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Arrests in Quetta Related to Rabbani Assassination
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336081 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I find it comforting that the RB DS&TP was available even then to our enlightened ladies
Posted by: Frank G || 02/11/2012 0:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Tina Louise aka Ginger Grant in "Gilligan's Island (TV Series 1964–1967)" aka Helen Crane in "Day of the Outlaw (1959)" aka Charmaine Wimperis in "The Stepford Wives (1975)" aka Dr. Immer Mehr in "The Seventh Floor (1967)" aka Donna Lacey in "Mean Dog Blues (1978)" aka Helen Bricker in "The Happy Ending (1969)" aka Sappho in "The Warrior Empress (1960)" (age 78)



Appassionata von Climax
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 02/11/2012 2:20 Comments || Top||

#3  Fun Bags as Air Bags
Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2012 15:45 Comments || Top||

#4  tipper, what keeps her from tippering over?
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/11/2012 16:31 Comments || Top||

#5  She comes with a built-in bipod.
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2012 18:32 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Orcs Blast Five Cops in Uruzgan
Five Afghan policemen have been killed by a roadside bomb in central Uruzgan province, officials say. They say another person - reportedly a civilian - was injured when the bomb hit a police patrol vehicle.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack late on Friday.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/11/2012 12:53 || Comments || Link || [336067 views] Top|| File under:


Roadside bomb kills five policemen in southern Afghanistan
Five policemen were killed and another wounded as a roadside bomb struck a police van in Uruzgan province on Friday evening, a police official said Saturday. The deputy to the provincial police chief said, "A mine planted by anti-government militants struck a police vehicle outside provincial capital Trinkot yesterday evening, leaving five policemen dead on the spot."

Another police was injured in the incident, he added.
Posted by: ryuge || 02/11/2012 05:40 || Comments || Link || [336067 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Bedouins Nab 3 S. Korean Women in Egypt's Sinai
Idle hands are the Devil's playground...
[An Nahar] Armed Bedouins kidnapped three South Korean tourists and their Egyptian guide in the Sinai Peninsula on Friday in the latest in a spate of abductions in the region, a security official said.

The trio -- three women -- were returning from the historic monastery of St Catherine to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh when they were seized and taken off in a pickup, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The kidnappers demanded the release of fellow rustics held by the authorities, the official added.

The kidnapping comes hot on the heels of the brief abduction of two American women and their Egyptian tour guide by armed Bedouin in the peninsula last week.

It also follows the brief seizure of 19 Egyptian coppers on Thursday after a primitive was killed in a shoot-out with police near the border with Israel.

Bedouins in North Sinai also briefly held 25 Chinese workers employed by a military-owned cement factory, to demand the release of Islamist relatives jugged over bombings in the peninsula's Red Sea resorts between 2004 and 2006.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The South Koreans would scare me more than the Chinese government.
Posted by: Vortigern Hupoluse1541 || 02/11/2012 0:56 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm thinking tents in the desert are better overhead targets than Somalies under a jungle canopy.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2012 2:23 Comments || Top||

#3  when does the DOS issue a travel ban?
Posted by: Frank G || 02/11/2012 9:15 Comments || Top||

#4  Why would anybody visit Egypt when it's in such an unstable state? Death wish?
Posted by: Water Modem || 02/11/2012 12:15 Comments || Top||

#5  The Korean women I know talk of being taught as girls to stand there and cry when boys (all of whom started martial arts training very young) were mean to them. I only know one taught otherwise, and she married the head of a martial arts school. I wouldn't expect female South Korean tourists to be any threat to anyone.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2012 14:37 Comments || Top||


Egyptians Rally Against Military Rulers outside Ministry
[An Nahar] Thousands rallied outside Egypt's defense ministry on Friday demanding the military rulers' ouster on the eve of a planned civil disobedience campaign marking Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
's overthrow a year ago.

During the day, several groups of protesters converged near the ministry building, as the security forces blocked off access with barbed wire and tanks.

Military music blared out from behind the barrier, while the activists rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud such as: "The people want the execution of the Field Marshal" Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling military council since Mubarak's ouster.

The protesters plan new marches on the ministry on Saturday as a prelude to strikes and sit-ins marking the anniversary.

After the main weekly Mohammedan prayers earlier on Friday, protesters at the Fateh mosque in central Cairo began chanting, "Down with military rule," before setting off on their march.

"We are marching to the defense ministry, we want to remove the military," said prominent activist Asmaa Mahfouz, who taped an influential video more than a year ago calling on Egyptians to rise against Mubarak.

Young activists such as Mahfouz, whom the military had threatened to put on trial after she attacked the ruling generals in Internet postings, have turned their sights on the army a year after toppling Mubarak in an 18-day uprising.

The military, which promises to hand over power after a president is elected later this year, said it will deploy troops across the country, state media reported.

The threatened civil disobedience campaign has divided the country's political forces, with the Moslem Brüderbund -- the big winner in recent parliamentary elections -- coming out against it.

Students in several universities have called for strikes on Saturday, with secular youth groups who spearheaded the revolt against Mubarak joining in.

Tareq al-Khouly, an organizer of the April 6 youth group, said the plan was for a one-day strike, which could be extended.

In a joint statement on Friday, the groups called on Egyptians "to support these strikes in order to end the unjust rule and build a nation in which justice, freedom and dignity prevail."
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Africa Subsaharan
Chinese workers held by rebels freed in Sudan KAUDA
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2012 08:01 || Comments || Link || [336072 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Yemeni newspaper office under siege
[Yemen Post] The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Yemeni authorities to end an ongoing siege at the offices of a daily newspaper and ensure the protection of journalists and their equipment. Armed men last week surrounded the offices of two Yemeni newspapers, one of which remains under attack, according to news reports.

