Britain should turn its back on the European Court of Human Rights because its rulings on the extradition of terrorist suspects risk undermining the special relationship, a former US ambassador said.
The court will rule on whether six men, including Abu Hamza, should be extradited on terrorism charges to the US.
John Bolton, the American ambassador to the UN under George Bush, said: Britain should renounce the jurisdiction of this court. Its a question of what do British people want to do? Do you want to be an independent nation, or do you want to be a county in Europe?
This is just another example of Britains mistake in allowing European institutions to develop to the extent they have. It is yet another infringement on British sovereignty that undercuts its ability to cooperate with the United States.
It also calls into question the ability of Europe as a whole to be an effective partner in the war against terrorism.
Estimates obtained by The Daily Telegraph suggest that it has cost the taxpayer £2.6 million to keep the six men in high-security jails. A further £1.5 million is estimated to have been spent on legal costs, including legal aid for the men, and thousands more on benefit claims for their families.
ZIMBABWEAN dictator Robert Mugabe was yesterday said to be fighting for his life in a Singapore hospital with an undisclosed illness, amid reports he had agreed to hand over power to his feared Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The Zimbabwe Mail, quoting a senior official of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, said the President was undergoing intensive treatment in Singapore and that some members of his family had joined him after boarding a chartered private jet on Saturday.
The alarm was raised when the government postponed a cabinet meeting set for today.
Mugabe spokesman George Charamba said in a statement: "The Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda, wishes to inform all members of cabinet that sitting has been moved from Tuesday, April 10, to Thursday, April 12, 2012."
Mugabe, 88, was ostensibly in Singapore to oversee enrolment in a postgraduate course at Singapore University for his daughter Bona. University registration starts in September.
#6
forgive me, I couldn't help myself.....sound like anyone we might know?
Once Mugabe had taken office, many white Rhodesians were impressed by his friendly and business-like attitude. He was not at all what they had expected, going by his reputation. He wanted the whites to stay, and work together with him, he said. Smith met with him several times to discuss problems that needed to be solved in order to retain white confidence in the future of the country. During the first few months Mugabe appeared sensible and anxious to address and solve these problems, which included increasing communist propaganda in the media and attacks on white farmers by ZANU terrorists. Mugabes promises to take action, however, were not fulfilled, and slowly Smith began to wonder if
he was not resorting to the tactic of feigning ignorance and passing the buck to his various ministers when in fact they were following his instructions. Recently I had experienced a growing uneasy feeling that he was gradually reverting to his true colours as a dedicated communist. (p. 365 Die Groot Betrayal)
Posted by: Water Modem ||
04/09/2012
19:39 ||
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Nuclear battery = plutonium RTG. This is just nuts, as in, "Why don't we send them the materials for a dirty bomb?" "Well, we could blow up the bird if it looked like it was going down -- oh, wait...."
Coalition and Afghan special operations forces killed the newly appointed leader for the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan's forces in Afghanistan during a raid in the northwest several days ago. "Do you solemnly swear to [KABOOM!]... Next!"
The International Security Assistance Force confirmed that it killed Osmani Sahib, who had been appointed to lead the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan's operations after his predecessor, Makhdum Nusrat, was killed in a raid in the Shirin Tagab district in Faryab province on March 26. Not even two weeks - poor b*stard didn't even get through one pay period. Not that it mattered - the paymaster got killed too. Not even vested in the pension plan, though it sounds like the health insurance payer may be on the hook for an ER visit...
ISAF has stepped up the targeting of the IMU's leadership cadre over the past month. Coalition and Afghan commandos have targeted top IMU leaders in nine raids in Badakhshan, Faryab, Kunduz, and Takhar provinces since Jan. 29. ISAF and Afghan forces have killed the IMU's top commander in Afghanistan three times since April 2011.
Barack Obama is braced for a barrage of attacks from a political campaign group founded by former aides to President George W. Bush and backed with tens of millions of dollars in corporate funding. American Crossroads, the most powerful "Super PAC" (political action committee) aiming to oust the US president in November, is preparing a blitz of television attack advertisements in key battleground states across the country.
