[Ynet] Sudan has supplied weapons and ammunition to rebels fighting neighboring South Sudan's government, says a report from the Small Arms Survey, an independent Swiss research group.
Sudan denies having links to rebels led by David Yau Yau, who is based in the restive Jonglei state. But the research group says it has evidence Sudan airdropped weapons to the rebels between August and December last year.
Nigerias Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said it will start a bombing campaign against mosques and Islamic institutions, a week after the rebel group said it killed 15 security personnel in the southern oil-producing Bayelsa state.
The bombings of mosques, haj camps, Islamic institutions, large congregations in Islamic events and assassinations of clerics that propagate doctrines of hate will form the core mission of this crusade, MEND spokesman Jomo Gbomo said in an e-mailed statement today. The campaign, codenamed Barbarossa, will start May 31, it said.
MEND may consider a cease-fire if the Christian Association of Nigeria, the Catholic Church and the groups suspected leader Henry Okah intervene, according to the statement. The threat comes as the government of President Goodluck Jonathan battles Islamist militants in the mainly Muslim north and the capital, Abuja, in which hundreds of people have died since 2009.
MEND, the main rebel group in the the area, destroyed a Royal Dutch Shell Plc oil well in Nembe in southern Bayelsa state yesterday as part of an operation it calls Hurricane Exodus, Gbomo said.
Precious Okolobo, a Lagos-based spokesman for Shells Nigerian unit, said he couldnt confirm the attack when contacted by phone today.
Claimed Attack
MEND said April 3 it would resume attacks in Africas largest oil producer after Okah was sentenced last month to 24 years in prison in South Africa. He was found guilty of 13 counts of terrorism, including a bombing claimed by MEND in which 12 people died in Abuja on Oct. 1, 2010.
On April 10, Nigerian authorities recovered 10 bodies of policemen killed four days earlier in an attack on a boat by gunmen in the oil-rich Niger River delta, Bayelsa state Police Commissioner Kingsley Omire said.
Three policemen and the boat driver jumped in the river in the southern state when gunmen opened fire and were later rescued, Omire said. The attack was claimed by MEND, which said it killed all 15 people aboard.
Shell, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Total SA and Eni SpA run joint ventures with state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. that pump most of the countrys oil. Nigeria depends on crude exports for more than 95 percent of foreign income and 80 percent of government revenue, according to the Petroleum Ministry.
While Okah denies being a leader of MEND, he has said he commands the support of many armed factions in Nigerias oil region.
[Guardian Ng] NORTHERN Islamic leaders under the umbrella of the Jama'atu Nasril Islam (JNI) have said that the rejection of the amnesty proposal by the Federal Government, by the leadership of the 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... Militants is a setback in finding lasting solution to the insurgency in the North.
Besides, they also blamed some Christian leaders, particularly, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, for their utterances and opposition to the amnesty proposal, saying that the position on the issue was capable of fuelling further crisis in Nigeria.
The Secretary General of the JNI, Sheikh Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, who spoke Friday in Kaduna said that "It is an unexpected happening that just came from the blue and took Moslems in particular and the whole country unawares."
"If man had pre-knowledge of what will happen, then it wouldn't have happened, the way accident is. If the person involved in an accident knew that it will happen, he would have taken precautionary measures not to allow that happen."
According to Aliyu: "There are many options left for the government. Even the amnesty itself must have preparatory steps before the amnesty is reached. First is finding them, second is to ask them to come out and then dialogue with them. I think that these are the most important ingredients that are supposed to come first. I think we are just putting the cart before the horse because the first thing is to look for them, then ask them to come out and if they do, create a conducive atmosphere for dialoguing with them before the amnesty which should the final stage".
The JNI Secretary General, while addressing journalist at a presser, said that the Islamic leaders have "noticed with dismay the manner and language of argument from some quarters in the country over the seeming controversy being generated by the federal government's proposal on amnesty for Boko Haram Death Eaters," adding that "while such controversy is legitimate and contribution to it is a right of every Nigerian, we feel that at a precarious time like this, the basis of any contribution should be for the purpose of achieving peace and not to further aggravate the tension in the land."
