LANDIKOTAL/PESHAWAR: Terrorists blew up three schools on Friday in separate attacks in Landikotal and Peshawar, officials said. Buildings of two government high schools about 1.5 kilometres apart were blown up in Landikotal. No casualties were reported, as both schools were empty at the time.
Separately, terrorists tried to blow up a government boys high school in Spin Wari village in Peshawar. According to the police, the blast only damaged the schools boundary wall.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/25/2009
22:45 ||
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A dispute is rumbling between Israel and the US Consulate in Jerusalem after a US diplomatic car allegedly tried running over a Defense Ministry security guard recently at an IDF checkpoint in the West Bank. The car had been stopped after the occupants refused to present identification papers. Israel is also furious that one of the consulate cars was found to have transported a Palestinian without permits between Jerusalem and the West Bank.
According to a detailed official Israel Police description of the incident obtained exclusively by The Jerusalem Post, the drivers refused to identify themselves or open a window or door. The drivers, according to the report, purposely blocked the crossing, tried running over one of the Israeli security guards stationed there and made indecent gestures at female guards.
The entire incident was documented by cameras at the crossing.
Following the incident, the head of the police's Security Department, Lt.-Cmdr. Meir Ben-Yishai, convened a meeting on November 18 at police headquarters in Jerusalem with the regional security officer at the consulate, Tim Laas. Also present were officials from the Defense Ministry and the Foreign Ministry, and the regional security officer at the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, Dan Power.
According to a protocol of the meeting, obtained by the Post, Ben-Yishai described additional violations by consulate workers, and referred to at least one case in which a female Palestinian without appropriate documentation was found in a diplomatic car. Defense officials told the Post that there had been other similar cases in the past.
"We view this as an attempt to illegally transfer someone," Ben-Yishai said, according to the official police protocol.
Ben-Yishai also said the drivers of the cars, from east Jerusalem, hid their Israeli identity cards and put stickers over their names on their consulate-issued identity cards, since, as they claimed, "they are in a diplomatic vehicle and cannot be touched."
While Power apologized for the incident and tried
smoothing things over, Laas angered Ben-Yishai, according to the protocol, when he said it was unacceptable for "simple guards" to inspect senior diplomats.
Laas said the communication needed to be between the guard and the driver, since "we can't know who the guard is."
This was understood by those present as indicating his lack of trust in Israeli guards.
Posted by: Dave UK ||
12/25/2009 16:22
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#3
"give us his GPS coordinates and we'll make sure he's healthy taken care of"
/there's been a lot of ass-covering between San Diego-office FBI and DC-office on Hasan. It appears the locals made DC aware and are now being made the scapegoats. They are fighting back with media leaks of emails showing they made DC aware and were told, basically "we're on it". Should make for good fireworks as the internal housecleaning of PC ass-coverers starts. None too soon IMHO
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/25/2009 16:58
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This is how we got our country back by Jonathan Kay
"My country seems to be slipping away in front of my very eyes," former NDP campaign director Gerald Caplan wrote in a December 4 op-ed for a Toronto-area newspaper. "Our proud identity, our cherished core values ... are being turned upside down. Gun control advocates are out, gun apologists are in. Preventing war is out, killing scumbags is in. Demonstrations for peace are out, demonstrations of a martial spirit are in. Thoughtful, restrained Canadianism is out, hand-on-heart Yankee-style patriotism is in."
I'll confess to experiencing a brief spasm of schadenfreude upon reading these words. Eleven years ago, when I joined the National Post editorial board, we also used to spend a lot of time whining about our country "slipping away."
The Liberals had been in power for five years, and seemed set to govern for another 50. Anti-Americanism was a "cherished core value" in the government caucus. The military was rusting out. At the UN, we voted aye to the annual parade of bigoted anti-Israel resolutions. Through the Court Challenges Program, Ottawa bribed litigious activists to lecture the rest of us about how racist and homophobic we were. Duck hunters were treated as public enemies, multiculturalism took precedence over assimilation, and any mention of God was taboo.
That's the place Gerald Caplan says is "slipping away." He's right. Good riddance.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/25/2009
12:31 ||
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#1
Finally and thankfully, I do think we are becoming more conservative here in Canada. One can even see it on the CBC news web page. Just ignore the tripe that the journalists write and look at the readers' comments. Even there the shift away from left-wing-nuttery is quite noticable over the past year or so. MacLean's magazine too, Steyn would never have been given space there years ago...
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Hamas leaders in Damascus are against Israel's latest offer in a prisoner swap deal, but the organization's Gaza members want to accept, an Arabic newspaper reported.
Al-Sharq al-Awsat, a London-based, pan-Arabic newspaper, reported Friday that Israel's latest offer delivered from Israel to Hamas by a German mediator is not acceptable to Hamas leaders in Damascus. The deal would see hundreds of Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli prisons in exchange for captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Meshaal is safe and snug in his bed so of course he's against the deal.
But Israel has reportedly refused to release a reported nine senior leaders of Hamas who were involved in the killing of Israelis. The deal has also been held up by Israel's insistence that about 120 prisoners serving life sentences for killing Israelis not be permitted to return to their homes in the West Bank and instead be deported to Gaza or abroad.
"Israel will wait a long time if it fails to pay the price for the release of Shalit," a Hamas source told the Arabic newspaper.
Damascus also reportedly is against having the prisoners deported outside of the West Bank or Gaza.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/25/2009
12:29 ||
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Thanks Bambi. You wanted a circus, you're getting a circus.
Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four co-defendants accused of organizing the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks are meeting to plot legal strategy in advance of their transfer to New York and are learning as much as possible about criminal procedure in U.S. federal court, according to sources familiar with the detainees' deliberations.
While the five men wanted to plead guilty in a military commission earlier this year to hasten their executions, sources now say that the detainees favor participating in a full-scale federal trial to air their grievances and expose their treatment while held by the CIA at secret prisons. The sources, who cautioned that the detainees' final decision remains uncertain, spoke on the condition of anonymity because all communications with high-value detainees are presumptively classified.
One hopes most sincerely the meetings are also presumptively and thoroughly bugged. One is, however, not sanguine.
The detainees' "brothers' meetings" were set up to allow them to prepare for a trial at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The military has allowed the gatherings to continue because charges have not been formally withdrawn in the commission process, despite the announcement last month that Mohammed and the others would face trial in Manhattan.
The five accused have held two all-day meetings at Guantanamo Bay since Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said they would face federal criminal prosecution, according to Joseph DellaVedova, a spokesman for the Office of Military Commissions. DellaVedova said they break only for meals and prayers during the get-togethers. The military has also provided the men with computers in their cells at Guantanamo Bay to work on their defense.
It is unclear when the men will be transferred to New York. The Obama administration has yet to file a 45-day classified notice with Congress that it intends to move the prisoners into the United States, according to Dean Boyd, a Justice Department spokesman. That suggests that their initial appearance in court in Manhattan will not come before February; the trial isn't expected to begin until late 2011.
A federal grand jury in New York is hearing evidence and testimony, according to a report by NBCNewYork.com, the Web site of a local station. Both the Justice Department and the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan declined to comment on the report.
Courtroom as pulpit?
In hearings at Guantanamo Bay, the five detainees have trumpeted their role in the 9/11 attacks and broadcast their fealty to Osama bin Laden, causing some consternation among observers that the men will use their federal trial as a pulpit of sorts. Federal officials, though, say they are confident that some of the rhetorical flourishes that Mohammed, in particular, offered at Guantanamo Bay will be kept firmly in check in U.S. District Court.
"Judges in federal court have firm control over the conduct of defendants and other participants in their courtrooms, and when the 9/11 conspirators are brought to trial, I have every confidence that the presiding judge will ensure appropriate decorum," Holder said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last month.
Facing trial with Mohammed are four other alleged key players in the Sept. 11 conspiracy: Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni; Walid bin Attash, a Yemeni better known as Khallad; Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, Mohammed's nephew and a Pakistani also known as Ammar al-Baluchi; and Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, a Saudi.
Among other issues being raised at Guantanamo, Mohammed and the others are discussing defense counsel, sources said. At the military tribunal, Mohammed, bin Attash and Ali represented themselves with assistance from both civilian and military lawyers. Lawyers for both Binalshibh and Hawsawi, however, had challenged the mental competence of their clients to represent themselves, and the issue had not been resolved when the Obama administration suspended proceedings at Guantanamo Bay.
The lawyer question
The issue of self-representation will have to be taken up again in federal court for all five defendants.
In New York, lawyers for defendants in death cases are usually drawn from a "capital panel," a short list of attorneys with experience in death penalty cases. Attorneys will also need security clearances to handle classified evidence that is off limits to the defendants.
The American Civil Liberties Union plans to ask the court to consider allowing some civilian lawyers from outside New York who worked at Guantanamo Bay to continue in the case. Mohammed's civilian attorneys at Guantanamo, for example, are from Idaho. They declined to comment on the issue of representation in federal court.
The sources said the five have not yet established a common position on the role of defense counsel. But, the sources said, the five are beginning to understand the harsh conditions they will face in Manhattan and that meetings with lawyers will be their only human contact apart from any interaction with their jailers.
The strategy meetings in Guantanamo will almost certainly end. Federal authorities are likely to impose "special administrative measures" on the defendants, according to Boyd.
Apart from measures already in place at Guantanamo Bay -- including bans on social visits, phone calls and access to the media -- special measures can limit access to other inmates, a privilege currently enjoyed in Cuba by high-value detainees such as the 9/11 defendants.
The attorney general can order the Bureau of Prisons to impose such conditions to protect national security and prevent the leak of classified information, according to federal guidelines.
At Guantanamo Bay, Mohammed and 15 other high-value detainees held at the top-secret Camp 7 can share recreation time with another detainee; visit a media room with movies, newspapers and electronic games; or work out in a gym, according to a Pentagon study, which recommended even more communal activities. Mohammed and the others have been told by military defense lawyers that once in New York, they will be in a sparse 23-hour-a-day lockdown with one hour of individual recreation, according to the sources.
"They are quite anxious about the new system and the new living conditions," one of the sources said. "They've been treated like rock stars compared to other detainees at Gitmo. And they know that all of that is about to change."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/25/2009
12:27 ||
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Hattip DrudgeReport. Ay Pee, so here's the summary:
Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl appears healthy, read prepared statement castigating US after stating an interesting mix of identifying information: name, rank, unit, birth place and name, blood type and mother's maiden name. The AP article notes that as non-state actors the Taliban are not party to the Geneva Conventions.
