucked to their competitor's bad guys in Somalia.
[Al Arabiya] Moroccan investigations have revealed that the terrorist network al-Qaeda is aiding international drug cartels in securing logistics in the Northern African country to export drugs to Europe.
On Friday, Morocco's Interior Minister, Taib Cherkaoui, revealed details of the relationship between al-Qaeda and drug cartels, which he described as "obvious". The interior ministry's recently cracked down on a group with 34 members involved in selling drugs.
"Through security investigation, it has been found that there are direct relations between international drug networks and al-Qaeda, and they use Moroccan's desert and coast as a base for their operations," Cherkaoui said.
He also added that the drug lords are mainly from Colombia, Venezuela and Spain and have a "good" relationship with al-Qaeda in the North African country.
600 kg of cocaine in six months
After investigating of the jugged drug group, the ministry found that they were successful in making eight smuggling operations that carried up to 60 kilograms of cocaine between March and August in 2010.
The cocaine had been transported to Morocco via the country's land borders with Algeria and Mauritania.
Moroccan authorities confiscated the group's cocaine as well as unknown amounts of a liquid drug called al-shira, a few cars, tear gas and cash.
According to Moroccan authorities, the investigations also revealed that the jugged members of the drug network were running a phony company solely for the purpose of laundering money.
Ongoing relation
During a press conference in Rabat, Cherkaoui said that there is a continuous relationship between Islamist terrorist networks and drug dealers.
Qaeda is able to funnel its activities in the region via trade relations with drug barons, he added.
He also said that the Latin American drug dealers particularly from Colombia and Venezuela, store the drugs in al-Qaeda controlled northern Mali.
The safeguarding of the route by terrorist cells, allows the drug cargo to travel safely to Mauritania, and then on to Algeria before entering Morocco where it can be sold. And from Morocco the drugs are later exported into Europe.
Cherkaoui said that al-Qaeda utilizes it members' knowledge of the rugged desert terrain, ownership of weapons and various transport mediums to give logistic security to transport drugs in Morocco's coast and desert region.
He called for regional and international cooperation to fight the alliance between al-Qaeda and the drug lords, and warned of a rising danger in certain regions of Morocco, saying mafia-like violence can occur if drug dealers and al-Qaeda interests cross at odds with each other.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] The Egyptian government has detained 154 members of the country's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, ahead of general elections.
According to the Muslim Brotherhood, the arrests were made in 17 different governorates just days after the group said it would field independent candidates in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Egyptian security forces, however, say they detained the opposition members over alleged plans to cause disturbance.
The group's lawyer Abdul Monem Abdul Maqsoud told news hounds in Cairo on Sunday that 70 detainees remain in custody but the others were released after questioning, DPA reported.
Abdul Maqsoud said the arrests were aimed at spreading fear among opposition supporters to keep people from joining the election campaign.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... prominent Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei earlier called for a boycott of the elections.
The Mohammedan Brotherhood has defended its decision to field candidates.
"We participate for Egypt's sake," Mohammedan Brotherhood front man Essam el-Erian said last week. "Participation is the best way to expose the corruption of the regime."
Independent Mohammedan Brotherhood candidates won nearly a fifth of the People's Assembly seats in the 2005 general elections.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] A Nigerian group has threatened the government with fresh attacks after taking responsibility for twin car bombings that left a dozen dead on October 1.
"We have decided to carry out another attack in Abuja without altering our mode of operation to (prove) the suspects' innocence," the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said in a statement on Friday.
The statement came two weeks after the group exploded two cars at celebrations for Nigeria's 50th anniversary of independence from Britain that killed 12 people in capital city of Abuja.
"As usual we will give a 30-minutes advance warning to avoid civilian casualties, then sit back and watch how the blame game will be played out on all those already falsely accused," said MEND, a militant group in the oil-rich south.
MEND fighters regularly attack oil installations as they blame the government for not equally distributing the resource in the Niger Delta.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2010 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Even as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed extols the virtues of secularism and thanks her law enforcement agencies for ensuring a peaceful environment, there are reports of attacks on Puja mandaps across Bangladesh.