On February 2, the Sana'a office of the state-run daily Al-Thawra was surrounded by hundreds of gunnies loyal to outgoing President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
and backed by security officials, news outlets reported. The men, including pro-regime journalists, were angered by the paper's decision to publish without Saleh's picture on the front page -- a first in decades -- the day before. They encircled the building and forced the paper to print an issue with Saleh's image on Friday, according to the reports. Al-Thawra's office and staff remain surrounded, the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate and several local news outlets reported. The newspaper has not published since Friday.

"The government needs to direct security forces to end the siege of Al-Thawra's offices immediately," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. "The paper's journalists must be allowed to resume their work without fearing for their lives."

A similar attack occurred at the state-run daily Al-Gomhoriah in Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city. The newspaper's office was surrounded by a group of gunnies loyal to Saleh on Friday and Saturday. The group prevented the paper from printing, claiming that it had turned into a mouthpiece of the opposition and was not accurately depicting news about Saleh, according to news reports. The newspaper resumed printing on Sunday with an image of Saleh on the front page, news reports said.

CPJ has documented a stream of attacks against journalists in Yemen since political unrest erupted last year, including deaths, physical assaults, detentions, harassments, and attacks on news outlets.

Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336067 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Thousands Rally in Yemen to Back Upcoming Vote
[An Nahar] Thousands rallied in the Yemeni capital on Friday to back a single-candidate presidential election planned for later this month that has sparked protests in the south, an Agence La Belle France Presse correspondent reported.

The demonstrators, who gathered in Sanaa's Change Square -- epicenter of a year of protests against veteran President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
-- rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud in favor of the poll in which Vice President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi will be the sole candidate.

"February 21 is the day on which Yemen will be reborn," read one slogan printed on a large picture of Hadi brandished by demonstrators.

"We have all agreed that Hadi will rule for our country's independence," they chanted.

"Hadi, take the key, the slaughterer's rule has ended!" they shouted, referring to the hundreds of people killed in festivities with the security forces since nationwide protests erupted in January last year.

The election is the one of the centerpieces of a Gulf-brokered deal Saleh signed in November with the parliamentary opposition, under which he is to hand power to Hadi after the vote in return for a promise of immunity from prosecution.

Unlike the poll, the immunity pledge remains deeply controversial with the Change Square protesters.

"Our demand will not change, we will not accept anything but a trial," they chanted.

Hadi himself hails from the formerly independent south of Yemen, but the single-candidate election has proved controversial in the restive region.

On Thursday, security forces rubbed out two people protesting against the vote in the southern town of Daleh, witnesses said.

Activists of the Southern Movement say the election fails to meet their aspirations for autonomy or renewed independence for the region.

Some factions of the movement have been campaigning for a boycott. Its hardline pro-independence wing, led by former southern leader Ali Salem al-Baidh, has called on supporters to disrupt the poll.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336072 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Three Saudi nationals kidnapped in Yemen
[Yemen Post] The Saada-based Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates....
group has kidnapped three Saudis while they were crossing the restive governorate of Aljawf located in the Saudi-Yemen borders, a Saudi newspaper, Alwatan said on Thursday.

The newspaper affirmed that the Saudis were interrupted in a checkpoint set by the Houthi group and were transferred to Saada governorate.

Alwatan quoted the Saudi ambassador to Yemen Ali Alhamda as saying that the Saudi embassy follows up the case of the Saudi nationals, pointing out that the Yemeni authorities exert efforts to release them.

Deputy governor of Al-Jawf Mansour Bin Abdan affirmed that the Saudis were held by Houth fighters after the entered the governorate, citing that they were taken to Saada.

Houthi rebels always arrange demonstrations in some Yemeni cities in which they raise slogans that slam the Saudi intervention in Yemen.

The Houthi group is known with its ties with Iran and the Yemeni authorities and political parties accuse the Houthis of adopting foreign agenda and receiving financial and military support from Tehran.

Iran supports the Houthis primarily because they belong to the Shiite sect and Iran is known with its policy of to helping, supporting and uniting the Shias all over the region

A recently-released Saudi intelligence report revealed that Iran has extension plans in Yemen with the aim of controlling the Yemeni political arena, the Saudi Al-Sharaq newspaper published the Arabic-written report last week.

The report said that Tehran supported creation of political parties loyal to Tehran and funds groups and media outlets to adopt Iran attitudes toward events in the region.

It affirmed that figures affiliated to the Iranian regime and Hizballah work to recruit politicians, journalists and media practitioners, particularly those who study abroad.

Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


After fierce clashes, tribes and Houthi group reach agreement
[Yemen Post] Tribes of Hajja province and the Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates....
rebel group reached on Thursday an agreement for which both sides would cease fire, open blocked roads, naturalize the situation and form a commission to oversee the agreement.

The agreement came after a mediation carried out by politicians, Yemeni officials and tribal leaders of the region.

The two-month-aged festivities in Hajja has displaced thousands of locals and worsened the humanitarian conditions of Hajja's population.

Locals of Hajja had complained that the Houthi fighters do not commit to previous agreements and mediations, pointing out that they always violate agreements and use them as tactics.

The made reference that the group surrounded some Hajja districts and deprived civilians from commodities and medicines, emphasizing that the Houthi fighters do not belong to their areas, and they were brought from Saada and other areas.