Bergdahl is shown seated, facing the camera, wearing sunglasses and what appears to be a U.S. military helmet and uniform. On one side of the image, it says: "An American soldier imprisoned by the Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. A statement read by a Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, appears at the end of the video and renews demands for a "limited number of prisoners" to be exchanged for Bergdahl.
#1
OK, so the AP wants to play it from both sides, they want the taliban to be protected under the constitution when captured, but our press gives them a pass so they can torture our boys. I say FUCK them, the Taliban and the Press. Fire up the B52's and send the God Damned Taliban another new years present, invite the press while your at it. I really dont care anymore how many poor Afghans we kill in the process, matter of fact the more the better. And YES I do mean that. If we kill enough they just might not give sanctuary to the Taliban. Our country is weak and our leaders are cowards to their core. Our enemy understand the cowardess of our leaders and our Press embrace it. We need to understand total war, embrace it and undertand that it is how we will win this. Otherwise bring our brave boys home, put burkas on in DC and let this country divide, we will settle it another way. I'm tired of the brave bold young men being allowed to suffer for our failures in DC. In the deserts of hell thousands of brave men and women are away from home, suffering from the failures of DC. Mr President, get off your ass, leave Hawaii, end your year long vacation in the White House and do what the people of AMERICA voted you to do, lead this country, for this country, with regard for only this country. We did not vote you in to bow, kiss ass, and suck up to others. We hired you to lead, so reach down between your legs and pull your head out of your ass and lead.
For those in Afghan, Iraq, Yemen, Kazigstan, Kuwait, Bosnia-remember that one?, europe, Korea, Japan, Soddi, Cutter, My close family friends in Syria, By best friend in the Phils, the boys in Thai, The group guys in South America, Africa, and all the OCE's around the world, and any shit hole in the world I may have missed. Merry Christmas, we do love you all!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/25/2009 12:37
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WASHINGTON -- Two strange bedfellows have asked Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate President Obama's right-hand man, chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, for his potential role in the near collapse of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The letter by Jane Hamsher, founder of the liberal Firedoglake Web site, and Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform Chief, was sent Wednesday, one day before the Treasury Department announced that it will lift the $400 billion financial cap on loans to the government-sponsored enterprises to make sure they stay afloat.
It also arrived just before the Federal Housing Financial Authority announced Thursday that it would place salary caps on 11 of the companies' top executives.
Hamsher and Norquist want to know now whether the bailout was in part the result of corrupt practices by Emanuel while he was a board member at Freddie in 2000-2001.
They cited a Chicago Tribune story that described a plan by the executives and the board to use accounting tricks to show shareholders they were reaping massive profits even as they continued down a path of risky investments. The profits were then used to justify the executives' big bonuses. When Emanuel left the board to enter Congress in 2002, he was qualified for $380,000 in stock and options and $20,000 cash.
The two wrote they would like the Justice Department to "begin an investigation into the cause of Fannie and Freddie's conservatorship, into Rahm Emanuel's activities on the board of Freddie Mac (including any violations of his fiduciary duties to shareholders), into the decision-making behind the continued vacancy of Fannie and Freddie's inspector general post, and into potential public corruption by Rahm Emanuel in connection with his time in Congress, in the White House, and on the board of Freddie Mac."
Since the financial bailout began, Fannie and Freddie have received $111 billion in taxpayer loans. In August, the administration projected the cost for rescuing Fannie and Freddie would total $170 billion.
Treasury Department officials said the cap will be replaced with a flexible formula to ensure the companies can stand behind the billions of dollars in mortgage-backed securities they sell to investors.
"The amendments to these agreements announced today should leave no uncertainty about the Treasury's commitment to support these firms as they continue to play a vital role in the housing market during the current crisis," the department said in a statement.
FHFA issued its own ruling Thursday that the base salary for officers besides the CEO, CFO and COO cannot exceed $500,000 a year. That means five officers are exempt and 11 will now face a cap.
The capped executives will be allowed to get up to one-third of their salary in additional incentive bonuses. Any deferred cash salary -- like stock salary received by private company executives who received bailouts -- will be paid partly as a means to keep executive officers working at the GSEs.
FHFA acting chief Edward DeMarco said the compensation deal is to mimic the one set up by pay czar Kenneth Feinberg for private companies.
"The enterprises must attract and retain the talent needed to accomplish (their) objectives. We have worked with the enterprises' boards and sought the guidance of the Special Master of TARP Executive Compensation, to develop competitive compensation packages that benefit from the structural standards created for the TARP-assisted firms," DeMarco said.
Eight of the then-top 11 executives at Fannie Mae left the company just before the U.S. government stepped in with its bailout, as did the four highest paid executives at Freddie
Mac.
Treasury officials will provide an updated estimate for Fannie and Freddie losses when President Obama sends his 2011 budget to Congress in February. The formula Treasury will use will provide the institutions with a sufficient cushion based on the losses they may incur over the next three years.
In their letter to Holder, Hamsher and Norquist wrote that the White House has stonewalled any inquiries into Emanuel's role on the board, noting that the acting inspector general was "stripped of his authority earlier this year by the Justice Department, relying on a loophole in a bill Mr. Emanuel cosponsored and pushed through Congress shortly before he left for the White House."
The White House has not appointed a new inspector general to determine whether crimes were committed by the board to defraud investors, the two noted, and the statute of limitations for empaneling a grand jury is about to run out.
"Under the influence of Rahm Emanuel, the White House is moving a trillion-dollar slush fund into corruption-riddled companies with no oversight in place. This will allow Fannie and Freddie to continue to purchase more toxic assets from banks, acting as a back-door increase of the TARP without congressional approval," Hamsher and Norquist wrote.
Asked about the letter on Thursday, White House spokesman Bill Burton did not address the allegations, saying, "I have the feeling that Rahm's job is very safe."
#1
yeah, Holder's gonna get right on that. Fortunately, the Obama admin has started a precedent of OK'ing criminal prosecution for political decisions. Expect to see all these assholes, SEIU, and Acorn frogmarched to jail when the Pubs get back in power, OK, Preznit Hopenchangey?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/25/2009 11:41
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#2
White House spokesman Bill Burton did not address the allegations, saying, "I have the feeling that Rahm's job is very safe."
#4
The enterprises must attract and retain the talent needed to accomplish (their) objectives. I, for one, have more than enough talent to enrich myself and rip off the taxpayers, which is obviously the objective of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and will do it for a small fraction of the currently overpaid gangsters. Pushing for an investigation of Emanuel is a mere sideshow to what has been going on.
#5
According to All Things Considered, the heads of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be eligable to receive 6 million bucks each in salary and bonuses next year. Damn, why can't I get a job where I loose billions of dollars and get paid 6 mill to do so?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/25/2009 21:08
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The Vatican's top cleric in the heart of Muslim Arabia tends to a flock of 2 million Christians spread around six desert nations. But he has to do it quietly: Most of them must still pray in secret and are forbidden to display crosses and other symbols of their faith. From his base in the emirate of Abu Dhabi on the Persian Gulf, Archbishop Paul Hinder travels the Arabian Peninsula, even slipping in and out of Saudi Arabia - the birthplace of Islam, where restrictions on Christians are the toughest.
"We are tolerated, but not popular here," Hinder said in an interview in the archbishop's living quarters inside a Christian compound in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. He spoke wearing the traditional hooded robe of his Capuchin order. The white garb blends in just fine with the Arab robes worn by men in the region, so he wears it in public - but without a cross around his neck or the belt of three knots that also mark the order. "People here know who I am, although I never wear a cross when I go outside out of respect for local conditions," said Hinter, a Swiss citizen.
Still, he says, there are signs of slow change, even in Saudi Arabia, where small groups who in the past would have been punished or deported if caught practicing the Christian services are now left in peace to pray privately. The UAE and the neighboring Gulf nations of Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman have taken greater steps. They have allowed churches to be built on land donated by the countries' rulers, though there are no outward signs that the buildings are houses of worship.
On Thursday night, Hinder led a midnight Christmas Eve Mass for several thousand the faithful at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Abu Dhabi. Reflecting the diversity of the community, more than a dozen Christmas Day services will be held for 10,000 worshippers in at least eight different languages. The cathedral is in a downtown compound that's also home to Anglican, Greek Orthodox and Egyptian Coptic churches. Crucifixes, icons, rosaries and other religious symbols are allowed within the walled compound. But the buildings' exteriors are spare and flat-roofed, avoiding any church-like architecture.
Besides Saudi Arabia, Hinder also oversees the needs of Catholics in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, and Qatar. The vast majority of the region's Christians are migrants from the Philippines, India and other Asian nations, many of whom work as maids, civil servants or in lower management positions at banks and businesses.
Yemen is the only country under his purview that had indigenous Christians. Except for two priests, however, all of Yemen's 10,000 Christians, most of whom lived around the southern port city of Aden, were driven out during communist rule in South Yemen in the 1960s. Four old churches are slowly being restored there, though it is not clear how many indigenous Christians have returned, if any.
With no indigenous Christians, Gulf nations have long been the toughest in the Middle East in restricting Christian and other non-Muslim religious practices, though they rarely cross the line into outright persecution. In other Arab nations, Christians practice openly - though in Egypt, with the largest Christian minority, they often complain of discrimination at the hands of the Muslim majority. Hinter said he is careful not to do anything that could be construed as proselytizing or seeking conversions - a major taboo in Islam.
Hinter, who has been in his post for seven years, says members of his flock are tested in areas beyond religion, particularly exploitation by their employers and fear of losing their jobs in the recession. Some are not allowed to attend a church service at all by their employers, who often strictly control the lives of their maids, gardeners, cooks, drivers and nannies. "Their struggles are enormous," Hinder said. "They are often exploited and sometimes treated as human beings of second class."
The biggest congregation - about 1.4 million Christians - live and work in Saudi Arabia, which is home of Islam's holiest cities, Mecca and Medina, and is ruled under the strict version of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism. Hard-core Wahhabis vehemently resist any practice of Christianity or other religions in what they see as the heartland of Islam.
