The Afghanistan Ministry of Interior on Monday said that two new provinces are to be handed over to Afghan forces soon.
The new provinces include Samangan and Daikundi provinces that will be handed over as part of second phase of transition to Afghan lead.
The front man for the Interior Ministry, Sediq Sediqi said that international community to make all efforts to fully equip Afghan forces and make them ready to carry on independently.
Afghan forces will take over security responsibilities of 18 provinces under the second phase of transition.
The process is expected to be finished by the end of 2014 when Afghan forces will take full security responsibilities in the country.
Meanwhile, ...back at the mall, Clarissa spent the day shopping for new underwear. Tonight was going to be a special occasion... Mr Sediqi said that the Ministry had conducted four independent operations and seven partnered operations in the past one week during which 14 snuffies were killed, nine were maimed and one hundred one gunnies were captured.
The operations were conducted in different parts of the country, Mr Sediqi added.
Twelve police soldiers were killed and twenty eight were maimed during the operations, he said.
He said that Afghan police forces have jugged a man who planned acid attacks on Afghan women and girls in Takhar province.
The Ministry of Interior also blamed the recent suicide kaboom in Takhar on the Haqqani network and said that investigations continued to indentify the suicide attacker.
An Afghan MP and Jihadi leader Abdul Mutaleb Baig was killed in the recent suicide attack in north eastern Takhar province.
(Xinhua) -- The Egyptian government decided on Wednesday to raise the social insurance pension from current 150 Egyptian pounds (about 25 U.S. dollars) to 200 Egyptian pounds ( about 33 dollars) to improve the living standards of the needy.
"O mighty Effendi, the peasants are still revolting!"
"Yes, they stink on ice."
"Whatever will we do, Effendi?!"
"We'll give them more money, Mahmoud -- that always works. After all, we still have three or four months of foreign exchange funds in the treasury, which should give us enough time to pack up everything of value and flee the premises. Go, Mahmoud! Go swiftly! I shall prepare the announcement!"
Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri told reporters that the government also decided to provide 150 million Egyptian pounds (25 million dollars) to finish construction of 76,000 housing units for low income citizens.
About 1.26 million families will benefit from the social insurance pension policy.
The Egyptian government decided to earmark 200 million Egyptian pounds (33 million dollars) to fund small projects in order to create more jobs, Ganzouri said, adding that the government also approved a bill to amend laws on investment.
Since it took office on Dec. 7, Ganzouri's government has been working hard to restore security and revive the economy.
Over the past few months, foreign investments worth nine billion U.S. dollars have been withdrawn from Egypt which received only one billion dollars of foreign assistance since the turmoil broke out on Jan. 25.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, charged with the killing of protesters and abuse of power, was wheeled into court on a hospital trolley on Wednesday as his trial resumed after a delay of almost two months while lawyers demanded a new judge.
Mubarak, his two sons, the former interior minister and senior police officers face charges ranging from corruption to involvement in the deaths of hundreds of protesters in the uprising that unseated him.
The former leader, who is being held under guard at a military hospital near Cairo as doctors say he has a heart condition, was brought into the court on a hospital trolley, covering his eyes with his arm and surrounded by police.
Previous sessions were marred by clashes outside the Cairo court building between Mubarak supporters and Egyptians demanding the death penalty for him, but there were no scuffles as Mubarak arrived on Wednesday.
The sight in August of Mubarak, the man who ruled the Arab worlds most populous nation for three decades, appearing behind bars in a Cairo courtroom on charges that could bring the death penalty was one of the defining moments of the Arab Spring. Later that month the presiding judge Ahmed Refaat ordered television cameras out of the courtroom until the case concludes, ensuring key testimony by top officials took place beyond public view.
Lawyers representing families of those killed filed a suit in September calling for Refaat and the two other judges to be replaced. They had complained that the judges had failed to give them enough time to question Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who heads the army council now ruling Egypt, during his court appearance. Their request was rejected.
Former Interior Minister Habib Al-Adli and six senior police officers are also standing trial. Businessman Hussein Salem, a close associate of Mubarak, is being tried in absentia.
The judge was due on Wednesday to take requests from lawyers and set dates for questioning of more witnesses. A lawyer asked that the deputy head of the military council, General Sami Anan, give testimony, a witness in the court said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/29/2011 00:00 ||
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And after you win, and a new Judge is installed, what them, Can't complain about the Judge anymore.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/29/2011 1:02 Comments ||
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CAIRO - Security personnel have jugged a 20-year-old Egyptian man on suspicion of involvement in some of the 10 attacks this year on an Egyptian pipeline that carries gas to Israel and Jordan, state news agency MENA reported on Tuesday.
All but one of the attacks on the pipeline have taken place since the uprising that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... in February. The pipeline has been struck at locations near the North Sinai coastal city of al-Arish.
"The security forces have managed to find one of the participants involved in the kabooms on the gas pipeline," MENA reported, without naming a source.
The suspect was named only as Mohamed S. M. and was reported to live in Arish. MENA said he was also accused of involvement in an attack on a cop shoppe in Arish earlier this year.
MENA said the authorities found the suspect's laptop contained files on how to manufacture and use weapons and explosives.