Hasina has said that everyone in Bangladesh is at liberty to practice his or her religion. "Secularism is one of the four main pillars of our constitution and it sounds hollow if people cannot practice their religions," she said during her visit to the Dhakeshwari Temple.
She was greeted with flowers by leaders of the Hindu community. Her comments came amid reports on the same day that six cops were suspended in Sunamganj for attacking Hindu devotees at a Puja celebration. Another police sub-inspector was withdrawn for burning a festoon bearing an image of the goddess Durga.
In Narayanganj, 15 drunkards attacked a Puja pavilion. Police later jugged two of them. Hasina said, "Peace is the central message of all religions. We are working towards achieving that goal." She went on to say that when her government took over the administration, it was beset with many problems and that they were trying to address them.
The prime minister quoted lines from the Sura-e-Kafirun, which recognises people's right to religion. She added that Bangladeshis observe a number of festivals throughout the year and that her government is trying to create a peaceful environment to ensure proper atmosphere for their celebrations.
Hasina pointed out that this year, the main Hindu festival, Durga Puja, is being celebrated peacefully like the Eidul-Fitr. She thanked law enforcers for their efforts to maintain a peaceful atmosphere. "A harmonious environment has been created. We've people of all religions visiting the Puja pavilions and taking part in the festivities. This is Bangladesh," Hasina added.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2010 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said on Sunday that France has received new warnings of a terror threat in Europe, notably France, from Saudi intelligence services. He said on Sunday in an interview that the warning of a potential attack by al Qeada in the Arabian Peninsula was received in the "last few hours, few days." The minister said that Europeans were informed that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was doubtless active or envisioned being active on the European continent, notably France.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
ION KSA, MEMRI.ORG > AQAP DEPUTY COMMANDER CALLS ON MUSLIMS IN THE WEST TO EMULATE FORT HOOD SHOOTER, AIRPLANE BOMBER.
ARTIC = "All of Mankind must fight America", + also argued that ONCE THE KINGDOM/GOVT OF SAUDI ARABIA FALLS, "THE REST OF THE MUSLIM LANDS WILL BE OPENED".
[Iran Press TV] The jailed top leader of the political wing of ETA has called on the Basque separatist group to declare a permanent ceasefire with the Spanish government.
Arnaldo Otegi told Spain's El Pais daily in an interview published on Sunday that if he had the chance to address the ETA leadership, he would ask them to renounce violence and declare a "unilateral and permanent truce which can be verified by the international community," AFP reported.
"There is no other path to independence other than those that follow the peaceful and democratic paths," he told El Pais.
Otegi was sentenced to two years in prison in March for "glorifying" terrorism in remarks he made at a 2005 rally in memory of jailed ETA member Jose Maria Sagarduy.
The political wing of ETA, known as Batasuna, was banned by the Spanish government in 2003.
ETA is held responsible for nearly 830 deaths in a 41-year campaign to create an independent Basque Country in northern Spain and southwestern France.
On September 5, the group said in a video message that it had decided to halt "armed offensive actions," but it did not mention whether the truce was temporary or permanent.
The group has recently called on international mediators to help resolve the conflict and expressed readiness to disarm under the right conditions.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] German Chancellor Angela Merkel says her country has totally failed to create a society where various cultural backgrounds can live peacefully.
The concept that "we are now living side by side and are happy about it," does not work, Merkel told a Christian Democrats meeting in Potsdam, south of Berlin on Saturday.
"This approach has failed, totally," AFP quoted her as saying.
The German official warned against growing "immigration that weighs down on our social system."
She further stressed that Germany needs specialists from other countries to continue its economic development.
A recent study by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation think tank shows that more than one third of Germans believe "foreigners should be sent home when jobs are scarce."
The German chamber of commerce, however, has recently announced that the country is in urgent need of 400,000 engineers and qualified workers.
In a speech marking 20 years of German unity on Saturday, German President Christian Wulff said Mohammedans had become "a part of Germany."