Hinder travels there several times a year, but only as a private citizen, not as an archbishop. Bibles and crucifixes - and all non-Muslim religious symbols - are illegal and are confiscated at the border. The low-key Christian services that do take place cannot be led by ordained priests, so Catholics cannot attend a Mass or confess their sins.
Still, Hinter said conditions improved somewhat after Saudi King Abdullah visited the Vatican in 2007 and met with Pope Benedict XVI. Christians now can gather in private houses in small groups for prayer, led by an unordained "community leader," he said. "The climate is changing, but that does not mean there will be churches in Saudi Arabia tomorrow," he said.
Uzbekistan will vote on Sunday in a parliamentary election certain to cement President Islam Karimov's grip on power in a Central Asian nation key to Western efforts to contain the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan. The West, once critical of Uzbekistan's rights abuses and hard line on dissent, has kept quiet ahead of the Sunday vote as it seeks to engage the ex-Soviet republic in U.S.-led efforts in Afghanistan.
The resource-rich country has been classified as one of the world's most repressive by global rights groups since it gained independence from Soviet rule in 1991. There are no opposition parties in Uzbekistan and it has never held an election judged free and fair by Western monitors. Most liberal politicians and activists are either in jail or in exile abroad.
"Pessimism is felt everywhere," said Surat Ikramov, one of a handful of independent rights activists working in Uzbekistan. "I don't expect anything good from this election. Everyone is keeping silent, as always," added Ikramov who meticulously documents cases of rights violations across the country.
The West however is worried about stability in Uzbekistan, which lies on a new supply route for cargo bound for U.S. troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. The 71-year-old Karimov, who has ruled the poor nation and its command-style economy for 20 years, has no clear successor.
Sunday's vote is certain to hand his allies all seats in the lower house of parliament in a country where expressing critical views about the Uzbek leader can land people in jail. There has been no visible campaigning ahead of the vote and media reports have been patchy from the isolated nation which has revoked most Western media accreditations in recent years.
Residents of the capital, Tashkent, have been reluctant to speak to reporters based outside the country by telephone, fearful of state reprisals for expressing views in public.
In Tashkent, an ancient Silk Road city rebuilt in Soviet times after a ruinous earthquake, life appeared to proceed as usual as people rushed about on last-minute New Year's errands, apparently ignoring large election banners hanging over streets. "It's a festive season and people are more concerned with New Year celebrations than elections," said Ikramov.
The West cut off ties with Uzbekistan after state troops opened fire on protesters in the eastern city of Andizhan in 2005, killing hundreds of people, according to witnesses. This year Washington stepped up contacts after Uzbekistan agreed to allow non-military supplies to pass en route to Afghanistan. The European Union lifted sanctions in October.
In Sunday's vote, candidates from four parties are running for 150 seats in the lower house. The Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan, focused solely on environmental issues, automatically gets 15 seats in the chamber. All have stated strong support for Karimov's government. None of the parties have been available for comment despite numerous attempts to reach their headquarters in Tashkent.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said he could not comment on the vote which official websites have described as democratic. "Conditions have been created ahead of this election to make sure they are held in the spirit of freedom, that voters are given transparent choices and information about the candidates' election programs," said the official UZA news agency.
The election monitoring arm of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe decided against sending an observation mission to Uzbekistan, saying that none of its recommendations offered in the past had been implemented. It said in a pre-election report that "the current political spectrum does not offer the electorate a genuine choice between competing political alternatives."
The Taliban blew up Friday three schools in northwest Pakistan where troops are fighting against militants in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan, officials said. Buildings in two boys' schools about 1.5 kilometres (one mile) apart were blown up in the Khyber tribal district which lies between Afghanistan and Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province.
"Militants blew up a government boys' high school and a middle school with explosives around 3.00 am (2100 GMT)," tribal administration official Rehan Gul Khattak told AFP. There were no casualties because the properties were empty at the time, he said, blaming the Taliban and militants from the Lashkar-e-Islam (Army of Islam) led by local warlord Mangal Bagh for the attacks.
Another government boys high school was bombed in the Peshawar district of Sufaid Dheri, damaging its boundary wall and two rooms, senior police official Mohammad Karim told AFP.
O brave, brave Lions of Islam, fighting empty, unguarded school buidlings instead of the Palistani army.
#1
The "Mighty Pak Army" shoots back, TW. I've never heard of a building doing that, unless there were people inside. The Taliban go for low-hanging fruit because they're afraid of heights.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/25/2009 13:48
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Decorated Christmas trees fill many shop windows here. At some clothing stores, the mannequins wear plastic Santa masks and black-tasseled red fezzes. Young street hawkers thread their way through the city's manic traffic wearing Santa hats strung with blinking lights. In the capital of the world's most populous Arab nation, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, more and more every year.
The holiday's gift-giving and decorating traditions have spread around the globe, even to many non-Christian nations - and an ever-growing number of Egyptians, Christian and Muslim alike, are enthusiastically adopting it as well.
Outside florist shops, you can find several types of Christmas trees for sale; native cypress, Holland fir and artificial trees made in China line the sidewalks. Specialty shops sell handmade colored-glass ornaments and small hand-painted statues of an Egyptian "Baba Noel" (Father Noel) carrying a sack of gifts. Greeting cards with hand-stitched designs of the Holy Family increasingly are popular; the cards are created by Christian families of the Zabaleen, the city's garbage collectors.
Although Egypt is overwhelmingly Muslim, 10 percent to 15 percent of its 80 million people are Coptic Christians. They take pride in Egypt's place in the biblical narrative as the refuge to which the Holy Family fled, to escape the pogrom of King Herod of Judea. While Coptic and Orthodox Christians here celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, based on the Julian calendar, many come out early to buy holiday trees and decorations.
Many Egyptian Muslims buy Christmas trees, and some celebrate the holiday as many do in Europe and the Americas. "We always celebrate Christmas," says Dolly Degwy, 40, a Muslim artist and writer with big, brown eyes and long, curly brown hair. "It's a time of the year when we are happy. We make a point that it is the birth of Jesus."
Degwy hosts a Christmas Eve dinner for Muslim and Christian friends, although she "dropped the turkey meal years ago," and she attends a Christmas Day dinner at a Muslim friend's home. "We don't have the equivalent of an Islamic holiday where you give gifts and decorate the house," she says. "We do it for the kids, as well." She has two Christmas trees in her home; one is in the bedroom of her 9-year-old daughter, who "gets to gussy it up the way she likes to," says Degwy, speaking with a slight British accent. "We have loads of gifts under the tree."
On the sidewalk outside the Gardenia florist shop, a wide selection of Christmas trees is mixed with cypress-leaf advent wreaths, Chinese-made ornaments and rice lights, and poinsettias imported from Holland. Ala Rady, the shop's manager for 30 years, says tree sales were down this year. "We used to get the big trees from Holland. Now we don't get too many, because they cost too much, and people aren't buying them." The trees can cost 1,000 Egyptian pounds, or $181.
More Egyptians than foreigners buy his trees, he says, explaining that "Muslims also like the tree for a new year's celebration. Everyone likes to celebrate Christmas, just like Christians celebrate our holidays." The best-selling trees this year? Artificial trees made in China, because they are cheaper and can be reused next year, he says. "Everything is coming from China. There is a joke that one day we will come home and find out that our spouses are Chinese."
An abundance of Christmas decorations spills from the Gift and Toys shop on the packed main thoroughfare of Zemalek, an upscale island neighborhood. A red-and-gold "Merry Christmas" sign hangs above the shop's door next to a Santa in a sleigh; reindeer are strung along a wire line into the top of a nearby tree. A near-life-sized wooden nativity crèche fills one front window. Three more nativity scenes, all imported from Italy, are inside, along with Chinese-made decorations. "What Child is This?" and "O, Little Town of Bethlehem" play from the store's loudspeakers. "Muslims will buy everything except the nativity scenes and religious icons but the Santas, trees and ornaments they buy," says salesman Hussein Salah.
Dagwy, who says she doesn't have a typical Muslim outlook, explained that Muslims who celebrate Christmas may have spent time in the West or married Christians. "We went to church schools and grew up among Christians," she said. "Most Muslims don't look at Christmas that way but we are very eclectic, religiously."
#1
There is certainly a place for Christmas in Islam, but not in jihadi Islam. Vatican's top cleric in Arabia walks a thin line From his base in the emirate of Abu Dhabi on the Persian Gulf, Archbishop Paul Hinder travels the Arabian Peninsula, even slipping in and out of Saudi Arabia - the birthplace of Islam, where restrictions on Christians are the toughest. He spoke wearing the traditional hooded robe of his Capuchin order. The white garb blends in just fine with the Arab robes worn by men in the region, so he wears it in public - but without a cross around his neck or the belt of three knots that also mark the order.
"People here know who I am, although I never wear a cross when I go outside out of respect for local conditions," said Hinter, a Swiss citizen. The biggest congregation - about 1.4 million Christians - live and work in Saudi Arabia, which is home of Islam's holiest cities, Mecca and Medina, and is ruled under the strict version of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism. Hard-core Wahhabis vehemently resist any practice of Christianity or other religions in what they see as the heartland of Islam.
Hinder travels there several times a year, but only as a private citizen, not as an archbishop.
Bibles and crucifixes - and all non-Muslim religious symbols - are illegal and are confiscated at the border. The low-key Christian services that do take place cannot be led by ordained priests, so Catholics cannot attend a Mass or confess their sins.
Still, Hinter said conditions improved somewhat after Saudi King Abdullah visited the Vatican in 2007 and met with Pope Benedict XVI.
Christians now can gather in private houses in small groups for prayer, led by an unordained "community leader," he said.
"The climate is changing, but that does not mean there will be churches in Saudi Arabia tomorrow," he said.
A dispute is rumbling between Israel and the US Consulate in Jerusalem after a US diplomatic car allegedly tried running over a Defense Ministry security guard recently at an IDF checkpoint in the West Bank. The car had been stopped after the occupants refused to present identification papers.
World Israel is also furious that one of the consulate cars was found to have transported a Palestinian without permits between Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The identification of American diplomats from the consulate at IDF checkpoints has been a major sticking point for several years.