Aliyu declared: "We are therefore perplexed that while the call to grant amnesty to Boko Haram by the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General, JNI, has received strong support of prominent Christians, such as Cardinal John Onaiyekan, Bishop Mathew Kukah, Pastor Paul Unongo, to mention but few, the President of CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejfor and his cohorts are busy confusing the country's leadership on the way out of the security challenges."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/14/2013 00:00 ||
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In a news conference, Mr. Kerry suggested that the United States could remove some newly enhanced any
missile defenses in the region, though he did not specify which ones
(keeps Champs options, all the way to all.).
#1
More Artics again on how much it costs the US = USDOD to mount any kind of overseas mission.
* TOPIX > NORTH KOREA CRISIS ISN'T JUST "BUSINESS AS USUAL".
Yuuupp, in more ways than described in the Artic.
versus
* SAME > [Forbes.com] KOREAN REUNIFICATION: DON'T BE SURPRISED IFF IT COMES SOON.
ARTIC = Author can't predict when formal inter-Korean Reunification will take place, but denotes that major change usually catches the US-World off-guard or by surprise.
* RELATED SAME > [Forbes.com][Regional turmoil = new Korean War] THE BIGGEST THREAT TO CHINA'S ECONOMY.
I presume N-O-T counting "Peak Oil/Resources" andor the Nuclear Jihad.
SEOUL -- North Korea seemed to stop moving vehicles suspected to be mobile launchers for its medium-range missiles over the past two days, a government source said Saturday, in a sign that Pyongyang's missile launch may not be imminent.
According to intelligence sources, the North had moved two Musudan intermediate missiles, which had been concealed in a shed in the eastern port city of Wonsan, in and out of the facility earlier this week in an apparent bid to interfere with Seoul's intelligence monitoring. Four or five vehicles, suspected of being so-called transporter erector launchers (TEL), were also previously moving around in South Hamgyeong Province.
But a government source said that since Thursday the North has stopped moving the mobile launchers, whose timing comes on the heels of a dialogue proposal by South Korea and the U.S.
"There are no signs that the TELs have been moved in and out of the facility since Thursday or that missile launches are imminent," the government source said. "Situations surrounding the missile launch have not changed."
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/14/2013 00:00 ||
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#4
Today is NOKOR's hallowed "Day of the Sun" - everyone is waiting to see iff NOKOR will launch one or more of its "MUSUDANS" MBMS in geopol-bellicose "celebration"???
In any case, the larger issue is China's desire for unchallenged or unobstructed, "sole" strategic access into WESTPAC + SOPAC via the "First Island Chain". CHINA SEES US MILBASES CLOSE TO CHINA'S SHORES, WHILE SEEING NO CHINESE OR PLA MILBASES CLOSE TO AMERICA'S SHORES.
Notice that the latest NOKOR Crisis has NOT prevented China from violating Japan's 12-mile territorial limit around the disputed Senkakus [China = Diaoyu Islands].
ALSO, ITS CHINA THATS BEEN MOBILIZING MIL ASSETS/FORCES, ACROSS FROM TAIWAN + VIETNAM + NOW SSSSHHHH....CCCCC NORTH KOREA, NOT NORTH KOREA PER SE.
Unless China gets strategic = key or important territorial concessions, or changes its post/anti-US "Manifest Destiny", I DON'T SEE ANY END TO PUDGY'S BRINKMANSHIP. Iff anything, there will be MORE, + WORSE.
IMO this "Musudan" Crisis ala KJU/Pudgy in 2013 is only for starters.
US-VS-CHINESE HEGEMONY IN THE PACIFIC OR ASIA-PACIFIC - since its National, Global Econ is still growing + modernizing, pragmatically the best "NOKOR" = CHINA can hope for is US rollback = surrender? towards 1/2 of the Pacific [East Asia to CENTPAC]???
SEOUL/GIMPO -- North Korea warned Saturday that South Korea will face a "catastrophic situation" if it allows anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets to be flown into its territory across the border ahead of a major holiday.
A group of North Korean defectors and a Seoul-based civic organization have said they jointly plan to fly tens of thousands of leaflets with anti-Pyongyang messages, often mixed with U.S. dollar bills, via balloon timed to the upcoming birthday of the North's late founder Kim Il-sung, which falls on Monday.
