In a press statement, Dr. Abdul-Rahman Al-Barr, Dean of the Faculty of Theology at Al-Azhar University in Mansoura and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's Guidance Bureau, said: "The principle of 'political opposition' is well-known and well-accepted in the history of Islam. However, a coup against a president who was elected by the people is reprehensible.
"Meanwhile, the opposition's use of weapons and thuggery must be dealt with and stopped by the competent State authorities. Use of arms to express an opinion or even to simply threaten others is totally unacceptable, since 'it is not permissible for a Muslim to frighten another Muslim' in any way at all, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) said."
Of course if your enemies are infidels then it's okay. And every enemy is an infidel...
Dr. Barr further pointed that, "Political opposition was known since the time of the Caliphs. Anyone who had something to say expressed his point of view by giving advice, offering insights, and seeking the fittest and the best solutions. Nobody, however, carried arms to bring down the regime or block roads."
Experts worry that there will now be a shortage of converts to Islam to do important work like beheading British soldiers in London and writing books about their time working as guards at Gitmo before they saw the dark.
Damascus, 18 June (AKI) Damascus, 18 June (AKI) Several hundred westerners including Italians have been captured fighting alongside rebels seeking to overthrow president Bashar al-Assad, government sources told Adnkronos on Tuesday.
We are holding 300 westerners, of whom six or seven are Italian, according to the information I have. They are all converts to Islam, the source said.
Converts to Islam are particularly dangerous because they are eager to prove their loyalty and have nothing but Islam in their life anymore.
One of the good things about the Syrian Civil War is that it is diverting the sort of people who would otherwise be killing Westerners.
Posted by: Paul D ||
06/21/2013 19:14
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See als FREEREPUBLIC > [Reuters vee Yahoo News] THOUSANDS OF SHIITES READY TO FIGHT IN SYRIA, IRAQ SAYS.
verSus
* SAME > EXCLUSIVE: OBAMA SECRETLY PROVIDING TRAINING FOR SYRIA REBELS [OBAMA'S "CONTRAS"].
I've been warning + anticipating such since it became clear Baby Assad was winning.
This Artic basically affirms that Assad has de facto defeated the Rebs, + that the Bammer's intent now is to use 1980's "Contra/
Contradora" style insurgency to pressure the Assad Regime into making domestic reforms which may or may not result in LT in his formal = non-violent? removal e.g. Daniel Ortega.
While explaining how they did meta-data connection maps based on phone connections and internet ones a I noticed a major nit that could have negative impacts on all of us.
They make connect-the-dot meta-maps of incoming and outgoing calls email and such. But, I have been perplexed by over a decade by the number of phone calls where the caller hangs up the instant you answer. This implies that terror/spy types could have machines making lots of calls just to create noise in the meta-maps made of them, hiding their communications in the noise.
On the obverse side of this those of us who get a call become "people under suspicion". For me becoming "under suspicion" due to spam calls is chilling. Taking it further if the folks are AQ one could expect them add folks like Rantburgers to their spam call list just to put them under a pall.
The question nobody posed to the NSA guy was are unanswered calls in the meta-maps? This could put you under suspicion even if you screen all calls with CallerID.
Then the email issue. How much of that SPAM email is spys and terrorist generating digital noise and putting us under suspicion?
#1
Those are automatic dialing machines that dial calls based on statistical algorithms for call centers. For example, maybe it determines that an operator in the call center comes free every 14 seconds and only one half of calls are answered so it needs to dial 2 calls every 14 seconds to keep operators busy talking and not filing their nails. Normally when you answer, your call would be switched to an available operator. In this cased, the system must have "over-dialed" and there was no operator available so the system hung up on you when you answered.
#2
The legal work-around for monitoring is pretty simple. Just have someone in an overseas location [you name the country] dial the target up from time to time. Bingo!
U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) on Wednesday sent a letter to FBI Director Robert Muellerurging him to stop using offensive bus ads that show sixteen faces of wanted terrorists.
The ad campaign, created by the Puget Sound Joint Terrorism Task Force for the State Departments Rewards for Justice Program, is not only offensive to Muslims and ethnic minorities, but it encourages racial and religious profiling, McDermott claims.
The congressman argues that the FBIs Most Wanted Terrorists list also includes individuals of other races and associations with other religions and causes.
But their faces are missing from this campaign, he writes. The ad will likely only serve to exacerbate the disturbing trend against Middle Eastern, South Asian and Muslim Americans.
It should be noted that, while the majority of the terrorists listed on the ad appear to be from Muslim regions, not all of them appear to be Muslim. More importantly, the FBI does not discriminate when determining who is a dangerous and wanted terrorist.
#1
your spam detector isn't working That's Albert Einstein laughing. (By the way)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/21/2013 15:27
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If Muslims want to be excluded from the Terrorism bus signs, then the Muslims need to stop BEING terrorists
Simple no? By the way U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) wastes his time bowing to Muslim Terrorists, and needs to remember the people who elected him were NOT these same Muslim Terrorists.
Remember that U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/21/2013 15:32
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Remember, this is the pushback Democrats do to target the low-information voters, who don't hear the whole argument. Jim McDermott sounds like an idiot (heck, he IS an idiot), but the LIVs don't think it all through. His statement is what they have absorbed into their subconscious on election day.
The Democrats depend on that. It works.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2013 15:48
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That's more like DEM Rep. Jim McDermott (D- Al-Qaeda)
[reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown ... home of Al Capone, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel,... Tribune] At least seven people were maimed, including a 15-year-old boy, in shootings across the South and West Sides since Thursday afternoon.
The boy was shot around 10:15 p.m. Thursday in the West Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side and taken to Comer Children's Hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said.
He was shot in the arm and ankle by someone who may have fired from a dark four-door car near 121st Street and Perry Avenue as the boy stood on a corner, police said.
Another teen was maimed in the Park Manor neighborhood around 11:25 p.m., police said. A 17-year-old girl and a 24-year-old man were shot while standing in front of a house in the 6800 block of South Wabash Avenue.
The girl was shot in the chest and back and was in fair condition at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital, police said. The man was shot in the chest and grazed in the arm and was at the same hospital in fair condition.
In the Englewood neighborhood around 10:20 p.m., a man, age 42, was shot in the leg in the 6400 block of South Morgan Street. Police said his condition was stabilized at Adviocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2013
14:40 ||
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[BREITBART] Two brothers who worked as Border Patrol agents were scheduled to be sentenced Friday for smuggling hundreds of immigrants into the United States in one of the highest-profile corruption cases to sting the federal agency in a decade.
Raul and Fidel Villarreal face a maximum of 50 years in prison and at least $1.25 million in penalties when they appear before U.S. District Court Judge John A. Houston in San Diego.
Prosecutors said Raul Villarreal _ who made television appearances as an agency front man and once played the role of a smuggler in a public service ad _recruited his brother to his ring that smuggled in Mexicans and Brazilians. One Brazilian woman told Sherlocks she paid $12,000 to cross.
Federal officials said they also took bribes from public officials.
The federal probe began in May 2005 when an informant tipped off the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Investigators installed cameras in areas where migrants were dropped off, planted recording devices and placed tracking instruments on Border Patrol vehicles. They also trailed the ring's smuggling operations by airplane.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2013
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#1
Very strange. As I recall within DoD, no counterterrorism action could be taken on "single source" intelligence alone. Action generally required two or more intelligence disciplines to initiate. Crediting a single source for dismantling networks seems a bit disingenuous.
[POLITICO] Justice Department prosecutors in Washington are now part of a high-profile criminal investigation into the secret taping at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's campaign headquarters in Louisville.
Are they joining the investigation to help or hinder?
The move comes after David Hale, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, recused himself from the McConnell case because he has been mentioned as a possible nominee for a federal judgeship, which would require Senate approval.
At the same time, any attempts to subpoena evidence from Curtis Morrison -- a liberal activist who surreptitiously taped McConnell and his aides at a campaign meeting in February -- would most likely need the personal approval of Attorney General Eric Inaction Jackson Holder ... aka Mister Fast and Furious... , according to federal regulations, which require Holder to approve subpoenas for journalists. Morrison was previously a paid freelancer for a Louisville-based, online news outlet, even though he was engaged in political activities with the goal to defeat McConnell.
These latest developments underscore the sensitivity of the case involving McConnell, the most powerful Senate Republican and a vehement critic of President Barack Obama Ready to Rule from Day One... . Any delay or decision to forgo prosecution of Morrison would be used by the McConnell campaign as fodder to attack Obama's Justice Department, as would an apparent decision by federal prosecutors to classify the liberal activist as a journalist and treat him accordingly.
Yet any DOJ investigation of journalists is itself an enormously sensitive topic in the aftermath of its subpoena of phone records from The News Agency that Dare Not be Named and the separate criminal probe into Fox News news hound James Rosen, both of which have generated major controversy.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2013
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[VOA News] A bomb destroyed a Shi'ite Moslem religious center in northwestern Pakistain Friday, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens of others.
Police in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. said a small group of snuffies first opened fire on the mosque and religious seminary as worshippers gathered for Friday prayers. Officials said a jacket wallah then went inside.
Syed Muntizer Hussain witnessed the attack:
"We heard gunfire coming out from outside the mosque and we ran towards the exit. I saw a boy wearing black clothes, who had a beard and was around five feet tall, approaching the mosque interior and firing with the pistol in his hand. As he reached the inside of the mosque he went kaboom!."
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but radical Sunni Moslems who consider Shi'ites to be heretics have stepped up attacks against the minority Shi'ites in recent years.
Also Friday, gunnies in the southern city of Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... ambushed and killed a politician and his son as the two made their way home from Friday prayers.
Sajid Qureshi was a politician for the Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... (MQM), the most powerful party in Karachi.
Fellow MQM politicians Jamal Ahmed demanded quick justice.
"Bearing the loss of a son, husband and father is painful as there is no replacement of them. We demand the authorities to arrest the culprits within 24 hours, try them and convict them in two days, and punish them in public."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2013
14:27 ||
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#1
Muslim on Muslim, I love it.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/21/2013 15:48
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Boy howdy, a self destructive universe. This is really sick.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/21/2013 16:01
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Simple cost analysis that transportation is more expensive than the material left behind.