That proves nothing. How many Mohamed's in the Sinai have laptops with kaboom plans on them?
Attacks on the pipeline, run by gas transport company Gasco, a subsidiary of the national gas company EGAS, have sometimes led to long shutdowns. The Egyptian government said in November it would tighten security measures along the pipeline by installing alarm devices and by recruiting security patrols from Beduin tribes in the area.
Oil prices fell on Wednesday, after Saudi Arabia said it will offset any loss of oil from a threatened Iranian blockade of a crucial tanker route in the Middle East.
In New York, benchmark crude fell $1.98, or about 2 percent, to finish at $99.36 a barrel. Brent crude fell $1.71 to end at $107.56 a barrel in London.
On Tuesday Iran's vice president said that his country was ready to close the Strait of Hormuz -- a vital waterway through which a third of the world's tanker traffic flows -- if western nations embargo the country's oil because of Iran's ongoing nuclear program. The head of the country's navy added on Wednesday that his fleet can block the strait if need be. His comments came as Iran held a 10-day drill in international waters near the strategic route, which is 21 miles wide at its narrowest point.
A Saudi oil ministry official told The Associated Press that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf producers are ready to provide more oil if Iran tries to block the strait. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue. He didn't specify other routes that could be used to transport oil, although they would likely be longer and more expensive for getting crude to the region's customers.
#1
As before, IRAN = NORTH KOREA = may be openly or oevrtly ranting agz the US, etal. but realistically its real covert focii is Sunni Saudi Arabia [DPRK = China].
The GWOT is as much as INTER-MUSLIM/ISLAMIC STRUGGLE [Jihad] FOR RULING POWER + INFLUENCE, ETC. AS ANYTHING AGZ NON-ISLAM.
When Shia Iran bellicosely rants or shows of its military wares to the World, espec vee US-NATO mil assets, it is essens teling Sunni Islam they are "da Bomb", + true Defenders of Mohammed + Faith + Ummah + Progress, not them archaic geezery Saudis.
Either let Saleh remain in Yemen so that he can participate in his own eventual execution or let him flee to the US as an honored, previously supported deposed thug. As usual, Bambi can't make up his mind...
A senior Yemeni official said Tuesday that the Obama administration has assured the government that President Ali Abdullah Saleh will be allowed to enter the United States to receive medical treatment, a decision that could prove politically dicey if it actually occurs.
The State Department strongly denied that a decision had been reached, saying that it is still reviewing Saleh's visa application. The department stressed that it would not allow Saleh entrance for any other reason than legitimate medical concerns.
But a top adviser to Saleh expressed surprise Tuesday at the denials, saying the Yemeni government was told by the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa that the visa had been approved.
"We were informed yesterday from the American Embassy about the arrival of the visa," said Sultan al-Barakani, a senior ruling party official. "They called us again today and confirmed the visa. And they requested to know the date of the travel and the route."
When asked whether the visa was contingent on Saleh receiving medical treatment, Barakani said it was "unconditional."
"U.S. officials are continuing to consider President Saleh's request to enter the country for the sole purpose of seeking medical treatment, but initial reports that permission has already been granted are not true," deputy press secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday.
Asked about Saleh's request to travel to the United States, a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Sanaa said Tuesday, "It's something under consideration."
Yemen's deputy information minister, Abdu al-Janadi, also said there were no dates, itinerary or a visa issued for a trip.
But he said Yemeni officials were under the impression that the United States had approved Saleh's visit for medical treatment. Janadi said heading to the United States or Europe for medical treatment was one of Saleh's conditions for stepping down as part of an agreement with the U.N. Security Council.
"The president has decided to go to the United States for a medical checkup and to stay away from Yemen so that the coalition government could go ahead and do whatever it has to do, and so that no one places the blame on the president if things don't go correctly regarding the elections," Janadi said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/29/2011 00:00 ||
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Watch for Cancer.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/29/2011 1:04 Comments ||
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He'll keep dithering until the man either dies or is killed, and thus the problem solves itself.
JEDDAH: A special criminal court in Riyadh began the trial of 14 suspects accused of murdering four Frenchies and threatening their women.
They are also accused of supporting Al-Qaeda terrorist organization and carrying out a number of other crimes.
The trial, which was attended by a French consul and two relatives of the victims, saw the public prosecutor reading out the charges against the 14 defendants.
The first three defendants were accused of being directly involved in the murder that took place in a desert area about 90 km north of Madinah in 2007.
Note the date...err, the year, anyway.
The remaining 11 are accused of setting up a terror cell and providing support to the murderers.
During the session, the prosecutor explained the various roles played by the defendants in the crime. They are also accused of opening fire against security officers, seizing cars of citizens at gunpoint and taking money from the ATMs of Saudi-American and Saudi-British banks and possessing weapons and explosives.
The prosecutor accused six defendants of providing shelter to Walid Al-Radadi, leader of the terror cell, and trying to smuggle him out of the Kingdom when his names appeared on a list of 36 wanted terrorists, two years before the attack on the victims.
Seven defendants are accused of possessing and using hashish. Arab News has learned that the seven used to meet to take drugs. One of them had acknowledged that he had once bought hashish for SR900.
