[DAWN] Campaigning for Afghanistan’s long-delayed parliamentary elections started on Friday, as a crescendo of deadly violence and claims of widespread fraud fuel debate over whether the vote will go ahead.
More than 2,500 candidates will contest the October 20 poll, which is seen as a test run for next year’s presidential vote and a key milestone ahead of a UN meeting in Geneva where Afghanistan is under pressure to show progress on "democratic processes".
But preparations for the ballot, which is more than three years late, have been in turmoil for months, despite UN-led efforts to keep Afghan organisers on track.
Bureaucratic inefficiency, allegations of industrial-scale fraud and now an eleventh-hour pledge for biometric verification of voters threaten to derail the election and any hope of a credible result.
It will be "highly flawed", a Western diplomat admitted this week, reflecting falling expectations across Kabul’s international community, which is providing most of the funding for the elections.
The Independent Election Commission (IEC) has insisted voting will go ahead, with or without the biometric machines that have been demanded by opposition groups to prevent people from voting more than once.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
[RADIOSHABELLE] MP Tarig Ibrahim Ahmed, who is a member of HirShabelle regional assembly has blamed the top leaders of the state for failing the security and the fight against Al-Shabaab ... an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia... .
Ahmed has voiced concern over the current security situation in the region after al-Shabaab has blockaded key towns under HirShabelle control, prompting road closure.
The state politician said the brass hats from the region are at the luxury hotels in Mogadishu amid worsening security and increase in Al-Shabaab attacks in HirShabelle.
The politician has called on HirShabelle president Mohammed Abdi Waare to focus on security and state-building as to the region is currently facing major challanges.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab (AQ)
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Libya parliament member Saleh Afhima told Al Arabiya English that an agreement has been reached between the warring factions to reconstitute the Presidential Council with two presidents and two vice presidents representing the three Libyan provinces, instead of the current 9 members.
Afhima said: "The parliament’s Dialogue Committee reached an agreement this week with the members of the committee represented by the Council of State on the date of the selection of the new presidential council, which the parliament stipulated before mid-October through an agreed mechanism upon sharing of posts by region."
He added that parallel to the process of forming the new presidential council, "a referendum on the draft constitution" will be held in order to "prepare for the organization of parliamentary and presidential elections," ruling out that this will happen before the end of this year.
Libya has been in a state of political turmoil for years, with a government in the East and another in the West, resulting in an ongoing conflict between political and military parties to control power, sovereign institutions and oil wealth.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[SABANEWS.NET] Yemeni and US activists on Saturday called on the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... and the international community to intervene immediately to stop the Saudi-led aggression coalition war on Yemen.
In a protest, organized in front of the UN General Assembly headquarters in New York, the activists called on the United Nations to assume responsibility toward the coalition's daily crimes and human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. violations against Yemeni people in all provinces of the country.
The activists raised banners denouncing the US-backed Saudi-led aggression coalition crimes in Yemen.
They rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud against the coalition countries, calling for neutralizing civilians and stop air strikes targeting them.
A recent report by experts of the UN Human Rights Council has accused the Saudi-led aggression coalition of committing horrific human rights violations that may amount to war crimes in Yemen.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Houthis
#1
Saudi and other anti-Iranian forces are winning. Time to mobilize the useless tools
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/30/2018 7:02 Comments ||
Top||
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] "Iran is threatening security in the straits of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb," the Bahraini foreign minister told the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... General Assembly on Saturday, adding that "the Iranian regime supports Yemen’s 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. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... militias in threatening neighboring countries".
Bahrain Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa told the UN that the regime in Iran is adopting a policy of sabotage and supporting terrorism in the region and that achieving lasting security requires a strategic alliance between the countries of the region.
In a related context, the Bahraini foreign minister called Iran "to stop interfering in the internal affairs of Iraq" while stressing Bahrain’s support for "the efforts to restore Syria to its entire territory and expel the Iranian militias from them" reiterating the need to reach a political solution to the crisis in Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[DAWN] Another case of political interference in official matters surfaced after Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... Minister for Prisons Zawar Hussain visited the Kot Lakhpat Jail on Thursday and allegedly unlocked high security barracks.
Holds ‘secret meeting’ with terrorists, accompanied by six civilians; report of six-hour long visit sent to home secretary
The minister, along with ’six suspected civilians’, allegedly held a secret meeting with the bandidosDeath Eaters of banned terror outfits involved in suicide kabooms in Lahore and under-trial sectarian inmates. Through his visit to the high-profile prisoners, he created a risk of security lapse as he allegedly unlocked the barracks, housing 109 dangerous Lions of Islam in sheer violation of Pakistain Prisons Rules 1978.
Presently, the jail houses 3,700 convicts and other inmates, including 300 death row prisoners, 45 foreigners, 70 high-profile/sectarian prisoners and those convicted by army courts, besides 2,200 other dangerous convicted inmates.