In a commentary posted on the Web site of its propaganda Internet outlet, Uriminzokkiri, the crazy communist North said a catastrophic situation will occur if the leaflets are sent cross the border on the late leader's birthday, dubbed the "Day of the Sun." The late leader, who died in 1994, is the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un.
"Such confrontational madness will only snap up the extraordinary alarm and ire of our army and people," it said, adding that the North will shell South Korean sites used to send propaganda leaflets.
Activists in the South often send anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border, condemning the autocratic North Korean regime and calling for a popular uprising against the leadership. Pyongyang has frequently threatened retaliation for the South's leaflet campaign but no real actions have so far been taken.
Meanwhile, South Korean police stopped a planned launch of anti-North Korea leaflets by a group of North Korean defectors in the northwestern city of Gimpo on Saturday, according to an activist and officers. Five activists of the Fighters for Free North Korea (FFNK), a civic group of activists and North Korean defectors, were stalled by policemen after which their vehicle was forcibly towed to the local police station, according to Park Sang-hak, the head of the FFNK.
"It is the first time that the police have blocked a launch that was to be carried out without notifying the media," Park said, adding that his group has launched leaflets in the past.
"Residents (living near the border) strongly objected to launching the leaflets amid heightened tension between the North and the South," a police officer said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/14/2013 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under:
Green Eggs & Ham
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Blue Berries for Sal
Fried Green Tomatoes
One fish 2 fish Red Fish Jooo Fish
How to eat a Cupcake
Serving Crazy with Curry (LOL)
Under Milk Wood
and of course....
50 thousand virtual copies of
Elvis, Jesus & Coca Cola!
[Ynet] Turkish daily Hurriyet reports initiative to resume meetings between ministers from Israel, six Arab countries nixed by Ankara, Cairo, who say 'it's not the right time'
An initiative to bring Israel and six Arab countries' ministers together under NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... 's Mediterranean Dialogue group for the first time since 2008 has been nixed by Turkey and Egypt, Turkish daily Hurriyet reported Saturday.
Ankara and Cairo reportedly said "it was not the right time" for such a meeting.
Perish the thought!
"The general-secretary was planning to invite the foreign ministers of the Mediterranean Dialogue countries on the sidelines of the NATO foreign ministers meeting scheduled for April 23 but Turkey objected to the idea," a Western diplomat told Hürriyet.
However, by candlelight every wench is handsome... Ankara rejected the claim. "It's not right that we have objected. This sort of meeting was not held since 2008 because of the political problems between Israel and Arab countries. At this stage, such a meeting would not be useful," a Turkish official told Hurriyet.
"It's the Joooooooos' fault!"
He further noted that Egypt and Tunisia, two members of the Mediterranean Dialogue, did not want to hold such meeting at this stage either.
"Nobody likes them. They're icky or have cooties or something. I don't remember why, but nobody likes them. Maybe they're girls."
Established in 2004, the Mediterranean Dialogue brings Israel, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania, Algeria and Jordan together with the purpose of contributing to regional security and stability.
However, by candlelight every wench is handsome... the last time the group met at the foreign ministerial level was 2008 -- a reflection of the ongoing dispute between Israel and the Arab world.
Western powers hoped Mediterranean Dialogue meetings could be resumed at the ministerial level following Israel's apology to Turkey.
The Turkish official dismissed claims that Ankara objected to the idea because of Israel's presence in the group, recalling that the government started to allow Israeli participation in NATO's political meetings in December 2012.
Turkey had vetoed Israeli participation in NATO's reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown ... home of Al Capone, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel,... Summit in May 2012, as well as an Israeli demand to have a permanent office at NATO.
Hurriyet estimated that even if Ankara did not object to the idea due to Israel's participation, nixing the meeting is mostly to the disadvantage of Israel, which is the most eager member of the dialogue group.
Prisoners and guards have clashed at Guantanamo Bay as authorities moved inmates, many of whom are on hunger strike, out of communal cellblocks.
Are we still arguing about these guys? We're required to provide food, not force them to eat it. If they don't eat that is their problem.
