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Today: 75 articles and 222 comments as of 10:58.
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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Iran puts 100 rioters on trial after post-election unrest
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  LaVerne, Maxene and Patricia had broad appeal



Sans hats

Daily Gam(s) Shot

Abbott and Costello meet the Andrew Sisters

Heehaw

Andrew Totem Pole Sisters


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 08/02/2009 1:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Here they are singing

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

and

Candyman
Posted by: lotp || 08/02/2009 7:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Candyman is the only Christina Aguilera song I like. It's loosely using the music from Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. Somehow I don't think the 1942 Andrews Sisters were singing:

He's a one-stop, gotcha hot, makin' all the panties drop
He's a one-stop, got me hot, makin' my cherry pop
He's a one-stop, get it while it's hot, baby don't stop
Posted by: ed || 08/02/2009 18:26 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Tensions grow in Afghanistan as villagers get rid of opium, fall into poverty
Posted by: tipper || 08/02/2009 14:13 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It is impossible to grow commodity grains profitably using manual labor. You can not till/plant/cultivate/harvest enough grain by hand to get above subsistence farming. If they want to shift Afghanistan away from opium, they are going to need mechanized farming. They will need tractors, combines, trucks, elevators, railroads, irrigation, and the infrastructure on which those things move.

Forcing them to wheat right now is putting the cart before the horse. They need grain elevators, roads, bridges, trucks, tractors, plows, harvesters, and the infrastructure and knowledge to keep all that stuff repaired.

We would be better off to allow them to continue growing the opium while the infrastructure to support other things is being put into place. To do otherwise is sort of a "let them eat cake" attitude.
Posted by: crosspatch || 08/02/2009 14:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Give 'em all $4500 USD for turning in their broken carts as part of BO's cash-for-clunkers. Good gosh we flushing away money atmost anything here. What's another $100M in poppy-land.
Posted by: anymouse || 08/02/2009 14:45 Comments || Top||

#3  The proper take on the cash for clunkers thing would be to execute junkies. That'll go over real well in the west. Especially in big, blue voter cities. "You want to kill all our warm, fluffy junkies!?! Sob. Wail..."
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/02/2009 15:10 Comments || Top||

#4  They could bring back the orchards and vineyards the Taliban destroyed because booze could be made from grapes and Fruit was tasty so it must be against Allan.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/02/2009 15:11 Comments || Top||

#5  Besides, that far from the sea they need the opium to dream of eating mermaids.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/02/2009 15:12 Comments || Top||

#6  tastes like chicken?
Posted by: Frank G || 08/02/2009 15:24 Comments || Top||

#7  So long as Taliban are getting the profits from that opium to buy weapons those people are not going to get above subsistence level anyway. Then the Talibunnies will use that money to kill our guys. Burn that opium (just don't burn it in your pipe).
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 08/02/2009 16:02 Comments || Top||

#8  When the US sends free food to Afghanistan, then local grain prices will be depressed. Quit destabilizing the market with free goodies and prices will settle to provide a livelihood for farmers.
Posted by: ed || 08/02/2009 16:35 Comments || Top||

#9  O woe, woe! Woe is me!

The fault lies with promises made by the Afghan government and not kept by the Afghan government. Also the unrealistic expectations of the Afghan villagers that the Americans would magically bring them up to First World living standards; we saw the same complaints in Iraq.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/02/2009 19:51 Comments || Top||

#10  If they have been growing opium there for several centuries, what difference is a few years going to make?
Posted by: crosspatch || 08/02/2009 22:10 Comments || Top||

#11  WE should just buy it from them instead of letting it go to the Taliban.

Besides, Obama is going to need all that opium to use in all the morphine pumps we are going to be giving out with Obamacare.
Posted by: crosspatch || 08/02/2009 22:12 Comments || Top||

#12  TW, failure to maintain status quo is a completely different beast from failure to attain first world standards of living. The Afghans had plenty under the opium economy; without opium they have little and many will almost certainly starve or freeze this winter. Writing it off to empty promises from the Afghan (or United States) government, or unrealistic hopes of the unwashed peasants, is simply facile.

Here's a challenge for the neocons in the audience. Name one Afghan province that does NOT have a 95% drop in opium crop, and provide a valid reason for it not forfeiting opium profits BESIDES it still being completely under Taliban control.
Posted by: Clyde Cherenter5727 || 08/02/2009 22:13 Comments || Top||

#13  Clyde Cherenter5727, we're going through something similar to what those Afghan villagers are going through, out here in the great, wide Western world. When there is a changeover in the economy, there is a period of severe pain when people lose spending power, jobs, businesses, and savings. I imagine a good many Rantburgers, most of them not in the least bit facile or neo-cons (whatever it is you think neo-con means), can speak directly to that pain. As for the Afghanis, they are going to have to go through the pain of giving up the opium trade sooner or later. It's probably better now, when they aren't competing with the rest of the Opium Belt to succeed in the changeover -- kind of like being in the first round of lay-offs than the last round.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/02/2009 23:33 Comments || Top||

#14  "neocon" is short for neo-conservative which is basically classical liberalism or are for the individual having more liberty. Neo-liberals are classical conservatives and want to have the state have more authority over the people.

Wind things back a couple of hundred years and it would be today's Republicans that would be fighting against taxation and for liberty while it would be today's Democrats what would be increasing taxes and regulating everything under the sun growing the power of the government ever larger.

Neoconservative is often use a pejorative by people who don't really know what it means.

Posted by: crosspatch || 08/02/2009 23:51 Comments || Top||

#15  "Neoconservative is often use a pejorative"

Meant: Neoconservative is often used as a pejorative
Posted by: crosspatch || 08/02/2009 23:52 Comments || Top||


Taliban Ambush Afghan Poll Convoy
[Quqnoos] Taliban insurgents attacked a military convoy carrying ballot papers in western Afghanistan on Friday, killing four soldiers, officials said.

A roadside bomb struck the convoy of Afghan soldiers, loaded with ballot papers for the country's upcoming presidential and provincial council elections in the western Farah province, provincial governor Rohul Amin told Reuters. Insurgents opened fire on the convoy after it was hit by a roadside bomb, the governor further said.