Mansour Al-Qafari, a front man of the Justice Ministry, said Defendant No. 1 is accused of killing four French men and threatening to kill their women. He also tried to kill another European while he was coming out of a factory in the Industrial City of Jubail. He had also opened fire on two vehicles of the intelligence department. He had taken away eight vehicles at gunpoint. He is also accused of giving protection to Walid Al-Radadi and supporting Al-Qaeda.
Defendant No. 2 is accused of playing a part in the murder, stealing a vehicle, possessing weapons and explosives and giving religious edicts against Saudi rulers. Apart from participating in the murder, Defendant No. 3 faces charges such as stealing vehicles, taking Al-Radadi to Madinah to provide him shelter and adopting a takfir ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... ideology, branding opponents as infidels.
Defendant No. 4 is accused of giving shelter to Al-Radadi at his house four times, financing terror, possessing guns and recruiting young men to the terror cell. Defendant No. 5 is accused of taking the murderers to his home after the crime, financing terror and getting involved in trading weapons. The remaining defendants are accused of supporting the murderers to carry out the crime, financing terror and possessing weapons.
The crime took place on Feb. 26, 2007 when the forces of Evil opened fire on two French families comprised of four men, three women and two children while they were resting in a desert area near the village of Maleh in the Madinah province. As a result of the gun attack two French men was struck down in his prime while two others died in hospital.
After eight days following the murder, security officers identified two suspects -- Abdullah Sayer Al-Muhammadi and Nasser bin Lateef Al-Balawi -- and asked them to report to the nearest cop shoppe within 12 hours. Five days later police found the vehicle used for the attack. On April 6, 2007, Al-Radadi was killed in Madinah during a shootout with security forces.
That was a while ago. The mills of justice grind exceedly slowly in the Magic Kingdom.
For a map, click here. For a map of Chihuahua state, click hereLa Polaka says the name of La Linea's leader is Bautista
By Chris Covert
Juarez municipal police agents arrested an individual Wednesday they say was the successor to Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez, AKA "El Diego", leader of La Linea, the enforcement arm of the Juarez drug cartel.
Arturo Bautista, 31, AKA "El Mil Amores" was arrested Wednesday at a safe house following the shooting of an unidentified women, apparently the owner of a gym who failed to pay extortion money.
Three other La Linea operatives were arrested at another safe house near the intersection of calles Veronica and Cuchitlan in Felipe Angeles colony.
The operatives, David Velazquez Ramirez, 30; Jesus Ivan Hernandez, 24; andy Angel Jovan Terrazas, 32, provided police information leading to the location and subsequent arrest of Bautista.
At the Felipe Angels safe house police also seized two AK-47 rifles, one 9mm pistol, one .22 caliber pistol, 10 AK-47 weapons magazines and 650 rounds of ammunition.
Acosta Hernandez was one of the most dangerous criminals in Mexico, himself confessing to more than 1,500 murders during his reign as head of La Linea from 2007 to 2010. Among his victims were two US DEA agents murdered in early 2010,and a Subprocuradoria General or sub-attorney general of Chihuahua state who was gunned down in her SUV in Juarez in June, 2010.
Acosta Hernandez was also the mastermind behind the July 16th, 2010 car bombing in Juarez which killed four individuals including a Polica Federal agent. To read the Rantburg report on the arrest of Acosta Hernandez, click here.
Acosta Hernandez's arrest marked the moment in both Chihuahua and Juarez when violent deaths declined in number by more than 50 percent. His capture came from a series of billboards posted around Chihuahua city. And now his less violent successor has been removed a year later. Are the authorities getting inside the La Linea's training cycle? They prolly got Sr. El Mil Amores before he could get his "sea legs".
A Policia Federal special weapons unit captured him after a brief gunfight.
All of Wednesday's arrestees were detained without incident.
Kyrgyzstan's new leader said Thursday it was "very dangerous" for his Central Asian nation to host a US military base at Bishkek airport and that it must become a fully civilian airport by 2014.
Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev said he told visiting US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake that the annual users fee of $150 million which Washington paid was not worth the risks involved.
"Perhaps they may think that Almazbek Atambayev is doing this under pressure from Russia," said Atambayev, a former prime minister who was elected president of the turbulent nation near Afghanistan last month.
"This is not the case," he stressed. "We want to transform Manas into a fully civilian airport. And keeping a military base for $150 million is slightly dangerous. Not slightly, but very dangerous."
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/29/2011 08:47 ||
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Screws, turned. Check.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
12/29/2011 9:05 Comments ||
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"$150 Million is very dangerous. $300 Million would be less dangerous"
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/29/2011 9:34 Comments ||
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$150 Million is very dangerous. $300 Million would be less dangerous
The flag of the United Nations flew at half-mast Wednesday at the world's body headquarters in New York and its Geneva offices to mark the funeral for late North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.
Choi Soung-ah, a spokeswoman for UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, said it was customary practice for the UN flag to be lowered to half-mast upon the deaths of leaders of UN member states.
No matter how tyrannical and evil...
The non-governmental organization UN Watch said while protocol had to be followed, "the world body must not forget that its founding purpose is to defend basic human rights."
"Sadly, that message is at serious risk of being blurred today," UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer said. "Today should be a time for the UN to show solidarity with the victims -- the millions of North Koreans brutalized by Kim's merciless policies of starvation and oppression -- and not with the perpetrators."