Minister Zawar Hussain allegedly forced his entry into the jail in the wee hours and stopped the jail superintendent and other bigwigs from accompanying him as he went to meet the prisoners, says a detailed report dispatched to the home secretary by the prisons department.
It says the minister allegedly forced all the jail officials to leave the premises and made them wait outside it. He directed the officials not to enter the jail until he completes his ’work’ as he seized the keys to the cells/barracks of the high-risk prisoners, unlocked the cells and met and interviewed the prisoners in violation of rules.
On resistance, he locked the official guards of the high-security blocks of the dangerous prisoners in a cell for ’not cooperating with him’.
In his meeting with the under-trial bandidosDeath Eaters of the banned terrorist outfits involved in suicide attacks in Lahore, he was accompanied by six civilians. The minister remained in the prison for six hours.
Superintendent of the Kot Lakhpat Jail Ijaz Asghar made these stunning revelations in his detailed report, available with Dawn, sent to Punjab Inspector General of Prisons Mirza Shahid Saleem Baig.
Mr Baig brought the matter to the knowledge of the secretary interior who ordered high-level investigation into the issue.
Earlier, incidents of political interference in the official affairs involving the PTI parliamentarians surfaced in Pakpattan and Chakwal, causing embarrassment for the party that has remained quite vocal against political interference in official matters.
In the fresh scam, the superintendent of the jail, in his report, mentioned serious violations of the prisons rules and the ’mysterious activities’ of the minister and his six civilian companions. He took help of the CCTV cameras in the jail to prepare the report.
"According to the prisons rules 1978, the prisons guard is the custodian of the keys of jail corridor and it happened for the first time that the minister snatched keys from him and handed them over to a suspected civilian who was accompanying him,"the report says.
The six civilians who came with the minister took into custody the official walkie-talkie sets from all the deputed jail employees, it alleges.
According to the section 924 of the prisons rules, no one is allowed to enter the jail after it is locked at the specified time but the minister violated the laws and entered the premises without prior intimation. The minister violated the section 925 of the rules, got the barracks unlocked and met high-profile prisoners along the civilian men, it says. He violated the section 725 of the rules by locking the night officer and security guards, unlocking the Barrack 4 of the high value targets (prisoners), creating a serious risk for their escape.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[16 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Wormtongue Qureshi, while representing Pakistain at the 73rd session of the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... General Assembly in New York, said Pakistain wanted to engage with "all countries and neighbours on the basis of peace and equality".
The foreign minister addressed the audience in the national language, Urdu.
"I address you today as the representative of a country moving towards prosperity and development," Qureshi said at the start of his speech.
The foreign minister said, "Today the world is at a crossroads as protectionism, populism and isolationism are gaining currency. New forms and manifestations of imperialism are appearing, and dark clouds of trade wars are looming large."
"In these uncertain times, the global community seems desperate for leadership, vision and an order," said Qureshi, adding that Pakistain will continue to "collaborate on the platforms of United Nations and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to reverse the tide of bigotry".
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] The foreign ministers of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries adopted a strongly worded statement — sponsored by Pakistan and Turkey — denouncing the increasing attacks on Islam, its revered personalities and symbols, and called for an immediate end to such campaigns.
The ministers met on Friday on the margins of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly being held in New York.
Speaking at the meeting, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi expressed deep concern over the misrepresentation of Islam as well as at the activities that have hurt the feelings of Muslims all over the world, especially the disrespect shown to the most revered personality of Islam.
In the statement, which was approved by the ministerial meeting, serious concern was expressed on the intensification of hate campaigns which were deliberately targeting Muslims and the Islamic religious symbols.
The joint statement rejected provocative acts like the holding of the caricature contest to ridicule Islam, "which was clearly aimed at inciting violence".
Ever since the competition was announced, Pakistan raised the issue at the diplomatic level with the United Nations, OIC, and European Union and sensitised world leaders.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
OIC... denouncing the increasing attacks on Islam, its revered personalities and symbols, and called for an immediate end to such campaigns.
Actually there aren't any coordinated attacks on any of these (outside of the internet, which is just individuals expressing opinions). As Nicky Haley said the other day, look in the mirror.
[Al Jazeera] Iraq has said it "regrets" the decision of the United States to shut its consulate in the southern city of Basra which has been rocked by weeks of deadly protests, while Iran has accused Washington of making "false accusations" to pressure Baghdad.
"The ministry regrets the American decision to pull its staff out of Basra," Iraq's foreign minsitry said in a statement on Saturday.
The US on Friday announced the closure of its consulate in Basra and said it is relocating diplomatic personnel assigned there alleging increasing threats from Iran and Iran-backed gangs.
