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Today: 66 articles and 203 comments as of 13:26.
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Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Exodus from last IS enclave overwhelms Syria force
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
UN Reports Record Number Of Civilian Deaths In 2018
[ToloNews] A new UN report reveals that more non-combatants were killed in the Afghan conflict last year than anytime since records have been kept.

The report documented 3,804 civilian deaths, including 927 children, in 2018.

In total, UNAMA documented 10,993 civilian casualties (3,804 deaths and 7,189) maimed), representing a five percent increase in overall civilian casualties and an 11 percent increase in civilian deaths compared with 2017.

In this report, UNAMA attributes the majority of civilian casualties ‐ 63 percent ‐ to anti-government elements (37 percent to Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
, 20 percent to ISIS, and 6 percent to undetermined anti-government elements).

According to the report, pro-government forces caused 24 percent civilian deaths (14 percent by Afghan national security forces, six percent by international military forces, and four percent by other pro-government gangs and forces).

The report says that key factors contributing to the significant increase in civilian casualties were a spike in suicide kabooms by anti-government elements, mainly ISIS, as well as increased harm to civilians from aerial and search operations by pro-government forces.

The report says that 2018 witnessed the highest number of civilian casualties ever recorded from suicide attacks and aerial operations.

"The report’s rigorously researched findings show that the level of harm and suffering inflicted on civilians in Afghanistan is deeply disturbing and wholly unacceptable," said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan. "All parties need to take immediate and additional concrete steps to stop a further escalation in the number of civilians harmed and lives destroyed."

He said that this is the UN’s 10th report documenting the plight of civilians in the Afghan conflict.

According to him, more than 32,000 non-combatants were killed and around 60,000 injured in a decade.

The said that the best way to halt the killings and maiming of civilians is to stop the fighting.

"I urge all parties to seize every opportunity to do so," the UN envoy said.

The report shows that anti-government elements were responsible for 6,980 civilian casualties (2,243 deaths and 4,737 injured), a three percent increase to 2017, which mainly resulted from indiscriminate use of suicide improvised bombs (IEDs) and the deliberate targeting of civilians with these devices.

The report says Taliban caused 4,072 civilian casualties (1,348 deaths and 2,724 injured), seven percent down on 2017, while ISIS caused 2,181 civilian casualties (681 deaths and 1,500 injured), an increase of 118 percent.

UNAMA attributed a further 678 civilian casualties (196 deaths and 482 injured) to undetermined anti-government elements.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Civilian shields are their business, and business is good...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/25/2019 1:06 Comments || Top||

#2  The said that the best way to halt the killings and maiming of civilians is to stop the fighting

Cause there weren't civilian deaths when Taliban ruled?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/25/2019 5:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Clear indication that the Afghans are doing more of the serious fighting. They don't care what some mealy mouth bureaucrat or NGO says or thinks when the bad boys use human shields. They're out to kill the Tellibunnies. Hang wringing pols and JAGs who can't read the UCMJ are not in place to obstruct military operations.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/25/2019 6:47 Comments || Top||

#4  3804 civilian deaths in Afghanistan in 2018 is tragic but for comparison there were 17,700+ civilian deaths at the peak of the Syrian conflict in 2014. In the peak years of ISIS's occupation of Iraq (2013-2015) there were about 9,000 civilians killed per year.
Posted by: lord garth || 02/25/2019 7:04 Comments || Top||

#5  The irony here is, the UN doesn't track it's own casualties. Nor does it often memorialize or discuss them. Anyone remember the late Vieira de Mello and the 21 other UN personnel who perished with him ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/25/2019 7:59 Comments || Top||

#6  Isnt the issue of talibunnys using human shields an argument to step up their elimination?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/25/2019 9:34 Comments || Top||

#7  But how does it compare to Chicago?
Posted by: AlanC || 02/25/2019 9:35 Comments || Top||


Africa North
UN envoy tells pro-Haftar TV channel "military operations won't resolve Libya's crisis"
[Libya Observer] The Head of the UNSMIL Ghassan Salame said military operations are not a solution for the Libyan crisis, but rather the solution is the building of a sovereign state based on legitimacy that comes from the constitution and elections and inclusive of all parties.