The group, which was created by Mr Bush's former chief strategist Karl Rove, can collect unlimited donations from US corporations thanks to a highly controversial Supreme Court ruling.
Several of these independent groups are poised to assist Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, with an onslaught against Mr Obama, whose record they denounce.
American Crossroads alone raised more than $50 million (£31.5 million) last year and plans to spend up to $200 million (£121 million) on the 2012 election.
Meanwhile the main Super PAC backing Mr Obama, Priorities USA Action, has raised just $6.5 million (£4.1 million).
Even though Dennis Kucinich lost the primary, Daniel Pipes exposes Kucinich's cozy and enabling relationship with radical Islam in detail. Read the whole thing.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/09/2012
13:36 ||
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Thanks AK! Of some concern, but nearly as interesting as this:
The March setback in hiring will prove temporary as the U.S. economy, in its third year of expansion, now is better equipped to overcome a slowdown in Europe and rising fuel costs, economists said. They say the data don't signal a repeat of 2010 and 2011 - when hiring was derailed after promising starts by concern about government debt, energy costs and natural disasters. SO the natural disasters have tapered off, for the moment. On the other hand...
Economists at Bank of America are among those concerned that government-mandated spending cuts and tax increases will cause the economy to slump later this year. Ethan Harris, co-head of global economic research for the bank estimates the U.S. faces a "Greek-sized" fiscal tightening in December amounting to about $580 billion, or 3.9 percent of gross domestic product, he wrote in a Jan. 26 note. Why did this Greek Tragedy report remain hidden for ten weeks?
In 2010, the emergence of sovereign-debt concerns in Europe weighed on the U.S. economic outlook. Those same fears resurfaced in 2011, in addition to rising gasoline prices, an earthquake and tsunami in Japan and a budget impasse in Washington. All contributed to a slowdown in hiring in mid-year as employers were reluctant to bring on new workers. Pretty much nothing has changed since 2010. So with another disaster, the economy will slump, just like 2010? As for disasters - how about riots in Egypt, civil war in Libya, Syrian meltdown, or bombs falling on Persian nuclear sites?
Businesses and households will grow increasingly uncertain about the outlook, pondering questions like how long it will take for a lame-duck session of Congress to act, he said. So a stalemate drags down the economy, which is bad for the sitting Prez?
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/09/2012
13:27 ||
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The US economy is not expanding, although the number of people who have given up looking for work IS.
The Palestinian Authority has declared its intention to resurrect its statehood bid at the United Nations within a month if Israel refuses to heed its conditions for renewing peace talks. After months of drift following his initial approach to the UN Security Council last September, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, said he was willing to risk American ire by once again placing the statehood issue in the international arena.
Mr Abbas is to send a long-promised letter to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, next week setting out Palestinian demands for resuming peace talks, which have been frozen since September, 2010.
He is to call for a total freeze of Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and the release of Palestinian prisoners. He will also request an Israeli acknowledgement that a future Palestinian state should be founded on territory Israel occupied in the Six Day War of 1967, with mutually agreed land swaps to allow Israel to annex some of the larger settlements it has built on occupied land.
The letter will be delivered in person to Mr Netanyahu by senior Palestinian officials, making it the most high-profile encounter between the two sides in more than two years.
But the likelihood of it eliciting a positive Israeli response is slight.
At least 44 people were killed Fighters from al-Qaeda-linked group attack military camp near southern Yemen city, Lawdar, on Monday. The fighting erupted when fighters from Ansar al-Sharia launched a dawn attack on the camp, which is in Abyan province, about 75 miles from the southern port city of Aden.
The group seized control of a significant amount of territory in Abyan during the turmoil that led to the replacement of President Ali Abdullah Saleh by his deputy, a deal that Saudi Arabia and Washington hope will prevent al Qaeda from getting a foothold near key oil shipping routes.
The conflict with Islamists in the south is only one of several challenges facing the new president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who took office vowing to fight al Qaeda, only to have more than 100 soldiers killed in a series of attacks in his first days in power.