Merkel recalled the comments, urging immigrants already living in Germany to do more to integrate into society.
During a meeting in Berlin on October 9, Merkel and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged to do more to improve the often poor integration record of Germany's 2.5mn-strong Turkish minority.
Germany plans to use celebrations in October 2011 for the 50th anniversary of a key immigration agreement on "Gastarbeiter" (guest workers) between Germany and Turkey to "take stock," Merkel said after talks with Erdogan.
"We propose that everywhere in cities and towns where there are people of Turkish origin, we use this event as a way of taking stock and seeing where we are and what has to be done," she told news hounds.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Hello Moonbeam Oops!, I mean bergers.
It is failing here also. Just look at where people live. My brother is a school teacher and at his school they have two PTA's. One white and one black.
O has only made things worse. When you travel and venture into areas out of the main flow of traffic you will see you don't belong. In the old days it was rude not to wave. Now if they wave it will be a fist or worse.
Note the lack of qualifiers like 'moderate' or 'enlightened' or 'western.' They're talking about mainstream OIC Islam, an ideology that is openly hostile to Western Civilization.
#5
Germany allowed Turkish workers in after WW2 and there is not much they can do about it now except hope they assimilate and don't radicalize. Having said that assimilation would be easier if they stopped the flow of refugees and Muslim workers.
What Europe needs is someone in Spain to create a migrant worker program to bring workers up from Latin America so that the Middle East can be bipassed.
* HURRIYET NEWS [Turkey] > UNDER THE BANNER OF THE AKP, TURKEY IS NEITHER A EUROPEAN POWER NOR A REGIONAL POWER.
IIUC, ARTIC = AKP believes that its current, populist, anti-Europe/Western angry rhetoric. methods will result in Turkey becoming a member of the EU + ECM as long desired???
* WAFF > GREECE: 329% INCREASE IN ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ENTERING GREECE FROM THE BORDER [Evros]. Percentage rates from 2009 into 2010.
ARTIC > Majority or 62% are AFGHANS entering illegally via AFGHANISTAN + IRAN, wid the Remainder coming from SOMALIA, NIGERIA, former FRENCH NORTH AFRICA [Morocco, Algiers], PAKISTAN + PALESTINE.
The release, which could come as early as 25 Oct 2010, will be the whistleblower website's largest publication of classified materials to date, far exceeding its release in July. In a letter released Friday, Pentagon officials stated that no U.S. intelligence sources or practices were compromised by WikiLeaks July document release. So far, the Pentagon has not reported any incidents of reprisals against Afghans named in the documents leaked in July 2010.
400,000 documents from/about Iraq, compared to the previous leak of 70,000 documents from/about Afghanistan.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/18/2010 18:14 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Apparently Boxer voted for the required number of bills they based the endorsements on. Not that voting on the bills MATTER, if they fail/cut funding/some other motive besides military vets. No, just vote for the required number and you get an endorsement. I was extremely satisfied to see this result.
Posted by: Charles ||
10/18/2010 20:03 Comments ||
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#3
They endorsed never-served lefty weasel Perlmutter (98%+ with pelosi, including resolutions opposing the surge, public statements calling the effort in Iraq a failure, etc) here in Colorado over a Navy veteran Ryan Frazier. Every one of the guys I know gave the local, state and national an earful.
I hope every one of the PAC assholes is out on hit pointy little head.
[Pak Daily Times] Jamaat-e-Islami President Syed Munawar Hasan has strongly condemned the continuing assassinations in the city and said a government that failed to provide security to the citizens had no right to remain in power, a statement said on Sunday. Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza, who has admitted his failure in keeping a check on assassinations, should have the moral courage to resign. The city's law and order situation is being destroyed according to a conspiracy, and government agencies and institutions have failed to unearth the hidden elements behind these incidents. Hasan questioned the logic behind lifting the riding double ban in the current situation, especially when motorcyclists are involved in most of these killings. The city has been bleeding for the past many months and the assassins are freely moving about without any check. Mirza has admitted his failure in stopping the killings, but at the same time, shamefully threatened to complete the five-year term.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2010 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] The recent operation in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar FR has started to eliminate Taliban presence in the region, but the operation has left little hope for the locals and those living in Peshawar, as earlier operations had also ended in a similar way and the Taliban had regained control of the area.