In January 2008, the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria filed complaints with the Foreign Ministry after both US Security Coordinator Lt.-Gen. Keith Dayton and then-consul-general Jacob Walles refused to roll down their windows or open their car doors and show identification papers at a checkpoint.
However, Israel's ire reached a new level after an incident on November 13 in which a five-car convoy of consulate vehicles with diplomatic plates arrived at the Gilboa crossing.
According to a detailed official Israel Police description of the incident obtained exclusively by The Jerusalem Post, the drivers refused to identify themselves or open a window or door. The drivers, according to the report, purposely blocked the crossing, tried running over one of the Israeli security guards stationed there and made indecent gestures at female guards.
The entire incident was documented by cameras at the crossing. Some things never change---I remember incidents with US consulate cars from first Intifada. Basically, these people are Rachel Corries with diplo passports. Eventually, one of them will be dead and there will be enormous American indignation.
#1
Apparently these foggy bottom Arabists have forgotten all about their colleagues Cleo Noel and Curtis Moore, murdered by Black September goons on Arafat's orders in 1973.
#6
Stopping at a random checkpoint in a diplomatic convoy is asking to become a political statement or a hostage. Before we go blasting the State jerks or Isreal, we need to know what the agreements are with regard to diplomatic convoys and detaining them. There is an agreement. The issue usually is that properly marked Diplomatic vehicles are agreed to be allowed to bypass road blocks with a cursory check. Some police or military refuse to honor it, or just dont know about the do not detain agreements. This does not mean they get to stop the convoy and search each person and their papers, usually just the first vehicle and bypass any lines. Remember the best place to ambush a convoy is when it has stopped. Fake uniforms and roadblocks are common. I was once stopped by a traffic block driving a dip registared vehicle, they were checking ID, registration, and insurance. I gave them a copy of my papers, like our agreement says. They wanted the originals and when I said no they tried to arrest me. I locked the doors, armored cars are tough to get into. They drew their guns and ordered me out. .38 vs level 4, ha. After 20 minuted the calls came to them to apologize and let me go. The traffic cops just did not know the laws but they were still upset. To further diffuse the situation afer I went and bought the cops lunch. As friendly as I was there was no way they were getting into my vehicle, or the contents in that vehicle.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/25/2009 13:33
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Couriering Palestinians and lewd gestures are probably not part of the deal. DIPSEC and PSD agreements, secret signals, tags, nods, "...*uck you we called ahead, didn't you get the word?" ...all aside bottom line, their country, not ours. Host nation trumps all others.
Tonight, Mohamed Ibrahim is out after posting $100 bond. Earlier in the day, he was arrested after police say he walked into several Memphis businesses and threatened to blow them up. Court records show Ibrahim was also telling people he was Muslim, and wanted to start a jihad, or holy war, in Memphis. Police say when they arrested him, he had a butcher knife hidden in one of his jacket sleeves.
I'm confused. The Muslim man is walking around with a butcher knife up his sleeve and making explicit threats of jihad, so the authorities turned him lose?
#3
Even a loonie can do major damage. I hope the police released him with a homing chip in his shoes.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/25/2009 12:32
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The bond appears to be excessive and possibly rascist. Things like this still do happen in the South. He's such promising looking lad. Why can't we all just get along?
A year after Operation Cast Lead, the IDF is continuing to update its maps and highlight international and humanitarian institutions - adding several hundred in the past year - to prevent them from being targeted in a future conflict, The Jerusalem Post has learned. During the operation, which began a year ago next Sunday, the IDF distributed maps filled with over 1,500 dots, designating buildings that were off-limits to all air force and ground force commanders. These dots marked hospitals, United Nations facilities, schools, and homes of foreigners and journalists. The constant updating of the maps underlies the Israeli assessment that a future conflict with Hamas could be around the corner and that the IDF needs to be prepared at all times.
Despite this work, carried out by the IDF's Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration before Cast Lead, Israel has been accused of intentionally targeting civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and UN compounds. The IDF has said that while it will refrain from initiating an attack against the sites on this list in the future, it reserves the right to respond with force if it is attacked from within the buildings.
According to the latest IDF casualty findings, 1,166 Palestinians were killed during the operation. Of these, 700 were terrorists - 600 Hamas and 100 Islamic Jihad - 295 were civilians and 162 remain unidentified. In contrast, B'Tselem claims that Israel killed 1,387 Palestinians during the operation and that more than 50 percent of them were civilians. The latest IDF assessments show that Gaza remains Israel's most volatile border, particularly in light of Hamas's continued efforts to rearm itself since Cast Lead.
Today, the terror group is believed to have a few thousand rockets, including several hundred with a range of 40 kilometers and several dozen with a range of between 60 km. and 80 km. Intelligence assessments are that Hamas smuggled the long-range Iranian-made missiles into the Gaza Strip through tunnels and in several pieces, to be assembled later by Hamas engineers.
Hamas is building large missile silos that can contain and simultaneously launch over 20 rockets, and is also digging dozens of kilometers of underground tunnels, connecting open fields with urban centers in the hope of drawing the IDF into the built-up areas next time. The group is making unparalleled efforts to obtain other types of advanced Iranian weaponry, such as anti-aircraft missiles and Russian-made armor-piercing anti-tank missiles.
#2
Will the IDF be allowed to shoot back when they are attacked from these sites?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/25/2009 2:29
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In for a dime, in for a dollar.
Line up a few dozen big Cats and scrape the whole place flat into the sea (or to Egypt) the next time they push beyond the limit.
#5
g(r)om, how am I being ridiculous? IIRC, the ROEs for Americans in Iraq forbade returning fire if they were fired upon from a mosque. They could not call in an air or artillery strike either.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/25/2009 12:59
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#6
I personally don't care if every building in Gaza is demolished, down to bedrock. In fact, knowing Hamass and Hezbollocks as I do, I feel that is the only humanitarian thing to do. It will not only relieve the suffering of Israelis, it will also relieve the suffering of paleostain "refugees" who have been bottled up in "refugee camps" since 1948. If Hezbollocks should attack from Lebanon, Israel should totally level everything from their northern border to the middle of Beirut and all the Bekaa valley. Screw the "UN Peacekeepers", who are at least complicit in the re-arming of the northern border. The Israeli use of nukes against its enemies should be a given, since that's the only way the "humanitarians" in the world will learn that Israel not only has the RIGHT to use whatever weapons it has in its arsenal, but also the moral imperative to use whatever is necessary to protect its citizens. I would suggest that Israel hold at least one nuke back for use on Brussels when the EU begins their criticism.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/25/2009 14:00
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g(r)om, how am I being ridiculous? IIRC, the ROEs for Americans in Iraq forbade returning fire if they were fired upon from a mosque. They could not call in an air or artillery strike either.
Sorry. Sometimes, I assume things.
(i)I'm sure US servicemen in Iraq comply with these procedures religiously. I know I did with similar ROE during the first intifada. How shall I put it? There is an American expression "It's better to be tried by twelve than carried by six." We have a somewhat similar expression in Hebrew.
(ii) After 15 years of Oslo war, nobody in Israel---not even the Peace-seeking left (the EU funded Tranzi fringe doesn't count as Israeli in my book), believes that sacrificing IDF soldiers lives to "World Opinion" does any good (it took some time, but most Israelis noticed that the more concessions we make, the harsher World Opinion treats Israel).
Yemeni forces, backed by the United States, launched a major attack Thursday on a meeting of senior al-Qaeda operatives thought to include the Yemeni American cleric linked to the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings, U.S. and Yemeni officials said.
U.S. officials believe that the cleric, Anwar al-Aulaqi, was probably killed in the assault, as were two al-Qaeda leaders, according to a senior Obama administration official. One of those leaders was the head of the terrorist network's operations on the Arabian Peninsula and once served as Osama bin Laden's personal secretary; the other was a Saudi national and former detainee at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Yemeni officials, tribal leaders and eyewitnesses said it was not clear whether Aulaqi and the al-Qaeda leaders were killed or wounded in the strike. They cautioned that it could take days for authorities to identify the dead.
Still, the U.S. involvement in the strike in southeastern Yemen -- along with a similar strike in the country last week -- appears to reflect greater willingness by the Obama administration to use military force in confronting terrorists outside the traditional war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan. Last week's strike was seen at the time as the most significant example of the new approach, according to a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the planning and execution of the attack.
It was not clear whether U.S. firepower was employed in either attack. A U.S. official said the United States did provide intelligence and other support.
The Thursday assault killed at least 30 suspected militants, according to Yemeni security and government sources. In a statement, the Yemeni Embassy in Washington said Aulaqi was thought to be at the meeting, as were Nasser al-Wuhayshi, al-Qaeda's regional leader, and his deputy, Said Ali al-Shihri. A U.S. official identified the two al-Qaeda leaders as "the two biggest fish in the most violent offshoot of al-Qaeda that exists in the world."
"This is a decapitating strike on al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula," said the official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter on the record.
U.S. officials said Aulaqi was a member of al-Qaeda and has been moving up the ranks, having recently been promoted to regional commander. But the officials described him less as an operational leader than an inspirational one, whose contacts with members took place largely online.
The Yemen Observer, a paper with ties to the government, reported that Aulaqi's house was "raided and demolished" in Thursday's strike. But in interviews, Aulaqi's distraught relatives said they have had no official word about the cleric. They said they had spoken with relatives and friends in Shabwa province, the site of the assault, and do not believe that he was among those killed.
The cleric's father, a former Yemeni minister of agriculture, Nasser al-Aulaqi, said his son was living in the home of an uncle and, he believed, had left that residence about two months ago. The uncle's house is more than 40 miles from the attack site, the elder Aulaqi said in a rare interview.
"If the American government helped in attacking one of [its own] citizens, this is illegal," the father said, his voice cracking. "Nidal Hasan killed 13 people and he's going to get a trial. My son has killed nobody. He should face trial if he's done something wrong."
"If Obama wants to kill my son, this is wrong," he said, adding that despite his son's ideology, the younger Aulaqi had no links to al-Qaeda.
Shabwa is a known haven for al-Qaeda militants. Yemeni security and government sources said the dead in Thursday's attack included suspected al-Qaeda members of Yemeni and foreign nationalities, but they would not elaborate. Al-Qaeda here is made up largely of Yemeni and Saudi nationals, according to analysts. Tribal leaders and eyewitnesses said they buried five al-Qaeda operatives after the assault. Lahmar bin Salfooh, a tribal chief, said all five were from Aulaqi's tribe, which dominates Shabwa province.