I'm surprised they said anything. Usually this is something progressive NGOs just hope will go away without notice...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/29/2011 00:00 ||
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OK so the UN will miss him, nobody else.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/29/2011 1:11 Comments ||
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#5
Is it just me or does this remind you of one of those Mafia funerals from the 30s?
As for the United Nuttiness, or a Fred calls it, the Oyster Bay Marching Band and Chowder Society, to espouse a higher moral tone on human rights issues and then fly flags at half mast for him is DISGUSTING. And to add the fact that they did not do this for Ronnie Reagan or any other US President (although they LOVE BO and will probably fly flags at half mast when he is not reelected).
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
12/29/2011 11:58 Comments ||
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#6
You know, the Liberace museum closed last year due to dwindling visitors. The NORKS might still be able to get a good deal on all the stuff they've got stored in a warehouse in Las Vegas.
#10
It's a frying-pan/fire situation I think. The whole top leadership will need to be decapitated and their army castrated. The army will always have the guns (and therefore the food) unless something fundamental about human nature changes.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's funeral started outside the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang at 2 p.m. Wednesday and was shown live on state TV.
The transmission was introduced by Ri Chun-hui, who had also announced his death and that of his father Kim Il-sung 17 years ago.
An escort vehicle preceded another vehicle carrying a large portrait of Kim Jong-il in the snow-covered plaza in front of the mausoleum. The vehicles were followed by a car carrying a wreath in the name of Kim Jong-il's son and new leader Jong-un and a hearse. A glass coffin with the body was set on top of a Lincoln Continental, the same car used for Kim Il-sung's coffin.
The coffin stood on a bed of white chrysanthemums and was shrouded in a red Workers Party flag.
Footage showed Kim Jong-un but neither his half brother Jong-nam nor his brother Jong-chol.
Since they didn't want to join dear old Dad in the ground...
The hearse started moving toward downtown Pyongyang past an honor guard lined up in front of the palace. All color bearers lowered the colors when the hearse passed. Hundreds of thousands of people lined the snow-covered streets and many wept aloud.
The motorcade slowly circled around Kim Il-sung Square, which was packed with mourners. After a brief ceremony there, the motorcade drove back to the palace, where it arrived around 4:45 p.m.
A 21-gun salute was fired. Around 5 p.m., Kim Jong-il was finally laid in state at the mausoleum alongside his father. When Kim Il-sung died, a 24-gun salute was fired.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/29/2011 00:00 ||
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Good Riddance.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/29/2011 1:09 Comments ||
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So, is he on permanent display like his father?
Posted by: John Frum ||
12/29/2011 7:58 Comments ||
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Consolidates the ongoing pattern of Hezb'allah activities in the US, Mexico and some other parts of Latin America. RTWT - it's not long and has many links. Excerpt:
Iran and Hizballah militants are making common cause with Mexican narco-traffickers as part of their broader, more global, asymmetric warfare against the United States. The threat is particularly menacing given Hizballah and Iran's active presence and extensive network in the broader Latin American region and state support from governments in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Nicaragua.
In testimony before a House Homeland Security subcommittee, former U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States, Roger F. Noriega, highlighted the danger posed to U.S. homeland security from growing Hizballah presence in Latin America, including Mexico:
"The more broad implication for U.S. homeland security is that Hezbollah--via Iran and Venezuela--has engaged the United States in an offensive strategy of asymmetric warfare on our doorstep. It is aiming to win the mental battle of attrition and the moral battle of legitimacy--particularly with the youth in Latin America. Unless our government recognizes and responds to their efforts, our ability to protect our interests and our homeland will be gradually and dangerously diminished."
#1
Yes Hezbollah is fundraising in our hemisphere but the more egregious activity is money laundering (buying cars with dirty money through ethnic arab owned enterprises and selling them for good money).
This latter activity doesn't actually make Hezbollah money (actually the enterprises take a pretty healthy cut) but it allows for Hezbollah to use the proceeds for activities they couldn't otherwise do.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/29/2011 10:27 Comments ||
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Long, long hand-wringing piece from WaPo on the use of drones to go after America's enemies.
If we're not able to infiltrate the terrorists, and we're not willing to put a hundred thousand Marines into a country for a couple dozen years to fix the place, and we're not willing to bomb a region back to the Stone Age to kill a few terrorists, then our choices are simple: find a way to zap the terrorists, or roll over and let the terrorists win. Even sensible Democrats won't choose the latter.
What is needed, and what the article makes clear is needed, is transparency within the oversight structure: no administration should be allowed to refuse to divulge, to the Congressional oversight committees, the target lists, operations and rules of engagement. Congress pays for all this so the oversight committee chairs have to be briefed. Obama (as you might expect) isn't doing that, and that has to be corrected.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/29/2011 00:00 ||
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Oversight is definitely required. At present, however, Congress leaks like a sieve and some on committees have exposed sensitive information to feed their own egos. Can you imagine Nancy Pelosi deliberately crippling operations by exposing targets, means and methods? Remember, she was briefed on the very limited use of waterboarding, only to lie about that later in an effort to bring down Bush. We've got to clean up all 3 branches of this government, root and branch.