Speaking to pro-Khalifa Haftar
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...
al-Hadath TV Channel, Salame said the UNSMIL is with any operation that aims to fight terrorism, but is against any operation that violates the rights of Libyans, especially in the south.

"The international community is only with the political settlement among all parties. When I talked at the UN Security Council about the Libyan crisis, especially with the US, Russian and German officials, I sensed their support for Libya - the US in particular." Salame added.

He also said that the international community vowed to support his action plan in the latest Munich Security Conference, adding that they wish to have the plan implemented by Libyans themselves.

"My position on Libyan elections has been retreating due to the obstacles such as the funding of the electoral commission which has moved to the new building give just days ago, let one the lack of an elections law. Libyans are hindering their country's elections as some political parties are benefiting from the challenges facing elections. I have told the UN Security Council all this information." Salame explained.

He also told the channel that countries usually resort to the Supreme Court to resolve deadlocks, saying he is sorry that Libya is the first emerging Arab country that has no judiciary.

"A historical settlement is needed to bring all Libyan parties together." He remarked, adding that the UNSMIL is going to select a location for the National Conference to pave the way for elections.

Meanwhile,
...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck and Manuel's rivalry was entering a new and more dangerous phase...
Salame also talked about the recent festivities of Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
, saying when he threatened to name those who attacked Mitiga airport, the parties whose names would be publicized decided to commit to the truce and thus he didn't name them.

Posted by: Fred || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  They said the same thing in Sri Lanka.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/25/2019 7:04 Comments || Top||

#2  And about Carthage, I imagine.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/25/2019 7:24 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
35 people reportedly killed during Nigeria's general elections
[PULSE.NG] 35 people may have been killed during Nigeria's Feb 23 general elections, according to civil society organisations
Posted by: Fred || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It’s Nigeria. Everything that happens somehow causes people to be killed.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/25/2019 12:36 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Yemen's Houthis to quit two ports Monday under peace deal: Sources
[AlAhram] Iranian-aligned 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 ...
forces have agreed to draw back from two Yemeni ports on Monday while withdrawal from the main Hodeidah port will occur later alongside a retreat by coalition-backed forces massed outside the city, U.N. and Yemeni sources said.

Houthi forces will withdraw 5 km (3 miles) from the ports of Saleef, used for grain, and Ras Isa, an oil terminal, as a first step agreed with the internationally recognized government, three sources said.

The Houthi withdrawal from Hodeidah port and the pull-back by coalition forces 1 km away from the city’s "Kilo 7" eastern suburb would take place as a second step, they said.

An orderly troop withdrawal from Hodeidah, now a focus of an almost four-year war, is key to U.N.-led efforts to avert a full-scale assault on the port and pave the way for political negotiations.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
to the brink of famine.

The United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
has been trying to salvage a truce deal agreed at peace talks in December between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed government. That process has stalled over who would control of Hodeidah, a Red Sea port used to feed Yemen’s 30 million people.

Hodeidah is held by the Houthis while other Yemeni forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition loyal to ousted President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi are positioned on the edges of the city.

Hadi’s top negotiator, Foreign Minister Khalid al-Yamani, said the initial Houthi redeployment must be verified before further progress can be made and humanitarian corridors reopened.

"This is what was agreed by the Yemeni government: we verify the first step before implementing the second," he told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published on Sunday.

A small team of U.N. observers arrived in Hodeidah after the ceasefire went into effect on Dec. 18 to oversee troop redeployments by both sides.

The deal calls for local authorities to assume control of Hodeidah but did not detail the process, leaving it open to interpretation.

The Western-backed Sunni Moslem coalition led by Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
and the United Arab Emirates intervened in Yemen in 2015 to try to restore Hadi’s government after it was ousted from power in the capital Sanaa in late 2014.

The conflict, widely seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has been locked in military stalemate.

The Houthis, who say their revolution is against corruption, control most urban centers including Sanaa. Hadi’s government holds the southern port of Aden and a string of coastal towns.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Houthis


Britain
UK to ban Lebanon's 'terrorist' Hezbollah's political wing - adds to terrorist list
[Aljazeera] The United Kingdom said it will add the political wing of Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah to its list of banned "terrorist" organisations, despite the role it plays in the goverment and parliament.