Since pro-democracy protests erupted in Yemen in late January 2011, the Houthi group has been trying to expand their control over the northern provinces of Saada, Amran and Hajja.

Clashes have been continuing between the group and Sunni Salafists
...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them...
in Damaj of Saada, leaving dozens of fighters killed and maimed form both sides.

Houthis further engaged in seven rounds of fighting with Saleh's government which lasted six years in northern restive province of Saada and some districts of Amran.

The United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
special envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar had visited the Houthi group in Saada, met with its leader, Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, and demanded them to engage in the political process.

Benomar urged the Houthi group to abandon weapons, form a political party and engage in the political process under the GCC-brokered power transfer deal.

Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336072 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Terrorist surrenders in Chechnya
A member of Arbi Barayev’s terrorist militant group, which was destroyed in 2001, has surrendered to the Chechen police.

Arbi Barayev was an infamous Chechen Field Commander in the 1990s. He created the so-called Special Islamic Regiment for terrorist attacks. The 34-year old terrorist militant, who surrendered in Grozny, expects humane treatment. He said that he had handed over an AK to the police. The terrorist militant added that he had not taken part in any attacks on federal or law-enforcement officials.
Posted by: ryuge || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336082 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The 34-year old terrorist militant, who surrendered in Grozny, expects humane treatment

Fewer things are sadder in life than failed expectations. But, in this case, we'll make an exception.
Posted by: tu3031 || 02/11/2012 0:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Went to the police to keep his family from the Russians?
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2012 2:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Very bad winter.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/11/2012 3:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Sadly, we will soon learn that Arbi Barayev has... incurable cancer and has only weeks to live. I would strongly encourage former colleagues and friends to ring him up on his cellie with words of encouragement and strength. This is of course, your Islamic duty.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2012 3:25 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Uzbek man pleads guilty to plotting to kill Obama
I'd like to tell you what Religion Of Peace Kodirov is a radical member of, but that might breach his "ooman rites" so it might be best not to go there.
A man from Uzbekistan living illegally in the United States pleaded guilty on Friday to terrorism and weapons charges involving a plot to kill US President Barack Obama.

According to court evidence, defendant Ulugbek Kodirov believed he was acting on behalf of an Islamist militant group in his homeland and was plotting to shoot Obama while the president campaigned for re-election this year.

Kodirov 22, pleaded guilty in US District Court in Birmingham, Alabama, to three charges as part of an agreement that spares him from a potential life sentence. He still faced up to 30 years in prison and $750,000 in fines for providing material support for terrorist activity, being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm and threatening to assassinate the president.

Four other charges against him were dropped, and mainly involved additional threats to kill Obama.
What about the charge of him being in the US illegally?
US District Judge Abdul Kallon set sentencing for May 17.

Kodirov came to the United States in 2009 to study medicine and his student visa was revoked in April 2010 after he failed to enroll in school, investigators said.
Because you don't just come to the US to 'enroll' in medical school. You have to apply and be accepted, and it's not so easy. Didn't anyone at Immigration think this one out?
It may be that what was meant was that he failed to enroll for classes at the medical school that had accepted him...
He "self-radicalized" through Internet research and sought like-minded individuals, US Attorney Joyce White Vance said.

Kodirov was arrested in July at an Alabama motel where he had obtained a fully automatic machine gun and four hand grenades from an undercover agent. "He was attempting to obtain weapons and explosives that he intended to use to kill the President of the United States," Vance said.
This article starring:
Ulugbek Kodirov
Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2012 04:42 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Arrests in Quetta Related to Rabbani Assassination
Pakistan has arrested two people in the Pakistani city of Quetta in connection with last year's assassination of a former Afghan president who was trying to broker peace with the Taliban, two Afghan government officials said Friday.

Relations with Pakistan soured after the assassination of Burhanuddin Rabbani, Afghanistan's former president and head of the government-appointed peace council. Rabbani was killed Sept. 20, 2011, in his home in Kabul by a suicide bomber posing as a peace emissary from the Taliban.
All we are saying, is Give Peace a Chance...
The assassin, who hid explosives in his turban,
That must have been quite a mess to clean up.
gained entry to the former president's home by convincing officials, including Karzai's advisers, that he represented the Taliban leadership and wanted to discuss reconciliation.
Pretend to be a reporter/spy/peace broker, get close, and blow yourself & someone up; do I detect a pattern?
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/11/2012 12:58 || Comments || Link || [336092 views] Top|| File under:


Grenades injure seven at Imran Khan rally in Swabi
[Dawn] At least seven people were maimed on Friday in grenade kabooms after a public rally held by Pakistain's wildcard politician Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the brightest knife in the national drawer...
near the northwestern town of Swabi, police said.

"Unknown men threw two hand grenades on a police van and later opened fire after Khan's public meeting on the outskirts of Swabi, wounding seven people," local police official Muhammad Shah said.

Shah said Khan had already left the venue when the attack happened, adding that the injured included four coppers.

Another local police official confirmed the incident.

More than 4,800 people have been killed across Pakistain in attacks blamed on the Taliban and other krazed killer networks based in the tribal belt since government troops stormed a radical mosque in Islamabad in 2007.

The 59-year-old former cricketer Khan has ridden a wave of support buoyed by mass rallies and has openly backed the courts' pursuit of embattled President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari
... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ...
and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ...
Speculation is widespread in Pakistain that Khan's party is being quietly groomed by the powerful military, which are believed to back moves in the courts to chip away at Zardari and Gilani's authority.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Pakistan Court Throws Out PM Contempt Appeal
Pakistain's top court threw out a last-ditch appeal from embattled Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ...
on Friday, ordering him to appear in court on Monday to face indictment for contempt.