The ambush was the latest in a spate of election-related attacks after the Taliban in a statement warned to disrupt the elections and urged Afghans to avoid casting their votes on the elections day, scheduled for 20 August.

"No ballot papers or other voting documents were destroyed," Amin told Reuters.

He said the attack took place in an area of desert near the Iranian border. The soldiers were killed when the bomb struck their vehicle, Amin said.

At least three election candidates, including President Hamid Karzai's vice-presidential running mate Mohammad Qasim Fahim, have been ambushed in the past week although all escaped unhurt. Several campaign offices have also been bombed, including one in the most secure Afghan province of Panjshir.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Nimroz Firefight Leaves 4 Insurgents Dead
[Quqnoos] At least 4 Taliban insurgents have been killed and eight others wounded, Friday, in an overnight firefight in south-western Nimroz province

Provincial governor, Ghulam Dastgir Azad, said the battle erupted after the militants attacked a government building in the remote district of Khashrod. "The fighting last several hours in the district centre that left significant casualties on the militant's side," governor Azad told Quqnoos. The governor further said that police force have remained unharmed in the heavy fighting.

Taliban militants stepped back from the district centre and Afghan forces are controlling Khashrod, the top provincial official said.

Nimroz --neighbouring Helmand province -- is one of the few Afghan provinces, where no international forces are stationed.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
About those tanks the pirates grabbed and released - Now with South Sudan forces
Posted by: 3dc || 08/02/2009 00:02 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "The big issue here is oil, which has been discovered near the northern border of "South Sudan." The Sudanese government is not trusted by the southerners, who expect an invasion if the vote calls for independence. The 2005 peace deal stipulated that the vote would have taken place by now, but has been delayed several times by the Sudanese government, and is now scheduled for April of next year. The (Christian and black) South Sudanese are arming to maintain their official independence, in the face of a possible north (Arab/Muslim) Sudanese invasion. "

Now the whole thing makes sense as to why the US pretty much left the tanks alone.
Posted by: OldSpook || 08/02/2009 0:31 Comments || Top||

#2  I was so hoping they would show up on eBay.
Posted by: SteveS || 08/02/2009 1:15 Comments || Top||

#3  It makes sense to me.
Posted by: Chuckles Jolutle5799 || 08/02/2009 8:39 Comments || Top||

#4  wouldn't be surprised if some South Sudan pilots weren't training somewhere else in jets that will also make their way there
Posted by: Frank G || 08/02/2009 9:22 Comments || Top||

#5  Jets are probably a bit beyond their capability. A light plane fitted with rockets would suffice for ground attack.
Posted by: phil_b || 08/02/2009 12:42 Comments || Top||

#6  The US should give them a half-dozen A-10s and train pilots and maintenance personnel to go with them. Watch Bashir have a coronary if something like that happens.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 08/02/2009 13:22 Comments || Top||

#7  RUMINT: Israel is training the pilots.
Posted by: OldSpook || 08/02/2009 14:06 Comments || Top||

#8  No doubt in their free time the Israeli pilots are wandering through the markets, shaking hands with Muslim men and making key bits fall off or shrivel up.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/02/2009 18:16 Comments || Top||

#9  S Sudan is Christian, so no heebeejeebies from having a Jew or two walk around the place. That's why the N part of Sudan (Muslim Arabs) hate the south so much.
Posted by: OldSpook || 08/02/2009 18:44 Comments || Top||

#10  Thanks for the emendation, OldSpook. I should have specified northern markets.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/02/2009 21:03 Comments || Top||

#11  Ref #7.

Meanwhile the once proud, highly trained and effective SADF sits around balling nasal dust.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/02/2009 21:10 Comments || Top||


Burundi sends more troops to Somalia
[Iran Press TV Latest] Burundi has deployed a third battalion of 850 soldiers to Mogadishu to reinforce the African Union peacekeeping mission in the Somali capital.

With the new troops, more than 5,000 soldiers from Burundi and Uganda are now taking part in the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which began in March 2007 and has cost the lives of 17 Burundian soldiers. "Burundi had already sent two battalions, or 1,700 soldiers, to Somalia as part of AMISOM," Burundian General Lazare Nduwayo told reporters. "It just finished overnight the deployment of a third battalion of 850 men as part of this peacekeeping mission," the army spokesman said.

The deployment took place over four days with evening flights taking the forces from Burundi's capital Bujumbura to Mogadishu, he said.

AMISOM is the only foreign force in Somalia, a country which has been mired in civil war since 1991. Insurgents launched an offensive in May to topple a transitional government, which is backed by the international community.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Bangladesh
6 suspected militants arrested in Faridpur
[Bangla Daily Star] Police arrested six militant suspects at Chandmari in Faridpur district on Friday and Saturday due to their alleged involvement with an Islamic outfit.

The arrestees are disciples of Abdul Majid, a teacher of Char Fashion Government College in Bhola. He leads the Islamic organisation named Kalimaya-e-Jamaat.

Rezaul Karim, 25, of Pukuria in Bhanga upazila of Faridpur, and Samsuddin, 28, of Bhovovodri village in Begumgonj upazila of Noakhali were arrested by Kotwali police on Friday night. Acting on information extracted from these two arrestees, Murad Hossain, 24, Mohammad Sohel, 18, Yaad Ali, 24, and Mohammad Osman, 20, were arrested yesterday. Earlier, locals informed police that these six youths used to come to their residence after every 10-12 days of their disappearance.

Of these arrestees, Samsuddin completed master of management from Tongi Government College. He said he went to Faridpur to persuade people to join their organisation on instructions of their pir (saint).

Majid is a charge-sheeted accused of 17 August, 2005 series bombing case. He said he was falsely implicated in the case and he is on bail now.

Majid, who completed his master's degree from Mymensingh Agricultural University, also claimed that he has around 400 to 450 disciples across the country and they are not involved in any illegal activities.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Six fugitive Huji militants held
[Bangla Daily Star] Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) launched a simultaneous drive in the capital and elsewhere in the country last night to track down a group of fugitive militant convicts and arrested six of them following latest intelligence information about their preparations for subversive activities. The arrestees belong to the banned Islamist outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami (Huji), and they were convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for life along with 35 other Huji men in 1998.