#2
Not sure who is the WaPo source for this, but the article is replete with technical errors. The first picture is typical. The aircraft is labeled an RQ-1 Predator, but the M299 launcher for AGM-114 Hellfire missiles is plainly visible, making the aircraft an MQ-1B. I am not sure if there are any RQ-1s left in the US inventory. RQ means reconnaissance only, MQ means multi-role (shooter). For what it is worth, the MQ-1B Predator is Killer-Scout class and the MQ-9 Reaper is Hunter-Killer class.
[Dawn] The United States indicated on Wednesday that it might take action against those involved in a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... attack on Pak border posts, but only after receiving the final report of an official US inquiry into the incident.
Last week, the US Central Command released a preliminary report which conceded NATO's mistakes but also blamed Pakistain for the deaths of 24 Pak soldiers in the November 26 attack.
Islamabad has rejected the report as biased and is urging the US to find those responsible and take punitive action against them, media reports said.
Earlier on Wednesday, a Pentagon spokesperson told a briefing in Washington that punitive action against those found guilty could not be ruled out, but only the final inquiry report could determine who was responsible.
The Pentagon official also noted that the Centcom commander, who supervises the US-led war in Afghanistan, had already directed the Kabul-based International Security and Assistance Forces to take concrete measures to improve cooperation with Pakistain.
The Pentagon, according to its front man Capt John Kirby, has provided a copy of the inquiry report to Pakistain army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... Capt Kirby said an official of the US Embassy in Islamabad delivered a copy of the report to Gen Kayani at his headquarters on Sunday.
"We wanted Gen Kayani to be able to see the entire thing," he said. The approach represented "an appropriate professional courtesy", he said.
The two countries disagree over the precise sequence of events in the November 26 attack.
Pakistain denies shooting first, and has accused the Americans of an intentional attack on its troops.
The Americans concede that a series of mistakes and botched communications led to the attack but insist that the attack was not intentional.
They argue that an underlying mistrust between the two countries prevented their officials from sharing data with their Pak counterparts.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2011 00:00 ||
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for exposing the Paks for the duplicitous bastards they are, those involved should get medals
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/29/2011 12:14 Comments ||
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#2
Don't underestimate political generals on both sides looking for scapegoats. If they do on the American side it will create a fissure between the middle grades and the GO corps that won't be something that can be patched up with nice talk. Loyalty is a two way street.
ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry fixed the hearing of the case regarding the registration of a second FIR in the Benazir Bhutto murder case for January 4, 2012.
Official sources revealed to Daily Times that the CJP had constituted a special bench to hear the plea of Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam, former protocol officer of Benazir Bhutto, who registered a second FIR in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case against former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf, Interior Minister Rehman Malik and twelve others. Sources said that the petition was heard on August 1, and was fixed for September 21 before being adjourned. It was, however, de-listed due to the hearing of the Seventh Wage Board Award cases.
On August 1, the court, while admitting the appeal of Chaudhry Aslam against the June 23 decision of the Lahore High Court (LHC), sought reports from the United Nations, Scotland Yard, Inspector General of Police Mian Majeed and an FIA investigation report on the BB murder case from the attorney general of Pakistan. On the last date of hearing, the CJP questioned whether the government had implemented the recommendations of the Scotland Yard and the UN after they investigated the case. The court also hinted at the constitution of a larger bench in the case after receiving the UN, Scotland Yard and police reports.
The LHC Rawalpindi bench had dismissed Aslams request for including Babar Awan, a respondent in the case, and Rehman Malik on the Exit Control List (ECL). One of the judges had written an additional note that Aslam was neither an aggrieved party, nor a legal heir of Benazir Bhutto and therefore had no right to lodge an FIR regarding her death. The applicant stated that the LHCs June 23 order was unlawful, perverse, without jurisdiction and based on the fanciful application of the mind. He said that the LHC had failed to give due consideration to the United Nations report, on which $60 million were spent for the investigation of Benazirs murder.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/29/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Jordan on Wednesday urged an end to "killing" in Syria, and called for reforms in its northern neighbor, where the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... says more than 5,000 people have died in a crackdown on dissent.
"Killing in Syria must stop and the promised reforms must be implemented without delay," Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said in a lecture at the Royal Jordanian National Defense College.
"Doing this will prevent outside intervention, preserve Syria's unity and stop the bloodshed."
Judeh said Amman "supports all efforts to restore stability in Syria," according to the state-run Petra news agency.
World powers asked Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... on Wednesday to give Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... observers full access as they headed to more key protests hubs.
Jordan has said it would dispatch foreign ministry officials, lawyers, retired servicemen and journalists to Syria as part of the league's mission.
Giving the herd a chance to get itself culled...
The U.N. estimates more than 5,000 people have been killed in the crackdown since protests against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Trampler of Homs... 's regime began in mid-March.
Meanwhile, ...back at the hoedown, Bob finally got to dance with Sally... Judeh also said that Israel "bears the responsibility for the dangerous deadlock in the grinding of the peace processor" in the Middle East.
"The Paleostinians and other Arabs have accepted international peace efforts. But the current Israeli government keeps ignoring and rejecting such initiatives," he said.