Mohammed Nasser, a resident of Lawdar, speaking by telephone with the sound of artillery and small arms fire audible, said the fighting lasted three hours.
"It is not the first attempt (by the group) to take control, but it's the biggest attack yet," he said. A local official said tribal militiamen joined the fighting alongside the military, and that at least 10 soldiers and tribesmen were wounded.
Israel would not be able to destroy Iran's nuclear program in a pre-emptive air strike with its air force, forcing its leadership to look for alternative means of attack, a defence report has said.
Experts believe Israel's military options are restricted to high-risk choices, such as a long-range missile bombardment from Israel or a special forces raid on the ground. The military journal Jane's Defence Weekly cast doubt on Israel's ability to mount a successful operation, saying it would face ''substantial difficulties''.
''The significant distances involved and hardened features of Iran's nuclear facilities make any 'massive surprise' aerial attack a very high-risk operation for Israel to undertake on its own,'' it said. Israel has the most powerful air force in the Middle East but would struggle to mount the complex strikes necessary to deal a real blow to Iran's nuclear plants.
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Senior Israeli officials have said the country is prepared to take unilateral action to stop Iran acquiring a nuclear bomb. Israel destroyed Saddam Hussein's Osirak nuclear reactor in 1982 and hit a Syrian reactor in 2007. However, for Iran, the air force would have to carry out numerous strikes with air-to-air refuelling, possibly over several days.
''This is not going to be one strike and they are out, not like Syria or Iraq where facilities were not underground, it is much harder than that,'' said Malcolm Chalmers of the Royal United Services Institute. ''And the Iranians are experts in building reinforced concrete because of their long problems with earthquakes. But air strikes could destroy power plants, supply facilities, communications and the centrifuges themselves would be very sensitive to blast. They could do quite a lot of damage which would set back the program for a period.''
#3
I must be missing something. If you bust up the entryways--which must have moving parts--so that they don't work for, say, a week, haven't you solved the problem?
Can't put a thousand-pounder with a penetrating fuze near an elevator shaft? Sure they can.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
04/09/2012 13:25
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The Israelis may not be able to 'destroy' the nuclear plants but they sure can damage them. Turn some to rubble, some to semi-rubble, some to slightly damaged, and miss a few, and you have still managed to slow them down significantly.
Wait until the Iranians have repaired all the damage and hit them again.
This isn't a one-time affair.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/09/2012 16:39
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Its not the original strikeop that is a prob for the US-Israel, etal. as Iran's post-attack response - the Mullahs are prepared to fight what can be best described as a "SUPER/NUCLEAR-VIETNAM" WID ALL THE INTERNAT BRINKMANSHIP; + NONE OF THE MULTI-COUNTRY SOVEREIGN BORDERS OR DMZS. THEY ARE WILLING TO LOSE MUCH OR ALL OF IRAN PROPER + WAGE REGIONAL OR TRANS-REGIONAL "PEOPLE'S WAR", WID WHATEVER NUKES-WMDS ARE READILY AVAILABLE.
The Mullahs first said or inferred this back during the late Clinton-era - AFAIK nothing has changed.
#7
Its not the original strikeop that is a prob for the US-Israel, etal. as Iran's post-attack response Joe does have a point. How many supertankers will Iran have to hit in the Strait of Hormuz before the rest of the world suffers hugely? However, what kinds of problems will Israel &/or the US have if Iran doesn't go post-attack, i.e., is just allowed to keep on keeping on with whatever the Mullahs are hatching?
#8
If you bust up the entryways--which must have moving parts--so that they don't work for, say, a week, haven't you solved the problem?
Many years ago Iran bought subway boring machines & has been using them. Have all the entryways been accounted for? Including the ones which have not yet penetrated the surface?
The U.S. Navy said Monday it has deployed a second aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf region amid rising tensions with Iran over its nuclear program.
The deployment of the nuclear-powered USS Enterprise along the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group marks only the fourth time in the past decade that the Navy has had two aircraft carriers operating at the same time in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, said Cmdr. Amy Derrick-Frost of the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet.