All the 41 were behind the bar since their arrest on February 19 in 1996 from a Huji den in deep forest at Ukhia in Cox's Bazar with firearms and grenades. But they were freed on bail from the High Court soon after the BNP-Jamaat-led alliance assumed power in 2001. Till the filing of this report at mid night, Rab arrested two in the capital, one in Feni and three in Chittagong and Cox's Bazar.

Law enforcers' records showed the convicts untraced for eight years, and there were no effective efforts to track them down, sources concerned said.

Rab sources said some of the 41 fugitive convicts came under spotlight in the wake of recent intelligence information about their attempt to smuggle in arms into the country through Naikhangchhari border for subversive activities.

The two arrested at Nababer Bagh in the city are Abul Khaer, 40, of Manikganj and Moulana Mohammad Musa, 38, of Chandpur.

The four other arrestees are Abdul Aziz, 45, of Feni, Razaul Karim, 40, and Anwar Uddin Zaved of Chakaria in Cox's Bazar and Abdullah Al Hossain of Banshkhali in Chittagong. They were held from their houses, Rab said. "We gathered information that the HuJi members attempted to smuggle in a consignment of firearms through Zarullachhari at Naikhangchhari in Bandarban, and were recruiting people to strengthen the banned HuJi," said a top Rab official, asking not to be named.

He mentioned that the 41 Huji men, freed on bail, never appeared before court later apprehending they might be arrested again on court order. Rab also came to know through its intelligence that many of the 41 left the country after their release on bail.

Back in 1996, in a joint drive by police, intelligence and army officials, the 41 Huji men were arrested from their training camp inside a cave in the deep Thanaikhali forest in Palangkhali union of Ukhia, an upazila bordering Myanmar.

Thirty-five types of weapons and other items including eight types of firearms, grenades, bullets, swords, binocular, military uniforms, camera and flags inscribed with 'jihad' were seized from their possession.

A case was filed against the arrestees with Ukhia Police Station, mentioning that the detainees were members of huji and stood for Taliban-style armed struggle. They all were locally known as Mujahid (worriors).

The government banned HuJi on October 17 in 2005, over a decade after it had started to spread its tentacles in the country.
This article starring:
Abdul AzizHUJI
Abdullah Al HossainHUJI
Abul KhaerHUJI
Anwar Uddin ZavedHUJI
Moulana Mohammad MusaHUJI
Razaul KarimHUJI
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: HUJI

#1  "A case was filed against the arrestees with Ukhia Police Station, mentioning that the detainees were members of huji and stood for Taliban-style armed struggle. They all were locally known as Mujahid (worriors)."

A combination of warriors and worriers -- not a bad word coinage, albeit unintentional,
Posted by: Odysseus || 08/02/2009 9:56 Comments || Top||


Britain
British war effort hampered by troops too fat to deploy
Britain's war effort is being hampered by the number of front-line troops who are too fat or unfit to be deployed to southern Afghanistan.

A leaked memo sent to all army units and obtained by the Observer reveals that basic fitness policy "is not being carried out" and highlights concern among military commanders over a "worrying trend of obesity" that is limiting the number of soldiers fit enough to fight in Helmand. Units are routinely failing to fulfil the army's basic fitness regime of two hours of physical exercise a week, it adds, and the army must "reinvigorate a warrior ethos".

To counter the problem, the army will introduce a "body composition measurement" policy this October to weed out overweight troops as well as enforcing a bare minimum of three physical training sessions a week.

"The numbers of personnel unable to deploy and concerns about obesity throughout the army are clearly linked to current attitudes towards physical training," states the emergency memo from Major Brian Dupree of the army physical training corps in Wiltshire. He warns that Britain's "operational effectiveness" is being undermined and that soldiers' lives could be placed at risk because some are unable to cope with the brutal conditions of Helmand province and the stresses of combat.

Last night a leading Conservative MP and retired colonel described the revelations as "disgraceful" at a time when commanders are demanding more British troops be sent to Afghanistan to hold ground recently seized from the Taliban during Operation Panther's Claw. Commanders have already sent an extra 125 troops to Helmand to replace those injured or killed in the offensive that saw the highest number of British casualties in Afghanistan since the conflict began.

Currently there are 3,860 army personnel classified as PUD - personnel unable to deploy - with a further 8,190 regarded as being of "limited deployability" for medical reasons. The MoD cannot give a breakdown for how many of these are obese or simply unfit.

Dupree states in the memo dated 10 July: "The current army fitness policy states that to be fit to fight requires a minimum of two to three hours of physical activity per week. It is clear that even this most basic policy is not being implemented.

"To cope with the demands of hybrid operations in Afghanistan and future conflicts the army needs personnel with that battle-winning edge that sustains them through adversity. It is clear this message has been diluted recently and this attitude must change.

"The increasing PUD list and concerns over obesity in the services are clearly linked to this indifferent attitude." He concludes that the army has "not consistently maintained our standards of physical fitness" and needs to "reinvigorate a warrior ethos and a culture of being fit".

Patrick Mercer MP, head of strategy at the Army Training & Recruiting Agency, said: "This lack of personal fitness is a disgraceful state of affairs. The army is desperately undermanned anyway and for obesity to be a problem is extraordinary."

Dupree's report comes three years after the army relaxed its rules to allow recruits with a higher body mass index (BMI) to join after research found that two thirds of British teenagers were too fat to meet fitness requirements. Applicants with a BMI of 32 - two points above the World Health Organisation's definition of obesity - can now enlist.

An army board of inquiry in 2007 revealed how a soldier who died of heat stroke in Iraq was "at the higher level of obese". Investigators revealed that concerns were expressed about Private Jason Smith's BMI.

Dupree's report states: "The demands on time, which are acknowledged, are such that physical training has been regarded as something that can be cut from busy schedules. This approach cannot continue. Strong leadership is expected in this area."
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/02/2009 15:30 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  unfortunately exercise is seen uncool and drinking/drugs are cool amongst the young in the uk
Posted by: paul2 || 08/02/2009 16:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Units are routinely failing to fulfil the army's basic fitness regime of two hours of physical exercise a week...