The move, which comes into effect on Friday, criminalises anyone who is either a member or supports the group, which is headed by Hassan Nasrallah.

Those who are associated with Hezbollah will face up to 10 years in prison.

"Hezbollah is continuing in its attempts to destabilise the fragile situation in the Middle East - and we are no longer able to distinguish between their already banned military wing and the political party," Home Secretary Sajid Javid said.

"Because of this, I have taken the decision to proscribe the group in its entirety."
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/25/2019 09:03 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  Knew it was Sajid Javid before i read article.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/25/2019 12:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Now what will Mr. Corbyn do for friends?
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/25/2019 13:28 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Venezuela's Maduro says rival Guaido ‘serves the interests of US and Zionists'
[Times of Israel] BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, called the self-declared interim president and opposition leader Juan Guaido “a CIA agent who serves the interests of the United States and the Zionists” in an interview with the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese media outlet, al-Mayadeen.

He added in the interview posted on Tuesday that he feels “love for the noble Palestinian cause,” and sent words of “encouragement to the Palestinian and Arab prisoners confined in Israeli jails.”

Maduro denied that there are Hezbollah operatives acting in Venezuela. And he accused the United States for trying seize the wealth and oil of Venezuela.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/25/2019 09:49 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  I posted in too big a hurry, I guess. I'm sorry.
Could someone please fix this?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/25/2019 9:53 Comments || Top||

#2  THank you.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/25/2019 10:00 Comments || Top||

#3  why USA?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/25/2019 10:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Maduro denied that there are Hezbollah operatives acting in Venezuela while on Hezbollah TV.
Posted by: Chesney Crusoling7096 || 02/25/2019 10:49 Comments || Top||

#5  Um... maybe I'm not up to speed on the whole Jewish domination of the world thing, but why would this be in the interests of the Zionists?
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/25/2019 11:30 Comments || Top||

#6  why would this be in the interests of the Zionists?

If I were the head of Mossad... But seriously, with the Chavistas out, Venezuela could rid itself of Hezb’allah and Iran’s more direct representatives.

Good post, Snowy Thing.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/25/2019 11:53 Comments || Top||

#7  Maduro denied that there are Hezbollah operatives acting in Venezuela

Then I suppose you wouldn't mind if they started mysteriously dying then, would you?
Posted by: gorb || 02/25/2019 13:08 Comments || Top||

#8  well,going the russian and cuban ways hasn't worked out too well.
Posted by: chris || 02/25/2019 18:01 Comments || Top||


Venezuela Ex-Spy Chief Reveals Maduro’s Ties To Hezbollah, Drugs
[JPOST] Former head of Venezuela’s intelligence services Hugo Carvajal revealed powerful ties between the administration of President Nicolás Maduro and the Hezbollah terrorist group, as well as wide-spread corruption and drug activity, the New York Times

...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...

reported on Thursday.

The nefarious activities were directed by Maduro himself as well as Interior Minister Néstor Reverol and former vice-president Tareck El Aissami.

Allegedly, those who were meant to combat drugs were engaged in trafficking them, Carvajal said.

El Aissami was not only a drug kingpin, said Carvajal, but also had connections to Hezbollah, and attempted to arrange Hezbollah holy warriors to work with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
FARC or FARC-EP, is either a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization or a drug cartel based in Colombia. It claims to represent the rural poor in a struggle against Colombia's wealthier classes, and opposes United States influence in Colombia, neo-imperialism, monopolization of natural resources by multinational corporations, and the usual raft of complaints. It funds itself principally through ransom kidnappings, taxation of the drug trade, extortion, shakedowns, and donations. It has lately begun calling itself Bolivarian and is greatly admired by Venezuela's President-for-Life Chavez, who seemingly fantasizes about living in the woods and kidnapping people himself. He provides FARC with safe areas along the border.
[FARC] through Venezuela.

In a meeting that took place in 2009 Hezbollah holy warriors met El Aissami and Carvajal in Syria and gave the two Venezuelan state representatives three assault rifles as gifts.

The meeting involved Venezuelan diplomat Ghazi Nasr al-Din, who was stationed in Syria at the time.