The move came after detainees covered surveillance cameras and windows, a US Army spokesman said. He said some prisoners used "improvised weapons" and in response "four less-than-lethal rounds" were fired.
Less than lethal but they hurt like hell...
The Pentagon says 43 prisoners are on hunger strike, but lawyers for the detainees say the number is higher. Almost a dozen are being force-fed, according to military officials.
That's a dozen too many...
There were no "serious injuries to guards or detainees" in Saturday's clashes, according to Capt Robert Durand of the US military's Southern Command.
"I know for sure that one detainee was hit but the injuries were minor, just some bruises," another spokesman, Col Greg Julian, told the Associated Press.
Lawyers for some of the detainees condemned the camp authorities' actions. Carlos Warner, who represents several detainees, told AP that "the military is escalating the conflict".
That's generally what a military does when you don't cooperate, Carlos...
#2
You can offer the food every day...good food, healthy , nutritious, that sort of thing. ( serve it with a plastic spoon, of course )
WHETHER they decide to eat it is their choice. All you have to do is provide it ( totally halal, of course ).
Benign neglect and starvation, I never thought of that? It would solve the problem though. Or we could move the prison to San Francisco...Oakland could handle it? Put a microchip in every one of the detainees ( is that the right PC word for them) and make it so we can track them if they somehow "escape into the California population. And then we let the people of California handle catching them again. Or we could put them on working reform and open detention in Hollywood. Let them do light work jobs for Beverly Hills volunteers, nothing too strenuous.
We should be tolerant and forgiving and not stereotype, after all. I hear they eat good in Hollywood and a lot of people wear sun glasses and wear Guccis.
Don't you wish you lived in California? Nice and sunny like Guantanamo too.
#2
Do you have any friends in Noo Joisey? There you see how easy that was.
Please expand on that, Threater Flusoper9823, because as it stands it makes no sense whatsoever. I do have friends in New Jersey, as it happens; a great many people do.
#3
The wonders of Islam, soon to be in a town near you.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
04/14/2013 16:10 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Eventually they'll pick the wrong time and place - a less pacifist victim demographic, a more armed locale, after a travesty of justice such that a guilty Moslem is freed for some 'humane' reason - and very ugly and non-focused religious retaliation will result. Sort of like happened to the Indians (feather, not dot.)
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to visit Gaza in mid-May, he announced Sunday.
Erdogan originally planned to visit the Hamas terrorist-ruled region soon after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu formally apologized to him for IDF operational errors that led to deaths of nine aboard a Turkish vessel attempting in 2010 to break Israels blockade of Gaza.
The Turkish leader had previously said he would probably visit the enclave after his trip to Washington D.C. where he will meet at the White House on May 16 with U.S. President Barack Obama.
According to a report published Sunday in the Turkish Hurriyet daily newspaper, Turkish officials discussed the visit on April 7 with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. The paper quoted American sources who said the timing of Erdogans visit was important so it would be helpful and constructive in facilitating the peace process.
PA representative to Turkey Nabil Maarouf welcomed the news of Erdogans impending visit to Gaza.
However, in an exclusive interview with the Todays Zayman newspaper, Maarouf recommended Erdogan visit after reconciliation is achieved between rival factions Fatah and Hamas.
[LATIMES] Embattled Paleostinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad ...Fayyad's political agenda holds that neither violence nor peaceful negotiations have brought the Paleostinians any closer to an independent state. The alternative to both, violent negotiations, doesn't seem to be working too well, either... resigned late Saturday after struggling for years against political rivals and lackluster public support.
"What are you doing next Mr. Fayyad?"
"I'm going to Disneyworld!"
Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... , who in recent months had also clashed with Fayyad, accepted the resignation, but asked him to remain in office until a replacement is named, according to Paleostinian Authority spokeswoman Nour Odeh.
The departure means that a new Paleostinian government, the fourth since 2007, could be formed in coming weeks.
Since Abbas will remain as president, Fayyad's resignation is unlikely to have a significant impact on the B.O. regime's renewed efforts to relaunch peace talks, but it may complicate plans promoted by Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... to unveil new economic development in the West Bank.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/14/2013 00:00 ||
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Foreign Minister Bob Carr says the government is aware of reports that Australians fighting against the Syrian regime could be linking up with terrorist groups in the war-torn country.