What the hell are they doing? Watching cartoons?
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 08/02/2009 16:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Two weeks in a quiet zone humping 100 pounds for two day patrols [one day off] will solve the 'fat' problem before they're sent to more interesting duties.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/02/2009 18:18 Comments || Top||

#4  The time is getting near for Argentina to make another attempt invading the Faulklands again.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 08/02/2009 18:52 Comments || Top||

#5  This is bad if try and I fault commanders. It's not that hard to allow for a hour of physical training each day. It's especially team building if EVERYONE does it at the same time.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 08/02/2009 20:56 Comments || Top||

#6  My brother, the Lt. Col. does the same PT as his men every day. It all comes from the top.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 08/02/2009 21:55 Comments || Top||

#7  PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUMS > UK REPORT:[PAK-based] LET RESPONSIBLE FOR MUMBAI ATTACK/LET AT "MERGE POINT" WITH AL QAEDA. Besides Mumbai, the LET Group is also deemed respons for several other MAJOR ATTACKS i.e. London, Madrid, Islamabad Iraq, Germany and Denmark.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 08/02/2009 23:19 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Five Dead In Peru 'Shining Path' Attack
Three policemen and two civilians have been killed in an overnight raid on a special forces base in southern Peru, which the government has blamed on once-powerful Maoist guerrillas. Police on Sunday said around 50 guerrillas attacked the base in San Jose de Secce between midnight and dawn, using explosives and firearms. The bodies of five victims, including two women, were transferred by military helicopter to the nearby Andean city of Ayacucho, 300 kilometers (200 miles) south east of the capital Lima.

The Ayacucho area was among the hardest hit during the Shining Path's insurgency in the 1980s and is now a hub for Peru's illicit trade in drugs. In April, President Alan Garcia vowed Tuesday to "crush" the remnants of the rebel group after ambushes killed 14 soldiers in the remote southeast jungles of the country, the worst rebel attacks in 10 years.

Peruvian officials have blamed the recent attacks on remnants of the Maoist group - also known by its Spanish name, Sendero Luminoso - who have allied with drug traffickers in the region. Peru is one of the world's principle coca leaf producers, the main ingredient for making cocaine.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
'German charity front for Hizbullah'
A German charity for Lebanese orphans is a front organization raising funds for Hizbullah suicide bombers, according to a Brussels-based think tank. Alexander Ritzmann, a senior fellow at The European Foundation for Democracy, and author of a study on "Hizbullah's Fund-raising Organization in Germany," issued in mid-July, said the Orphans Project Lebanon (Waisenkinderprojekt Libanon e.V.), situated in Göttingen, Lower Saxony, is "the German branch of a Hizbullah sub-organization" which "promotes suicide bombings" and seeks to destroy Israel.

According to Ritzmann's 23-page analysis on the inner workings of Hizbullah in Germany, "financial donations to the Orphans Project Lebanon are tax deductible and are therefore subsidized by the German state."

When asked on Thursday about donors and donations to the Orphans Project, Ritzmann told The Jerusalem Post that the tax authority declined to disclose information based on privacy laws. According to Ritzmann, the Orphans Project did not provide a yearly report on its activities. The federal republic is "legitimizing and promoting financial assistance to Hizbullah," he wrote.

The Orphans Project Lebanon is "affiliated with the Lebanese Al-Shahid Association," which is controlled by Hizbullah's network and trains children to carry out suicide bombing missions, the report said.

Ritzmann's report cited a study conducted by the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation which found that in Al-Shahid-run schools and day care centers, "more than 50 percent of the children declared that their sole aim was to become a shahid, or martyr."

In an e-mail to the Post, a spokesman for Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble wrote, "Hizbullah negates Israel's right to exist. Its most important purpose is the fight against Israel, carried out by terrorist means, as the 'illegal occupant of Palestinian soil.' Hizbullah is thus a danger to the State of Israel, which however does not become concrete in the same way in Germany. The Hizbullah supporters who live here behave largely in conformity with the law, in accordance with an order from their Beirut headquarters. "The association Orphans Project Lebanon is linked with Hizbullah in many ways organizationally and through its staff. Its danger thus essentially corresponds to that of Hizbullah."

When asked if the Interior Ministry planned to legally prohibit Hizbullah's activities in Germany, the spokesman wrote that "the Interior Ministry in general does not make comments about whether it is considering a ban, independent of whether there is a reason for it in the individual case. Our principle is: We don't talk about bans, we impose them."

While Schäuble said in 2006 that Hizbullah "is not to collect donations" in Germany, the Interior Ministry and state governmental bodies have not issued regulations banning the group's fund-raising activities.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Home Front: WoT
Military-civilian terror prison eyed
Posted by: tipper || 08/02/2009 12:23 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Liberals will go stark raving mad. No beach front, 5 star accomodations for the terrorists...
Posted by: Percy Spons4194 || 08/02/2009 13:07 Comments || Top||

#2  I figured they'd just get positions as 'czars' in the Obama administration.
Posted by: DMFD || 08/02/2009 13:16 Comments || Top||

#3  an answer in search of a problem. There is nothing wrong with Gitmo other than nutroots pressure forcing Obama, Donks and Squishy Pubs (yeah you McCain) to pledge to close it. They don't have a solution, and really have no valid reasons (oooooh! The EU'peans don't like it!).
Posted by: Frank G || 08/02/2009 13:20 Comments || Top||


Warship christened at Maine shipyard for NY Marine
BATH, Maine -- In a solemn ceremony punctuated by talk of courage, service and sacrifice, the mother of a Marine corporal on Saturday christened a warship honoring her son, who died after covering an exploding grenade to protect his comrades in Iraq.