Blaming Iran for "indirect fire", Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said consular duties will be taken over by the embassy in Baghdad, while his office issued an advisory urging Americans not to travel to Iraq.
The decision further escalated the tension between the US and Iran, which is the target of increasing economic sanctions by the Trump administration.
IRAN PRESIDENT: 'US MUST STOP BULLYING THE WORLD'
Iran rejected what it called the US "propaganda and false accusations", insisting it condemned any attacks on diplomatic sites.
"Iran sees the absurd US justification which follow weeks of propaganda and false accusations against Iran and Iraqi forces as playing a blame-game," said the country's foreign ministry front man Bahram Ghasemi.
He said Tehran condemns any aggression against diplomats and diplomatic sites, and charged that the US move was a pretext for promoting "insecurity in Iraq" and to "pressure the country's government".
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies
#1
They could just take our diplomats hostage. Why not, it worked well for them before.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
09/30/2018 2:19 Comments ||
Top||
#2
and I'm sure you would decry any efforts to get them back, Herb. "Why are we intervening??"
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/30/2018 7:04 Comments ||
Top||
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iraq has begun producing gas from the Nasiriya oilfield in the south of the country at a rate of 50 million cubic feet a day, Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi said in a statement on Saturday.
The production is part of an ambitious plan announced by the ministry in December to more than double its oil production at the oilfield from 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 200,000 bpd, without the help of international investors.
The development plans announced at the time included using 50 million cubic feet of gas produced as a by-product of oil production to supply power stations in the province.
Iraq has continued to flare some of the gas extracted alongside crude oil at its fields because it lacks the facilities to process it into fuel. Iraq has said it hopes to end gas flaring by 2021, which costs the government nearly $2.5 billion in lost revenue each year, according to the World Bank.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
#1
good they can start paying for the US weapons they have then
Posted by: chris ||
09/30/2018 0:37 Comments ||
Top||
#2
1. yes they don't have intl investors in the oil field, but they do have tech experts from outside the country
2. what they also need is a refinery near the oil fields and they are counting on intl investors for that
so while alarabiya is technically right, they are very misleading
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/30/2018 0:52 Comments ||
Top||
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iraq’s Foreign Ministry front man stressed that Iraq is committed to protecting and securing foreign diplomatic missions residing in its territory.
The front man added that the Iraqi government is determined to face any threats against diplomatic missions or any foreign visitor as part of Iraq’s security.
Washington announced on Friday the closure of its consulate in Basra, citing "threats" attributed to Iran, after bloody protests in the southern city of Iraq.
On Friday, the US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that Secretary Mike Pompeo called for the "orderly departure" of all US personnel from Basra, saying consular services would be provided by the US Embassy in Baghdad. Read more
Pompeo said that the source of these threats is "the Iranian government and the elite Quds Force Unit of the Revolutionary Guards Corp and militias supported and controlled by the Quds Force Commander Qassem Suleimani ," he said.
In mid-September, the White House warned that it would hold Iran responsible for any attack by groups backed by Tehran against American nationals or US interests in Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The UN called Saturday for Israel and Hamas, a regional Iranian catspaw, rulers to rein in violence a day after border festivities in which the Gazoo health ministry said seven Paleostinians were killed.
"I am deeply saddened by reports that seven Paleostinians, including two children, were killed, and hundreds of others injured, by Israeli forces during demonstrations in the Gazoo Strip yesterday (Friday)," the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for the Paleostinian territories, Jamie McGoldrick, said in a statement.
"I call on Israel, Hamas and all other actors with the ability to influence the situation, to take action now to prevent further deterioration and loss of life."
Two boys aged 12 and 14, were among those killed in the festivities on Friday, the bloodiest day of border protests since May 14, when more than 60 Paleostinians died in violence accompanying the inauguration of the US embassy in Jerusalem, a move that enraged Paleostinians.
The Israeli army said in a statement Saturday that some 20,000 "rioters and demonstrators" had gathered at multiple sites along the Gazoo-Israel border and that people had hurled "over 100" grenades and bombs at troops and the at the border fence.
The military said troops fired "in accordance with standard operating procedures" and that Israeli aircraft also struck two positions belonging to Hamas.
"Hamas is responsible for the violent riots and their consequences," it said.
It declined to comment directly on Friday’s reported deaths.
WEEKLY PROTESTS
Paleostinians have been protesting almost weekly along the Gazoo border since March 30 in what they call the "Great March of Return".
At least 193 Paleostinians have been killed by Israeli fire since then, the majority during border protests, while one Israeli soldier has been rubbed out by a Paleostinian sniper.
"I call on Israeli forces to ensure that their use of force is in line with their obligations under international law," McGoldrick said.
"All actors must ensure that children never be the target of violence and neither be put at risk of violence, nor encouraged to participate in violence."
In Saturday’s statement the Israeli army said Hamas was "endangering children by sending them to the security fence as a cover for terror activity".