Keep in mind, that the 'temporary' expansion of the Army and Marines for the war has been determined also not necessary any more and 50,000 are being trimmed from their authorizations. Less troops, less equipment required.
#2
All those MRAPs are not safe for U.S. Highways. They have way too high a center of gravity and have to be driven with great care.
We do not want these ones, because we can make more that are better.
These ones have been roughed up in service.
These ones are filthy and contaminated with asian bugs, fungus, and other Old World stuff that will make problems in the New World.
These ones are too complicated for the locals to use.
These ones are MRAP 1.0. We should be buying 2.0, or 2.1, rather than keeping these wrecks on the road.
Bottom line: We spent thirty billion dollars on MRAPs to avoid a few thousand casualties. That is about ten million dollars for each avoided casualty. Which neatly is about the actuarial value of a life in the U.S.ofA.
These things are a sunk cost, and have done their job. Recycling them is no loss.
The Philippine government said on Friday it wanted to resume talks with Muslim militants early next month to kickstart negotiations for a peace settlement that seem to have stalled recently.
The chief government negotiator, Miriam Ferrer, and her Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) counterpart Mohagher Iqbal agreed during a brief meeting in Norway early this week to resume formal talks in early July.
Senen Bacani, a government official, said the next meeting should help the government achieve its goal to reach agreement on the detailed terms of a peace settlement this year. He said, "I am very hopeful that we will finish this comprehensive agreement in a month or two."
However MILF vice chairman Ghazali Jaafar was not as optimistic, saying the militant group's leadership had yet to approve the government proposal for a fresh round of formal talks. He said, "Those (talks in July) is what we have been hearing very recently but we have not yet officially received such a proposal."
#1
And so what? Islam is not something you get at birh and cannot do anything about it like race, it is an ideology just like nazism, pre WWII japanese nationalism, communism, Democratic or Republican party affiliation being a fan of Madonna or a supporter of the Lakers.
I have every right of taking a close look to your ideas and if I feel they are evil not wanting to do anything with you, and if they are evil and if I think you pay them more than lip service and you are a danger for my beloved ones, I see no reason why I shouldn't take measures against you.
Matusitz said on the show that he refuses to be "politically correct just to please everybody."
"I think that in academia, I'm sure a lot of people don't share my views," he said. "But I also think that a lot of people share my views, but they're not as open as I am."
I like this guy already! Perhaps there is hope for Academia after all.
Oh no! Watch out! He's using an Assault Fact: He cites a statistic that indicates the vast majority of victims of terrorism were victims of Islamic terrorism.
"So when my colleagues tell me that Islam is a religion of peace, I tell them that Islam is a religion of pieces: piece of body here, piece of body there," he says in that video.
A senior member of the Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK) terrorist militant group has been gunned down and three security officers injured in a gun battle in Yala province.
Police yesterday surrounded a house in Raman district, following information that Madaree Tayae, a most-wanted suspect, was hiding in the house along with other terrorists insurgents. Upon seeing the officers, four or five armed men inside the house began shooting, causing the officers to return fire. During the exchange, Pol Cpl Preecha Thinchana was shot and wounded.
About 9:30 a.m., police from a special operations unit, taskforce soldiers and volunteer military rangers went to the house where they blocked the mens' escape route. Both sides exchanged gunfire and two more soldiers were wounded in the battle.
After a clash lasting more than three hours, the policemen entered the house and found the body of a man later identified as Madaree. The other terrorists insurgents managed to flee.
Madaree was a key figure of the RKK's operations under insurgent chief Mazawe Kama. He was thought responsible for a series of attacks in Raman district, including an ambush of military rangers in 1998 that killed four, and arson attacks in 2005.
Madaree provided arms training to local terrorists rebels and was often assigned to carry out major attacks in Pattani's Kapho district and Yala's Raman district, a source said.
In Pattani province, three members of a military teacher protection unit were injured in a bomb blast while on patrol in Mayo district yesterday.
she pretty much carried the Smallville franchise the last 6 season
The plots and the screenplay got to be so idiotic that Erica frequently smiled slyly when delivering her 'serious' lines as if she was amazed that anyone could be following it
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/21/2013 9:55
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#4
The theme for today is "balloons"
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
06/21/2013 11:18
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#5
OK, in keeping with the theme Balloons how is this ?
Pic deleted. Some of our gentle readers have noted in the past the such images create problems. So don't do it.
AoS
Posted by: Big Uliting1460 ||
06/21/2013 12:35
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Pic deleted. Some of our gentle readers have noted in the past the such images create problems. So don't do it. AoS
[Shabelle] residents of Barawe district in the lower Shabelle region of Somalia are living in fear after 2 Alshabab troops fought each other.
Fighting broke up between troops loyal to Ahmed Godane also known as (Sheikh Mukhtaar Abuu Zubeyr) and other troops loyal Omar Hamami also known as (Abu Mansur Al Amriki).
It is reported that Godane's men killed a Sudanese Nationalist who belonged to Al Amriki's troops and dragged his body in the streets of Barawe town.
Telecommunication was disabled by Godane's men after they realized that Almiriki's men were plotting an attack on his troops.
Heavy fighting ... as opposed to the more usual name-calling or slapsy... occurred last night which resulted to the death of 6 Death Eaters from both sides.
Telecommunication was restored today but residents are worried fearing war might break up any time between the two Alshabab troops.
It is believed that the division between Alshabab troops is not yet settled as previously Ahmed Godane's men and Al Amriki's men clashed several times.
Latest news from Barawe town adds that an operation is being conducted by Godane's men prosecuting the foreign troops led by Al Amriki. Godane's men outmuscled Al Amriki's men during the heavy fighting.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2013
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[Ynet] A jacket wallah killed seven people at an Iraqi vote counting centre on Thursday evening, police said, hours after polls closed in two Sunni Mohammedan-dominated provinces.
Most Iraqis voted for provincial councils in April but the Shiite-led government postponed elections in Anbar and Nineveh, citing security concerns after months of protests by the country's Sunni minority.
[Dawn]All it took to set up an isolation ward at the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital for measles patients was a visit by District Coordination Officer (DCO) Rashid Mehmood Langrial the other day to the three government-run hospitals in the city.
Over 700 measles patients were treated at the three hospitals during the last six months, majority of whom visited District Headquarters Hospital.
Since the DHQ Hospital did not have an isolation ward, it referred patients to Holy Family Hospital (HFH) and Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH).
During his visit to DHQ Hospital on Tuesday evening, Mr Langrial found no separate ward for measles patients.
He immediately brought the situation to the notice of the Punjab health secretary and Rawalpindi Medical College Principal Dr Mohammad Umer.
On Wednesday, on the directives of the health secretary, the RMC principal called a meeting of the three government hospitals' medical superintendents and got down to prepare a plan to deal with measles patients.
The Rawalpindi Medical College principal is the chief executive officer of the three allied hospitals which fall under the administrative control of the RMC.
During the meeting, Dr Umer was informed by the officials that "due to lack of interest on the part of the district health department, vaccine for measles had not been administered to children during the last few years. As a result, the number of measles cases increased".
Due to low coverage, measles spread and also affected children who had been administered anti-measles vaccine. "The quality of the vaccine is also questionable," they added.
To deal with the situation, the meeting decided to start anti-measles vaccination in HFH, BBH and DHQ Hospital from 8am to 8pm daily where all children below the age of 14 years would be vaccinated.
The meeting further said the isolation ward at DHQ Hospital would be established on emergency basis but critical cases would be referred to HFH and BBH.
The number of beds at BBH Measles Isolation Ward will be increased from six to 10 and medicines provided free of cost.
The RMC principal directed the medical superintendents of the three hospitals to make necessary arrangements for vaccination and other drugs to deal with measles patients on emergency basis.
He said wards would be established at those places where entry of measles patients would be separate from other children and patients. The doctors have been asked to pay special attention to patients with measles.
Later talking to Dawn, DHQ Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Suhail Ejaz confirmed that a 10-bed ward had been set up at the hospital's emergency department following the meeting.
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Not because it's unusual, but because events in that part of the world are coming thick and fast.
[Jpost] Iran has jugged Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! 12 United Arab Emirates nationals and one Indian who were aboard two boats which crossed into what Iran claims as its territorial waters in the Gulf, the English-language Press TV reported on Thursday.
"The (Iranian) forces at Abu Musa Marine Patrol Base detected two intruding UAE vessels while fishing in the Persian Gulf waters and issued the order for capturing them," Press TV quoted base commander Colonel Ali Vesali as saying.
Vesali said those placed in durance vile Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! were transferred to a military dock, without giving further details.
Political relations are strained between the two oil-rich countries which face each other across the Gulf.
[Shabelle] Somalia's interior minister Mr. Abdikarin Hussein Guled has requested elders residing from the Juba regions and Gedo to gather the oppossing sides to the grand Mogadishu meeting hosted by the federal government of Somalia.
In a media conference, Mr. Guled called for the elders of the region to fascilitate a reconciliation process between rival communities residing from the region. the reconciliation process will be hosted by the federal government of Somalia added the internal security minister.
the two Juba regions is accupied by different Somali communities and disputes emerged between rival communities on who to govern the proposed state.
clashes occured between clan militia in the capital of the region recently.
the ministers words comes as the government is expected to announce the official date of the proposed meeting which is to be held in Mogadishu
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2013
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[An Nahar] Liberia granted 300 Sierra Leonean refugees citizenship on Thursday at a ceremony to mark World Refugee Day.
Around 100,000 people fled Sierra Leone to neighboring Liberia in 1991 when rebels from the Revolutionary United Front attempted to overthrow the government of Joseph Momoh, starting an 11-year civil war that left 50,000 dead.
Most returned but around 4,000 remained, with 1,500 opting to apply for naturalization in 2010, more than a decade after the end of the conflict.
"You have to remain law-abiding and productive citizens of the republic of Liberia," senior judge Jeeplah Tiklo Konton reminded the country's newest citizens while stamping their papers at Monrovia City Hall.
Weatonia Dixon Barnes, of the Liberia Refugee Repatriation Resettlement Commission, said the granting of citizenship to the 300 marked a milestone.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[An Nahar] A terrified New Zealand burglar handed himself in after breaking into a darkened house and bumping into a hanging corpse, waking neighbors with his blood-curdling screams, police said Thursday.