The Paleostinians and Israel have not sat down for face-to-face talks for more than a year after direct negotiations collapsed following a dispute over
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2011 00:00 ||
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RAMALLAH, West Bank: Alarmed by bloody unrest in Syria, the Hamas militant group has pulled out many of its lower-level cadres from its Damascus headquarters and made contingency plans to move its leadership to locations across the Middle East, senior Hamas members have told The Associated Press.
But mostly to Egypt, which suddenly is a lot more welcoming to Hamas.
The Hamas members say the group remains appreciative of Syrian leader Bashar Assad and there is no immediate intention to abandon their base in Damascus. But they confirmed that dozens of low and midlevel members have already left Syria as the security situation grows increasingly precarious.
"Most of Hamas has left Damascus. We have a plan B for leaving if things deteriorate," said a senior Hamas official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing the inner workings of the secretive group.
Hamas, an Iranian-backed Palestinian group, has been based in Syria for more than a decade. Assad has allowed Hamas, branded a terrorist group by Israel and the West, to use his territory for military training, and provided a valuable headquarters in the heart of the Arab world.
But the uprising in Syria has put Hamas in a difficult place. The UN estimates that more than 5,000 people have been killed in violence since March, and Hamas is wary of being associated with the government crackdown.
For good reason, though we've not read of specific instances where Hamas helped Pencilneck oppress the people.
Doesn't matter. Rebels and revolutionaries automatically dislike the previous man's pets.
If Hamas does pull out completely, the move could force it to change the way it operates since the leaders would become dispersed across the region and their new hosts may not give them as much freedom. Hamas' supreme leader, Khaled Mashaal, for instance, is set to go to Qatar, a Gulf state with close ties to the US.
Mossad can get into Qatar. Just sayin'...
Other leaders would go to Egypt, another American ally, while others would end up in Lebanon, Turkey or the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas leader in the group's Gaza stronghold, says Hamas "hopes that Syria will get out of its difficult internal crisis through a political solution ending further bloodshed in the country." He said there has been "no decision" to leave Damascus.
While Hamas leaders say they haven't abandoned their dream of destroying Israel, they also seem to be realizing that they can advance their agenda through nonviolent means.
In recent days, Mashaal said Hamas would turn focus on nonviolent protests against Israel, though he refused to renounce violence. He also signaled that Hamas might be willing to accept a Palestinian state alongside Israel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. Hamas has in the past endorsed the 1967 lines as the first stage toward eliminating Israel.
All part of the hudna idea. Makes me wonder if Israel is being pressed as hard as some say, since Hamas clearly is showing a weak hand here.
Hamas also last week began the process of joining the Palestine Liberation Organization as it reconciles with the rival Fatah movement. The Fatah-dominated PLO has long sought a political settlement with Israel. Joining the PLO could give Hamas a voice, and possibly veto, in future peace efforts.
But it also suggests that Hamas isn't as strong as it would like, since it usually gives Fatah the back of its hand...
Barhoum said the group has not abandoned its ideology. Instead, he said it has merely changed its tactics as it adjusts to the times.
"There is a new environment around us," he said. "That doesn't mean Hamas is giving up its rights and its clear program as a resistance faction."
But Raed Nearat, a political science professor in the West Bank who is close to Hamas, said that behind the rhetoric, Hamas is in the midst of a significant change. He said the revolutions across the Middle East, as well as elections that have voted heavily in favor of Islamic movements in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco, have emboldened Hamas.
"The Arab Spring has made Hamas much more confident, pragmatic and open," he said. "It's much more confident now that it can lead."
This week, the prime minister of the Gaza government, Ismail Haniyeh, left the territory for the first time since the 2007 takeover on an official tour of the Muslim world. His first stop was Egypt, with planned visits to Sudan, Qatar, Bahrain, Tunisia and Turkey.
If he makes it that far without a tragic accident...
Hamas officials say the goal of the trip is to improve ties with Muslim countries swept up in the uprisings shaking the Arab world.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/29/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
For being such dedicated jihadis and all around tough guys, they sure seem to avoid the hot spots. Kinda makes you wonder just how tough they really are.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/29/2011 12:31 Comments ||
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#2
Naaaah, I don't wonder, Abu.
All hat, no saddle.
Posted by: Barbara ||
12/29/2011 13:34 Comments ||
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#3
The smart thing would be to make the Gaza Strip work economically and in peace. I believe it could be done but I don't believe they'll never be smart enough or tough enough to do it.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/29/2011 17:15 Comments ||
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#4
ever be smart enough, not never be smart enough. Some mistakes aren't caught by spell checker.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/29/2011 17:16 Comments ||
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An Arab League peace mission to Syria was in crisis on Wednesday night, attacked by opposition activists for failing to get to grips with the scale of the violence even as more people were shot dead in fighting.
Lt Gen Mohammed Ahmed Mustapha al-Dabi, head of the mission, described the city of Homs, where it is thought more than 1,000 people have been killed, as being "nothing frightening", although he conceded "some places looked a bit of a mess".
At one point, the opposition denied a group of monitors entry the besieged rebel enclave of Baba Amr because their security detail included a lieutenant colonel from the Syrian army.
Eventually he agreed to step aside, but activists later claimed that the group had been unable to visit a secret Assad detention facility because of an outburst of gunfire nearby.