After composing herself and taking a deep breath, Deb Dunham smashed a bottle of champagne over the bow of the 510-foot warship USS Jason Dunham, then held the bottle aloft before a cheering crowd of more than 1,500 people. She was joined by the Marines who served with her son, by her husband, Dan Dunham, and their daughter Katelyn Dunham. Two other Dunham boys also were in the audience.
This is the latest Arleigh Burke class DDG.
Retired Gen. Michael Hagee, a former Marine commandant who was with the Dunhams when their son died at Bethesda Naval Hospital days after the explosion, said Jason gave the "gift of valor." Hagee said the warship will serve as a reminder that freedom "is paid for by the men and women who wear the cloth of this nation."

"They are willing to give up everything that is important: love, marriage, children, family, friends," Hagee said of the 22-year-old Marine. "I can tell you I've always stood in awe of that."

At the Bath Iron Works shipyard, a special place was reserved for those who served with Dunham in Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines. Dunham's company commander, Maj. Trent Gibson, Sgt. Bill Hampton and Cpl. Kelly Miller, who were present the day Dunham died, were among them. Hampton and Miller were next to Dunham when the grenade detonated. It was them whose lives were saved because of him. They suffered burns and shrapnel wounds but recovered.

Hagee said Dunham, from Scio, N.Y., seemed destined to be a Marine: He reminded the audience that Dunham's birthday was the same as that of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Dunham served as squad commander on his first tour in Iraq, and he chose to extend his enlistment so he could serve the entire tour with his Marines. He vowed to bring his squad home alive, and was true to his word. They all came back.

Dunham won the Medal of Honor for his actions April 14, 2004, as his squad sought to engage insurgents after a convoy was ambushed. While the squad searched vehicles, the driver of a Toyota Land Cruiser jumped out and attacked Dunham. They fell to the ground, where the fight continued.

Dunham shouted: "No, no, no! Watch his hand!" as the attacker pulled out a grenade. Dunham covered the explosive with his body and his helmet as it went off. He died eight days later.
More from WHEC:
The USS Jason Dunham will go to sea with several mementoes donated by his family including his dress blue uniform and a baseball bat. A piece of Dunham's shattered helmet was sealed within the mast of the destroyer. Dunham's mother says Jason would think it's cool to have his name on a ship. After all, he was just a kid from a small town in Western New York. She hopes others will see his name and be grateful for what he did for his country.

"My son did the right thing and it's not always easy but it is the right thing and were very proud of him," said Deb Dunham.
As are we, ma'am, proud, honored and humbled.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/02/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  May the valiant Corporal take his well-deserved seat at the table in Valhalla - while the warship bearing his name continues the patrol.

With my utmost respect; Semper Fi!
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 08/02/2009 1:12 Comments || Top||

#2  a worthy honor. Semper Fi!
Posted by: Frank G || 08/02/2009 9:25 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Schools reopen in Swat
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Educational institutions reopened across the militancy-hit Swat Valley on Saturday but the attendance of students remained low. Addressing a press conference, president of the All Private Schools Management Association Khurshid Ahmed Khan said the students had been exempted from paying fees of the past three months. He appealed to the government to compensate the people for the losses they had incurred during the military operation. The association president urged the government to ask security forces to vacate buildings of educational institutions where they had been stationed.

Meanwhile, a militant commander surrendered while two terrorists were arrested in the Charbagh Tehsil in the ongoing military operation. Official sources said security forces launched a search operation in Charbagh and raided hideouts of militants where a commander, identified as Bakht Jehan, surrendered while two other insurgents were arrested. Arms were also recovered from their possession.

The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) office also started working in Mingora.

AP adds: In one girls' school in Mingora, in the Haji Baba neighbourhood, only about 30 of the usual 700 students were back on Saturday. But those who were said they were glad to be able to learn again without fear of the Taliban.

'Iím happy. I like school. I like to study,' 12-year-old Saima Abdul Wahab said as she stood in a tiny courtyard outside her dusty classroom, piles of new exercise books stacked against the walls waiting to be given out. Saima said she, like many others, had been too afraid to study when the Taliban controlled the town.

'I was scared and stopped coming to school. The Taliban were slaughtering people. I was scared of being slaughtered,' she said. But now, 'Iím not afraid of them coming back. They're gone,' she said.

'We will have extra classes, put in extra time, forego our vacations, but we will catch up,' vowed Noorul Akbar, who teaches Quran recitation at a nearby boys' school.

Noorul Akbar said at one point, several Taliban had taken over a few rooms in the school. He said teachers had pleaded with them to leave, telling them their guns were scaring the children. The militants had replied that they would only target passing military convoys, he said.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Six foreigners recovered from Khyber, kidnappers held
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Six kidnapped foreigners were recovered and their three captors arrested in the Khyber Agency on Saturday. Sources said security forces raided the house of Saifullah in the Sipah area here and recovered the hostages. Some of those recovered were identified as Michael, John Paul, Steven and Mozi, nationals of Nigeria, and Jeffrey Harrison belonging to Sierra Leone. The arrested kidnappers were identified as Gul Shad, Taj Muhammad and Saifullah.

Official sources at the Shakas Fort told the media that the foreigners had been held hostage by activists of the banned Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) for ransom. A major of the Mehsud Scouts said one Nigerian hostage had died in captivity. The hostages recovered showed signs of torture on their bodies to reporters.

When contacted, a spokesman for the LI, Zar Khan, said the accused were not activists of his outfit. He said the Nigerian citizens had come to the tribal areas to procure drugs for smuggling.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


8 Taliban surrender in Swat, Mohmand
The military on Saturday said eight wanted Taliban had surrendered to security forces during offensives in Swat and Mohmand Agency. The ISPR said search operations were successfully conducted in Swat and Malakand where two terrorists from Shakardarra surrendered to the security forces at Shalpalam. The security forces also conducted search operations in Malukabad and Cham areas of Chaharbagh and killed two Taliban and arrested four others.

Meanwhile in Mohmand Agency, six wanted Taliban belonging to Mirza Khel and Shati Khel tribes surrendered to the civil administration.

Also on Saturday, two Taliban were killed and another three injured in security forces' firing at Chinar area of Bajaur Agency's Charmang tehsil. Two Taliban were killed and another six apprehended as troops, backed by helicopter gunships, targeted their hideouts in Chapar Ferozkhel area of Orakzai Agency.