The Supreme Court upheld a February 2 order for Gilani to appear for the framing of contempt charges over the government's two-year refusal to ask Swiss authorities to re-open graft cases against President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari
... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ...
If convicted, Gilani faces up to six months in jail and being disqualified from office in a case that many observers say will likely build pressure on the government to force early elections within months.

"The appeal is dismissed," said chief justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry.

Zardari and his late wife, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto
... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in...
, were suspected of using Swiss bank accounts to launder about $12 million in alleged bribes paid by companies seeking customs inspection contracts in Pakistain in the 1990s.

On Thursday, Chaudhry said the court would only drop the summons if Gilani obeyed its order of writing to the Swiss authorities, asking them to re-open the cases that date back more than two years.

The judge on Friday again said he wanted a clear answer on whether the prime minister would write the letter, telling his lawyer: "We are ready to give you 10 minutes to talk to the prime minister on the phone and let us know."

"I have no mandate to do that," replied Gilani's lawyer, Aitzaz Ahsan.

Speaking to news hounds outside the court, Ahsan confirmed that the prime minister would now appear in court on Monday.

The Swiss shelved the cases in 2008, when Zardari became head of state, and a prosecutor in Switzerland
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
has said it will be impossible to re-open them as long as he remains head of state and is immune from prosecution.

Gilani insists that Zardari has full immunity.

Members of the government accuse judges of over-stepping their reach and of trying to bring down the prime minister and president, a year before the administration would become the first in Pakistain to complete an elected term.

"No one wants unrest. We are exercising restraint," Chaudhry told the court.

"Tell the prime minister this is not in the interests of the country (to defy the court order)," he told Ahsan.

The Pak court overturned in December 2009 a two-year political amnesty that had frozen the allegations against Zardari and other politicians.

Gilani himself appeared before the Supreme Court on January 19, citing Zardari's immunity as explanation for his refusal to obey the court's order.

Legal experts say that Gilani can only avoid being charged by lodging a successful appeal, apologizing or promising to write to the Swiss.

The president, so tainted by corruption allegations that his nickname is "Mr 10 Percent", has already spent 11 years in jail on charges ranging from corruption to murder.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Arms cache seized from school
[Dawn] Security forces seized huge quantity of arms and ammunition during a raid on a government school here on Thursday.

Officials said that security forces raided a government high school and the adjacent living quarters of teachers after they were informed by an tossed in the calaboose krazed killer about presence of arms there.

They said that different types of weapons, mortar shells, suicide jackets, mines and various types of explosives were recovered from some of the school rooms and teachers' quarters. Later forces defused at least three unexploded bombs at a safer place.

Security forces had tossed in the calaboose eight suspected krazed killers, including the vice principal of the school, on February 2 from the same vicinity.

Officials in Landi Kotal claimed to have effectively smashed the local network of krazed killers, involved in a number of subversive activities and kidnappings for ransom.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Curriculum must be different there - our schools can't even get sodium for Chem Lab.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/11/2012 8:53 Comments || Top||

#2  too many exploding toilets, Glen?
Posted by: Frank G || 02/11/2012 15:00 Comments || Top||


Police disperses rally for Dr Aafia in Karachi
[Dawn] Police on Friday baton-charged and used water cannons to disperse a protest rally of Pasban that intended to march towards the US Consulate in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
to raise the issue of detention of Dr Aafia Siddiqui.
...American-educated Pak cognitive neuroscientist who was convicted of assault with intent to murder her U.S. interrogators in Afghanistan. In September 2010, she was sentenced to 86 years in jug after a three-ring trial. Siddiqui, using the alias Fahrem or Feriel Shahin, was one of six alleged al-Qaeda members who bought $19 million worth of blood diamonds in Liberia immediately prior to 9-11-01. Since her incarceration Paks have taken her to their heart and periodically erupt into demonstrations, while the government tries to find somebody to swap for her...
About a dozen protest leaders including sister of the jugged Pak Dr Fouzia Siddiqui were tossed in the calaboose.

Police applied baton-charge and lobbed teargas shells to the rally besides firing shots in air at Abdullah Haroon Road in Saddar area.

Police took into custody Pasban president Altaf Shakoor and Dr Siddiqui along with a dozen other Pasban activists for attempting to enter the "red zone" of the metropolis.

Pasban had announced to besiege the US consulate in protest to highlight the plights of Dr Aafia, presently languishing in a US jail.

The protestors had earlier gathered at Masjid-e-Khizra at 3.30pm, next to Sindh High Court, carrying placards and banners inscribed with anti-US sentiments and chanting slogans against the government for dealing the matter with hands-off approach.

A Pasban front man expressed strong resentment over arrest of their leaders and demanded of the police to immediately release them.

He said their rally was completely peaceful. However,
you can observe a lot just by watching...
police deliberately developed a chaotic situation after opening gun sex and using water cannon.

He said Pasban workers were extremely agitated on brutal use of force by the police, warning if the tossed in the calaboose leaders were not released the administration would be responsible for law and order situation.

In a latest development, the tossed in the calaboose leaders, including Dr Fauzia, were released by the authorities.
"We weren't violent* then, but by Allah we will be next time!"
* For a certain strict and uncommon definition of not violent which would normally be defined as violent.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336070 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Widening Regional Escalation Anticipated After Israeli Attack On Iran
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2012 07:20 || Comments || Link || [336080 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Pak has suggested that it would be on Iran's side, but this might be less than imagined. It would be very crafty indeed if Pak offered to clean up Iranian Balochistan, so that the Iranians could withdraw their forces there for other purposes.