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Only one side uses children as human shields.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/30/2018 7:03 Comments ||
Top||
[DAWN] Paleostinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki said on Saturday the Paleostinians have petitioned the UN's top court, alleging that the US inauguration of an embassy in Jerusalem was illegal.
The Paleostinians have filed a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) "for violating international law by moving its embassy in Israel to the occupied city of Jerusalem", he said, quoted by the official Paleostinian news agency WAFA.
In December, US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, despite Paleostinian claims on part of the city and breaking with longstanding US policy.
Paleostinians have since refused all contact with the Trump administration.
The US embassy was transferred from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14, a day marked by mass protest in the Gazoo Strip, where about 60 Paleostinian protesters were killed by Israeli fire in border festivities.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
#1
The Palestinians appeal to the UN "courts" for "Justice"?
Somebody should tell them that's LaLaland. Hand them a Pink Pony and give them some plastic toys to play with.
A warm blankie perhaps and a Num-num ?
Posted by: Black Charlie Jones8177 ||
09/30/2018 7:01 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The UN General Assembly is just a debating society with no power. Only the Security Council can pass and enforce binding resolutions.
And the US has veto power in the Security Council. And an ambassador who isn't afraid to use it.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
09/30/2018 10:18 Comments ||
Top||
Special courts set up in a drive against financial crime have sentenced three people to death, state television reported on Sunday, as the country faces renewed US sanctions and a public outcry against profiteering and corruption.
The special Islamic revolutionary courts were set up last month to try suspects quickly after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for "swift and just" legal action to confront an "economic war" by foreign enemies.
Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, quoted by state TV, said the courts handed down out death sentences to three defendants after convicting them of "spreading corruption on earth," a capital offense under Iran's Islamic laws.
Mohseni Ejei did not name the three but said the sentences would have to be upheld by the supreme court before being carried out, the TV reported.
[Hurriyet Daily News] Russia on Sept. 28 warned it will not allow jihadists in Syria to be sent to Afghanistan or elsewhere under a deal reached with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... that averted a large-scale military assault on rebel-held Idlib province.
Under the deal, Turkey agreed to separate opposition fighters from hardline jihadists who belong to groups branded as turbans by the United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... , but the fate of those snuffies remains uncertain.
"There is talk that they will be sent off to other hotspots, for example Afghanistan," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference at UN headquarters. "This is unacceptable."
"They have to be eliminated or there has to be a judicial process," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: al-Nusra
[DAWN] Syria's foreign minister on Saturday denounced US, French and Ottoman Turkish forces operating in his country as "occupying forces" and demanded that they leave immediately.
Addressing the UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem, who serves as well as Syria's deputy prime minister, also called on Syrian refugees to come home, even though the country's war is now in its eighth year.
Moualem said the foreign forces were on Syrian soil illegally, under the pretext of fighting terrorism, and "will be dealt with accordingly." "They must withdraw immediately and without any conditions," he told the assembly.
Moualem insisted that the "war on terror is almost over" in Syria, where more than 360,000 people have died since 2011, with millions more uprooted from their homes.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Syria has a sovereignty problem? Syria is a somewhat tenuous illusion?
Who can blame them for that?
Play the NATIONAL ANTHEM real loud and pass out the Jelly beans.
Put up lots of pictures of the Glorious Leader and salute him with handfuls of Confetti and horns.
Have a parade and a Chicken in every pot. Somebody DO something. The bad boys are sitting in Syria's face. Isn't anybody listening?
Posted by: Black Charlie Jones8177 ||
09/30/2018 7:08 Comments ||
Top||
#2
noticeably absent? Russia, Iran, Hezb'allah
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/30/2018 7:17 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Do we have a Declaration of War™ against the Syrian Regime of Assad? (Y/N)?
(*) If "Y", the Send In the Marines™...
(*) If "N", then what ARE we doing? Helping Turkey annex Northern Syria and kill Kurds?
[AnNahar] Pointing to a green screen as if presenting a weather forecast, Bilal Abdul Kareem analyses the Ottoman Turkish-Russian deal over Syria's Idlib, broadcasting in his native English from inside the war-torn country's last rebel stronghold.
The 47-year-old American convert to Islam is a long way from where he grew up near the Bronx, watching reruns of "Rocky" and eating at Italian restaurants.
Dressed in a charcoal suit jacket, the broad-shouldered and bearded Abdul Kareem stares into the camera and insists: "In this deal, this specific deal, nobody can say the rebels were not winners."
Continued on Page 49
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia...
Mehmood 
[DAWN] The foreign ministers of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries adopted a strongly worded statement — sponsored by Pakistan and Turkey — denouncing the increasing attacks on Islam, its revered personalities and symbols, and called for an immediate end to such campaigns.