The would-be thief was incarcerated I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! when he called police in the early hours of Wednesday to report his gruesome encounter in the North Island town of Hamilton, the New Zealand Herald reported.
Inspector Greg Nicholls said it was the most unusual case he had encountered in his 28-year police career, and he believed it would prompt the burglar to mend his ways.
"I'm hopeful that this might be a career-changing moment for that burglar," he told the newspaper.
"I dare say for the burglar, if we remove the criminality of what he was doing, it would be really shocking. Can you imagine what that would be like in the dark?"
Nicholls said the death of the man found hanging in the house would be investigated by a coroner.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Dawn] The proscribed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) Death Eater organization claimed the credit on Thursday for the attack on a military convoy on Wednesday in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. in which at least six military personnel had died.
Speaking to Dawn.com from some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location TTP spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan said that security convoy was attacked in retaliation to the killing of its big shot Waliur Rehman in a US drone strike on May 29. Ehsan claimed 'around 80 per cent of intelligence and ground information was being provided by Pak authorities to facilitate drone attacks and it is for this reason they will continue targeting security'.
Responding to a question about holding talks with the ruling Pakistain Musselmen League - Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI), Ehsan said his organization was still assessing the stance of the newly elected government.
The front man, however, denied any involvement of the Death Eater organization in the two attacks in Kyber-Pakhtunkhwa which had also claimed the lives of two PTI provincial politicians, Imran Mohmand and Farid Khan.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Dawn] ATTACKING a funeral is diabolical by any standard, yet religious bully boyz in Pakistain have no qualms about using such bloody tactics to forward their aims. Though no group has yet grabbed credit, the suicide kaboom that targeted a funeral procession in Mardan on Tuesday bears the mark of myrmidon myrmidons, who have used similar tactics in the past. Over 30 people were killed, including Imran Mohmand, a provincial politician elected as an independent, but who voted for the PTI in the election for the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... Assembly's leader of the house. Police feel the politician was the target as he had already been receiving death threats. Over the past few days we have seen the scale of violence and level of ferocity the bully boyz are capable of, from the killing of two polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... vaccinators in Swabi to the assault on a busload of women students and subsequent siege of Quetta's Bolan Medical College. These attacks show that religious bad turbans' targets are widespread and not limited to symbols of the state or security forces -- civilian non-combatants are equally fair game. By indulging in wanton violence the bully boyz are destroying the fabric of society.
Still, a state of denial regarding the bully boyz persists. Though PTI chief Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight... condemned the Mardan bombing, other party leaders linked the attack to drone strikes. Believing such a theory will perhaps be a difficult task even for diehard PTI supporters. The PTI, as well as the PML-N, still believe in a negotiated settlement with religious bad turbans. They must make it clear how they will go about this. Who will they talk to and what will be the terms? Imran Khan's party in particular faces a moment of truth. It has already lost a provincial politician earlier this month when Fareed Khan was rubbed out in Hangu, also reportedly by myrmidons. Now, another politician linked to the party has lost his life. The PTI needs to come to terms with the bad turban threat and not offer far-fetched explanations that appear to justify myrmidon violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#3
As long as 50% +1 of the people are being subsidized to (make the wine) or are drinking the government subsidized "wine" and enjoying it, nothing will change.
Reduce the number of recipients of government largesse (to include government workers and grant recipients and pesioners and rent seekers as well as welfare recipiemts) to less than 20% of the population and government workers to less than 8% of the workforce and this problem will disappear.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
06/21/2013 10:30
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#5
Puis laissez-les manger le gâteau et arroser avec un bon Beaujolais
Let them eat cake and wash it down with a good Beaujolais
Posted by: Big Uliting1460 ||
06/21/2013 12:48
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#6
Saw the vid with the discussion of school kids lunches. Go talk to teachers to find out its a racket that's pushed by the administrators to get as many kids signed up, just like voting, whether they qualify or not. The program has no real verification system, so everyone is loaded on to 'milk' the system. It allows parents who really don't qualify to shift household expenses elsewhere and 'everyone does it', so who complains. The tragedy of the commons at work.
#7
Saw the vid with the discussion of school kids lunches. Go talk to teachers to find out its a racket that's pushed by the administrators to get as many kids signed up, just like voting, whether they qualify or not.
[Jpost] Gazoo's support of rebels hurting relations with Tehran, resulting in loss of financial aid from both Iran and Syria, Hamas official says.
Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason's deteriorating relations with Iran and Syria have impacted financial aid to the Islamist movement, Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official in the Gazoo Strip, was quoted on Wednesday as saying.
Noting that Syria had supported Hamas financially and politically, Hamad said that his movement's support for the Syrian "revolution" has resulted in the loss of financial aid from both Damascus and Tehran.
Hamad insisted that no country had ever dictated to Hamas a certain position or policy in return for financial aid.
"Hamas won't allow any country to intervene in internal Paleostinian affairs, even if they provide us with money and weapons" he added.
Referring to reports about growing tensions between Hamas and Egypt, Hamad claimed that under the present regime in Egypt there is "political openness" between the two sides. In contrast, he pointed out, the former regime of Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... maintained only security relations with Hamas.
Hamad also denied allegations that Hamas was meddling in the internal affairs of Egypt.
Earlier this week, hundreds of Egyptians demonstrated in Cairo against the visit of Hamas leaders Khaled Mashaal and Ismail Haniyeh ...became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fatah-Hamas festivities, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continues as the PM of Gazoo while Abbas maintains a separate PM in the West Bank... The demonstrators accused Hamas of being behind a series of terror attacks against Egyptian security forces -- especially in the Sinai Peninsula -- over the past two years.
Hamad said that Hamas has ties with all parties in Egypt, but did not elaborate.
He said that there has never been any evidence to support the charges against Hamas.
In Ramallah, the Fatah Central Committee on Wednesday called on Hamas to stop involving Paleostinians in others' conflicts -- a reference to allegations about Hamas's alleged responsibility for terror attacks in Egypt.
"Hamas should stop meddling in the internal affairs of Arab countries and focus its efforts on reorganizing the Paleostinian home and achieving national unity," the committee said in a statement.
Lots of 'process' overcoming need. People with influence more concerned about their little empire ignoring what is the ultimate purpose of the organization. It's not what the soldier needs that is important, it's what the people close to the highest flag pole back in Washington think they should have that's important.
When the French and Germans were arming themselves with the Labelle and Needle guns respectively in the 19th Century, the Army Ordnance Department chose to alter the old muzzle loading Springfield with a breech modification. The bureaucrats in uniform thought the newer European models with a greater rate of fire would induce the soldiers to waste ammo. Tsk, tsk, can't demand more ammo than what the desk officer thinks you should have.
#4
Whatever. This article is informative and mostly accurate, but it is misleading, because compares apples (compliance with programmatic requirements) to oranges (user surveys).
Because DCGS-A is a program of record it has to suffer all kinds of requirements and reviews. Some of those take time to do, others it fails to accomplish. But that is the process to get the thing built, and to know what has been built so far.
The commercial system is not intended to do all the other stuff, nor is it required to be tested against those needs with the results made public.
It is like comparing a Chevy Volt to Nike Air Jordans. They both get you from here to there, and some people will really prefer making the trip in the Jordans and say so. There will also be people who hate making the trip in the Volt and will let you know how bad it was. But if the requirement is to get to the store AND bring home the groceries then no matter how much people dislike the Volt, it is better suited for the job.
None of this excuses arrogance, mistakes, or bad decisions, which no doubt have occurred on every program, but this article recants every possible fault about the program of record while not providing an assessment of the commercial alternative trying to accomplish the same task.
And why is that information not in the piece, because the company that makes the commercial alternative isn't going to do those tests, or publish the results, ever.
#6
Because DCGS-A is a program of record it has to suffer all kinds of requirements and reviews.
The only "requirement and review" that makes a damn is that of the soldier and Marine. I can tell you first hand, it is NOT user friendly, they don't like it, and never did.
General Keith Alexander's original design called JIOC-I utilized a so-called "flat network" along with a "brain"....ie, massive date storage and retrieval capability [imagine that if you will]. DCGS-A ate JIOC-I and took proprietary software development and contract support to entirely new and insidious levels.
#7
No doubt there was a uniformed Army Officer from ASA(ALT) in charge of the program at all times and a second uniformed Army Officer from TRADOC in charge of the requirements that the first one was building towards. This is what they asked the contractors to enable soldiers to accomplish.
Army intelligence analysts use DSB 1.0 to support six Mission Command Capabilities:
Display and share relevant information
Provide a standard and shareable geospatial foundation
Collaborate in voice, text, data, and video modes
Execute running estimates of enemy force progress
Provide mission rehearsal and training support
Interoperate across the joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational forces
And here is the published report of the latest assessment by yet a third Army organization (ATEC).
It is not a very positive report, so we can probably agree that the system doesn't work that well, and maybe we need either to spend more money than we thought at first, or get a new contractor, or rethink what we need. All good potential paths forward. And the Army has chosen option number one.
But my point was that the article misleads the reader into thinking that somehow Palintir does do all these things, when it doesn't. And further, it implies that by sticking with the program of record our Army's leaders are deliberately doing wrong by the soldier, which is not proven in the article, and almost certainly untrue.
#8
I agree with you, like AnB. ArcGIS, or Query Tree, Palantir is not an 'end all - be all' Intelligence Base Operating [IBOS] SW tool. I don't believe the article intended to "mislead" but rather inform the reader of the frustrations and battlefield costs. As you are undoubtedly aware, this article is certainly not a one off. There have been many like it.
Not a big Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) fan, but my guess [and only a guess] is that there are few if any trained DCGS-A operators on hand at the ATEC. I suspect they conducted unit visits and surveys, and their report reflects soldier inputs. Just a guess.
I think we agree on most points. The soldier is paramount in this discussion. It is very unfortunate that DCGS-A has been so difficult to develop properly. And there are lots critics as you say. And well deserved. The program needs to do better -- for the analyst, for the soldier, and for the taxpayer.
What pushes my buttons though is that the only way we ever hear about this is because the Corporation pushing Palintir, which is a good product in its domain, is not getting paid as much as they want, and they have no shame in pushing their deceptive narrative onto gullible Congressmen, reporters, and citizens.