In the Fallujah Forum, an online discussion forum for al-Qaeda sympathizers in Yemen, participants said Shabwa residents had noticed yellow-and-green military-style spotter balloons floating above the area in the three days before the strike, said Evan F. Kohlmann, a terrorism expert and researcher for the Nine/Eleven Finding Answers Foundation. That might have warned Aulaqi and the al-Qaeda leaders at the meeting. "This may have given these guys the sense that something was going on," Kohlmann said.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Government forces have launched fresh airstrikes on northern Yemen, killing at least seven people, including two women.
Witnesses said the Thursday attacks took place in Yemen's Al-Jawf province.
Earlier in the day, the Houthi fighters said that Saudi warplanes had also attacked the country's north with more than 400 missiles. A Houthi spokesman said 25 people including women and children were killed in the overnight raids.
Saudi Arabia joined Sana'a's months-long fierce armed campaign against the Shia fighters in November.
The conflict between the central government in Sana'a and the Houthis of northern Yemen began in 2004. The conflict intensified in August 2009 when the Yemeni army launched Operation Scorched Earth, alleging that the Houthi fighters had violated the terms of a ceasefire by taking foreign visitors hostage.
The offensives, meanwhile, have been taking their toll on the locals with the Saudis reportedly venturing beyond the Houthi positions, targeting civilian areas and using unconventional weaponry including flesh-eating white phosphorus bombs.
On Wednesday, a Houthi spokesman announced that the fighters were willing to withdraw from Saudi territory in exchange for an end to the attacks by Saudi forces.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that since 2004, up to 175,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Sa'ada and take refuge in overcrowded camps set up by the United Nations.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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#1
On Wednesday, a Houthi spokesman announced that the fighters were willing to withdraw from Saudi territory in exchange for an end to the attacks by Saudi forces
...now we begin to know the truth. invade a neighboring country..get your azz kicked
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
12/25/2009 1:41
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#2
Why, in the name of all that's holy, would the the Houthis invade another country when they were busily engaged in armed rebellion against their own government?
#4
What I'm missing here is why the Mad Mullahs aren't stirring up trouble in the Saoodia-occupied northeastern quarter -- that region is mostly Shi'a.
And it's where most of the oil is.
The southwest quarter around Yemen is mostly nothing but sand, as far as I can tell on various maps.
Where's the profit for the Mad Mullahs?
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/25/2009 11:09
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#5
draws the saudi military farther away from Iran?
Posted by: chris ||
12/25/2009 12:00
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#6
Essentially. The Saudis have significant forces based in the NE. The Iranians are hitting them in another Shiite region where they ain't.
#7
I'd guess that there aren't actually enough radicalizable Shia in the oil region to make much of an insurgency. From what I've heard over the years, they're oppressed, closely-watched, and totally disenfranchised. Che-head blovation aside, that isn't really a fertile mix for revolution. Isolated, under-supervised, neglected, and with some experience at self-government are much more promising subjects for radical mobilization. Bandit country is pretty much ideal, really.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/25/2009 14:48
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Four people were killed and 24 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up near a security post in NWFP's provincial capital on Thursday, according to police and hospital staff, as another suicide attack killed a six-year-old girl in Rawalpindi.
Peshawar SSP (Coordination) Muhammad Alam Shinwari told Daily Times that four people -- one policeman and three civilians -- were killed and 24 injured in the attack, which was carried out using a suicide jacket packed with eight kilogrammes of explosives.
The bomber struck at the junction of Mall Road and Arbab Road in front of an insurance company's office, where a police and army post had been set up to inspect vehicles.
A policeman told Daily Times the bomber was on foot and detonated explosives strapped to his body when policemen stopped him at the post.
NWFP Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain said the bomber was headed to a crowded area.
The president, the prime minister and the US have condemned the attack.
In Rawalpindi, six-year-old Arooj was killed and two people -- including a head constable -- were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside an imambargah on Kurri Road.
The bomber blew himself up when Head Constable Ittefaq intercepted him at a picket set up for the security of the imambargah, where a congregation was being held.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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Republicans are stepping up their efforts to persuade more House Democrats to switch parties and are zeroing in on a second-term Pennsylvanian who acknowledged the efforts but said he has "no plans" to do so.
Democratic Rep. Chris Carney received a phone call Wednesday from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) asking him to consider becoming a Republican, a top GOP official told POLITICO.
Carney's office at first did not comment other than to acknowledge the call, but Carney released a statement Wednesday night saying, in part, "I appreciate the Republican Party's outreach, but I have no plans to change parties."
DCCC Chair Chris Van Hollen spoke to Carney Wednesday and received assurance that the Pennsylvanian was not switching, according to a senior Democratic aide.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi's aides talked to Carney staffers, as well, and received the same assurance.
In a brief interview, McCain declined to offer details about his conversation with Carney. "I just said, 'Whatever you do, I know that you'll make the right decision for the country,'" said the Arizonan.
A source familiar with the call said that Republicans thought Carney might be susceptible to McCain's entreaty because, like the senator, the 50-year-old House member served in the Navy .
McCain's call to Carney comes one day after freshman Alabama Democrat Parker Griffith announced that he was uncomfortable with his party's direction and was becoming a Republican.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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#1
Neither hot nor cold, but somewhere in between.
Let us put it this way. The less amount of pots your paw is in, the less the bees tend to sting you.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/25/2009 22:54
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#8
It would be awfully nice to have enough Republicans to be able to filibuster -- they need only one make one into a former Democrat to achieve that, even if he is a RINO the rest of the time.
Hidden forces are conspiring against democracy in the country, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Thursday.
Presiding over a meeting of Sindh cabinet members belonging to the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), the president said the people were aware of the conspiracies against the government and would support the PPP in foiling every attempt against the democratic system.
He said the party was not against any institution and respected the courts. However, President Zardari added, "The party will foil all these conspiracies with the support of the people."
Restriction: He said the PPP was a federal party that had its roots in all provinces, but "some elements wanted to restrict it to Sindh only".
Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and Sindh Assembly Speaker Nisar Khuhro were also present in the meeting, which lasted three hours.
According to sources, the overall political situation was reviewed in the meeting and a consensus was reached on the decision that the party would start a mass contact campaign to counter all conspiracies against the party leadership and the democratic system.
Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri later told reporters that the president had said all decisions would be made in accordance with the law and the constitution.
Quoting the president, the provincial information minister said the PPP had neither confronted any institution in the past nor would it do so in the future.
She said the president told the meeting that the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award would be formally signed within the next few days, adding that implementation of the Aghaze Haqooqe Balochistan Package was also in progress.
The sources said some of the participants had asked the president to expedite efforts to resolve the issue of provincial autonomy. They were of the opinion that if the issue of provincial autonomy was resolved, it would be another feather in the PPP's cap.
Meanwhile, official sources told Daily Times that the president would remain in the province for a few days. They said during the week-long stay, Zardari is expected to inaugurate development projects in Karachi, Hyderabad and Larkana. These projects include the recently developed Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Park in Boat Basin area in Karachi. The sources said he was also likely to distribute Benazir Income Support Programme cards among eligible women in Larkana.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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[Iran Press TV Latest] The United Nations has launched a new website to improve transparency about sexual misconduct charges leveled against members of its missions.
The website tracks the number of offences that have been allegedly committed by the UN political and peacekeeping missions across the globe over the past three years.
"This is a first stage and a work in progress," Reuters quoted UN spokesman Martin Nesirky as saying on Thursday.
The world body's conduct and discipline unit is making an attempt to display its 'zero tolerance' policy on sexual abuse by peacekeepers.
The measure complies with a General Assembly resolution requesting "the implementation of an effective outreach program to explain the policy of the United Nations against sexual exploitation and abuse and to inform the public on the outcome of all such cases involving peacekeeping personnel, including cases where allegations are ultimately found to be legally unproven," according to the UN news center.
This year the Mission of the United Nations Organization in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) received over 40 allegations of sexual misconduct, more than any other UN mission, the website statistics suggest.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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"of course, to fund the website development, we are asking the US for $300 million ...for the children"
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/25/2009 11:29
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Wonder if the contract will go to the same company that did that wonderful (NOT) site: recovery.gov.
A woman jumped the barriers in St. Peter's Basilica and knocked down Pope Benedict XVI as he walked down the main aisle to begin Christmas Eve Mass on Thursday.
The 82-year-old pope quickly got up and was unhurt, said a Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini. Footage aired on Italy's RAI state TV showed a woman dressed in a red jumper vaulting over the wooden barriers and rushing the pope before being swarmed by bodyguards.
The commotion occurred as the pope's procession was making its way toward the main altar and shocked gasps rang out through the public that packed the basilica. The procession came to a halt and security rushed to the trouble spot.
Benedettini said the woman who pushed the pope appeared to be mentally unstable and had been arrested by Vatican police. He said she also knocked down Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, who was taken to hospital for a check up.
"During the procession an unstable person jumped a barrier and knocked down the Holy Father," Benedettini told The Associated Press by telephone. "(The pope) quickly got up and continued the procession."
After the incident, Benedict, flanked by tense bodyguards, resumed his walk to the basilica's main altar to start the Mass. He did appear somewhat shaken and leaned heavily on aides and an armrest as he sat down in his chair.
Benedict made no reference to the incident as the service started. As a choir sang, he sprinkled incense on the altar before opening the Mass with the traditional wish for peace in Latin: "Pax vobis" ("Peace be with you"). The faithful responded: "Et cum spiritu tuo" ("And also with you").
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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The official spokesman of Turkey's opposition Kurdish Workers Party [PKK] has called the results of Turkish Interior Minister Besir Atalay's recent visit to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region to lay down a joint strategy for confronting the party's fighters, "a failure like previous ones".