Also, four policemen were killed when their vehicle was hit by a remote-controlled bomb near Shinawari checkpost in Hangu. The Taliban abducted four personnel of the Kurram militia from Hangu.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Rangers deployed in Gojra riots
The government deployed the Rangers to the town of Gojra on Saturday after at least seven Christians, including three women, were burnt alive and dozens injured following the second incident of violence against Christians in Punjab in one month.

The latest riots, which started almost a week ago following allegations that a copy of the holy Quran was defiled, escalated on Saturday as locals shouting slogans against Christians took to the streets in Christian Town, a Christian-only locality.
Well, what else would they call it?
Following the escalation, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, on directions of President Asif Ali Zardari, ordered the Punjab Rangers to reach Gojra and help the civil administration maintain law and order. Eyewitnesses said a protesting mob turned violent when armed men from Jhang reached the spot and started attacking Christian houses. Locals claimed the attackers were members of a banned organisation, adding they carried sophisticated weaponry. Emboldened by the attackers, the mob started throwing acid and petrol bombs on the houses, forcing the people to come out. A local resident said dozens were feared dead, adding the exact number could not be confirmed as several bodies were buried under debris.

Claiming the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba group was involved in the rioting, Federal Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti told the Associated Press he had directed police to ensure protection for the Christian community but they had ignored his instructions.

Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said authorities had investigated the allegation of a Holy Quran being defiled "and our initial reports say that there has not been any incident of desecration".
Yeah, there's a shock...
He said the situation had calmed down on Friday, but extremists had entered the city on Saturday and pushed people toward armed clashes. Faisalabad Commissioner Tahir Hussain told local TV channels that representatives of the two communities would meet on Saturday in an effort to calm the situation.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan


Iraq
Navy: Captain Speicher Found
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) has positively identified remains recovered in Iraq as those of Capt. Michael Scott Speicher.

Speicher was shot down flying a combat mission in an F/A-18 Hornet over west-central Iraq Jan. 17, 1991 during Operation Desert Storm.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Captain Speicher's family for the ultimate sacrifice he made for his country," said Ray Mabus, secretary of the Navy. "I am also extremely grateful to all those who have worked so tirelessly over the last 18 years to bring Captain Speicher home."

"Our Navy will never give up looking for a shipmate, regardless of how long or how difficult that search may be," said Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations. "We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Captain Speicher and his family for the sacrifice they have made for our nation and the example of strength they have set for all of us."

Acting on information provided by an Iraqi citizen in early July, U.S. Marines stationed in Al Anbar Province went to a location in the desert which was believed to be the crash site of Speicher's jet. The Iraqi citizen stated he knew of two Iraqi citizens who recalled an American jet impacting the desert and the remains of the pilot being buried in the desert. One of these Iraqi citizens stated that they were present when Speicher was found dead at the crash site by Bedouins and his remains buried.
Some reports had him wandering around with the Bedu for years, other had him in Iraqi prisons. It would appear that neither was correct. Then again, who knows? Although the remains handed over by the Iraqis after the 1991 ceasefire were clearly not his.
The Iraqi citizens led U.S. Marines to the site who searched the area. Remains were recovered over several days during the past week and flown to Dover Air Force Base for scientific identification by the AFIP's Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner. The recovered remains include bones and multiple skeletal fragments. Positive identification was made by comparing Speicher's dental records with the jawbone recovered at the site. The teeth are a match, both visually and radiographically.

While dental records have confirmed the remains to be those of Speicher, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology DNA Lab in Rockville, Md., is running DNA tests on the remains recovered in Iraq and comparing them to DNA reference samples previously provided by family members. Results will take approximately 24 hours.
Posted by: Plastic Snoopy || 08/02/2009 10:18 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Rest in peace, sir, and thank you for your service.
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie || 08/02/2009 11:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Rest easy.

Good to see the last of my brothers in arms from ODT/ODS is home.
Posted by: OldSpook || 08/02/2009 12:37 Comments || Top||

#3  ...On the one hand, I am gratified beyond words that Captain Speicher is coming home. On the other hand, I have some serious questions for the US military investigators who kept finding traces of him someplace he never was. I do not doubt their motivation for a second - but I am concerned they were under pressure to come up with something so that the Government in general and the DOD in particular could not be accused of leaving anyone behind this time.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 08/02/2009 13:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Mike,

I think that what was probably in play was the Iraqis instantly sensed how important CAPT Speicher was to us and fed information to gullible investigators to curry favor, monetary advantage, etc.

I worked on projects with the Iraqi Ministry of Labor & Social Affairs, and I was usually called in on cases where a team had gotten bamboozled by some ingratiating minor bureaucrat who had blown his importance completely out of proportion and had gotten some minor project of his hooked up with some major league funding.

Nevertheless, I'm glad CAPT Speicher has been returned home where he belongs.
Posted by: Dreadnought || 08/02/2009 18:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Sorry about the duplicate item.

Mike, when I said "who knows?" -- the though had occurred to me that this would be the logical place to dispose of him if the Iraqi government had in fact held him in captivity for a time. Or perhaps the Bedu just decided to keep him. I certainly hope that's not the case, but I'm not sure we'll ever hear about it if it was. I do remember from that series of articles in the Virginia Pilot that someone had actually searched the wreckage area after the war. Did they miss the grave? Or was he only buried later?

All we really know is that the Iraqi government handed over a box that they said contained Speicher's remains in 1991. Subsequent DNA testing proved that it wasn't him, and, added on to the other circumstances, he was reclassified as "missing" and later "missing-captured."

Now we finally have him and I'm greatful.
Posted by: Plastic Snoopy || 08/02/2009 18:55 Comments || Top||

#6  Dreadnaught,

Thank you for the background info - that was stuff I was unaware of. I hate the idea though that he or his remains may have been used as a bargaining chip.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 08/02/2009 20:25 Comments || Top||


Izzat Ibrahim urges insurgents enter politics
[Al Arabiya Latest] The fugitive leader of Saddam Hussein's Baath party called on Saturday all armed and unarmed groups fighting the foreign presence in the country to engage in politics, suggesting a possible shift away from armed struggle. Izzat al-Douri's statement posted on the Baath Party and Resistance website, urged the formation of a "national, political or supreme leadership council to include all armed and unarmed resistance powers."