Labeled "a Hezbollah supporter" by the department of Treasury, Nasr al-Din is wanted by the FBI.

Carvajal said that Maduro did not heed his warnings to have Hezbollah forces of Evil visit Venezuela, an allegation Maduro denies.

Posted by: Fred || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  El Aissami sure does sound like a middle eastern name.
Posted by: chris || 02/25/2019 7:36 Comments || Top||

#2  this has been known for many years

People who have emigrated from Venezuela have reported it multiple times

and Pompeo publicly addressed this in 2017
Posted by: lord garth || 02/25/2019 8:20 Comments || Top||

#3  If it was reported it didn't reach outside the conservative media-ghetto.

So maybe repeat it again as if it'll do something about it.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/25/2019 9:56 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Erdogan lashes out at Sisi over Egypt executions
[PULSE.NG] Ottoman Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
sharply criticised his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sissi after the recent execution of nine people in Egypt, saying he refused to talk to "someone like him".

"They killed nine young people recently. This is not something we can accept," Erdogan said Saturday in an interview with Ottoman Turkish TV channels CNN-Turk and Kanal D, referring to the execution Wednesday of nine men sentenced for the murder of the Egyptian prosecutor general in 2015.

"Of course, we are going to be told that it is a decision of the judiciary, but there, justice, elections, all that, are codswallop. There is an authoritarian system, even totalitarian," Erdogan added.

"Now, I am answering those who wonder why Tayyip Erdogan does not speak to Sisi, because there are mediators who come here sometimes, but I will never talk to someone like him," he said.

Relations between The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund....
and Egypt have been virtually non-existent since the Egyptian military, then led by Sisi, in 2013 ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi, a close ally of Erdogan.

Morsi's Islamist Moslem Brüderbund is outlawed in Egypt but members of the group have sought refuge in Turkey.

Erdogan, who denounced Morsi's ouster, sometimes draws a parallel with the failed coup against himself in 2016.

The Ottoman Turkish president also called for the release of Moslem Brüderbund prisoners in Egypt.

"First of all, he should release all those imprisoned with a general amnesty. As long as these people have not been released, we will not be able to talk with Sisi," he said.

Erdogan also attacked Western countries which, according to him, "roll out the red carpet" for Sisi and turn a blind eye to the latest executions in Egypt.

"Where are the Westerners? Have you heard their voices?" he said.

"On the other hand, when it comes to people imprisoned in our country (Turkey), they scream bloody murder."

Amnesia Amnesty International condemned the executions of the men, who it said were convicted in trials marred by torture allegations.

Posted by: Fred || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  Erdogan really thinks he is a big boy in the scheme of things doesn't he.
Posted by: chris || 02/25/2019 7:34 Comments || Top||

#2  It's a case of whose ox (camel?) is getting gored. Wanna bet who's supporting the MB in Egypt?
Posted by: Kofi Big Foot6515 || 02/25/2019 8:20 Comments || Top||

#3  Without doubt Erdogan has taken charge of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in the Levant.
Posted by: Chereting Pelosi1889 || 02/25/2019 9:43 Comments || Top||

#4  Erdogan to Sisi (threatening voice): "Whatta you think you are doing hittin' my boys? Whatta you think will happen?"
Posted by: magpie || 02/25/2019 16:39 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Fazl hints at launching anti-govt campaign
[DAWN] Chief of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ...
has hinted at launching a protest campaign from Islamabad against the Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
government.

Talking to journalists here on Saturday, the Maulana said he would consult other partners of the MMA to finalise the protest plan against the government which he claimed was leading the country to a "disastrous future" both economically and internationally.

"We can hold a protest in Islamabad and we are consulting other parties in the MMA to finalise our plan," he said.

"Only six months have passed and each and every Pak is convinced that this government is nothing but a failure. The economy is on the verge of collapse and our friends like China, Afghanistan and Iran are not happy with the country’s foreign policy."

He warned that the recognising Israel as an independent nation would be the biggest mistake of Pakistain as it would make the country surrender its claim on occupied Kashmire.