In a telephone interview with Asharq Al-Awsat from his base in the Qandil Mountains, Ahmed Deniz, the PKK's official spokesman, warned the government of the Kurdistan Region not to be "deceived" by Turkish promises and economic offers and said: "The government of the region should be more aware and not deceived by these twisted promises and ways which aim at attracting the regional forces and dragging them into a bloody conflict with our party. While we appreciate the stand of Barham Salih, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, about his government's unwillingness to take part in any Turkish military action against our party on the basis that the issue is an internal Turkish one, we assert that the issue is indeed an internal one and needs to be resolved through political negotiation with the parties concerned with it, which are the representatives of the Kurdish people in Turkey." He added: "There is no reason for Turkey's moves to gain regional support for its vile efforts that are aimed at liquidating the Kurdish cause and destroying the PKK. We warn the government of the region against being deceived by the promises and economic offers made by Turkey to ensure its support for the war against our party."
Deniz pointed out that "Turkey is talking about peace in its media statements but is hiding a sharp knife behind its back and therefore its promises and stands cannot be trusted and relied upon. The closest evidence of this is the ban on the activities of the Kurdish Democratic Society Party. After this party refused to comply with the Turkish Government's demands to consider the PKK a terrorist one, the Constitutional Court banned this party which was licensed in accordance with the constitution." He added: "Therefore Turkey's relationship with the government of the region is governed by the same criteria that are hostile to everything that is Kurdish. Turkey is not hostile only to the PKK but to all the Kurds in all four parts of Kurdistan and is dealing with the regional parties on the basis of its interests alone without consideration for the others' rights."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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Fifteen Israeli civilians wounded in Palestinian rocket attacks have petitioned a Belgian court to issue arrest warrants against leaders of the Gaza Strip's ruling Hamas movement.
The legal action follows a series of efforts by Palestinians to have Israeli officials and former military commanders arrested abroad over military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Uri Yablonka, director of a pro-Israel European lobby group, says the Israelis filed a criminal complaint with Belgium's federal prosecutor on Wednesday. He says all 15 were wounded during Israel's three-week war against Hamas a year ago. They all hold dual Belgian citizenship.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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#1
Anybody willing to bet that EUros will find an excuse not to?
By William M. Daley
The announcement by Alabama Rep. Parker Griffith that he is switching to the Republican Party is just the latest warning sign that the Democratic Party -- my lifelong political home -- has a critical decision to make: Either we plot a more moderate, centrist course or risk electoral disaster not just in the upcoming midterms but in many elections to come.
"I did not leave my party. My party left me."
Rep. Griffith's decision makes him the fifth centrist Democrat to either switch parties or announce plans to retire rather than stand for reelection in 2010. These announcements are a sharp reversal from the progress the Democratic Party made starting in 2006 and continuing in 2008, when it reestablished itself as the nation's majority party for the first time in more than a decade. That success happened for one major reason: Democrats made inroads in geographies and constituencies that had trended Republican since the 1960s. In these two elections, a majority of independents and a sizable number of moderate Republicans joined the traditional Democratic base to sweep Democrats to commanding majorities in Congress and to bring Barack Obama to the White House.
These independents and Republicans supported Democrats based on a message indicating that the party would be a true Big Tent -- that we would welcome a diversity of views even on tough issues such as abortion, gun rights and the role of government in the economy.
This call was answered not just by voters but by a surge of smart, talented candidates who came forward to run and win under the Democratic banner in districts dominated by Republicans for a generation. These centrists swelled the party's ranks in Congress and contributed to Obama's victories in states such as Indiana, North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado and other Republican bastions.
But now they face a grim political fate. On the one hand, centrist Democrats are being vilified by left-wing bloggers, pundits and partisan news outlets for not being sufficiently liberal, "true" Democrats. On the other, Republicans are pounding them for their association with a party that seems to be advancing an agenda far to the left of most voters.
The political dangers of this situation could not be clearer.
Witness the losses in New Jersey and Virginia in this year's off-year elections. In those gubernatorial contests, the margin of victory was provided to Republicans by independents -- many of whom had voted for Obama. Just one year later, they had crossed back to the Republicans by 2-to-1 margins.
Witness the drumbeat of ominous poll results. Obama's approval rating has fallen below 49 percent overall and is even lower -- 41 percent -- among independents. On the question of which party is best suited to manage the economy, there has been a 30-point swing toward Republicans since November 2008, according to Ipsos. Gallup's generic congressional ballot shows Republicans leading Democrats. There is not a hint of silver lining in these numbers. They are the quantitative expression of the swing bloc of American politics slipping away.
And, of course, witness the loss of Rep. Griffith and his fellow moderate Democrats who will retire. They are perhaps the truest canaries in the coal mine.
Despite this raft of bad news, Democrats are not doomed to return to the wilderness. The question is whether the party is prepared to listen carefully to what the American public is saying. Voters are not re-embracing conservative ideology, nor are they falling back in love with the Republican brand. If anything, the Democrats' salvation may lie in the fact that Republicans seem even more hell-bent on allowing their radical wing to drag the party away from the center.
All that is required for the Democratic Party to recover its political footing is to acknowledge that the agenda of the party's most liberal supporters has not won the support of a majority of Americans -- and, based on that recognition, to steer a more moderate course on the key issues of the day, from health care to the economy to the environment to Afghanistan.
For liberals to accept that inescapable reality is not to concede permanent defeat. Rather, let them take it as a sign that they must continue the hard work of slowly and steadily persuading their fellow citizens to embrace their perspective. In the meantime, liberals -- and, indeed, all of us -- should have the humility to recognize that there is no monopoly on good ideas, as well as the long-term perspective to know that intraparty warfare will only relegate the Democrats to minority status, which would be disastrous for the very constituents they seek to represent.
The party's moment of choosing is drawing close. While it may be too late to avoid some losses in 2010, it is not too late to avoid the kind of rout that redraws the political map. The leaders of the Democratic Party need to move back toward the center -- and in doing so, set the stage for the many years' worth of leadership necessary to produce the sort of pragmatic change the American people actually want.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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#1
Bill Daley of the Chicago Daley's. For what it's worth.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The head of Germany's Protestant churches has described the war in Afghanistan as "unjust" and has called for a complete troops withdrawal.
On Thursday, Margot Kaessmann called for the withdrawal of all of the 4,400 German troops taking part in the US-led NATO operation in Afghanistan.
"There is no just war. I cannot legitimize it from a Christian point of view," Kaessmann said in an interview in the Berliner Zeitung daily on Thursday.
The comments by Kaessmann, head of the EKD -- an umbrella group for 22 Churches -- comes while Berlin is mulling over sending more troops to the war-torn country following a troop boost request from Washington.
Germany is the third-largest force contributor in Afghanistan after the United States and the United Kingdom. Germany's Parliament, which has the final say on troop levels, has so far authorized a maximum level of 4,500 troops.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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#1
I dunno, Ms. Kaessmann. Certainly the beatitude, "Blessed are those that fight for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," would contradict and put a wall against the unjust, totalitarian and barbaric war that the forces of Islam have unleashed upon our society.
#2
Well, Ms. Kaessmann, since in your own words "there is no just war," guess that means you and your countrymen won't be on the phone to DC when Vlad decides that having a West Coast would be a really keen idea...
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
12/25/2009 2:31
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#3
I'm glad it's not only in Britain that our Church figures have become, at best, amoral fools.
#4
The head of Germany's Protestant churches has described the war in Afghanistan the Lowlands as "unjust" and has called for a complete troops withdrawal.
One of Hollywood's most enduring couples has separated.
Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, partners for 23 years and parents of two sons, split up over the summer, publicist Teal Cannady said in a statement Wednesday. She did not elaborate.
Sarandon, 63, and Robbins, 51, met while shooting the 1988 film "Bull Durham." He played a hotshot pitcher, she was the passionate fan who simultaneously seduced him and prepared him for the big leagues.
Sarandon and Robbins never married. Instead, they have been compared to other longtime Hollywood pairs who remain committed despite never officially tying the knot, such as Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.
Sarandon stars in "The Lovely Bones," opening worldwide next month. Robbins last appeared in 2008's "City of Ember."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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#1
boo frikkin' hoo. Couldn't care less.
More kabuki to avert our eyes from the real crime being committed by Obama Inc.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
12/25/2009 2:32
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#2
Time for Tim to trade in that vintage VW bus for a nice new Prius!
#3
Nice to see this nws took six months to get out. Neither side did a self serving press conference or was shot out with their younger replacement lover. I'm not a fan of either but this shows a lot more class than the usual Hollywood split.
Iran confirmed Thursday that a daughter of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden has turned up at the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, but said it does not know how she entered the country.
A Saudi newspaper reported Wednesday that Bin Laden's 17-year-old daughter, Eman, went to the embassy after eluding guards in Iran who have held her, her sister and four brothers under house arrest for eight years.
It has long been believed that Iran has held in custody a number of bin Laden's children since they fled Afghanistan after the U.S.-led invasion of that country in 2001 -- most notably Saad and Hamza bin Laden, who are thought to have held positions in al-Qaida.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on a TV talk show Thursday that Iran had no idea Eman was in the country until it heard from the embassy that she was there.
Mottaki said if Iranian authorities are able to confirm her identity she would be free to leave Iran.
"Some time ago, the Embassy of Saudi Arabia informed us that one of the daughters of Bin Laden is in the embassy," Mottaki said. "We don't know how this person went to the embassy or how she entered the country."
Mottaki made no mention of the other Bin Laden children and he was not asked on the TV program whether Iran was holding them.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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#1
Like nobody knew they were there. Duh...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/25/2009 20:44
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[Iran Press TV Latest] President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says some Western countries are using Iran's nuclear program as a pretext to put pressure on the Islamic Republic.
In an interview with Britain's Channel 4, Ahmadinejad said that Iran opposes expansionist policies being pursued by certain Western countries, adding that this was the real reason behind their animosity with Iran.
"Some Western countries are using Iran's peaceful nuclear program as a pretext for imposing sanctions and [passing] resolutions against the Iranian nation," IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying on Thursday.
"It would be better if they were brave enough to openly declare that they are against the Iranian nation because it is an obstacle to their expansionist policies in the world," the Iranian president said.
He noted that Tehran had voluntarily offered to buy nuclear fuel from the West to provide them with an opportunity to cooperate with Iran.
"Based on the [IAEA] regulation they are obliged to provide Iran with nuclear fuel without setting any preconditions," Ahmadinejad added.
Article III of the IAEA Statute clearly states that the agency, if requested to do so, should act as "an intermediary for the purposes of securing the performance of services or the supplying of materials, equipment, or facilities by one member of the Agency for another."