This would allow the Paks to take down lots of troublesome Balochis, who have pestered both nations for a long time, using the border to get away from punishment by both sides.

And if Iran was really devastated, Pakistan could do a de facto annexation of all of Balochistan.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/11/2012 12:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Anonymoose, Pakistan can't clean up their own Balochis, despite decades of trying. I don't see how it could be possible for them to successfully annex additional woes, especially with the Army of the Pure in charge of their military effort.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2012 16:07 Comments || Top||

#3  The Mullahs themselves have said it - to defeat or destroy any foreign = US or US-led Coalition invasion + occupation force, THEY WON'T HESITATE TO USE THE TERRITORIES OF ITS SOVEREIGN NEIGHBORS WID OR WIDOUT THEIR CONSENT, besides also having no fear of detonating Nukes-WMDS Iranian soil or resorting to international Nuclear Brinkmanship.

The Mullahs drew on the example of the VIETNAM WAR + North Vietnam's, Vietcong's use of territory in sovereign, "neutral" Laos + Cambodia for the transfer of Fighters, Arms, $$$, + Food, etc. snti-US-SVN-UNCOM supplies oer the "Ho Chi Minh Trail", e.g. infamous "Parrot's Beak" + other.

Based on the above, the options of the US-Allies are:
> Get the Govt to Iran to voluntarily/internally change its Attitudes, Policies.
> "Regime Change" = "Iran/Persian Spring"? = peaceful or violent Govt. overthrow?
> UNO/UNSC-approved, US or US-led Coalition full-scale Ground Invasion + Occupation, e.g. 2003 Iraq.

Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/11/2012 22:02 Comments || Top||

#4  Based on the above, the options of the US-Allies are

> Shock And Awe II
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2012 22:48 Comments || Top||

#5  Though I'm a pest, and a pesky Troll,this forum has always been an education for me. I'm humbled by, and grateful for the enlightenment and insight that I gain here; my ridiculous comments not withstanding. Thanks to all of you.
Posted by: Chesh Squank6666 || 02/11/2012 22:59 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
US approves transfer of second warship to the Philippines
Congress has approved the transfer of a second Coast Guard ship to the Philippines, an official said Friday. In the past, U.S. cooperation with the Philippines has mainly focused on counterterrorism, but it has recently expanded to building up the country's moribund navy.

Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Andrew Shapiro said Friday that he will consider a Philippine request to have the warship turned over with as much military equipment as possible.

After talks with Philippine defense officials, he said, "I'm pleased that the congressional notification period for a second Coast Guard cutter expired this week, so that means Congress has now approved the transfer ... to the Philippines, which will further help Philippine security needs."

The ship — the second such delivery since last May — is just one of many defense projects that the U.S. is considering with the Philippines. That comes in addition to having American ships regularly visit and refuel in Philippine ports, rotating U.S. troops in the southern Philippines where Al Qaeda-linked Muslim terrorists militants are active and holding large-scale joint military exercises.

China views with worry the increased U.S. military involvement with the Philippines and balked at what it considers to be Washington's interference in the South China Sea dispute. The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan all have conflicting territorial claims over potentially gas and oil rich islands with China.

Shapiro said that U.S. policy takes no position on the claims by any of the parties, and that disputes should not be resolved through the use of force and that its defense cooperation with the Philippines is not directed against China any one country. But he also said that his government is committed to assisting the Philippines with its security needs and "fully intends to meet its obligations under the Mutual Defense Treaty."

Shapiro said, "Traditionally our focus was on helping the Philippines address the internal security threat. Given the progress that the Philippine forces and police have made addressing the threat, we're now at a point when both our governments believe we can transition our support towards helping them in maritime security issues."
Posted by: ryuge || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under:


General speaks after car bombing in southern Thailand
There are over 100 "soft targets" prone to terrorist insurgent attacks in the deep South, and keeping all of them safe for one day is considered an incident-free day, Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha said yesterday. Speaking to troops during an inspection trip yesterday, Prayuth called on them to remain vigilant while on duty and urged greater unity among all agencies operating in the region.

The visit came one day after a car bomb exploded in Pattani town, which as the provincial seat is under the jurisdiction of the governor and the police department, while the military is accountable for surrounding and remote areas.

He asked the public not to jump to the conclusion that Army rangers were at fault in a shooting incident last month, in which five villagers were killed, before the investigation is complete.

Police are working with sketches of two men suspected of being behind Thursday's car-bombing in Pattani province. One man was seen riding a motorcycle and picking up the driver who parked the bomb-laden vehicle near a public health office. A security source said there was also a time-bomb hidden within the office that did not go off.

Senator Anusart Suwanna-mongkhol expressed concern over the mental health of residents and victims after the explosion, which also wounded a three-year-old child. The bomb targeted an event in which civil-defense volunteers were to gather for an assembly near the public health office.
Posted by: ryuge || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336072 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Video: Gunfire on the streets as Syria conflict spreads to Lebanon
One person was wounded by stray gunfire on Friday while eight people were wounded on Saturday, according to security sources.

A dozen Sunni gunmen were filmed openly firing down a street towards an Alawite district. One of the group declared they would join the Syrian revolution "dead or alive".

"We are the Syrian revolution supporters in Lebanon, and we are going to them -- dead or alive," one of the gunmen said.