[Tolo News] Several lawyers in northern Balkh province on Thursday urged the National Council to approve the Law on Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW). According to them, suspending the Law is not in the best interest of Afghanistan.
During a two-day Justice Conference organised by the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... in Mazar-e-Sharif, the participants said that by endorsing the EVAW Law there is a high possibility that violence against women will be reduced in the country.
"In my opinion by not approving the EVAW Law, the problems currently being faced by women will increase. It is essential that the Law is approved and violence against women is reduced in the country," Fazil Rahman Fazli, Head of the Parwan Appellate Court said.
"We urge the National Council to approve the Law as soon as possible," Head of Human Rights Commission for northern zone, Syed Mohammad Sami said.
The EVAW Law containing 22 articles has been sent to Lower House of the Afghan Parliament but it has not been approved until now. The delay in its approval has raised serious concerns among the civil societies and women rights activists.
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[Jpost] A ceremony was held on Tuesday at the Haifa Cinematheque to recognize the record-high 3,000 Arabs volunteering in the national service program this year.
This represents an increase of 76 percent over last year, when 1,700 participated.
Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett, who is in charge of national service, attended the event and spoke against the incitement by Israeli Arab leaders against those who participate in the program.
"There are those that do not like it, who want separation and do not want to see Arabs and Jews living together in coexistence," he said.
Sar-Shalom Gerbi, director of the Civil and National Service Administration, also attended the event. "We will take all legal measures and deal with incitement in the Arab sector," he said.
Gerbi told The Jerusalem Post that Arab volunteers have asked for help dealing with the threats they receive from members of their community. He mentioned that MK Jamal Zahalka (Balad), for example, called Arab volunteers traitors last year.
"There is no good argument to explain why this [service] is not good," said Gerbi.
He said that he has written and called upon Israeli Arab leaders to come to meetings and talk with him about cooperating, but that he never received an answer.
Ninety percent of Arab volunteers serve in the Arab sector, in schools, daycare centers and programs against drugs and violence.
According to Gerbi, 85% of participants either study or enter the workforce after their service.
But many endure intimidation and attacks because of their sacrifice.
Gerbi mentioned one young woman who had the windows of her home broken as a result of her service. Gerbi says that while Arab politicians are very strongly against Arab participation in national service, "most of the population is very much for it."
Out of a total 16,000 national service volunteers, 19% are members of minority groups. The make-up of the minority volunteers is Christian Arab 17%, Druse 21%, and Beduin Moslems 51%.
[Dawn] Federal Interior Minster Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, exempting the Pakistain's President, Prime Minister and Chief Justice, ordered the removal of all civil armed forces personnel deputed for VIP security and prohibited the issuance of arms licenses across the country, DawnNews reported.
Addressing a presser in Islamabad Chaudhry Nisar said that recommendations were sought within two days from all institutions over the formation of a national security policy whereas certain immediate measures would also be taken in this regards.
He recalled all civil armed forces personnel posted at VIP security duty except for personnel deputed for the security of the Chief Justice of Pakistain, president and prime Minister.
The federal interior minister said that the civil armed forces were no body's personal guards and that the institution would be utilised for its genuine purpose.
The Pakistain Mohammedan League - Nawaz (PML-N) leader further said that the issuance of all arms licenses was prohibited adding that the license issued during the past five years would also be scrutinised.
Moreover he said that a task force would be formed for coordination between security and intelligence agencies and another task force would be constituted to address the issue of missing persons whereas all relevant persons would be included in the task forces.
The federal interior minister also announced steps for the improvement if the federal capital city which included removal of encroachments, removal of persons deputed for more than three years in the Capital Development Authority (CDA), cleaning of roads, improvement of transport services among others.
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[Jpost] PA source: Abbas wants a yes-man with no powers; Dahlan predicts any new PM will also fail if Abbas refuses to share powers.
Less than a month after he was sworn in, Paleostinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on Thursday abruptly submitted his resignation to President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... PA officials in Ramallah said Abbas would decide in the coming hours whether to accept the resignation.
Hamdallah, who until recently was president of An- Najah University in Nablus, offered his resignation even though Paleostinians were still publishing advertisements in the media congratulating him and his new ministers.
A source close to Hamdallah said he submitted his letter of resignation to Hussein al- A'raj, director of the PA president's bureau.
The source attributed the move to a power struggle between Hamdallah and his two deputies -- Muhammad Mustafa and Ziad Abu Amr -- who were appointed by Abbas.
"The prime minister feels that his deputies have been encroaching on his powers," the source said.
After submitting his resignation Hamdallah left his office in Ramallah alone and drove in his private car to his home in the village of Anabta, east of Tulkarm.
A senior PA official told the Bethlehem-based Ma'an News Agency that Hamdallah had not clashed with Abbas. The real dispute was between Hamdallah and his two deputies, the official said.
On Thursday evening, senior PA officials headed from Ramallah to Hamdallah's home to persuade him to withdraw his resignation.
Another PA source said that Hamdallah, whom Abbas appointed on June 2, quickly found himself in the same situation as his predecessor Salam Fayyad ...Fayyad's political agenda holds that neither violence nor peaceful negotiations have brought the Paleostinians any closer to an independent state. The alternative to both, violent negotiations, doesn't seem to be working too well, either... "Hamdallah discovered that the Paleostinian Authority president wants him to serve as a yes-man with no powers," the source explained. "Abbas wanted a prime minister who would play no role and only carry out orders from the president's office."
Abbas's decision to appoint two deputy prime ministers with expanded powers to the new government was the first sign of the PA president's intention to curtail the powers of Hamdallah.
Some Paleostinians pointed out that the real prime minister was Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Muhammad Mustafa, who also serves as the director of the PLO's Paleostine Investment Fund.
Mustafa was initially reported to be Abbas's favored candidate to replace Fayyad. It remains unclear why Abbas finally preferred Hamdallah over Mustafa.
"Hamdallah quit because he was lacking any authority," said Paleostinian political analyst Hani al-Masri. "He discovered that he was just another employee with the rank of prime minister. He had two deputies who were in charge of the political and economic portfolios."
Masri said the swift resignation was an indication of the deep crisis plaguing the PA's political system.
Muhammad Dahlan, a member of the Paleostinian Legislative Council and a former PA security commander, said he was not surprised by Hamdallah's decision to resign.
Dahlan, often described as an arch-enemy of Abbas, said the resignation showed that the PA leadership in Ramallah was determined to "reproduce the same mistakes."
Dahlan predicted that any new prime minister would also fail as long as Abbas refused to share powers with anyone.
[An Nahar] The Lebanese army made on Thursday a heavy deployment in the areas of al-Labweh and Arsal in the Northeast after residents of the two towns exchanged gunfire.
The deployment came amid high tension caused by sectarian splits in the country, which were exacerbated by the war in Syria.
The National News Agency said the military deployed after gunnies from the Sunni town of Arsal opened fire on residents from al-Labweh, drawing retaliatory fire.
Al-Labweh is majority Shiite. There was no report of casualties in the shooting.
On Sunday, four Lebanese men were killed in an ambush in Wadi Rafeq which is not far from the two towns.
The murder of the men -- two from the Jaafar clan and another from Amhaz family - hiked the sectarian tensions and concerns over the spillover of the civil war raging in Syria.
Gunmen from the families of the slain men erupted into the streets and set up roadblocks, accusing Arsal residents of being behind the killings.
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[Washington Post] In the latest sign of the fissures growing in the Arab world over the Syrian civil war, 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... 's ambassador to Beirut has announced that the kingdom plans to deport Lebanese who supported Hezbollah, one of Damascus' key allies.
The warning comes as the Lebanese Shiite krazed killer group takes an increasingly prominent role in the Syrian war, fighting alongside Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Supressor of the Damascenes... 's troops in a key battle earlier this month. Saudi Arabia is a strong backer of the mostly-Sunni Syrian opposition trying to remove Assad from power. Assad belongs to the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
It follows the decision earlier this month by the Gulf Cooperation Council -- which includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates -- to crack down on Hezbollah members in the Gulf and limit their "financial and business transactions."
Hezbollah says it has no businesses in the Gulf nations. However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... there are more than half a million Lebanese working in the Gulf Arab nations, including tens of thousands in Saudi Arabia, some of whom have been living in the kingdom for decades. Many of those Lebanese are Shiites.
Saudi Arabia will deport "those who financially support this party," Ambassador Ali Awad Assiri told Leb's Future TV late Wednesday. He did not elaborate on whether other actions could be also considered support for Hezbollah.
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#1
this doesn't help "Arab Unity"
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/21/2013 10:09
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[Dawn] UNITED NATIONS: Afghanistan and Pakistain traded accusations in the UN Security Council on Thursday over the whereabouts of hard boyz on their mostly non-existent border as the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... described increased tensions between the neighbors as "unfortunate and dangerous."
Afghanistan's UN envoy, Zahir Tanin, told a council debate on the situation in Afghanistan that "terrorist sanctuaries continue to exist on Pakistain's soil and some elements continue to use terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy."
Pakistain's UN ambassador, Masood Khan, said "faceless myrmidons operate on both sides of the mostly non-existent border" and that many attacks against Pakistain were planned on Afghan soil. He said aggressive policing and border surveillance were needed.
"We must not allow faceless myrmidons to manipulate and divide the people of Afghanistan and Pakistain," Khan told the council.
He told Rooters in an interview afterward that Tanin had been "ill-advised" to raise the border issues at the Security Council as Kabul and Islamabad were already talking through other channels. Khan blamed Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... for stoking tensions.
"When President Karzai meets our leadership he's most gracious, engaging, he's a statesman, but when he talks to the media he says things which inflame sentiment and that's most unhelpful and destabilising," Khan said. "We have given very restrained responses."
Pakistain's military played a key role in convincing Afghan Taliban leaders to hold talks with the United States, US and Pak officials said, although Afghan anger at fanfare over the opening of the Taliban's Qatar office this week has since delayed preliminary discussions.
"We were talking to multiple interlocutors behind the scenes and we have been asking them to participate in these talks, (telling them) that we think the war should come to an end," Khan told Rooters.
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[An Nahar] A Paleostinian found guilty of "collaborating" with Israel has been sentenced to death by a military court in the Gazoo Strip, the interior ministry of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, which controls the territory, said on Thursday.