The two carriers will support the American military operations in Afghanistan and anti-piracy efforts off Somalia's coast and in the Gulf of Aden, said Derrick-Frost.
The warships also patrol the Gulf's strategic oil routes that Iran has threatened to shut down in retaliation for economic sanctions.
The deployment of the second aircraft carrier is "routine and not specific to any threat," Derrick-Frost added. She did say how long the Navy will keep the increased military presence in region.
Video
In a shocking new video exclusive to Breitbart.com, James OKeefes Project Veritas demonstrates to the Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder, just why he should be concerned about lack of voter ID laws by walking into Holders voting precinct and showing the world that anyone can obtain Eric Holders ballot. Literally.
#3
"you're not Eric Holder! You have ethics... and a chin"
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/09/2012 20:35
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I'm waiting for a response from Holder. Given his recent track record, his response is predicated on the videographer's race, as he doesn't want to prosecute 'his people'. Regardless, let's see how he injects race into it.
Two are killed and 15 wounded by gunfire coming from Syrian side of border, Turkish news agency says; Turkish Deputy FM says "a new period" will begin; Kofi Annan announced plan to visit Syrian refugees in Turkey.
Ankara declared void an April 10 deadline for Syria to pull back its troops after two people were killed and 15 wounded by gunfire coming from Syria across the border into Turkey on Monday, Turkey's Anadolu news agency reported.
Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Naci Koru said that in place of the pullback under the terms of a UN peace plan, a "new period" would begin Tuesday.
"Attacks which have been going on since yesterday have shown that the Annan plan cannot be implemented," he told reporters. "April 10 deadline is no more."
The refugees and at least one Turkish citizen were hit when the Kilis border refugee camp in Turkey's southern Gaziantep province came under fire from the Syrian side of the border, a Turkish foreign ministry official said.
"After this incident the Syrian Charge d'Affaires in Ankara was called and we demanded an end to this," the official said.
North Korea is digging an underground tunnel in apparent preparation for a new nuclear test, intelligence reports have claimed.
Satellite images depict mounds of earth piled at the entrance of a tunnel at a site in northeast Punggye-ri, where two controversial nuclear tests were conducted in 2006 and 2009.
Observers fear that the creation of a new tunnel could indicate North Korea's intentions to conduct a third underground nuclear test, a move which would ignite widespread international criticism.
"North Korea is covertly preparing for a third nuclear test, which would be another grave provocation," said a report compiled by South Korean intelligence officers and obtained by The Associated Press.
"North Korea is digging up a new underground tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, in addition to its existing two underground tunnels, and it has been confirmed that the excavation works are in the final stages."
Suspicions surrounding the possibility of a new nuclear test coincided with peaking regional tensions as North Korea counts down to this week's launch of an observation satellite using a three-stage rocket.
#2
The DPRK's Nukes are deemed a threat, in pqrt, beacuse few iff any in NE + East Asia or the US-West actually believe the North's NucProgs, etc, TACTICAL OR STRATEGIC, are outside of China's direct knowledge + ultimately its control, + HAS BEEN SINCE THE SINO-SOVIET SPLIT.
IOW, A NOKOR-SPECIFIC NUKE TEST(S) = SAME OR SYNONYMOUS WID AN "UN-ADMITTED/SECRET" CHINESE CONTROLLED OR ALLOWED NUKE TEST.
As per CHIN MIL FOARUMS/BLOGS, both Perts + Posters are calling on Beijing to be unilater willing to wage MAJOR WAR to secure its interests + disputed territories in the East + South China Seas, etc., espec iff its policy of "Soft Power/Diplomacy" = Geopol Compromise fails to resolve the issues of sovereignty.
A suspect has been detained for questioning Sunday in connection with a pair of alleged terrorist bombings in the Philippines. Jheramae Hassan, a well-known leader in the Muslim community of southern Palawan, was picked up after other Muslim leaders pointed to her as the source of threatening text messages sent out before the explosions at two bus stations last week.
Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, "So far, what I know is that she has admitted to being the source of the scare messages. This appears to be a breakthrough."
Hagedorn predicted Hassan would lead officials to other suspects in the alleged plot. The bombings in Puerto Princesa City and El Nido wounded four people.
Hassan was described as the daughter of a provincial government employee who has been linked to the militant Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Separatist terrorists militants who make car bombs and launch successful attacks in southern Thailand receive a one-million-baht bonus for their work, according to a local intelligence agency. An unnamed source at the agency said on Sunday the terrorists militants would go to the Thai-Malaysian border to receive their payment. But he would not name the location or who was paying the reward.
The source said there was only one terrorist insurgent group active in the three southern border provinces, the separatist Barasi Revolusi Nasional (BRN). That group was led by Masae U-seng, a long-time key suspect in the region's violence, and Sapae-ing Basor, the former principal of Thamawittaya Foundation School in Yala.
Security authorities early this week said Mr Masae was the mastermind behind last Saturday's bombing at Hat Yai that left three dead and hundreds of others wounded. Intelligence reports indicate Mr Masae had sent terrorists insurgents from Narathiwat and Yala to pose as businessmen to gather information in Hat Yai to prepare for another attack.
The Police Operations Center for the Southern Border Provinces has issued a warning to look for five stolen pickup trucks that could be used in more car bomb attacks.
The source said the Pattani United Liberation Organisation (PULO) had a role in raising cash for the southern terrorist separatist movement. The group has offices in Sweden and Germany and acts as a middleman in negotiations, he added.
Ted Sturgeon's Law: 90% of anything is crap Clearly it also applies to a dyspeptic Indian elitist who despises those of his countrymen less advantaged than himself.
#2
Me? No I haven't. Mr. Wife has, though. Nearly died in Bhopal in 1990, in fact, of amebic dysentery. He loves the country, and is very proud off the product he developed for that market. At the time he was there something like 70% of the population was "economically uninvolved", never seeing an actual coin from one end of the year to the other, and living no differently than their distant ancestors...it's better now that the economy has opened somewhat to the outside world. He visited villages where he was the first white person ever seen, and told stories of families passing down as an inheritance a portion of city sidewalk as a living space, and families of beggars deliberately crippling their children so they would be able to make a living at the trade. Not to mention the markets with juvenile prostitutes hung up in cages for the passers-by to look at.
Mr. Wife never took me to Egypt, either. He doesn't think I would deal well with real poverty, as opposed to the American kind, always having been carefully sheltered from such harsh realities.
Is it your contention, Criper Clolulet4690, that the Judge Katju is correct and fair in his assessment? He spends a great deal of space going on about his countrymen caring about astrology, cricket players and Bollywood films instead of deeper concerns, but that could be said about any nation around the world -- and arouses similar rants from elitists in the U.S. and Europe. That India has real and deep-seated problems I do not -- cannot -- disagree: poverty, ignorance, corruption, and all the ills that flow from them. But berating the population for enjoying inexpensive, shallow pleasures does not answer. Nor does berating those with fewer options than Hizzoner Judge Katju, Ret'd for attempting to better their economic situation in ways traditional to the culture.
#3
Is it your contention, Criper Clolulet4690, that the Judge Katju is correct and fair in his assessment?
Yes.
He spends a great deal of space going on about his countrymen caring about astrology, cricket players and Bollywood films instead of deeper concerns,...
He's right on the money, as unpleasant as it may be for you to accept, he has summed up India rather nicely. As for the things Mr. Wife related to you about India, nothing has changed in the intervening years. Well, except there are even more people and more poverty.
There has been some growth of the middle class, and definitely the rich have gotten richer. But there are even more poor, and they are mostly uneducated, illiterate, superstitious with no desire to educate themselves or their children, and they breed like flies.
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israel's Interior Minister Eli Yishai has declared German Nobel prize-winning poet Gunter Grass a persona non grata in Israel. Yishai said in a statement that Grass' poem titled "What Must Be Said," published in Germany's Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper and other international papers, was his "attempt to inflame hatred against the State of Israel and people of Israel, and thus to advance the idea to which he was publicly affiliated in his past donning of the SS uniform."