When asked if up to 200 Australians could be in Syria fighting against President Bashar al-Assad's forces, Senator Carr said the relevant government agencies were across the issue and taking it very seriously.
"There's a big investment of time and resources going into it," Senator Carr told Sky News on Sunday. "It's clearly a potential threat to Australia."
Wonder how many of the 200 have a first name of 'Bruce'...
He wouldn't elaborate as it was a matter of security and intelligence, but said Syria had "without a doubt" become a magnet for jihadist groups across the globe.
One of the most active jihadist militant groups in Syria, the al-Nusrah Front, was placed on Australia's terrorist blacklist last month. Unknown before the uprising, the al-Nusrah Front has become the spearhead of the insurgency ahead of the mainstream rebel Free Syrian Army since mid-2012.
The Australian newspaper on Saturday reported ASIO was concerned at least 100 Australians fighting in Syria's civil war could be doing so alongside the al-Nusrah Front.
#4
The simplest solution would be to call all those they suspect, in for an assessment regarding their welfare payments. Without their jizya they wouldn't be able to ponce around Syria like millionaires.
But it won't happen, idiotic multiculturalism and "fairness and humanity" and all that.
#6
just don't let 'em back in Australia.
Glenmore, won't happen. With an election coming up the last thing Labor will want to do is upset their "muslim brothers"
They will probably give them an overseas allowance while they are in Syria studying the Koran and rendering humanitarian assistance to the "victims" of the civil war.
There is literally an army of NGO's hanging off ever one of them to "help them integrate" and they would loose too much money if the Govt cracked down. So other than sweeping the problem under the carpet, nothings going to happen.
[An Nahar] A major coalition of Salafist tough guys fighting the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... has denounced al-Nusra Front's pledge of allegiance to al-Qaeda, urging gunnies to unite behind moderate Islam.
"When we in Syria launched our jihad (holy war) against the sectarian regime, we did not do so for the sake of allegiance to a man here or another there," said the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front (SILF) in a statement late on Thursday.
It also rejected "imposing anything on (Syria's) fighters and the people that they were not willing" to accept, said the statement posted on Facebook.
The SILF comprises some 20 rebel groups, and is represented in the mainstream rebel Free Syrian Army's command council.
It includes Liwa al-Tawhid, Suqour al-Sham, Liwa al-Islam and the Farouk brigade, which are among the opposition's most prominent beturbanned goon forces.
The statement followed a raging debate among rebels and activists over a surprise announcement by al-Nusra leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani of allegiance to al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri ... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is... "We have no need for imported ideologies or a new understanding of Islam," said the SILF, in an unequivocal attack on al-Qaeda extremism.
"We should not be chasing power or positions," it added, criticizing al-Nusra for "putting the cart before the horse" by prematurely adopting a call for an Islamic state in Syria.
It also lashed out against a reported merger of al-Nusra with al-Qaeda's Islamic State in Iraq, announced by the latter's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The group was "surprised and dismayed" at Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... i's statement, said the SILF, saying it learned of it "through the media".
"It does no service to our people or to our (Islamic) nation to pledge allegiance to those who know nothing about our reality, while most of our cities are occupied (by Assad's forces) and criminality continues to rage," it said.
The SILF also said the recent announcements only serve to "sow conflict and dissension among fighters' ranks at a difficult time", and that gunnies should "unite... under the flag of moderate Islam."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/14/2013 00:00 ||
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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.
[Guardian Ng] NORTHERN Islamic leaders under the umbrella of the Jama'atu Nasril Islam (JNI) have said that the rejection of the amnesty proposal by the Federal Government, by the leadership of the 
SEOUL -- North Korea seemed to stop moving vehicles suspected to be mobile launchers for its medium-range missiles over the past two days, a government source said Saturday, in a sign that Pyongyang's missile launch may not be imminent.
[LATIMES] Embattled Paleostinian Authority Prime Minister 
Foreign Minister Bob Carr says the government is aware of reports that Australians fighting against the Syrian regime could be linking up with terrorist groups in the war-torn country.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Zawahiri