The defendant, identified only by his initials KC, was "condemned to capital punishment by hanging for collaborating with the Zionist occupier," ministry front man Islam Shahwan announced on Facebook.
It was the fifth death sentence handed down by the Hamas authorities in Gazoo since the beginning of the year.
Authorities of the Islamist movement, which took power in Gazoo in 2007, carried out their first executions in April 2010 when they hanged two men convicted of collaborating with Israel.
Under Paleostinian law, those convicted of collaborating, murder or drug trafficking face the death penalty.
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#1
Say, I've got a former boss who I am sure was collaborating with ... Satan, IIRC. Maybe I can get her bumped off? She's not part of the religion of pieces.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/21/2013 16:00
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[An Nahar] [An Nahar] The trial of former Information Minister Michel Samaha has been postponed to December, reported the National News Agency Thursday. It explained that the postponement is aimed at granting time to summon Syrian security chief General Ali Mamlouk to the trial.
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[Dawn] The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the bail plea of the Small Scale Enterprise Promotion's project director jugged Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! by National Accountability Bureau for corruption.
Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Sarmad Jalal Usmani of the Supreme Court, Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. registry ruled that petitioner Fasihuz Zaman, of Swiss-funded nongovernmental organization, was not entitled to the concession of bail.
They, however, directed NAB to conclude the trial in two months, observing that if that didn't happen, the petitioner could again move the court for bail.
The petitioner is charged by NAB with embezzling around Rs27.56 million of the project.
NAB deputy prosecutor general Jamil Khan told the court that the trial of the petitioner was in progress.
He said NAB had been trying to locate some witnesses to record their evidence and conclude the trial.
Mr Jamil said NAB was not to blame for delayed trial as the petitioner's lawyer had been busy in lengthy cross-examination of prosecution witnesses, including the investigation officer, and that had been causing the delay.
He said the petitioner was also not entitled to bail on merit as he had remained absconder for almost nine years. He feared that if the petitioner was granted bail, he would again go into hiding.
The petitioner's lawyer said his client had been behind bars since Nov 23, 2011. He said the high court had twice given time to the accountability court for the conclusion of the trial but that could not be implemented.
The lawyer said the high court had ordered the completion of the trial within three months but when the order was not complied with, the court gave eight more days for the purpose.
Last month, the high court had dismissed bail plea of the petitioner.
In 2002, the accountability court had declared the accused a proclaimed offender after he had failed to turn up despite issuance of warrants for his arrest and several notices to him.
In the instant case, NAB had begun inquiry at the request of the Swiss government after the media reported the alleged corruption and sexual harassment in the NGO.
Project coordinator of NGO Abdul Manan was arrested on Nov 12, 2002 and after his application for plea bargain was accepted he was set free on payment of Rs600,000.
The said project was initiated within the framework of Agreement on Technical and Scientific Cooperation between the Swiss and Pak governments.
The development cooperation programme was formed initially for three years (1995-97). It was later extended twice to 2000 with an aim to improve technical skills of construction-related small-scale industries, silk weaving industry, cottage textile industry etc.
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[MAGHAREBIA] Two of Moamer Qadaffy's children have relocated to Oman, breaching a UN-imposed travel ban, AFP reported on Wednesday (Junes 19th).
Qadaffy's son Mohamed and his daughter Aicha reportedly left Algeria together with other relatives. They had been in exile in Algeria since 2011.
The United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... and Interpol are expected to conclude an agreement on joint actions for the search of UN-sanctioned persons on the run.
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[MAGHAREBIA] With thousands of Maghreb youths now fighting in Syria, news of jarring internal divisions among hard boy groups has security experts back in North Africa worried about the fallout.
The squabbling has been front and centre within al-Qaeda. In April, al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced his terror group was joining forces with Syrian jihadists Jabhat al-Nusra. But Jabhat al-Nusra chief Abu Mohammed al-Joulani denied the terror merger, saying he was not consulted.
Then last Saturday (June 15th), al-Qaeda in Iraq issued a statement defying orders from al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri ... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is... to break up the supposed union and allow the two al-Qaeda branches to operate independently.
Recently, signs of internal conflict also surfaced within the branch of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), when the emir of the branch, Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud, dismissed one his field commanders in the Sahel region ... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas... of Africa, Mokhtar Belmokhtar.
Belmokhtar then announced a separate group called the "Signatories in Blood" brigade, and pledged his group's allegiance directly to al-Qaeda in Wazoo under al-Zawahiri's leadership.
And with al-Qaeda's branches disputes over leadership, concerns are growing that North African jihadists operating in the Levant could return home, bringing with them foreign agendas and skills honed on the front lines of the Syrian conflict.
The report published by Algeria's Echorouk daily on June 16th, citing Hezbollah's Al Manar channel, is perhaps the examples of the strong presence of Maghreb fighters within Jabhat al-Nusra; something that has further boosted the influence of the group within Syria.
The Algerian newspaper cited Al Manar channel as saying that 6,113 imported muscle of various foreign nationalities were killed in Syria in recent months.
The channel added based on what it said were documented reports by European and Syrian think tanks that at least 53 Algerians, 50 Tunisians and seven Mauritanians were among the dead, together with scores of other nationalities from European, Asian, and African countries.
There is a strong possibility that they were fighting alongside Jabhat al-Nusra, analyst Abdul Hamid al-Ansari told Magharebia. He explained that the influx of Maghreb fighters may have boosted the group's confidence at a critical time.
"Jabhat al-Nusra might have already felt its major role in Syria, and therefore, it started to behave based on this role out of a desire to be on the top of jihad and monopolise command at the expense of other groups, exactly like what we saw in al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) when terrorist Mokhtar Belmokhtar felt his own influence and used it to defect from AQIM," the analyst said.
For his part, Dr Ahmeda Ould Bafie, a professor at Libyan universities and a researcher in Maghreb economics, said that if the cracks in jihadist groups in Syria were true, this would be an indication of al-Qaeda disputes despite the fact al-Zawahiri urges them to unify their ranks.
"Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups are harmonious in generalities, but some particularities and events fuel disputes which appear as a result of a desire to monopolise command and compete for spoils," he said.
In response to a question by Magharebia about the role of Maghreb young people in tipping the scales in favour of Jabhat al-Nusra, Ould Nafie said it was true, specifically noting Libyan support for Syrian rebels.
Libya has also become a transit country where fighters gather on their way to Turkey and then move on to Syria. Tunisian young people in particular have used Libya as a rallying point.
The Tunisian government has recently moved to prevent many young Tunisians from leaving the country via the Libyan border because they were planning to go to Syria and join the armed opposition there, according to Prime Minister Ali Larayedh.
Larayedh has said that the "government will follow up on the file of Tunisians who are fighting in Syria", adding that terrorism was "the biggest threat facing Tunisian security in the post-revolution era".
In his turn, Tunisian Interior Minister Lotfi Ben Jeddou recently said that "five networks specialised in getting Tunisian fighters to Syria were dismantled. About 1,000 young men who were on their way to Syria to fight against the regular army forces there were prevented from travelling."
"It's difficult to specify the number of Tunisians who went to Syria because many of them travel secretly or through ways that don't attract attention," Ben Jeddou said in an interview published by Tunisia's al-Maghreb newspaper last month.
Bassel Torjeman, an analyst and expert on Islamist groups in the Maghreb told Magharebia that the influx of Tunisian forces of Evil on the Syrian battlefield fighting for al-Qaeda was "a surprise given the big number of those fighters as compared to countries that have historically been the main supply of fighters for al-Qaeda".
"The Tunisian fighters are today fighting along al-Qaeda, firstly because of their historical relations with this group, and secondly because Jabhat al-Nusra is still not coherently structured. The group faces many disputes and conflicts over influence and spoil with other groups who came to Syria and lack harmony, organization and structure," Torjeman continued.
"The conflict between Jabhat al-Nusra and al-Qaeda in Iraq is a conflict for influence, gains and spoil which each side tries to control, especially oilfields in north-eastern Syria," he said.
Even as the two terror groups compete for influence, they continue to commit atrocities. The recent killing of a Syrian child by al-Qaeda gunnies for "kufr" sparked widespread shock and anger.
"The crimes of al-Qaeda or Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria are further to the criminal and terrorist approach that has distinguished this group both in ideology and practice since its foundation," Torjeman said.
"What is taking place in Syria today and crimes committed by those gangs are very serious indicators of future," he added. "The unprecedented level of criminality which the group now engages in in terms of slaughter, murder and torture will make such acts regular practices when those fighters return to their countries, and this will spread such practices in different world countries."
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#1
Remember, we had Eagle Squadrons helping our British (and Canadian, and Austrailian, and Kiwi) friends.
Except it wasn't called "Flypaper Strategy".
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/21/2013 9:47
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#2
"Could spell turmoil" > Sorry, but I'm NOT convinced.
ITS POSSIBLE, BUT HIGHLY UNLIKELY, given the personal + interactive histories.
Baghdadi has been like that since he was a kid, + Ayman knows it as did Osama, etal.
[An Nahar] President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... handed the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... on Thursday a memo urging warring sides in Syria to respect Leb's illusory sovereignty, two days after taking an unprecedented move in sending a similar memo to the U.N.
Suleiman handed the memo to Ambassador Abdul Rahman al-Solh so that he refers it to Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, the state-run National News Agency reported.
It said the document hopes that the vaporous Arab League would take action in compelling the different parties to commit to the respect of Leb's illusory sovereignty and the integrity of its territories.
It also hoped that they would not engage in assaults on both sides of the border.
On Tuesday, Suleiman handed U.N. Special Coordinator for Leb Derek Plumbly a memo that deals with "the violations and attacks carried out by all the warring parties in Syria."
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06/21/2013
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[An Nahar] One person was killed and five others were maimed on Thursday as protesters blocked several roads in the Bekaa, the North and Beirut to express "solidarity" with the town of Arsal.
One person was killed and another was maimed as residents of the town of Majdal Anjar staged a sit-in near the al-Masnaa border crossing in support of Arsal's residents, state-run National News Agency reported, without mentioning the reason behind the injuries.
Protesters also blocked the Saadnayel road in both directions near the town's mosque.
LBCI television said "four protesters were maimed during an attempt by the army to reopen the Saadnayel-Taalabaya road."