Residents said opponents of Assad had also taken to the streets with guns. They called on the Lebanese army to intervene.
Oh yeah, bring in the mighty Lebanese army! That'll end up well...
Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2012 11:23 || Comments || Link || [336083 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Like Lebanese need an outside reason to shoot at each other.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/11/2012 11:43 Comments || Top||

#2  I was trying to calculate the best strategy for Israel with AP. Currently Israel is faced with a zillion weapons from Iran, Hezb, Syria and Gaza. In a sense all under control of the Shia Iran. Now the Muz Brotherhood (Sunni) who actually hate Israel more than the Shia are cleaning up the tables west of Iraq. (North Af. Egypt, in action in Yemen, Syria) ... etc.. these are the boys who breed Osamas... First thing... this internecine conflict could buy Israel a little time until one side or the other tries to gain some street cred by doing something to the Jews.... But .. it's looking like in the end the Brotherhood is likely to prevail.

So Israel's first strategic question should be "How to make sure the missiles are destroyed or rendered less then useful when control changes?"

The second should be "Should Israel then take out Iran or wait and render the Muz Brotherhood ineffective before they can really organize control?" I see "render ineffective" as being lots of "Insha'Allah Maintenance Moments" -- things like major failures in the Aswan or virii in the Libyan centerpivots taking out a crop... sort of non-attributable actions to render a newly consolidating set of regimes less effective as an enemy...
Posted by: Water Modem || 02/11/2012 12:01 Comments || Top||

#3  Strategically speaking, Israel's best advantage is for Muslim nations surrounding them to have more democratic governments, and less sponsorship from Europe, Russia, China and the US, that provides them with dangerous technologies.

From there, they want more moderation in the more democratic Muslim nations, namely that they do not scapegoat Israel for their numerous problems.

While there are great concerns about the MB in Egypt, if they can just keep their radicalism under wraps for a bit longer, they will realize that Egypt is a terrible mess and is rapidly falling apart, so belligerence can wait.

Syria would be much improved with Assad out of power and the Sunnis in charge, as between the Ba'athists and the MB, the bottom line is that it is just as fouled up as Egypt, but on a smaller scale. Likewise too busy to start fights.

With Assad out, Hezbollah will have lost its primary support chain, and unless they can seize control of Lebanon, they will have no choice but to settle down, too.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 02/11/2012 12:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Strategically speaking, Israel's best advantage is for Muslim nations surrounding them to have more democratic governments,

The problem with democracy for Muslim countries is that the leadership is far more moderate than the populace, and the leadership is about as moderate as Hitler. We are fortunate, indeed, that they rule over nations without Germany's industrial vigor. In Germany, democracy led to Nazism and the extermination of European Jewry. It took three of the biggest powers in the world five years and tens of millions of dead (including 10% of the German population) before the German people were made to understand that Nazi ideology was a dead end for them. And Germans were a people who had produced Goethe, Beethoven, Kant and scores of other giants in the arts, philosophy and sciences.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 02/11/2012 17:05 Comments || Top||

#5  Zhang Fei - That's why I didn't mention democracy.
Posted by: Water Modem || 02/11/2012 19:11 Comments || Top||

#6  Depending upon where you lived, the great plague took out 30, 40 or 50 percent of the population. Given the recent notices of people screwing around with the flu virus et al, its just a matter of time before something gets out of hand. Those geographical areas lacking extensive modern health, sanitation, and movement control will be the most subject to the highest casualty count in the case of any outbreak. Little hard to wage war when the bulk of your population is dying around you. Nukes are so 20th Century.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/11/2012 19:51 Comments || Top||


Gunmen assassinate Syrian army general in Damascus
Gunmen assassinated an army general in Damascus on Saturday in the first killing of a high ranking military officer in the Syrian capital since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March, the state-run news agency said.

SANA said three gunmen opened fire at Brig. Gen. Issa al-Khouli in the morning as he left his home in the Damascus neighborhood of Rukn-Eddine. Al-Khouli was a doctor and the chief of a military hospital in the capital. No one claimed responsibility for the killing.

The attack indicates that violence in Syria is reaching the tightly controlled capital, which has been relatively quiet compared to other cities. Such assassinations are not uncommon outside Damascus and army officers have been killed in the past, mostly in the restive provinces of Homs and Idlib.

Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2012 08:19 || Comments || Link || [336069 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Useless killing of an MD, despite being a general. IMO
Posted by: texhooey || 02/11/2012 13:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Texhooey, Ayman al-Zawahiri is the head of Al Qaeda in Pakistan...and a doctor and surgeon. Like engineers, doctors are trained to think analytically and to design solutions to problems. So when they go to the bad, they tend to be quite effective at it.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2012 16:19 Comments || Top||

#3  The Muslim Brotherhood revolt of the late 70's and early '80's killed thousands of government figures, and came close to assassinating Assad pere. Then came the destruction of Hama, home base of the Ikhwan. More on the dead general, from the NY Times:

The doctor, trained in Romania and France, came from an Alawite family with close ties inside the Assad government that has run Syria for the past 40 years, according to one activist in Syria who was piecing together his biography.

He is believed to have been the nephew of Mohamed al-Khouli, the former head of the widely feared Air Force Intelligence Directorate, the most powerful of the multiple security agencies that cement the government’s power. The elder Mr. Khouli was a security adviser to President Hafez al-Assad until the president died in 2000.


My guess is that the guy was an easy target thought to be safe from rebel attack because he wasn't involved in security matters, and therefore unguarded or lightly guarded. This is the kind of attack that enrages the regime without actually having hurt it.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 02/11/2012 16:47 Comments || Top||

#4  In Godfather terms, this is the equivalent of killing (pre-betrayal) Fredo.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 02/11/2012 16:49 Comments || Top||


China meets Syria opposition in Beijing
[Emirates 24/7] China said on Thursday it held talks with a key Syrian opposition group this week, amid fierce criticism of its decision to block a UN resolution condemning a bloody crackdown in the Middle East country.