Posted by: Fred || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami

#1  I love a good MMA fight. Will it be on Pay-Per-View?
Posted by: Chesney Crusoling7096 || 02/25/2019 10:51 Comments || Top||


PAF ready to 'thwart any misadventure by the enemy', says air chief
[DAWN] Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan on Sunday said the Pakistain Air Force (PAF) would "thwart any misadventure by the enemy" and was ready to respond to any incursion with full force as per the aspirations of the nation, according to a blurb issued by the PAF spokesperson.

While visiting the Foward Operating Airbases of the air force, Air Chief Marshal Khan said Pakistain was a "peace-loving nation" but warned that "if the war is imposed on us, we would defend the aerial frontiers of our motherland at any cost."

The air chief's statement comes amidst heightened tensions between India and Pakistain following an attack on Indian security forces in occupied Kashmire's Pulwama district.

Posted by: Fred || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Don't make Trump press the remote OFF button for those F-16s.
Posted by: Chesney Crusoling7096 || 02/25/2019 10:54 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Yezidi children rescued from ISIS say they were trained to use weaponry
[Rudaw] Yezidi children rescued from the last ISIS hold-outs in eastern Syria this weekend say they were trained by the jihadists to fire heavy machine guns and rocket propelled grenades.

Abducted by Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) holy warriors in 2014 when the group rampaged through Shingal, northern Iraq, the children say they also witnessed beheadings while held in captivity.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Prisons service bracing for disturbances from Hamas inmates
[IsraelTimes] The Israel Prisons Service says it is bracing for disturbances from Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", security prisoners, after officers thwarted attempts to direct terrorist attacks by members of the Gazoo group.

An IPS statement says that personnel are preparing for various scenarios, including attacks on staff, mass insubordination, and the sabotaging prison equipment.

The statement says the additional security measures were ordered after the IPS "foiled attempts to direct terrorist attacks from inside the prisons."

"It has been made clear to the prisoners that any such actions will be met with a harsh response," the IPS says.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Nothing like a prison mattress fire to quiet them rascals down.
Posted by: Chesney Crusoling7096 || 02/25/2019 10:53 Comments || Top||


Israel-Hamas prisoner swap talks collapse due to demands by Gaza — report
[IsraelTimes] Reported negotiations for a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, a regional Iranian catspaw, have failed, a source from the Gazoo ruling group tells The Independent’s Arabic-language news site.

The unnamed official says the talks broke down due after Hamas increased its demands to include the release of 1,500 security prisoners held by Israel. The report says that Israel considers at least 500 of them to have "blood on their hands," meaning they are serving long sentences for their direct involvement in carrying out attacks against Israelis.

The 1,500 included all the Paleostinians who have been rejugged
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
since they were freed in 2011 as part of a deal in which Israel exchanged 1,027 forces of Evil for IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured and held by Hamas in the Gazoo Strip or five years.

The report says Israeli officials rejected the demands as too high for the return of two Israeli civilians and the remains of two IDF soliders killed in Gazoo in 2014 war that are being held by Hamas.

Last month, the London-based al-Araby al-Jadeed newspaper quoted a Hamas source who said Israel was looking to complete a prisoner swap deal before national elections on April 9.

The official said indirect talks with Israel had been renewed "amid a strong willingness to reach a deal ahead of the elections, in light of the drop in support of [Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu in the polls."

A Hamas front man later denied the report.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran says detained American not held on security charges, releases Frenchwoman
[IsraelTimes] Michael White, 46, was locked away
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
last July after traveling to Iran to visit a woman he met online.


Iran says an American detained last July is not being held on security-related charges.

Michael White, 46, was arrested after traveling to Iran to visit a woman he met online. His family says he was arbitrarily detained. Iranian officials say he was detained in connection with a private complaint.

Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Panahiazar told the semi-official ISNA news agency Saturday that "there is no security or espionage issue on the table."

White is the first American to be detained in Iran since 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...
took office. He worked as a cook in the US Navy and left the service about a decade ago.

Iran has detained a number of dual citizens from Western countries on security charges, using them as leverage in negotiations.

Iranian-American Siamak Namazi and his 82-year-old father Baquer are both serving 10-year sentences on espionage charges. Iranian-American art dealer Karan Vafadari and his Iranian wife, Afarin Neyssari, received 27-year and 16-year prison sentences, respectively. Chinese-American graduate student Xiyue Wang was sentenced to 10 years in prison for allegedly "infiltrating" the country while doing doctoral research on Iran’s Qajar dynasty.