"Gunfire and kabooms were heard in the Bekaa region of Taalabaya," OTV reported.
Voice of Leb radio (100.5) said "the Dahr al-Baidar-Zahle-Baalbek road has been completely blocked by protesters expressing solidarity with Arsal."
LBCI said protesters also blocked the al-Fayda-Zahle road in Saadnayel's outskirts with burning tires.
"The road linking al-Masnaa to Rashaya, Riyaq and al-Faour and the al-Marj road have been blocked in solidarity with Arsal's residents," Voice of Leb radio (93.3) said.
"The army exchanged gunfire with protesters who blocked the Saadnayel-Taalabaya road, which left four people maimed, one critically," it added.
Later on Thursday, the blocking of roads spread to Beirut and the North.
"The Cite Sportive road in Beirut has been blocked with burning tires in solidarity with Arsal," LBCI reported.
Future TV said the Corniche al-Mazraa road was also blocked near the Abdul Nasser Mosque.
In the North, protesters blocked roads in al-Abboudiyeh and al-Bireh.
On Wednesday evening, LBCI reported that "the residents of Arsal are complaining that they are facing a near-siege due to attacks on their cars once they leave the town through the only route that links Arsal to al-Labweh and the rest of the Bekaa."
But in the wake of the protests on Thursday evening, OTV said "the Arsal-al-Labweh road has been reopened after a meeting between the Amhaz family and Hizbullah officials."
"The Amhaz family (in al-Labweh) called for preserving the best relations with Arsal and allowing the passage of Arsal residents, except for those accused of the Wadi Rafeq crime," Voice of Leb radio (93.3) said.
LBCI said the head of al-Labweh Municipality and a delegation from the Amhaz family informed the army checkpoint at Arsal's entrance that the al-Labweh-Arsal road is "under its authority."
Several meetings were held at the building of Arsal Municipality on Wednesday afternoon, in the presence of the municipality members, mayors, the imams of mosques and educational, social and political figures, after which they issued a statement condemning the recent Wadi Rafeq crime.
Four people were killed on Sunday, including two from the Jaafar clan, as their car came under gunfire in Wadi Rafeq, a mountainous region near Ras Baalbek and al-Qaa.
Arsal's residents had condemned the incident and disavowed the perpetrators, "regardless of their identities."
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[Tolo News] The Lower House Lawmakers on Wednesday said that a group of 20 jacket wallahs have decided to launch offensive attacks on Afghanistan National Assembly.
A document which was sent by the Lower House of the Afghan Parliament to media indicated that the Taliban has been instructed by its leader and Pakistain's ISI Generals to target Afghan National Assembly.
According to reports, the decision of launching an attack on the National Assembly was taken few days back at a meeting attended by Taliban's Leader Mullah Mohamad Omar and Pakistain's military generals in Quetta city.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth ordered the space pirate fleet to attack Zemblonia... a number of Afghan Lawmakers have linked this attack plan to Taliban's newly opened political office in Qatar, saying that they never want peace and stability in Afghanistan.
According to the document, the group of suicide bombers is being led by Mullah Mansoor.
"Taliban Leader Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... along with Pak Taliban leaders and Generals of Pakistain's intelligence agency has decided to send a group of 20 suicide bombers and target Afghan National Assembly," member of Internal Security Committee of Parliament Shikiba Hashimi said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the barn, a little lightbulb figuratively appeared over Bossy's head... Afghan Interior Ministry said that security forces have been alerted to thwart any offensive attack.
"Afghan Police is ready to prevent any suicide kaboom in the country. They will also prevent the attack on National Assembly," Afghan Interior Minister's Spokesman Sediq Sediqi said.
Additionally, some MPs stressed that they are not safe and there is an urgent need to take steps and ensure their safety.
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#1
Are Pakistan's ISI Generals still running the Taliban?
Posted by: Paul D ||
06/21/2013 14:04
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#2
A US Congressional report also lists the LeT as controlled by the Pak ISI.
As for the ANA, the above attack may be due to ...
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Dawn.com] KARZAI SUSPENDS US TALKS, SETS NEW CONDITIONS FOR TALIBAN NEGOTIATIONS.
* SAME > [Dawn.com] US PRECONDITIONS MAY SCUTTLE [reconciliation] TALKS: SAYS FAZI.
JUI-F ChieF Maulani Fazur Rehman.
versus
* TOPIX > [Fox News Channel] TALIBAN LEADER MULLAH OMAR VOWS TO TAKE KABUL "WIDIN A WEEK" OF US PULLOUT.
* SAME > [Christian Science Monitor] TALIBAN CLAIM REBIRTH OF CALIPHATE DURING PEACE TALKS.
versus
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > PERSIAN POWER: CAN IRAN [+ Iranian ambitions e.g. OWG Shia Caliphate] BE STOPPED?
* SAME > [Micheal Weiss] THE AWAKENING SUNNI GIANT. SAUDI ARABIA IS DEAD-SET SERIOUS ABOUT ENDING THE ASSAD REGIME.
Shia Iran rival Sunni KSA "attacking where Iran ain't"???
RELATED DEFENCE FORUM INDIA : SAUDI ARABIA. QATAR [bitter = strategic]RIVALRY SHAKES FOREIGN REBELS. Sunni-vs-Sunni, Arab-vs-Arab, Royal-vs-Royal competition to lead + dominate both Sunni + anti-Iran regional movement.
RELATED DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > SAUDI ROLE IN SYRIA DRAWN BY FEAR OF SHIITE "FULL MOON", no longer a lessor Shiite "crescent", to control or dominate the entire Middle East + North Africa.
* TOPIX > IRAN WILL NEVER MAKE CONCESSIONS ON SYRIA.
RELATED SAME > IRANIAN WILL RAISES NEW CONCERNS ON SYRIA.
[Jpost] Indictment by Argentine government investigating bombing says Iranian president connected to decision to launch attack.
Iran's diminutive President-elect Hassan Rohani was on the special Iranian government committee that plotted the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, The Washington Free Beacon reported, citing an indictment by the Argentine government prosecutor investigating the case.
According to a 2006 indictment, the decision to launch the attack in Argentina was made within a special operations committee connected to the powerful Supreme National Security Council in August 1993.
According to the report, former Iranian intelligence official Abolghasem Mesbahi testified in 2006 that Rohani was a member of the special committee, as he was then serving as secretary of the council.
"With regard to the committee's role in the decision to carry out the AMIA attack, Moghadam stated that this decision was made under the direction of Ali Khamenei, and that the other members of the committee were [then-Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi] Rafsanjani, Mir Hejazi, Rohani, Velayati and Fallahijan," the Free Beacon quoted the indictment as saying.
According to the indictment, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei led the special committee, and Khamenei and Rafsanjani made the ultimate decision to go ahead with the attack.
Argentina has accused the Iranian government of directing the bombing, which killed 85 and injured 300, and the Leb-based terror group Hezbollah of carrying it out. No arrests have been made in the case.
Six Iranians have been on Interpol 's most wanted list since 2007 in connection with the bombing, including the current defense minister, Gen. Ahmed Vahidi.
The report offers an intriguing window into the past thinking of Rohani, widely seen as a moderate or pragmatic conservative, whose surprise victory in weekend elections to succeed President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad was perceived by the United States and other Western powers as positive - at least at first glance.
[An Nahar] Belief that so-called honor killings are justified is still common among Jordanian teenagers, a Cambridge University study revealed on Thursday.
The study by researchers from the university's Institute of Criminology found that almost half of boys and one in five girls interviewed in the capital, Amman, believe that killing a daughter, sister or wife who has "dishonored" or shamed the family is justified.
"Researchers surveyed over 850 students, and found that attitudes in support of honor killing are far more likely in adolescent boys with low education backgrounds," a statement said, adding that the research is published in the criminology journal Aggressive Behavior.
"Importantly, the study found that these disturbing attitudes were not connected to religious beliefs."
Between 15 and 20 women die in so-called "honor" murders each year in the Arab kingdom, despite government efforts to curb such crimes.
The main factors behind these crimes "include patriarchal and traditional worldviews, emphasis placed on female virtue and a more general belief that violence against others is morally justified," according to the study.
"We noted substantial minorities of girls, well-educated and even irreligious teenagers who consider honor killing morally right, suggesting a persisting society-wide support for the tradition," said Professor Manuel Eisner, who led the study with graduate student Lana Ghuneim.
In all, 33.4 percent of all respondents either "agreed" or "strongly agreed" with situations depicting honor killings.
"Boys were more than twice as likely to support honor killings: 46.1 percent of boys and 22.1 percent of girls agreed with at least two honor killing situations in the questionnaire."
Sixty-one percent of teenagers from the lowest level of educational background showed supportive attitudes towards "honor killing", as opposed to only 21.1 percent where at least one family member has a university degree, said the study.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#2
Find a way to apply the concept to males, and see attitudes change.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
06/21/2013 6:21
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#3
Since the study denied the evidence and found these "disturbing attitudes were not connected" to religion, there must surely be some sort of common denominator, a link or DNA that maps these [seemingly regional] psychopathic beliefs. But then again, Cambridge could be wrong, or only partially correct. Perhaps a duality of dysfunction or psychopathic behavior nurtured and fed by an evil, violence and hate focused religion.
#5
"Importantly, the study found that these disturbing attitudes were not connected to religious beliefs."
Who's buying that? Every time I hear the phrase 'honor killing', it involves a Muslim. Seems that the authors went to great pains to avoid this conclusion.
[An Nahar] Authorities in Egypt have valued the wealth of former dictator Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... , his wife and their two sons at nine billion Egyptian pounds ($1.2 billion, 900 million euros), the state prosecutor said Thursday.
It is the first time that an official source has given a figure for the Mubaraks' wealth, the subject of speculation since a popular uprising in February 2011 toppled the regime.
"Reports from the Administrative Surveillance Authority, the Illicit Gains Authority and the Central Accounts Authority (three bodies responsible for monitoring public institutions) proved" the family had nine billion Egyptian pounds, said Mahmud al-Hefnawy, a representative of the state prosecutor.
The personal wealth of the wives of Alaa and Gamal Mubara, Heidi Rassekh and Khadiga al-Gamal, was also included in the figure.