He noted that the West is setting "political conditions" for a nuclear swap deal with Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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#3
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/25/2009 0:44
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#4
Merry Christmas from Far North Queensland. Just about to go for a beer & swim in the Coral Sea. Hope those having a white Christmas are are really jealous :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/25/2009 1:53
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#9
Good Christmas morn to all. The egg nog is drained, the tree is (almost) trimmed, the stockings are (about to be) filled. And Mass is but a few hours nap away.
#15
Merry Christmas and God Bless America. I can think of no place I'd rather be nor folks I would rather be with than Burgers. Blessings to you and yours in the new year.
#21
Merry Christmas to Rantburg and the special people who read and share here. Its a daily dose of sanity on the left coast and help when life almost convinces you that you slipped through a wormhole into an alternate dimension.
Thank you all and God bless America in the coming year.
#24
The stockings are filled, and my checkbook is empty - a sure sign that we're going to have a very Merry Christmas. Here's wishing all RBurgers the very best, now and as long as Fred can keep this site up (something to help may be coming in the New Year, Fred).
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/25/2009 12:31
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Merry Christmas to all the RB crowd. Thanks to Fred for this bit of sanctuary and the MODs for keeping it up and straight.
My thought today are filled with being thankfull for being allowed to serve this nation and to the men and women guarding and fighting on the outpost of the world. As I sit here with coffee, warm next to my wife, the kids, the dog, and the tree, I know that somewhere there is an American is firing a weapon in anger, insuring me and my family are safe. I thank them with all my heart. Aim straigt, aim true.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/25/2009 12:53
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Merry Christmas to all here on the 'burg....and yes, Classer, your wish has been granted by me personally as I stare out the window at that evil white crap building up in the yard. ;)
#29
Merry Christmas Burgers -- and to those who have served and serving still -- blessings to each of you who continue to serve and fight to give us this day, to enjoy the day and to worship as we choose.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Yemeni separatist leader Tareq al-Fadhli threatens to arm his supporters while over 30 people have been killed in the latest government airstrikes on the South.
Witnesses say al-Fadhli made his threats on Thursday, in response to what he called "official violence."
"We will provide weapons and megaphones to our supporters, and we will protest peacefully, or, failing that, we will confront the official violence," the witnesses quoted Fadhli, a strong supporter of independence in the South, as saying during a rally in Jinzibar.
Several protests in recent months have sparked bloody clashes with Yemeni security forces. The demonstrations in South Yemen are usually held by protesters who want cessation from the North.
A recent report by Human Rights Watch said state forces have killed 11 unarmed protesters over the past two years, in addition to other abuses.
Meanwhile, Yemeni security officials claimed the country's air force has killed 34 "suspected Al-Qaeda militants" in the Al-Said district in the southeastern province of Shabwa.
While the government claims only that militants are killed in its aerial bombardments, witnesses say that mostly civilians are targeted in the attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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"Ask a cyber soldier what it means when the enemy is using specific tactics to infiltrate your lines of communication, and you might notice a slight smile cross the soldiers face. When the enemy is in your lines it means bad news in traditional military terms, but in the asymmetrical world of cyber warfare this development should be seen as an opportunity.
#1
Ask a cyber soldier what it means when the enemy is using specific tactics to infiltrate your lines of communication, and you might notice a slight smile cross the soldiers face.
So how many "cyber soldiers" have you spoken with lately?
#5
So how many "cyber soldiers" have you spoken with lately?
No laughing matter actually. Many are former soldiers, retirees, contractors, etc, stuck away doing God's work in basement offices and complexes. With a few PhD's and super geeks sprinkled in, these sites are cyber technology incubators. Very necessary these people and their work.
#6
#1 Ask a cyber soldier what it means when the enemy is using specific tactics to infiltrate your lines of communication, and you might notice a slight smile cross the soldiers face.
So how many "cyber soldiers" have you spoken with lately?
Posted by: gorb 2009-12-25 00:31
#9
Now, now, Pappy, there are some of us Airdale types that have "gotten our boots muddy" a time or two. Some of us have even been shot at (and returned effective fire).
The stuff downloaded from the TR-1 (and a few other birds) is all encrypted. I'm sure the data from drones is not encrypted because the encryption equipment is pretty cumbersome - it has to be to be effective. Still, something as simple as PGP could have prevented this kind of debacle.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/25/2009 14:07
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Last night I saw upon the net
A cyber-soldier who wasnt there
He wasnt there again today
He said to stop calling him that.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/25/2009 14:53
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"There was a soldier, a Cyber Soldier,
Who wandered far away, and cyber'd night and day..."
Grunter: LOL! We will have to get Alex Beaton to sing that one!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/25/2009 22:45
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#12
Hay Abdule look at the cool video we intercepted. Yo Abu that looks like out house, allah be praised, it is our house. Look at the pretty cross hairs on our lovely mud hut.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/25/2009 23:51
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Staggered explosions apparently targeting Shiite Muslim pilgrims killed at least 31 people, including a provincial councilor, and injured 105 others on Thursday, authorities said, raising fears of further sectarian attacks at the approach of Shiite Islam's most solemn holiday.
The deaths come three days before the climax of Ashoura. The holiday's observers have frequently been attacked in the past.
Police Maj. Muthana Khalid said the first bomb exploded around 2 p.m. Thursday in Hillah, the capital of Babil province, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) south of Baghdad. He said the second explosion came as police rushed to the scene 15 minutes later.
The bombs apparently targeted Shiite pilgrims observing Ashoura who had gathered near a bus station in downtown Hillah.
"Provincial councilor Neemat al-Bakri and two policemen, were killed in the explosions, which wounded 10 others," an Iraqi source said.
Neemat al-Bakri was a member of the multi-confessional alliance formed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to contest parliamentary elections scheduled for March next year.
Colonel Taleb al-Chamri, one of the two police officers killed in the blast, was in charge of local efforts to eradicate improvised explosive devices.
Thousands of Shiites are expected to converge on the central city of Karbala for the Dec. 27 holiday to mourn the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Imam Hussein, killed in 680 A.D. during a battle that sealed the split between Shiites and Sunnis.
Hilla, 100 kilometers (62 miles), south of Baghdad, had become a generally quiet area as violence dropped across most of Iraq. Major attacks and ongoing insurgent activity continue in Baghdad and northern Iraq.
On Wednesday, 13 people were killed in violence around the country despite security forces ramping up their presence ahead of Christmas and the Shiite commemoration ceremonies of Ashura which culminate on Sunday.
The security situation in Iraq has improved dramatically over the past three years, after Sunni tribesmen and former rebels made common cause with the U.S. military against al-Qaeda.
The Iraqi government has assigned more than 25,000 police and soldiers to protect pilgrims during the celebrations but has been unable to stop all the attacks.
The Shiite holiday was banned under former dictator Saddam Hussein. The majority of Iraqis are Shiites but Saddam's administration was primarily Sunni.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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Police in Mianwali arrested four terrorists on Thursday and recovered as many suicide vests and a large cache of arms from their possession. The police arrested a suspect, Muhammad Jamil, from Gulberg Chowk and recovered videos of suicide bombings and also arrested his accomplice, Egal Khan, on the basis of the information provided by Jamil. Further information provided by the two men led to the arrest of Amanullah Hattar and Imran Pathan from Kacha Gujrat area of Mianwali. The police recovered explosives, suicide vests, CDs, cell phones, documents, maps and ball bearings from the suspects' possession. Officials said the accused were planning to carry out a terrorist attack in the city during Muharram.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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Iran confirmed Thursday that a daughter of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden has turned up at the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, but said it does not know how she entered the country.
A Saudi newspaper reported Wednesday that Bin Laden's 17-year-old daughter, Eman, went to the embassy after eluding guards in Iran who have held her, her sister and four brothers under house arrest for eight years.
It has long been believed that Iran has held in custody a number of bin Laden's children since they fled Afghanistan after the U.S.-led invasion of that country in 2001 -- most notably Saad and Hamza bin Laden, who are thought to have held positions in al-Qaida.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on a TV talk show Thursday that Iran had no idea Eman was in the country until it heard from the embassy that she was there.
Mottaki said if Iranian authorities are able to confirm her identity she would be free to leave Iran.
"Some time ago, the Embassy of Saudi Arabia informed us that one of the daughters of Bin Laden is in the embassy," Mottaki said. "We don't know how this person went to the embassy or how she entered the country."
Mottaki made no mention of the other Bin Laden children and he was not asked on the TV program whether Iran was holding them.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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Najwa al-Ghanem, the first wife of Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, confirmed that she greatly misses her six children who have been detained in Iran for more than eight and a half years. In a telephone interview conducted with Asharq Al-Awsat yesterday, Najwa al-Ghanem also revealed that she is in poor health, and that she prays to God night and day for the reunion of her family and the return of her six children and eleven grandchildren who she has not seen since they first went to Iran.
Najwa al-Ghanem appealed to the Iranian authorities to complete the good deed of looking after her children since 2001 by quickly facilitating their return to the family.
Najwa told Asharq Al-Awsat of the feelings of joy that she felt when she learned that her six children were alive and well in Iran and described this as being the result of "a blessing thanks alone to God Almighty, and [our] prayers that He keep them from harm. God has responded to us because they [the children] are innocent of any allegations."
Asharq Al-Awsat yesterday published an interview with Najwa al-Ghanem's son Omar Bin Laden in which he revealed that six of his siblings and his father's wife (Umm Hamzah) have been present in Iran since 2001. He also confirmed that his sister Iman has sought refuge in the Saudi embassy in Tehran after she escaped from her guards.
Osama Bin Laden's first wife told Asharq Al-Awsat "my children Saad, Othman, Mohamed, Fatima, and Bakr, and their wives and children, in addition to Mrs. Khayriyah (Umm Hamza) the wife of Bin Laden are being detained in a residential complex." As for her daughter Iman, Najwa al-Ghanem said that she is being hosted by the Saudi embassy in Tehran. She told Asharq Al-Awsat that she phones her daughter and checks up on her via the Saudi Arabian embassy's internal communications, and that she lives honorably in a special room in the embassy until --God willing -- she can leave and travel to Saudi Arabia or Syria or any other neighboring country.