His message comes a month after U.S. forces withdrew from Iraqi urban centers, the first step in a bilateral security pact that had many insurgents claiming victory over U.S. forces. U.S. troops are supposed to withdraw fully by 2012. "(The council's) first goal is to unify a political stance, speeches and media, and to ... promote it in order for it to take the role it deserves, especially after the historical victory of the resistance," the statement said.

Douri, who took over party leadership after Saddam's execution, had previously said he has no quarrel with Iraqi government forces, leaving a question mark over his future plans and that of his supporters after U.S. troops leave.

It is unclear how much influence Douri has over the plethora of Sunni insurgent groups operating in the country, but the Iraqi government often blames former Baathists for bomb attacks. American officials see greater participation of Iraq's Sunni Arab minority in politics as key to reconciling Iraq's feuding and sectarian and ethnic groups and ensuring stability holds when U.S. troops leave.

Sunni Arabs have criticized Iraq's Shiites led government for dragging its feet in embracing former members of the Baath party, and many accuse the government of sidelining Sunnis. The Iraqi government says it is reaching out to former Baathists, but not those with blood on their hands.

Led by Saddam from 1979-2003, the Baath party brutally oppressed Iraq's Shiites and Kurds. Douri was Saddam's deputy. Douri called for compensation for U.S. occupation and the release of Iraqi prisoners.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Baath Party

#1  The Iraqi government says it is reaching out to former Baathists, but not those with blood on their hands.

Are there any?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/02/2009 0:29 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Drive-by terrorists gun down villager in southern Thailand
A man was killed Sunday morning in a drive-by shooting in Thailand's deep South, Thai media reported. According to The Nation online, local police identified the victim as Surasak Wirojsongkram, 29. He was shot dead on a village road in Nong Chick district of the southern border province Pattani at 8:30 a.m. local time. Police said Surasak was riding his motorcycle home when two men on a motorcycle caught up with him and shot him. The killers had fled the scene.
Posted by: ryuge || 08/02/2009 08:44 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Report: Crashed Iranian plane was carrying arms for Hezbollah

An Iranian plane crash two weeks ago -- which left 168 people dead -- was caused by the explosion of sophisticated fuses slated to be delivered to Hezbollah, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported Saturday, quoting sources in the Middle East.
Well done, CIA ...
According to the report, the pilot of the Tupolev plane, which was making its way from Tehran to Armenia, sent an emergency warning 16 minutes after takeoff. Shortly afterwards, the plane crashed in northwest Iran.

According to the sources, the aircraft was carrying a large number of modern fuses composed of 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of explosives and electrical instrumentation.

The report is in line with testimonies on explosion sounds heard before the crash. According to the sources, the plane was meant to transfer the fuses from Iran to Armenia, and from there to Syria through Turkey, and then on the ground to Lebanon. This route was chosen, according to exiled opposition sources, so as not to draw attention.

According to the report, the transfer of arms was a special operation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and some of its members were among the crash victims. It was also reported that the presence of security forces at the site of the crash was not a coincidence.

According to information received from Lebanon, the weapon was to be hidden in one of the shelters built by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. However following an explosion which destroyed such a facility on July 14, the Iranian decided to hide the fuses north of the Litani River.
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/02/2009 14:53 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is it permissible to laugh?
Posted by: 3dc || 08/02/2009 15:04 Comments || Top||

#2  It's haram to laugh til you pee yourself, but, oh, what the hell...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/02/2009 15:05 Comments || Top||

#3  I know it's early yet, but I think Murcek wins Snark of the Day®.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) || 08/02/2009 15:20 Comments || Top||

#4  So I have to pee myself first and then laugh? Okay, but it feels like I'm doing it wrong.
Posted by: BH || 08/02/2009 15:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Altitude sensitive bombs fuses. Now what possible application could that possibly have?
Posted by: ed || 08/02/2009 16:50 Comments || Top||

#6  bombs
Posted by: ed || 08/02/2009 16:52 Comments || Top||

#7  mortar spray?
Posted by: Frank G || 08/02/2009 17:13 Comments || Top||

#8  interestingly the Mullahs decided against a land route

perhaps it is because it would have to go through Azerbaijan to get to Armenia and Azerbaijan, though mostly moslem, is currently allied with Israel (perhaps because of ethnic animosity toward their neighbor).
Posted by: Lord garth || 08/02/2009 17:21 Comments || Top||

#9  What a drag. Duuuude.
Posted by: eLarson || 08/02/2009 18:07 Comments || Top||

#10  Not the CIA - with bambi in the White House? No way. The Mossad or some other Israeli function.
Posted by: Hellfish || 08/02/2009 19:15 Comments || Top||

#11  "Ha! We must have stolen these electronics! One of these chips on the circuit board says 'Made in Dimona'. Where is Dimona?"
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/02/2009 22:25 Comments || Top||

#12  Mazel Tov!
Posted by: OldSpook || 08/02/2009 23:39 Comments || Top||

#13  Thank you, Lord.
Posted by: anymouse || 08/02/2009 23:46 Comments || Top||


Iran state TV confirms arrest of 3 Americans
Iran state TV confirmed Saturday that it has detained three Americans who crossed the border from northern Iraq, saying they failed to heed warnings from Iranian guards.

Kurdish officials from the self-ruled region in northern Iraq said the three -- two men and a woman -- were tourists who had mistakenly crossed into Iranian territory Friday while hiking in a mountainous area near the resort town of Ahmed Awaa.

"The Iranians said they have arrested them because they entered their land without legal permission," said Qubad Talabani, the Kurdish regional government's envoy to Washington.

Iran's state owned Arabic-language al-Alam TV station cited a "well-informed source" in the Interior Ministry that the three Americans were detained Friday after crossing into Iran's Kurdistan province.