The opposition said that the mission was losing credibility. Radwan Ziadeh, a Syrian academic in exile and member of the Syrian National Council, said it did not have the "capacity or experience" to stop what was going on.
"What's needed is international intervention," he said. "We need a buffer zone along the Turkish borders where the situation is still escalating.
Maybe the UN has to declare some 'safe cities.'"
During the course of the day, the second of the mission's visit to Homs, the Assad regime ordered the release of 755 political prisoners, apparently in an attempt to stop the visit falling apart completely.
#1
But, But, rhey CAUSE it, they can't stop it, their entire Goernment would collapse.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/29/2011 1:19 Comments ||
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#2
The name Mohammed Ahmed Mustapha al-Dabi, might ring a bell. He was a Sudanese military intell and military ops officer who was directly involved in actions that supported massacres (some would say genocide) in Darfur.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/29/2011 15:46 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] Russia urged its ally Syria on Wednesday to provide as much freedom as possible for observers from the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... that began their first inspections of flashpoint cities this week.
"We constantly work with the Syrian leadership calling on it to fully cooperate with observers from the vaporous Arab League and to create work conditions that are as comfortable and free as possible," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a news conference with his Egyptian counterpart.
But Lavrov added that Russia was "concerned" by calls he said were being made from some nations urging the Syrian opposition not to treat the mission as a serious attempt to establish facts on the ground.
"Such calls play an extremely harmful role -- a provocative role," Lavrov said.
Russia strongly opposes Western intervention in the crisis and continues to resist a U.N. Security Council arms embargo against Syria, which has been its military client since Soviet times.
Moscow has proposed its own watered-down resolution that omits the arms embargo and criticizes both Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... 's regime and the opposition for the use of force.
The United States has urged Russia to drop the measure and back a much tougher version drafted by Washington and several European states.
Lavrov said Russia may be able to abandon the resolution should the observers' visit lead to direct talks.
"If the Arab League mission helps calm the situation and create conditions for exclusive dialogue involving all Syrians... and if this happens thanks to the mission, then we would only be glad that the adoption of a resolution will not be required," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Iran would find it 'really easy' to close the world's most important oil transit channel, the Strait of Hormuz at the Gulf's entrance, but would not do so right now, Iran's navy chief said Wednesday.
"Shutting the strait for Iran's armed forces is really easy -- or as we say (in Iran) easier than drinking a glass of water," Admiral Habibollah Sayari said in an interview with Iran's Press TV.
"But today, we don't need (to shut) the strait because we have the Sea of Oman under control, and can control the transit," he said.
Sayari was speaking a day after Iran's vice president, Mohammad Reza Rahimi, threatened to close the strait if the West imposed more sanctions on Iran, and as Iran's navy held wargames in international waters to the east of the channel.
World prices climbed after Rahimi warned on Tuesday that "not a drop of oil will pass through the Strait of Hormuz" if the West broadened sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.
"The enemies will only drop their plots when we put them back in their place," the official news agency IRNA quoted Rahimi as saying.
New York-traded light sweet crude rose to $101.36 on the threat.
More than a third of the world's tanker-borne oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic chokepoint that links the Gulf -- and its petroleum-exporting states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Soddy Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- to the Indian Ocean.
The United States maintains a navy presence in the Gulf in large part to ensure that passage for oil remains free.
But Sayari asserted that the Strait of Hormuz "is completely under the control of the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran." He said Iran's navy was constituted with the aim of being able to close the strait if necessary.
Sayari added that the navy maneuvers east of the strait were designed to show Gulf neighbours the power of Iran's military over the zone.
Ships and aircraft dropped mines in the sea Tuesday as part of the drill, and on Wednesday drones flew out over the Indian Ocean, according to a navy front man, Admiral Mahmoud Mousavi.
Iran has several times said it is ready to target the strait if it is attacked or economically strangled by Western sanctions over its nuclear program.
An Iranian politician's comments last week that the navy exercises would block the Strait of Hormuz briefly sent oil prices soaring before that was denied by the government.
While the foreign ministry said such drastic action was "not on the agenda," it reiterated Iran's threat of "reactions" if the current tensions with the West spilled over into open confrontation.
Tehran in September rejected a Washington call for a military hotline between the capitals to defuse any "miscalculations" that could occur between their navies in the Gulf.
In Washington, US State Department deputy front man Mark Toner dismissed the latest threat from Iran's vice president.
"I just think it's another attempt by them to distract attention from the real issue, which is their continued non-compliance with their international nuclear obligations," Toner told news hounds.
The United States accuses Iran of using its uranium enrichment programme to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charges.
Extra US and European sanctions aimed at Iran's oil and financial sectors are being considered.
The last round of Western sanctions, announced in November, triggered a pro-regime protest in front of the British embassy in Tehran during which militia members answering to the Revolutionary Guards overran the mission, ransacking it.
London closed the embassy as a result and ordered Iran's mission in Britannia shut as well.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
"Really easy" to close Strait of Hormuz: Iranian navy chief
With sunken Iranian warships preferably.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/29/2011 1:15 Comments ||
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#2
I am sure that we know where all of their naval bases are. And all of their command and control sites. And all of their refineries. And lots of other things that they wouldn't like to lose.