Najwa al-Ghanem expressed her thanks to the Iranian authorities for taking care of her six children during the previous years and keeping them safe. She said that due to the long absence of any news about them she believed that they had come to harm or died, but the telephone call from Iman to her brother Abdullah, before she sought refuge in the Saudi embassy in Tehran, gave her new hope. She confirmed that none of her children have anything whatsoever to do with suspicions of terrorism, and they lived in Afghanistan with their father because they are his family.
Najwa al-Ghanem also commended the embassy of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in Tehran. She told Asharq Al-Awsat "God knows that they have done very well, we are in their debt, those in the embassy have treated my daughter with love and respect and honor, they have treated her like their own daughter. We wish them all the best and may God bless them, and their efforts to return her [Iman] to the bosom of her family, and their good deeds on the Day of Judgment, God willing.
An official in the Saudi embassy who wished to remain anonymous refused to comment on the details of Iman's life in the Saudi embassy in Iran, saying only that one could confirm her wellbeing from her siblings and mother who check up on her on a daily basis, and communication between them is not interrupted. The official also pointed out that talking to the media may damage the mediation efforts that are being made with the Iranian authorities [for the return of the Saudi citizens].
For his part, Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden's fourth son told Asharq Al-Awsat that he had no idea that his brothers and sisters were alive until they contacted him in November and informed him that they had fled Afghanistan prior to the September 11 attacks, walking to the Iranian border. They were then transferred to a [residential] compound surrounded by fences outside of Tehran where the guards informed them that they were not allowed to leave for their own safety. He said "the time has come for the children of Bin Laden to return to their good and pure homeland and their beloved Saudi Arabia rather than this dispersion [of family members] that we are experiencing today."
Omar Bin Laden also said that his relatives "live a good life as much as possible in Iran today, cooking food and watching television and reading. They are infrequently allowed outside on shopping trips." He thanked the Iranian authorities for taking good care of his siblings, and added "The Iranian government did not know what to do with this large group of people that nobody wants, they therefore looked after their safety. Therefore we owe them a lot of gratitude, and we thank Iran from the bottom of our hearts." Omar Bin Laden now hopes that his family will be allowed to leave Iran and reunite with his mother or reunite with the family in Saudi Arabia, and his brother and sister in Syria, or join him and his wife in Qatar.
The group that is present in Iran includes one of Osama Bin Laden's wives, six of his children, and eleven of his grandchildren, all of whom have been living in a [residential] compound outside of Tehran under strict security measures for the past eight years.
The US and Afghan forces launched a large-scale attack on the Tora Bora mountains in 2001 to hunt down the Saudi born Osama Bin Laden. Bin Laden has never been found, and it is believed that he is still hiding out in the mountainous border regions between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Najwa married her cousin Osama Bin Laden when she was 15 years old and he was 17 years old. She bore him 6 sons and 4 daughters. Osama Bin Laden's first wife also revealed new details about the character of America's Most Wanted man, revealing details about his private, his relationship with his wives and children, and his hobbies, in a special book published in London two months ago.
Najwa said that her husband is a "frugal father who banned his children from having toys and banned his wives from using modern tools in the house, but he loved nature and cultivating flowers. He [also] spoke English fluently and he loved fast cars."
In this book, Bin Laden's first wife, and his fourth son Omar, gave a unique perspective on the personal life of the Al Qaeda leader at the time of the September 11 attacks on America.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
I Pray to God Night and Day for the Return of My Children
A suicide bomber on a horse and cart has detonated himself in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, killing eight people and wounding five others, police have said.
The blast on Thursday evening ripped through a guesthouse sometimes used by foreigners near the provincial health ministry directorate, according to Sazel Ahmad Shairzad, the deputy provincial police chief.
"Five of the dead were killed while sitting in a car nearby," Shairzad said, the other three dead were passers-by.
The suicide bomber detonated explosives on his body and in his cart after being ordered to stop by police.
Windows in buildings on both sides of the road were blown out, and nearby walls were partially damaged.
Kandahar was the site in late August of a massive truck bomb that killed 43 people and injured another 65, most of them civilians.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called his former US counterpart George W. Bush the most hated man in the United States.
"One day, Bush and his colleagues will be tried and punished for the crimes they committed in Iraq and Afghanistan," Ahmadinejad said in a Wednesday afternoon speech in Iran's southern Province of Fars.
"World affairs have changed completely. People are getting to know all those who plotted against Iran. They are descending into the pits of historical notoriety and infamy," he added.
The Iranian president said that today, no-one dares use the former US president's semantics when addressing other countries.
According to 2007 estimates published by the independent London-based polling agency, Opinion Research Business, over a million Iraqis have died due to violence since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
This is while there are no estimates available on the number of civilians who have been killed in Afghanistan since the 2001 coalition invasion, but according to the latest UN report, over 1,500 Afghans have been killed just in the first half of 2009.
This is the equivalent of 10 Virginia Tech shootings in Iraq and Afghanistan everyday.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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#1
Apparently he's not been paying attention to Obama's poll numbers.
#5
Must be some sort of pox, or hereiditary genetic disorder. Ahmadinejad's brother Barry can't seem to get over "W" either. Can't say for certain, but possibly a frontotemporal dementia. I must refer this one to Dr. Steve and his team of specialists.
A reformist former government spokesman, Abdullah Ramezanzadeh, who backed opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi in the vote, was sentenced by a court for six years in jail. The charges against Ramezanzadeh include acting against national security, propagating against the Islamic system and possessing classified documents. The report of his jail sentence coincides with mounting tension in Iran after the death of a leading dissident ayatollah and opposition reports of clashes between the cleric's supporters and security forces in the city of Isfahan. Ramezanzadeh, who held his post during the 1997-2005 presidency of reformer Mohammad Khatami, was among scores of senior pro-reform figures and activists detained after the poll on accusations of fomenting post-election unrest. "Based on the court's decision Ramezanzadeh was given a six-year obligatory jail sentence," Fars news agency quoted a Revolutionary court statement as saying. It did not say when the verdict was issued. Revolutionary courts usually handle security cases. Last month, Iranian media said reformist former vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi was also sentenced to six years in jail. He was later released on bail of $700,000 pending appeal.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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Female parliamentarians from various mainstream political parties have submitted the 'Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Act 2009" with National Assembly Secretariat -- which proposes stern punishment for acid attacks and calls for measures to regulate businesses related to "acids and poisonous substances".
Addressing a press conference along with representatives of civil society, Marvi Memon of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) unveiled the clauses of the bill -- which has been co-sponsored by Anusha Rehman of the PML-Nawaz and Shehnaz Wazir Sheikh of the PML-Q.
The proposed legislation -- likely to be taken up as a private members' bill during the upcoming session of the National Assembly -- seeks amendments to Sections 332 and 336 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
Two new subsections have been proposed in Section 336 of the PPC. The female parliamentarians have called for an extension in the definition of the word "hurt" and proposed that "whoever ... hurts any person by means of fire, or any heated substance, or any poison or any corrosive substance or acid, or by means of any explosive or arsenic substance, or by any substance deleterious to the human body ... would have to undergo punishment of imprisonment that may extend to a life sentence, or a fine that should not be less than Rs 500,000, or both".
Also, the proposed legislation would also empower courts to direct the those convicted in such cases to pay monetary relief to meet the expenses incurred and losses suffered by the aggrieved party. The relief would also include the loss of earnings and medical expenses of the victim. In case those accused fail to pay monetary relief, the court would be empowered to direct the employers or debtors of the convicts to directly pay the aggrieved party a portion of the wages or salaries or debt to victims.
The sponsors of the bill have also proposed amendments to the Poisons Act of 1919, to regulate businesses related to "acids and other poisonous products". They have called for a ban on such products' manufacture, distribution, supply and sales without a licence to be issued by a provincial authority.
Anybody found involved in a breach of the conditions laid down in the proposed law would face one-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 100,000 the first time, while a two-year imprisonment sentence and a fine of Rs 200,000 would be handed out for any subsequent breaches.
The proposed bill would make offences within its scope "cognisable, non-bailable and compoundable".
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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Police have seized 500 kilogrammes of explosives from Mardan and 2,000 kilogrammes from Bannu, a private TV channel quoted NWFP Police Inspector General Malik Naveed as saying on Thursday. Speaking with the media in Peshawar after the suicide blast at the Mall Road, the IG said the NWFP government had thwarted six potential suicide attacks in recent weeks. He said police were conducting raids in the suburban areas of the city. Regarding security arrangements for Muharram, he said as many as 700 ex-servicemen of the Frontier Corps had been recalled to protect citizens.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2009
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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.
WASHINGTON -- Two strange bedfellows have asked Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate President Obama's right-hand man, chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, for his potential role in the near collapse of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The Taliban blew up Friday three schools in northwest Pakistan where troops are fighting against militants in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan, officials said. Buildings in two boys' schools about 1.5 kilometres (one mile) apart were blown up in the Khyber tribal district which lies between Afghanistan and Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province.
Decorated Christmas trees fill many shop windows here. At some clothing stores, the mannequins wear plastic Santa masks and black-tasseled red fezzes. Young street hawkers thread their way through the city's manic traffic wearing Santa hats strung with blinking lights. In the capital of the world's most populous Arab nation, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, more and more every year.
Tonight, Mohamed Ibrahim is out after posting $100 bond. Earlier in the day, he was arrested after police say he walked into several Memphis businesses and threatened to blow them up. Court records show Ibrahim was also telling people he was Muslim, and wanted to start a jihad, or holy war, in Memphis. Police say when they arrested him, he had a butcher knife hidden in one of his jacket sleeves.
A year after Operation Cast Lead, the IDF is continuing to update its maps and highlight international and humanitarian institutions - adding several hundred in the past year - to prevent them from being targeted in a future conflict, The Jerusalem Post has learned. During the operation, which began a year ago next Sunday, the IDF distributed maps filled with over 1,500 dots, designating buildings that were off-limits to all air force and ground force commanders. These dots marked hospitals, United Nations facilities, schools, and homes of foreigners and journalists. The constant updating of the maps underlies the Israeli assessment that a future conflict with Hamas could be around the corner and that the IDF needs to be prepared at all times. 
Yemeni forces, backed by the United States, launched a major attack Thursday on a meeting of senior al-Qaeda operatives thought to include the Yemeni American cleric linked to the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings, U.S. and Yemeni officials said. 