Iranian-American Robin Shahini was released on bail in 2017 after staging a hunger strike while serving an 18-year prison sentence for "collaboration with a hostile government." Shahini is believed to still be in Iran.

Also in an Iranian prison is Nizar Zakka, a US permanent resident from Leb who advocated for internet freedom and has done work for the US government. He was sentenced to 10 years on espionage-related charges.

Former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran in 2007 while on an unauthorized CIA mission, remains missing as well. Iran says that Levinson is not in the country and that it has no further information about him, but his family holds Tehran responsible for his disappearance.

Iran releases French woman detained for nearly 4 months
No worries — they’ve got plenty more hostages in storage against future need. It’s a tradition.
[IsraelTimes] Iran’s official IRNA news agency is saying that the country has released a French businesswoman detained for nearly four months.

The report quotes the front man for the Iranian foreign ministry, Bahram Ghasemi, as saying Iran has released Nelly Erin-Cambervelle, a 59-year-old businesswoman from Martinique, who was in jail for entering the country illegally.

Ghasemi says the French national was released "in recent days," according to the report, which did not elaborate.

Last week, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said La Belle France was in touch with Iran to improve conditions for Erin-Cambervelle, who was tossed in the clink
I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece!
in October on the Iranian Persian Gulf island of Kish.

La Belle France co-signed the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and is working to keep it alive despite the US withdrawal in 2018.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Iran says bid by ‘enemies’ to sabotage missiles foiled
[IsraelTimes] The Revolutionary Guards accuses "enemies" of Iran of trying to sabotage the country’s missiles so that they would "explode mid-air" but says the bid was foiled.

"They tried as best as they could to sabotage a small part which we import so that our missiles would not reach their target and explode mid-air," Fars news agency reports, quoting the Guards’ aerospace commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh.

"But they couldn’t do a damn thing because we had seen this coming from the start and had reinforced this sector," he adds, accusing Iran’s "enemies" of sabotage without naming any specific country.

Earlier this month the New York Times

...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...

reported that the administration of 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...
was pushing a secret program aimed at sabotaging Iranian rockets and missiles.

It said Washington was trying to "slip faulty parts and materials into Iran’s aerospace supply chains" as part of a campaign to undercut Tehran’s military.

Iran reined in most of its nuclear program under a landmark 2015 deal with major powers in return for sanctions relief, but has continued to develop its ballistic missile technology.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  -twirls moustache-
Curses! Foiled Again!
(sorry. couldn't help it.)
Posted by: ed in texas || 02/25/2019 7:18 Comments || Top||

#2  um... so you're saying all those test launch failures were due to incompetence?
Posted by: Ebbineng Phetch4206 || 02/25/2019 8:18 Comments || Top||

#3  We blinded them with Science!
Posted by: Chesney Crusoling7096 || 02/25/2019 10:57 Comments || Top||


Lavrov: Russian military could police Syria-Turkey ‘buffer zone’
[Rudaw] Moscow could deploy military police to patrol a proposed ’buffer zone’ between Syria and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the most dubious NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
ally....

, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Sunday, according to Russian news agencies.

"We have experience in combining ceasefire agreements, safety measures and the creation of de-escalation zones with the roll-out of Russian military police," Lavrov was cited as saying, according to Rooters.

"Such a possibility is being kept open for this buffer zone."

Lavrov was referring to a joint Russian-Ottoman Turkish buffer zone around opposition-held Idlib, where Turkey has forces stationed. The zone was put in place last October to stave off a regime offensive, which international observers feared would lead to a bloodbath.

It is unclear whether Moscow could persuade Ankara to establish a similar buffer along the Turkey-Syria border.

Although Trump seems to have backpedaled on a full withdrawal, suggesting the US presence could instead be reduced to "hundreds", the drawdown has spooked SDF commanders who fear a threatened Ottoman Turkish invasion of the Syrian territories under Kurdish control after a US withdrawal.