Just sayin', is all.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/29/2011 2:29 Comments ||
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#3
Tehran in September rejected a Washington call for a military hotline between the capitals to defuse any "miscalculations" that could occur between their navies in the Gulf.
I suppose Obamanure imagines that this is as bad as the Cold War?
#5
I think the Iranian navy chief has a valid point. Iran could lay mines. Very cheap to make and lay. Quite effective too. It could be days to months until a lane could be made where ships could travel. It would be expensive to remove and the economic costs would be huge.
#6
-- Yes, it's very easy to close the Strait.
-- Yes, the economic damage to the rest of the world would be huge. This has been true for only about say, 30 years.
The real questions are, what will the rest of the world do about it, and how much of the Mullocracy will remain intact after the Mullahs close the strait?
Iran is like a target in the largest artillery range ever made.
#8
The most effective strategy, if we could pull it off, would be to call their bluff.
Let them mine the Straits. And in response, announce a massive new investment in exploiting US energy sources, build the damned pipeline for Canadia shale oil and figure out how to keep the Europeans from imploding while that happens.
China would no doubt use that to build closer ties to Iran, but they'll do that anyway.
#12
nd figure out how to keep the Europeans from imploding while that happens.
Why? Let them clear the straights and keep themselves from imploding.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
12/29/2011 12:32 Comments ||
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#13
They could do it really easily for a few days to a week. Then enough military assets would be in place to pound their coast back to the stone age and keep them from firing missiles.
The question is, what would be Iran's long term goal from such a scenario?
#14
The question is, what would be Iran's long term goal from such a scenario?
To force the 12th Imam and Allah himself to involve themselves on the side of their people. These people are not sane as we define it, though some of the citizenry may be.
#15
Why? Let them clear the straights and keep themselves from imploding.
Because if they implode they will align openly with Iran, provide significant tech transfer to the Mullahs (and thereby to Hezb'allah and Hamas and Chavez etc.) and generally f&ck things up.
#16
I think the Iranian navy chief has a valid point. Iran could lay mines.
Whether or not those mines will remain in the straits for a significant period of time is another story. Hydrographic data indicates otherwise (unless they deploy bottom mines - and that is still questionable).
Let [the Europeans]clear the straights and keep themselves from imploding.
The Germans still have an excellent mine clearing capacity. The USN, however, is essentially the only one with with mine countermeasure assets currently in-theater. Unfortunately it's not only the Europeans that would be impacted. The Japanese import 40% of their oil from the region; other Asian countries import as well, though to lesser amount. The short-term economic and political damage would be world-wide. An already-fragile economic situation will likely exacerbate matters, likely making any sort of damage control much harder, if near-impossible.
#17
Of course no one has explain American election process to these clowns that the Blamer-in-Chief might just be looking for another non-Congressionally mandated war to shore up his dying political future, a desperate man grasping at straws.
#18
Back when we had adults running the country there was this little Navy exercise called 'Operation Earnest Will' that had surface combantants escorting tankers while Tomcats and Intruders, and Corsairs provided air cover and tanking support. Sadly, the adults, the F-14s, A-7s and Skypigs have all retired and what is left is a mere shadow. Lawn Darts don't have the legs and the Waffler-in-Chief ain't got the balls.....
(Xinhua) -- A group of Iranian politicians called on Iran's diminutive PresidentMahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad to remove his son-in-law from a governmental position, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Wednesday.
Forty-two politicians have signed a petition, which calls for the removal of Ahmadinejad's son-in-law, Mahdi Khorshidi-Azad, who was appointed earlier as director of the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran (ISIRI), said the report.
The politicians believe that Khorshidi-Azad does not have the professional qualifications needed for running one of the most specialized state organizations, according to Mehr.
Currently, there are some disputes between Iranian hard-line conservatives and Ahmadinejad over some domestic and international policies, appointment and removal of key political figures.
(Rooters) - The U.S. Fifth Fleet said on Wednesday it would not allow any disruption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran threatened to stop ships moving through the world's most important oil route.
"Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations; any disruption will not be tolerated," the Bahrain-based fleet said in an e-mail.
#1
"old Chinese saying goes, be careful what you ask for you, because you might get it".
All eyes are on them now. Hostile action will be observed. Short expensive burst of trouble most likely. Sustained effort hard to pull off. My guess would be mines or canal attack. In and out with some doubt as to who it was. What else are they doing. They tell so many lies. Longterm effort to grow their power in the region and the world. Slow steady deliberate pace. Foolish to waste what few tools they have. What gunboat deplomacy do you have without your gunboats. Like a small minority appearing larger than they actually are.
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.
JEDDAH: A special criminal court in Riyadh began the trial of 14 suspects accused of murdering four 
The flag of the United Nations flew at half-mast Wednesday at the world's body headquarters in New York and its Geneva offices to mark the funeral for late North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's funeral started outside the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang at 2 p.m. Wednesday and was shown live on state TV.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Dawn] Iran would find it 'really easy' to close the world's most important oil transit channel, the Strait of Hormuz at the Gulf's entrance, but would not do so right now, Iran's navy chief said Wednesday.
Mahmoud 