The sum is made up of the "value of their assets in cash and in shares in companies in Egypt", Hefnawy said in comments published by the official MENA news agency.
Cash represents three billion Egyptian pounds of the total and shares five billion Egyptian pounds.
The family's property also accounts for one billion Egyptian pounds of the total, Hefnawy said, without giving further details, particularly on property overseas.
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[Tolo News] On Sunday, the Taliban's Political Committee Chief, Motasim Agha Jan, said that his group's attacks on Afghan military and police forces were "impermissible" signaling a dramatic departure from their traditional stance in support of such tactics.
In an exclusive interview with TOLOnews, Agha Jan said that Afghan army and police forces are sympathetic to the plight of the Afghan people and should not be killed by the Taliban.
He added that the killing of civilians and Afghan security personnel in Taliban attacks is not a practice the group approves of.
"Taliban does not have enmity with the army and police forces or with Afghans because we [Afghans] are all brothers, Mohammedans and from the same country," Agha Jan told TOLOnews.
The Taliban leader went further to assert that if Afghans do not work together for peace and stability, internal conflict would plague the country. "If Afghans don't put the interests of the country first, I think our enemies will push us away from the religious and defensive war we are in, and into an internal war against ourselves," Agha Jan said.
In the past, the Taliban has heralded the killing of Afghan cops as a great achievement. This marks the first time a senior figure of the group has publically stated that the killing of security forces is unwanted.
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[Dawn] Five men, including a supporter of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, were gunned down in separate incidents in the city on Wednesday, police said.
They said that armed men kidnapped Irfan Qasim, 29, in the Baghdadi area. They brought him to G. Allana Road, fired at him and fled in the early hours of Wednesday.
The wounded was taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi where he died during treatment.
Quoting his family, the police said that he left his residence in Musharraf Colony on Tuesday night to visit his native place in Daryabad, Lyari.
The Baghdadi police said that the victim was believed to be a supporter of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and his brother, Adnan, lodged an FIR against 'Lyari gangsters' without nominating any individual.
Killing in Mewa Shah graveyard
The bullet-riddled body of a young man was found in the Mewa Shah graveyard on Wednesday.
Pak Colony SHO Bilal Raza said that circumstances suggested that unidentified persons kidnapped and brought the victim to the graveyard where they shot him dead.
He said there were three bullet marks on the head, back and hand on the victim's body while his hands were also tied.
The body was shifted to the Civil Hospital Karachi for a post-mortem examination. The identity of the victim could not be ascertained till late.
Youth found shot dead
The bullet-riddled body of a young man was found along the Lyari riverbed in Machhar Colony on Wednesday, police said.
They said that the victim was identified as Farhan Ismail, 26, with the help of an identity card found in his pocket. He was shot five times.
Docks SHO Asif Jakhrani said that a letter was also found in his pocket, which stated that he had been 'betrayed' by his beloved 'S'.
However, the victim's family told the police that he had left his residence in Jamshed Quarters around two days ago and did not return home.
They would lodge an FIR after the burial, the police said.
Picnicker kidnapped, killed
Two picnickers going to the Keenjhar Lake along with their other relatives in a small coach on Wednesday were 'kidnapped' and one of them was found shot dead later in the day, police said.
They said that armed occupants of a car intercepted the coach in the Malir City area, and took away Raja Pervez and his cousin, Noman, at gunpoint.
Later, Pervez was found shot dead near Saleh Muhammad Goth within the remit of the Shah Latif Town police station. The kidnappers left Noman unhurt.
Area SHO Ali Hassan said that victim's brother Aurangzeb nominated their relative Rehan alias Azeem in the FIR.
He said that the complainant told the police that his relatives, living in Nazimabad and Liaquatabad, had planned a picnic and they left for the Keenjhar Lake in a small coach on Wednesday.
The SHO said that there was a dispute between suspect Rehan and the victim, as the former did not want him to take his wife to the picnic.
The suspect's wife was in the coach when she received a phone call from her husband who asked her location and she told him that the vehicle was at a fuel station in Malir City. As soon as it started moving, armed occupants of a car intercepted the vehicle and two of them took Raja Pervez and Noman away. Later, they killed the former.
The area SHO said that suspect Rehan had shifted to Nazimabad from Lyari and he had a criminal background.
Van driver shot dead
A young school van driver was shot dead in New Karachi on Wednesday, police said.
Khawaja Ajmer Nagri SHO Gul Baig said that Imran Wazir, 35, was targeted outside his residence in Sector-5-C-1 when he was going to pick some schoolchildren.
The motive for the murder could not be ascertained immediately.
Robbers kill man upon resistance
A young man was shot dead while his brother was wounded by robbers upon resistance in Bhitai Colony on Wednesday.The Ibrahim Haidery police said that three gunmen stormed a house and started looting valuables. As inmates resisted, the suspects opened fire on them and fled. Kaiser Iqbal, 25, was killed while his brother, Nasir Iqbal was wounded.
A suspected robber, Khalid, 28, was also wounded as bullets fired by his accomplices hit him, Ibrahim Haidery SHO Naik Muhammad said, adding that two other robbers managed to escape but they left looted valuables at some distance.
He said the wounded robber was admitted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre in a critical condition.
Woman bludgeoned to death
A woman was bludgeoned to death in her Hasan Brohi Goth home on Wednesday, police said.
They said that the body of Rizwana, 50, was found in her house.
Surjani Town SHO Shabbir Ahmed said that she was living alone in her house since the death of her husband. She had no children.
Grenade attack in Manghopir
A grenade was lobbed into a house in the Manghopir area on Wednesday. The attack, however, did not cause any damage to life and property.
Police said that the house of Shah Hussain located in Hamza Goth came under attack.
They said that the incident could be a result of ongoing gang warfare in the area.
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[Ynet] Chinese courts have sentenced 11 people for inciting religious extremism and related crimes in the northwestern Mohammedan region of Xinjiang, just weeks ahead of the anniversary of bloody ethnic rioting that spread through the region four years ago.
The Justice Ministry's official newspaper Legal Daily said Thursday that Aihetaimu Heli was given the harshest sentence of six years in jail for uploading to the Internet materials promoting jihad and ethnic hatred.
[An Nahar] Syrian rebels urged friendly world powers on Thursday to provide them with heavier weapons and to impose a no-fly zone over parts of the country they control to avert a humanitarian disaster.
On the ground, troops and rebels battled in several districts and suburbs of Damascus, and the army shelled bully boy positions using heavy artillery and mortars, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Western and Arab powers from the so-called Friends of Syria group will meet in Doha on Saturday, and Free Syrian Army front man Louay Meqdad said "the regime could use Scud missiles with unconventional warheads to shell liberated areas. So we need a safe haven."
"It is necessary to establish secure areas and impose no-fly zones in the south or north," he told Agence La Belle France Presse in Dubai.
Calling for anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, he said that "if they do not provide us with arms to protect civilian areas, a humanitarian disaster will occur because regime troops are committing massacres in the areas they are recapturing".
Meqdad said "foreign militias, including Hizbullah and Abulfadhl al-Abbas brigades (made up mainly of Iraqi Shiites) do not respect any international conventions".
Foreign ministers from Britannia, Egypt, La Belle France, Germany, Italia, Jordan, Qatar, 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... , Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States are to discuss aid for the rebels, including military help, a French diplomat said on Wednesday.
Western powers have so far refused to arm rebels fighting Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... 's troops -- backed by Shiite militias from neighboring countries -- out of fear they could fall into the hands of radical Islamists.
But Meqdad said "we are committed to ensuring that these weapons do not fall into the hands of unorganized or myrmidon groups".
FSA chief of staff General Selim Idriss is seen as a reliable partner by the West, who mainly voice fears of groups such as Al-Nusra Front, whose aim is to establish an Islamic state in Syria.
Meqdad said the regime has been amassing troops in preparation for an offensive on rebel-held areas on the outskirts of Damascus and second city Aleppo.
The expected campaign comes after Assad forces regained control of the strategic town of Qusayr, on the border with Leb, with Hizbullah help.
On Thursday, President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... urged Hizbullah to end its participation in the war and "return to Leb... because this intervention leads to tensions in Leb".
Last week, Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said his fighters would stay in Syria.
The opposition has said Hizbullah forces are now deploying at other key sites in the country, including in the north.
"If they (Hizbullah) participate in the battle in Aleppo and there are more deaths in the ranks of the party it will raise tensions further. Qusayr must be the end, and they must return to Leb," Suleiman said.
In Moscow, meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the West was dragging its feet on agreeing to a date for a peace conference because "they are not at all sure that they will be able to sell the opposition".
Speaking of this week's G8 summit in Northern Ireland, Lavrov said Russia pushed for a concrete time frame to be spelled out but its Western partners refused to do so.
The opposition has long insisted that Assad's departure is a precondition for any settlement, and said it "reserves the right to use all means at its disposal" to bring him down, "chiefly military action".
The army, in some instances backed by Hizbullah, was seeking to retake rebel positions in suburbs south of the capital, and to cut off supply lines to others inside the capital, the Britannia-based Observatory said.
Meanwhile in the war-torn country, Syrian troops and rebels battled in several southern and eastern districts of Damascus on Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding the army used heavy artillery to target some bully boy positions.
Clashes that began a day earlier in the north-eastern Qabun neighborhood were continuing, as army troops sought to storm the district, firing mortar shells and heavy artillery, the Observatory said.
Several homes in the area caught fire as a result of the bombardment, the group said.
The northern Barzeh district and eastern Jubar neighborhood, both home to pockets of rebel fighters, were also under fire.
In the south of the capital, the contested neighborhoods of Al-Hajar al-Aswad and Qadam were the scene of ongoing festivities, with shelling forcing the closure of the road leading to the Paleostinian Yarmuk refugee camp.
A woman and a child were killed by an army sniper in the area, according to the Observatory, which relies on a network of activists, doctors and lawyers on the ground.
Rebel have established rear bases in parts of the southern and eastern districts of the capital, prompting the Syrian military to launch raids in a bid to uproot them.
Earlier this week, a rebel attack in Qadam killed 11 Syrian soldiers.
In southern and eastern suburbs of the city, rebels were also battling troops backed by members of Hizbullah, the Observatory said.