China and Russia drew international ire for blocking the UN Security Council resolution on Saturday, with Washington calling their rejection a "travesty" and another Syrian opposition group saying they had handed Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
's regime a "licence to kill".

Chinese foreign ministry front man Liu Weimin said the visit by the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change (NCB) had "long been scheduled" and was not linked to China's controversial veto.

NCB representatives told Chinese officials they would like Beijing "to play a bigger role for an early resolution to the Syrian crisis," Liu said.

But the NCB, one of the main opposition factions in Syria, staunchly opposes foreign military intervention in the conflict -- which is in line with China's long-standing policy of non-interference in other nations' internal affairs.

The other main opposition group, the Syrian National Council (SNC), is widely regarded as the most inclusive of Syria's opposition alliances and has previously called for foreign military intervention.

The SNC blasted China and Russia over their double veto and said they had given a "licence for the Syrian regime to kill without being held accountable."

Liu said Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun met members of the NCB to discuss "the situation" in Syria. He urged both sides of the conflict to "cease all violence... and avoid casualties among civilians".
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336067 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Iranian Engineers Abducted in Syria Freed
[An Nahar] Seven Iranian engineers kidnapped near Syria's embattled city of Homs in late December have been released, the official IRNA news agency reported Friday, quoting an informed source at the ministry of energy.

The seven were working at a power plant in Jandar, near Homs, the city in central Syria that has become one of the flashpoints in the uprising against the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad.
Despoiler of Deraa...
The kidnapped men all work for the Iran Power Plant Projects Management Company, or Mapna, which is the Iranian energy ministry's biggest contractor.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336070 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


5 Hurt as Gunmen Clash in Rival Tripoli Neighborhoods
[An Nahar] Shooting broke out on Friday in the northern city of Tripoli as pro- and anti-Syria gunnies deployed heavily in the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, Agence La Belle France Presse reported.

"There is a heavy armed presence and shooting in the Sunni Moslem neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh and the Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen," a security official said, requesting anonymity.

"One person driving by was injured in the gunfire."

He said the army had deployed in both neighborhoods earlier in the day, but later retreated to a street dividing the two sides.

"Two soldiers were maimed in the festivities," he said.

For its part, state-run National News Agency said three grenades went kaboom! in an area located between the two rival districts.

"Sporadic volleys of machinegun fire are being heard every now and then," NNA added.

It said three civilians were maimed in the fighting, identifying them as Jihad Mohammed al-Sabaa, 24, Mohammed Ali Asaad, 46, and Khaled Saidawi, 25.

Meanwhile,
...back at the cheese factory, all the pieces finally fell together in Fluffy's mind...
MTV said a number of Bab al-Tabbaneh residents decamped the area of the festivities.

"The army is firing back at the sources of the gunfire at the moment," Radio Voice of Leb reported.

Later on Friday, President Michel Suleiman
...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too...
called on the military and security forces deployed in Tripoli to "firmly suppress those disrupting security and civil peace, especially in the North and specifically in Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh."
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336067 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Powerful Car Booms Kill at Least 25 in Aleppo, Rebel Army Blames Regime
[An Nahar] Two powerful car booms targeting security posts destroyed Syria's second city of Aleppo
...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...
on Friday, killing at least 25 people and wounding 175 as the Free Syrian Army blamed the regime for the attacks.

State television said "armed terrorist groups" carried out the attacks, the first in Aleppo since the outbreak of an uprising against the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
almost a year ago.

It said a "jacket wallah in an exploding car" carried out one of the attacks on a cop shoppe, flattening a nearby food distribution center. The second bombing targeted an intelligence base.

The report showed mangled bodies in pools of blood in the street outside rows of shattered buildings, and deep craters in the ground.

Emergency workers held up body parts, including hands, feet and a torso which they placed in black trash bags.

"The number of deaders who have been transported to hospital in Aleppo have so far reached 25 dead and 175 maimed as a result of the terrorist attacks," the health ministry said, as quoted by state television.
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
A front man for the rebel Free Syrian Army blamed the regime of Assad for carrying out the two deadly car kabooms.

"This criminal regime is killing our children in Homs and carrying out kabooms in Aleppo to steer attention away from what it is doing in Homs," said Colonel Maher Nouaimi told Agence La Belle France Presse.

He was referring to a weeklong blitz by government forces on the central protest city of Homs, where at least 400 people have been killed, according to activists.

Later on Friday, Syria's government blamed the twin blasts on "armed terrorist gangs" backed by Arab and Western nations, in a letter sent to the U.N. secretary general, the U.N. Security Council, 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...
and other organizations.

"Certain countries in the region are behind a propaganda campaign against Syria and are harboring armed bully boyz for so-called humanitarian reasons," the foreign ministry wrote in the letter, according to SANA state news agency.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336065 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


At Least 42 Dead as Syria Protesters Rally against Russia
[An Nahar] Forty-two people were killed across Syria on Friday, including security force members, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, as anti-regime protesters erupted into the streets under the banner of "Russia is killing our children."

At least 20 died in in the central protest hub of Homs, among them two children killed by shelling in the Baba Amr neighborhood, the Observatory said.

For its part, the Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said security forces killed 34 people across the country, including five children and two women.