In answer to an operation by security forces in the Peshawar Frontier Regions (FR), the Taliban are threatening people and warning them against cooperation with the security forces.
The locals, on condition of anonymity, said that subordinates of Tariq Afridi, who was leading the Taliban in the Peshawar FR had still been threatening people and warning them against cooperating with the security forces.
On September 19, the security forces launched an operation in the area in which more than 52 bully boyz had been killed.
Due to fear of the Taliban's return to the area, about 65 percent of the displaced people had been unwilling to return to their homes, saying that the government had yet to establish permanent checkposts.
Mohammad Kamran and other locals believe that the Taliban were still alive and had merely beat feet to the nearby hills once the operation began. The forces had claimed killing the Taliban, but the locals claim that they had not seen even one terrorist's dead body.
Like other residents of the area, Adezai Peace Lashkar chief Dilawar Khan demanded the government to establish permanent paramilitary checkposts at the Pakha Bareeza area, an entering point for the Taliban from the tribal region, otherwise there would be insecurity all around and the operation would prove to be a futile exercise.
Dilawar told Daily Times that though the security operation against the Taliban had been effective, with around 90 Taliban killed, but the forces had once again left the entry points unguarded, from where the Taliban could enter and launch attacks.
He said that the government lacked long-term planning to secure the borders along Peshawar.
He said that although Frontier Constabulary (FC) platoons had been deployed in the main localities of Peshawar FR, the residents still felt insecure.
He alleged that the Taliban were challenging the writ of the state in FR and had been forcing women to wear different types of burqas, which distinguished them according to age and marital status.
The chief said the group had also been forcing local girls to marry their fighters and had ordered residents to keep their doors open at night.
Musa Khan, an internally displaced person (IDP), living in Peshawar told Daily Times that the Taliban had become very strong in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Also from DAILY TIMES.PK > TALIBAN WARN DUTCH [Netherlands] AGZ ADOPTING ANTI-ISLAM AGENDA, of MP Geert Wilders.
OTOH the good news for the Netherlands is that the Taliban = "A MILITANT GROUP" WHOM MAY, MAY NOT BE THE TALIBS won't attack + behead the Dutch Govt because they hate Dutch TUlips or thier Cheese or their Wooden Shoes or that Chocolate-loving Fat Kid on the Zelder Zee holding back the English Channel wid his finger.
#2
JosephM, the Dutch don't wear wooden shoes anymore. That's just a shtick for the tourists. Wooden shoes are what poor people used to wear because they couldn't afford comfortable leather shoes or sneakers. Nowadays even the poor in Holland can afford non-wooden footwear.
[Geo TV] Sindh Governor Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan met President Asif Ali (Ten Percent) Zardari today at the Presidency and apprised him of MQM's reservations, Geo News reported Sunday.
According to the sources the president has rejected the resignation of the governor and expressed concerns over the deaths in Karachi.
Earlier today, the President had invited Governor Sindh Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan to come to Islamabad to have a meeting with the former for reviewing the situation in Karachi in the backdrop of continuing assassinations in the metropolis.
According to Geo's senior anchorperson Kamran Khan, the Sindh Governor talked to the Prime Minister on phone and expressed his concern over the killings of innocent people in the metropolis as well as his reservations over a 'forceful group of government' that is allegedly providing a cover to criminals.
According to some reports, Governor Sindh has had his resignation ready and is expected to present it to President Asif Ali Zardari.
The meetings of MQM's Rabta Committee are simultaneously underway in London and Karachi to mull over the violent situation in Karachi, which has left at least 25 people in a matter of only 24 hours.
The Committee expressed reservations over the conduct of the government.