Government troops are pushing in particular to retake the village of Zayabiya and Babila, south of the capital, mixed Sunni-Shiite villages near the Sayyida Zeinab shrine, a Shiite pilgrimage site.
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[MAGHAREBIA] Algeria is considering creating an official fatwa authority to adopt formal positions on issues that divide Islamic scholars.
"This body would be a specialised fiqh authority, like what we see in the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, at al-Azhar or in scientific bodies in the holy land," Religious Affairs Minister Bouabdallah Ghlamallah said.
Last Thursday (June 13th), Ghlamallah headed up a meeting to issue a fatwa about the government's decision to exempt from interest small bank loans given to young people.
University professors, imams and economic experts attended the meeting, which came in the wake of differences among clerics who supported and opposed the loans.
The minister said he hoped to prepare a unified fatwa for young people and those who deal with banks that provide such loans.
The ministry's move came after salafist scholars in Algeria issued fiqh opinions that differed over the legitimacy of the decision.
Some imams issued fatwas permitting such loans as non riba-based loans, while others opposed them under the pretext that banks engage in riba-based practices. This is in addition to the insurance system used by banks.
This issue was just one of many that caused differences between imams and clerics.
Another dispute revolved around women taking off their niqabs before having biometric passports issued. At the time, the minister supported the decision, while salafist clerics opposed it.
Differences continued over family law and women's right to marry without the presence of a legal guardian.
Meanwhile, the religious affairs ministry launched a campaign to restore the legacy of Algerian scholars as a means to combat intolerance, extremism and fatwa chaos.
"Reviving the heritage of Algerian scholars will be like a bulwark stopping us from falling in the sedition of extremism and intolerance and will spare society the consumption of wrong fatwas that don't suit our profound Islamic roots and the features of our Maliki School," Glamallah said.
"Fatwas by Mashreq scholars and other sects can't solve our problems and may lead us astray," he added.
The minister called on Algerians to trust the fatwas of Algerian imams and beware of fatwas coming from scholars and imams abroad. He said that it was in the interest of Algerians to be careful and cautious about fatwas issued overseas because they may be beyond Islamic Sharia and unsuitable for the country's interests.
"Some satellite channels broadcast commercial fatwa programmes whose only concern is to promote goods and profitable ads taking advantage of their religious activities and correct Sharia rules," commented Dr Belmehdi Youcef, director of Qur'anic education in religious affairs ministry.
He added that "satellite channels can be a constructive mechanism for unifying Muslims, serving their causes and solving their doctrinal problems, but at the same time, they can be destructive tools that fuel sectarianism and confuse religious knowledge".
The speaker called for "consolidating fatwa authorities in the country and for improving their scientific levels to fill the vacuum, respond to citizens' concerns and help them avoid resorting to foreign sources. Algerian muftis are aware of new issues and developments in Algeria and are, therefore, qualified to respond to them easily and objectively".
For his part, League of Sahel Ulema Secretary-General Youcef Mechri said that failure to understand true Islam was one reason for the emergence of extremism and terrorism in the region.
"Islam has nothing to do with extremism and terrorism and anything related to violence," Sheikh Mechri said in a speech at an international seminar held by Sahel countries' civil society in solidarity with the Malian people.
"Terrorist groups in the Sahel that claim to be defending Islam depend on the logic of violence and aggression on others," he added.
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[An Nahar] President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... said Thursday that Hizbullah made a mistake in getting involved in Syria's war, adding the party should bring back its fighters to Leb to avoid further security incidents in the country.
"I warned them amicably about this issue. I wasn't disloyal or oblivious," Suleiman told As Safir newspaper.
He said he would preserve the resistance but "I also want to protect it from itself."
"If it participates in the battles of Aleppo and more of the party's members are killed, then there would be more tension" in Leb, Suleiman said. "This should stop in Qusayr and they should return to Leb."
"The recent incidents (in Leb) will continue if the involvement in Syria doesn't stop," Suleiman warned.
Hizbullah was credited with an important role in the Syrian army's recapture of the rebel stronghold of Qusayr in central Homs province earlier this month.
The regime has said it plans to build on that victory by trying to retake large parts of the northern city of Aleppo and its surrounding province, but it is unclear whether Hizbullah has joined that operation.
"When I find Hizbullah's behavior wrong then I become honest with it," Suleiman said.
He also lashed out at Hizbullah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem ... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... for his criticism on his latest conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama Jedi mind meld... "Those who are keen on Leb should not be subject to the U.S. dictates under the excuse of defending constitutional institutions and do not stand in the same trench of the American-Israeli project," said Qassem on Wednesday.
But Suleiman stressed to As Safir that when Obama expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... over Hizbullah's involvement in Syria's war, he said he was also concerned over the meddling of all Lebanese parties in the neighboring country.
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[ISLANDPACKET] A court in Myanmar has found two Musselmen women guilty of sparking a recent outbreak of sectarian violence, one of them by bumping into a Buddhist novice monk.
Myint Thein of the pro-government National Unity Party, who attended their trial, said Wednesday the two women in the central township of Okkan were convicted of "insulting religion." Both were sentenced to two years in prison with hard labor. A police officer in Okkan, who did not want to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed the sentences.
The verdicts may be seen as offering support for contentions by human rights ...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you... groups that Myanmar's court system is biased in favor of the Buddhist majority. Although the vast majority of victims of the violence in the past year have been Musselmens, most of those convicted of serious offenses in connection with the unrest have been Musselmens.
Sectarian violence began in western Rakhine state last year, when hundreds died in festivities between Buddhists and Musselmens that drove about 140,000 people, mostly Musselmens, from their homes. The violence had seemed confined to that region, but in late March, Buddhist-led violence - fueled by the killing of a monk after a Buddhist mob burned down several Musselmen-owned shops - swept the town of Meikthila in central Myanmar, killing at least 43 people.
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[An Nahar] Somalia's leaders vowed Thursday that progress would continue despite fresh threats by Islamist Shabaab hard boys, a day after they staged a deadly attack on the U.N. compound as a "warning" to the world body and "infidels".
Eleven people were killed when the seven-man team of suicide commandos from the al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab bully boyz shot and blasted their way into the U.N. compound in Mogadishu Wednesday, before Somali and African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... forces battled their way inside to kill the gunnies.
U.N. chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... expressed outrage at the "despicable" attack which left eight people working for the world body dead, but said that the organization would not end its work in Somalia.
In turn, the Shabaab said they would not give up their attacks.
"We wanted to show the U.N. that they will have no safe haven," Shabaab front man Ali Mohamed Rage said in a speech broadcast Thursday on the bad boy Radio Andalus station.
"It was a warning for those infidels (non-believers) who hope to violate the rights of the Somalia people in future."
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud called the Shabaab a "disgrace" to the country, warning that "violence and terror will not derail" progress made in the capital in the past year, a city where such bloody corpse counts were once a daily occurrence.
"Over the past year, Somalia has turned a corner," he said in a statement late Wednesday. "We are now on a determined path of recovery and reconciliation."
One U.N. staff member was killed, who Kenya's foreign ministry confirmed was a Kenyan national, in a statement condemning the "cruel attack".
Two South African contractors, a Somali U.N. contractor, four Somali security guards and three civilians in the surrounding streets were also killed, officials said.
Mohamed Yusuf, head of the Medina hospital, the capital's main trauma center, said that 18 maimed people were being treated, four of them with serious injuries.
Mogadishu was reported to be calm on Thursday, with the areas around the bombed-out entrance of the now empty U.N. compound cordoned off.
"The situation is quiet... security forces are conducting operations," said police colonel Abdi Mohamed.
The brazen daylight attack forced aid workers to evacuate temporarily back to the secure airport zone, the headquarter barracks of the 17,000 African Union force that is fighting the Shabaab.
"It was a shocking attack... we never thought Al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... could hit such a defended area," said local resident Ali Muktar, adding that he had seen several vehicles carrying foreign aid workers to the airport zone.
One local aid worker, who asked not to be named, said that several foreign aid workers had flown to Nairobi on Thursday morning.
The Shabaab celebrated the attack Thursday, with Rage claiming it showed "no tanks or military arsenals will deter our mujahedeen from defending their religion".
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[An Nahar] Islamist parties have called a mass rally Friday as a show of force ahead of planned opposition protests calling for Islamist President Mohamed Morsi to go, highlighting Egypt's highly charged political divide.
The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political arm of the powerful Moslem Brüderbund from which Morsi hails, and several other groups, have called for a "million-man march to protect the revolution" in Cairo's Nasr City neighborhood.
The groups met at the Brotherhood's headquarters on Wednesday to finalize arrangements for the rally, which calls for Islamists to close ranks and "face the counter-revolution", a Brotherhood statement said.
Friday's rally is a demonstration of power by the Islamists ahead of planned June 30 demonstrations to call for early presidential elections.
A campaign dubbed Tamarod (rebellion in Arabic) first called for the anti-Morsi rally to coincide with the first anniversary of his becoming president.
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[An Nahar] An Egyptian court on Thursday ordered the release of former prime minister Ahmed Nazif who has been enjugged Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! for more than two years on fraud charges, media reported.
The Giza Criminal Court ordered Nazif's release "so long as he is not being detained on other charges," it said in a statement quoted by the official MENA news agency.
In September 2012, the former premier was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of nearly nine million Egyptian pounds (around $1.28 million).
He appealed the sentence and a court granted him a retrial, for which a date has yet to be set.
Nazif's release comes because the limit on his preventative detention has run out.
Judicial sources say Nazif will likely be released from prison until the retrial.
Appointed prime minister in 2004, Nazif left his post on January 29, 2011, just four days after the start of the popular revolt that toppled president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... Close to business circles and a key architect of Egypt's economic liberalization, he was remanded in jug in April 2011.
Two months later authorities charged him with appropriating state property and embezzling public funds.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[
[VOA News] A bomb 
A senior member of the Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK) 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Dawn] UNITED NATIONS: Afghanistan and Pakistain traded accusations in the UN Security Council on Thursday over the whereabouts of 
Zawahiri
Wazoo
[Dawn] Five men, including a supporter of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, were gunned down in separate incidents in the city on Wednesday, police said.
[An Nahar] Syrian rebels urged friendly world powers on Thursday to provide them with heavier weapons and to impose a no-fly zone over parts of the country they control to avert a humanitarian disaster.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