Twelve people were killed in the northern province of Aleppo,
...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...
10 in Homs, eight in the Damascus
...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world...
suburb of al-Damir, three in the southern province of Daraa, the cradle of the 11-month uprising, and one in the eastern protest hub of Deir al-Zour, the LCC said.

Security forces deployed heavily outside mosques nationwide, firing on worshippers in some areas to prevent protesters from taking to the streets, activists said.

"Demonstrations broke out in various parts of the country, but they were small in numbers because of the heavy deployment of army and security forces as well as the cold weather," said Observatory chief Rami Abdul Rahman.

"In some areas the number of intelligence agents was so high that they outnumbered worshippers. A lot of people held smaller demos in side streets."

In Homs, tanks stormed a flashpoint district as troops launched a house-to-house sweep to crush regime opponents, Abdul Rahman said.

"The tanks entered the neighborhood of Inshaat overnight," he said.

Inshaat is next to the protest hub of Baba Amr, which has been subjected to a withering assault by regime forces since Saturday that has killed more than 400 people, activists say.

Internet-based activists had urged protests under the banner of "Russia is killing our children."

But Moscow said Syria's opposition "bears full responsibility" for the ongoing violence, while accusing the West of pushing regime opponents into armed conflict.

Russia has insisted that any solution to end the bloodshed must come from within Syria.

Despite mounting calls for military aid to outgunned and outnumbered rebels in Syria, Arab and Western governments have so far resisted such a possibility.

Among initiatives being considered by nations eager to end the bloodshed is a joint 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...
-U.N. mission to Syria, the prospects for which could hinge on a weekend meeting of the Arab bloc, and the backing of major powers.

The opposition Syrian National Council said, meanwhile, that it expects to be recognized by several Arab states within days. So far only post-revolt Libya has recognized the umbrella group as its sole Syrian interlocutor.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336071 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Huge Army Deployment on Northern Border with Syria
[An Nahar] Columns of Lebanese army tanks and personnel carriers deployed in the towns of Hnaider and Knaisseh on the northern and northeastern border with Syria in an effort to curb arms smuggling, eyewitnesses said.

TV footage showed the residents of the Wadi Khaled area welcoming the army's deployment.

The deployment is part of a campaign that the army started late last week "to preserve the security of citizens.

"The military's presence throughout the nation is a very natural phenomenon in addition to being a comprehensive popular and nationalistic demand," the army has said in a communique.

The army command also urged Lebanese politicians not to shove the military institution in the political bickering after March 14
Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys...
-led opposition officials accused it of deploying in northern areas bordering Syria at the behest of the Assad regime.

The officials have said the deployment was aimed at arresting gunnies allegedly belonging to the rebel Free Syrian Army which is fighting Syria's government troops.

But the army said in its communique that it is "keen on protecting the residents of northern areas against any attack on their lives or their properties no matter what the source was in parallel with its firm decision to prevent the spread of arms inside Lebanese territories."
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336070 views] Top|| File under:


3 Syrians Dead, Many Hurt in Arms Depot Blast in Tripoli
[An Nahar] Three Syrians were killed in an accidental explosion at a munitions depot in the Tripoli neighborhood of Abi Samra on Friday, a security source told Agence France Presse.

The men, all security guards, lit a fire to warm themselves near containers that stored munitions, without being aware of the contents, prompting an explosion at the privately run facility.
Important safety tip here: Always be sure of the contents of the munitions depot you're guarding before lighting a fire. It may contain munitions.
"A major explosion ripped through an arms depot belonging to Ghaleb B. near Al-Jinan University in Tripoli," state-run National News Agency reported earlier.

For its part, MTV said the blast occurred in "a building owned by Ghaleb Bqasmati." It did not elaborate concerning his political affiliation.

"The sound of successive explosions was heard and the blast caused a major blaze in the site which soon spread to the university's campus," NNA said.

Voice of Lebanon Radio said several people were killed in the blast. It identified one of them as Daoud al-Samarji.

The radio station said three wounded people were rushed to nearby hospitals, noting that human remains were found in the location.

The blast increased tensions in the city, where clashes between pro- and anti-Syria gunmen erupted earlier in the day in the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.

Two Lebanese army soldiers and three civilians were wounded in the clashes.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336068 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  A major explosion ripped through an arms depot belonging to Ghaleb B. near Al-Jinan University in Tripoli

The wonders of higher education.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/11/2012 2:59 Comments || Top||

#2  If it weren't for global warming, the guys wouldn't have been cold.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey || 02/11/2012 9:18 Comments || Top||



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Sat 2012-02-11
  Arrests in Quetta Related to Rabbani Assassination
Fri 2012-02-10
  Zawahiri says Somalia's Shebab Joined al-Qaida
Thu 2012-02-09
  Badar Mansoor Dronezapped in North Wazoo
Wed 2012-02-08
  German Police Arrest Lebanese, Syrian for Spying for Damascus
Tue 2012-02-07
  Blasts Rock N. Nigeria, Police Station Attacked
Mon 2012-02-06
  36 Civilians, 28 Troops Killed in Fresh Syria Violence
Sun 2012-02-05
  Expel Syrian Envoys, Says Arab League Official
Sat 2012-02-04
  Libya's ex-envoy to France dies in custody
Fri 2012-02-03
  Britain Appoints First Ambassador to Somalia in 21 Years
Thu 2012-02-02
  Three top terror leaders killed in the Philippines
Wed 2012-02-01
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Tue 2012-01-31
  12,000 BNP, Jamaat men charged with violence
Mon 2012-01-30
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Sun 2012-01-29
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  UN loses count on Syria killings

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