The MQM sources said the party has lifted over 20 bodies of its workers and that now the option of parting ways with the government is also being contemplated.
The sources stressed the government in concert with the Awami National Party (ANP) is involved in exacerbating the situation in the city.
The MQM said the government is treating the party not like allies but rivals and the party workers are being targeted killed.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2010 00:00 ||
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[Geo TV] Israel will only stop its disputed settlement building when the Paleostinians make a peace agreement, its UN ambassador said ahead of new Security Council talks Monday on the Middle East conflict.
But Israel would be concerned if Arab nations pressed ahead with a campaign to get United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society recognition of a Paleostinian state before any accord, the envoy, Meron Reuben, told media in an interview.
Reuben will face new international pressure when he appears before a UN Security Council meeting on Israeli-Paleostinian hostilities. The United States and most world powers have backed Paleostinian demands that Israel renew a freeze on settlement building in the occupied territories.
"People understand," Reuben declared. "I don't think they agree with the way we are going, but they definitely understand the fact that settlements are not a burden on the peace processor and not something that will stop the peace processor."
Paleostinian negotiators withdrew from new US-brokered talks with Israel two weeks ago when Israel's 10-month moratorium on settlement construction ended. The Israeli government faced new protests on Friday when it approved 238 new homes in East Jerusalem.
"The other side is only looking for pretexts to put obstacles in the road, because they were never an obstacle in the road" in the past, Reuben said.
The ambassador said Israeli settlements in the Sinai desert did not prevent the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt -- "and they were dismantled" -- nor Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gazoo in 2005.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2010 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- The Israeli army threatened Sunday that it would retaliate against any attack launched by the Palestinian Hamas movement from Gaza Strip, and warned of a "fierce" offensive against any attempt to abduct its soldiers.
The Israeli army will retaliate strongly against any successful or failed abduction attempt, military sources told the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper's website.
They said the army was preparing a briefing for the period that Yoav Galant was the commander of southern Israel.
Galant, to be the next chief of staff, oversaw the Israeli army devastating December 2008-January 2009 offensive in the Gaza Strip killing some 1,400 Palestinians and injuring thousands others.
The army briefing will also focus on results of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in September 2005.
"The deterrent operation is still effective with Hamas and it (Hamas) has no ability nor the intention for a new confrontation with Israel" specially after the December 2008 attack, said the sources, unless Hamas has a chance to kidnap Israeli soldiers.
Three Palestinian factions, including Hamas, kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in July 2006 from Karam Abu Salem position east of Rafah, southern Gaza, in July 2006. Negotiations for exchanging him with hundreds of Palestinian prisoners have just resumed.
The Israeli military sources also noted that rocket attacks from Gaza have declined.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2010 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) will consider several political options to respond to Israeli attempts to impede the peace process in the Mideast, said Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Yasser Abd-Rabbo here Sunday.
Abd-Rabbo told Palestine Radio that Israel was insisting on using the current peace process as a camouflage to continue the expansion of settlements over Palestinian lands, an act considered hazardous to the whole of international and US efforts to resume peace talks.
Continuing to build settlements and insisting on imposing steps on Palestinians would only prove to hinder hopes for peace in the region, said Abd-Rabbo, stressing that the Palestinian authority would clinch on to its demands to stop settlement expansions as well as issues concerning the final issues concerning the peace process namely providing Palestinians with an independent state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as their capital.
The Israeli Housing Ministry had over new tenders to build hundreds of new housing units in Jerusalem and the West Bank, the first announcement of such kind since the expiring of the 10-month settlement moratorium.
Palestinians are considering a once-side announcement of a Palestinian state in light of the Israeli decision to continue to build settlements in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Talks between Israel, the Paleostinian Authority (PA) and Egypt, scheduled to be held in France, have been delayed after Paris' objection to Tel Aviv's settlement activities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, acting PA Chief the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak were initially slated to hold talks in the French capital on October 21.
Netanyahu's office, however, said on Saturday, "Following consultations, the parties concerned have agreed to decide on another date," AFP reported.