Ankara has told the US it is willing to administer the buffer zone. The Syrian regime in Damascus, however, says Ottoman Turkish troops in northern Syria are occupiers and has repeatedly demanded their withdrawal.

Russia was invited to intervene in support of the Syrian regime in 2015. Moscow launched Arclight airstrikes and deployed troops to fight the armed opposition and jihadists trying to unseat Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Horror of Homs...
Eager to prevent a new Ottoman Turkish operation in northern Syria, like the one which forced the YPG out of Afrin in Syria’s north west in March 2018, the SDF and its political wing, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), have voiced their readiness to negotiate a possible settlement with the regime.

Under any such deal, the Kurdish provinces of northern Syria ‐ also known as Rojava ‐ would like greater autonomy under a new Syrian constitution, and protections for their cultural and political rights. They would also like to maintain their own forces on the frontier.

Russian military police already have a presence in Manbij.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Sublime Porte

#1  How about policing Chechnya first?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/25/2019 7:34 Comments || Top||

#2  They just want a Mediterranean port.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/25/2019 9:49 Comments || Top||


Iran's president faces calls to resign over economic crisis
Why bother, when he is only a front man for the Mad Mullahs?
[DAWN] As Iran marked the 40th anniversary of its Islamic Revolution, a white-turbaned holy man at one commemoration targeted President Hassan Rouhani, a fellow clergyman, with this sign: "You who are the cause of inflation; we hope you won't last until spring."

Already lashed by criticism over his collapsing nuclear deal and renewed tensions with the US, the relatively moderate Rouhani faces anger from holy mans, hardline forces and an ever-growing disaffected public that now threatens his position.

Iranian presidents typically see their popularity erode during their second four-year terms, but analysts say Rouhani is particularly vulnerable because of the economic crisis assailing the country's rial currency, which has hurt ordinary Iranians and emboldened critics to openly call for his ouster.

Though such a move only has happened once in the Islamic Theocratic Republic's four-decade history, the popular discontent heard on streets throughout Iran now could make it possible.

"I don't care who is in the presidential palace: a holy man, a general or anybody else," said Qassim Abhari, who sells hats and socks on the streets of Tehran. "We need someone who creates jobs and firmly pushes the brake pedal on rising prices."

Posted by: Fred || 02/25/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  "relatively moderate", heheheheheh, he said "relatively moderate"
Posted by: Bevis || 02/25/2019 12:24 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
27[untagged]
6Govt of Pakistan
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4Commies
4Islamic State
3Govt of Iran
3Hamas
3Hezbollah
2al-Shabaab (AQ)
2Jaish-e-Mohammad
2Sublime Porte
1Baloch Liberation Army
1Govt of Sudan
1Houthis
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
1Arab Spring

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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2019-02-25
  Exodus from last IS enclave overwhelms Syria force
Sun 2019-02-24
  Iran Hacks Into CENTCOM, Crashes MQ-9 Reaper Drone (video)
Sat 2019-02-23
  Thousands of Palestinians break into closed off Temple Mount section, 60 arrested overnight
Fri 2019-02-22
  Father of Alabama ‘ISIS Bride' Files Lawsuit to Overturn Decision to Block Her Return
Thu 2019-02-21
  German police raid 16 homes of suspected Islamic extremists
Wed 2019-02-20
  Suddenly, haha, stateless.
Tue 2019-02-19
  IS Defends Final Pocket of dying Caliphate' in Syria
Mon 2019-02-18
  India withdraws security for Kashmiri separatists stoking fears
Sun 2019-02-17
  Venezuelan fitness model bitten on bottom by wild pig (VIDEO)
Sat 2019-02-16
  52 Syrians Detained in Turkey over ISIS Links
Fri 2019-02-15
  44 Indian security personnel killed in held Kashmir attack
Thu 2019-02-14
  Deir Ezzor: ISIS nearly wiped out in eastern Euphrates region as SDF troops capture Baghouz – map
Wed 2019-02-13
  Deir Ezzor: Nearly 70 human shields killed, US demands ISIS pay 40 tons of gold
Tue 2019-02-12
  Germany closes Muslim kindergarten over Islamist links
Mon 2019-02-11
  Nearly 50 British ISIS members refusing to surrender in Syria

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