The report said the Americans were arrested after they did not heed warnings from Iranian border guards.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Saturday that Washington had asked the Swiss, who represent U.S. interests in Tehran, "to confirm these reports with Iranian authorities and, if true, to seek consular access" to the detained Americans.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Stayed at a "Youth Hostel"? College aged probably, and raised in the idiot-generating embrace of liberals, possibly typical spoiled rich liberal brats. Bet they were stunned that they actually were expected to "obey those hairy foreigners - they didn't even speak English to them!"

Are they in for a very rude awakening.

Guess what kids: you have been lied to during your childhood, where everyone gets a trophy and a "b" grade for just showing up, and punishment is "time out" (where you can still text your friends and play with your Nintendo).

Actions have consequences, quite often unpleasant ones.

Posted by: OldSpook || 08/02/2009 0:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Quiet please! "Teachable Moment" now in session.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/02/2009 0:32 Comments || Top||

#3  looking to get back more detained Qods guys?
Posted by: Frank G || 08/02/2009 8:19 Comments || Top||

#4  Hiking in Kurdistan? Whew.... When did people begin to think the rest of the world was EPCOT writ large and managed by the Disney corporation?
Posted by: whitecollar redneck || 08/02/2009 8:24 Comments || Top||

#5  Quiet please! "Teachable Moment" now in session.

Besoeker is en fuego this morning. Maybe the mullahs will sit down with their new "Dude where's our Ahmed Awaa resort?" friends for a summit over a nice mug of castor oil.

Posted by: regular joe || 08/02/2009 9:20 Comments || Top||

#6  May I suggest a third "Bridget Jones Diary" set this time in the Middle East instead of Thailand--have Renee Zellweger encountering mean bad guys and charming them with her blond hair and giggling. Help Keep the exotic tourism business flush with cash!! Hippies welcome!
Posted by: GirlThursday || 08/02/2009 11:27 Comments || Top||

#7  Sounds like an Idiots of the Year award to me.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/02/2009 11:28 Comments || Top||

#8  Make sure you tell them about your "rights", kiddies.
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/02/2009 14:53 Comments || Top||

#9  Vishnu Rainbow and Moonbeam Flower, have you ever been in a Turkish an Iranian prison?
Posted by: ed || 08/02/2009 16:41 Comments || Top||

#10  REDDIT > IRAN READY TO BUILD ITS N-BOMB: ITS JUST WAITING FOR THE AYATOLLAH'S ORDERS [Khameini playing it cool]???

* BHARAT RAKSHAK/MIL FORUMS > PRESS TV > US INTIMATE WID RADICAL EXTREMISTS IN CENTRAL ASIA/OSAMA BIN LADEN, etal. WORKING WITH USA UP TO 9-11.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 08/02/2009 23:51 Comments || Top||


Iran puts 100 rioters on trial after post-election unrest
Top Iranian reformist Mohammad Ali Abtahi told a Tehran court on Saturday there had been no fraud in the June election which returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power, the Fars news agency reported. "The 10th (presidential) election was different and it took two or three years to work on it. I think reformists took action to sort of restrict the (supreme) leader," Mohammad Ali Abtahi told a revolutionary court where around 100 people accused of rioting after the disputed re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were put on trial in a Tehran.

Their prosecution comes as Ahmadinejad, who is due to be sworn in on Aug. 5, sought to ease political tensions by denying any rift with the country's all-powerful supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The official IRNA news agency said the trial of a group of "rioters" had begun, but it did not specify the exact number of those in the dock.

Accusations
Among those in the dock were prominent reformists and supporters of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi and aides of former reformist president Mohammad Khatami.

The leading reformists on trial were Behzad Nabavi, a top member of the Islamic Republic Mujahedeen Organization, Mohammad Atrianfar, prominent member of Executives of Construction, and Abtahi, a member of the Assembly of Combatant Clerics. Nabavi was also the deputy speaker of parliament during the Khatami government, while Abtahi was vice president in charge of parliamentary affairs during Khatami's tenure.

Fars reported that Abtahi has confessed that claims about the vote violation were "baseless."

Iran's top judge, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi, ordered the judiciary on Monday to review the cases of detained protesters in a week. Media reports say the accused face charges of having "participated in riots, acting against national security, disturbing public order, vandalizing public and government property and having ties with counter-revolutionary groups."

The post-election violence, mainly in Tehran, left around 30 people dead and hundreds wounded, Iranian officials said. IRNA said according to prosecutors those on trial include people whose photographs were taken while "committing the crimes."

"Some of their accomplices are on the run but they will be surely identified by our dear people and handed over to the law," the agency said.

Following the June 12 vote -- which opposition leaders say was rigged -- up to 2,000 protesters, political activists, reformists and journalists were arrested as hundreds of thousands of people rallied to challenge the results. Most detainees have been released but around 250 remain behind bars and their continued imprisonment has become a rallying cry for the anti-Ahmadinejad movement.
Posted by: Fred || 08/02/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran



Who's in the News
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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2009-08-02
  Iran puts 100 rioters on trial after post-election unrest
Sat 2009-08-01
  Al-Shabaab gets $8m for French hostage
Fri 2009-07-31
  Nigeria's Boko Haram chief deader than Tut
Thu 2009-07-30
  Nigeria to hunt down Islamic radicals: President
Wed 2009-07-29
  Nigeria fighting rages as death toll passes 300
Tue 2009-07-28
  Eight security guards killed in $7 million Baghdad bank robbery
Mon 2009-07-27
  Sufi Muhammad, sons, apprehended in Peshawar
Sun 2009-07-26
  Turkish frigate captures 5 Somali pirates
Sat 2009-07-25
  Seven soldiers killed in north Yemen attacks
Fri 2009-07-24
  B.O.: 'Victory' Not Necessarily Goal in Afghanistan
Thu 2009-07-23
  Binny's kid reported dronezapped
Wed 2009-07-22
  American Charged With Giving Al Qaeda NYC Subway Information
Tue 2009-07-21
  Shabab raid Somali UN offices
Mon 2009-07-20
  Mumbai gunny admits guilt
Sun 2009-07-19
  Mullah Fazlullah back on Swat airwaves

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