The postponement came after France blasted Netanyahu for approving the construction of 238 settler units in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
"This decision is inopportune. France is deeply disappointed," French Foreign Ministry's front man Bernard Valero said in a statement.
"France calls on the Israeli authorities to reconsider this decision."
The Organization of the Islamic Conference, has also described the Israeli decision as "a provocative move contemptuous of the will of the international community and an act of sabotage against international efforts to revive the peace processor."
Israel occupied East al-Quds, the promised capital of the future Paleostinian state, alongside the other Paleostinian territory of the West Bank in 1967.
It later annexed the territories, in violation of international law.
Tel Aviv recently resumed direct talks with the PA.
Abbas warned he would leave the negotiations if Israel did not extend a partial freeze on the construction and expansion of Jewish settlements on the Paleostinian lands.
The talks hit an impasse over Tel Aviv's refusal to extend the partial settlement freeze after its September 26 expiry.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2010 00:00 ||
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#2
ION MEMRI > GCC SECRETARY-GENERAL WARNS AGZ IRAN NUCLEARIZATION [Iran is close to producing Nuclear Warheads + may induce a Region-wide ME + Muslim Nuclear Arms race].
[Pak Daily Times] Despite a probe by its defence authorities, Sri Lanka has found no evidence to suggest that the island nation's territory is being used by terror group LeT to train terrorists. Sri Lankan foreign minister G L Peiris, who is on a four-day visit to India, said there is no merit in such claims.
Earlier, one of the accused in the Pune bakery blast case had said LeT operatives were being trained in Lanka. "The matter was brought to our notice. It was examined by our defence authorities but we have not found anything to establish it," Peiris told TOI, adding that the two countries were involved in an intelligence sharing mechanism to prevent any such activity.
Indian security agencies had taken up with their Lankan counterparts about the disclosure made by the Pune bakery blast accused. Though the training was said to have taken place in an area close to Colombo, Lankan authorities denied this citing heavy presence of security personnel in the area.
Over the issue of growing Lankan proximity to China, Peiris said Colombo will continue to have a special relationship with India while advancing its economic cooperation with China. He also said there is no question of allowing any country to use its territory against India.
Speaking on the need to expedite political solution and devolution of power in Lanka, Peiris had said on Friday in a lecture that it was impossible to talk of an exact timeframe for implementing the 13th amendment. "It is a great mistake to do because if you talk of timeframe and then you are not able to complete the process, it is bound to be conjecture, speculative, then there is erosion of credibility," he had said.
"In these constitutional processes things cannot be telescoped into clearly defined timeframe, and we don't think that's the way to go about it," he added while delivering the R K Mishra Memorial Lecture on Growth, Equity and Security.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Following Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Beirut, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses Lebanon of becoming "Iran's satellite."
Ahmadinejad arrived in Beirut on Wednesday for a two-day visit and was warmly received by the Lebanese people. He held talks with the country's senior officials, discussing regional issues as well as bilateral relations.
During his visit, which came upon an invitation from Lebanese President Michel Sleiman, the Iranian president met with the country's top officials, political leaders, academics, and university students and addressed large crowds of people in Beirut and southern Lebanon.
Lebanon is quickly becoming an additional Iranian satellite, Netanyahu claimed on Sunday.
"This is a tragedy for Lebanon, but we in Israel will know how to defend ourselves and continue to build our country," The Jerusalem Post quoted Netanyahu as saying.
This is while Ahmadinejad has praised Lebanon because of the country's heroic resistance against Israel, and described the nation as a source of pride.
Lebanese movements and groups, such as Hezbollah and Amal, thanked Ahmadinejad for his visit to Lebanon and called it a sign of the deep ties between the two countries.
A number of Lebanese movements issued a joint statement expressing gratitude to President Ahmadinejad for his assurances of support for the Lebanese people.
Iran has always supported stability and peace in Lebanon, and has expressed its readiness to provide economic and even military support for the Lebanese government and people.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/18/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
BECOMING?
The time to use the word "BECOMING" was fifteen years ago.
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.