These things are so super-secret that only Iran has pictures of one.
More than three years ago, the CIA dispatched a stealth surveillance drone into the skies over Iran.
The bat-winged aircraft penetrated more than 600 miles inside the country, captured images of Iran's secret nuclear facility at Qom and then flew home. All the while, analysts at the CIA and other agencies watched carefully for any sign that the craft, dubbed the RQ-170 Sentinel, had been detected by Tehran's air defenses on its maiden voyage.
"There was never even a ripple," said a former senior U.S. intelligence official involved in the previously undisclosed mission.
CIA stealth drones scoured dozens of sites throughout Iran, making hundreds of passes over suspicious facilities, before a version of the RQ-170 crashed inside Iran's borders in December. The surveillance has been part of what current and former U.S. officials describe as an intelligence surge that is aimed at Iran's nuclear program and that has been gaining momentum since the final years of George W. Bush's administration.
The effort has included ramped-up eavesdropping by the National Security Agency, formation of an Iran task force among satellite-imagery analysts and an expanded network of spies, current and former U.S. officials said.
At a time of renewed debate over whether stopping Iran might require military strikes, the expanded intelligence collection has reinforced the view within the White House that it will have early warning of any move by Iran to assemble a nuclear bomb, officials said.
"There is confidence that we would see activity indicating that a decision had been made," said a senior U.S. official involved in high-level discussions about Iran policy. "Across the board, our access has been significantly improved."
The expanded intelligence effort has coincided with a covert campaign by the CIA and other agencies to sabotage Iran's nuclear program and has enabled an escalation in the use of targeted economic sanctions by the United States and its allies to weaken Iran's resolve.
The Obama administration has cited new intelligence reports in arguing against a preemptive military strike by Israel against Iranian nuclear facilities.
Israeli officials have pushed for a more aggressive response to Iran's nuclear activities, arguing that Iran is nearing what some officials have called a "zone of immunity," in which Iran can quickly complete the final steps toward becoming a nuclear power inside heavily fortified bunkers protected from Israeli airstrikes.
White House officials contend that Iran's leaders have not decided to build a nuclear weapon, and they say it would take Iran at least a year to do so if it were to launch a crash program now.
"Even in the absolute worst case -- six months -- there is time for the president to have options," said the senior U.S. official, one of seven current or former advisers on security policy who agreed to discuss U.S. options on Iran on the condition of anonymity. Known worst case, that is.
The improved intelligence also strengthens the administration's bargaining position ahead of nuclear talks with Iran, tentatively scheduled for Friday. The United States and five other countries -- Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany -- are expected to press Iran to accept curbs on its nuclear program that would make it far more difficult for the country to build a nuclear weapon. A key demand, Western diplomats say, is for Iran to halt production at its uranium enrichment plant at Qom, which was built in mountain tunnels beyond the reach of all but the most advanced bombs and missiles. In return for such a concession, Iran could be allowed to keep some semblance of a commercial nuclear power program under heavy international oversight, diplomats say. It is unclear, however, whether Iran would agree to restrictions on its program. In recent days, Iran has refused even to commit to a venue for the talks.
The CIA declined to comment on the nature of its operations against Iran. Officials familiar with the operations, however, acknowledged that there had been some setbacks and conceded that aspects of Iran's nuclear decision-making remain opaque, including the calculations made by the Islamic republic's senior political and clerical leadership.
Iranian officials insist publicly that the program is for peaceful energy production. But experts skeptical of that explanation warn that Iran may become more adept at hiding parts of its nuclear program, particularly if it succeeds in building more powerful centrifuges that can enrich uranium in smaller, dispersed facilities.
"They have been taken off-guard in the past, and now they do their best to conceal," said Olli Heinonen, who formerly directed nuclear inspections inside Iran for the International Atomic Energy Agency. While Western spy agencies have been successful of late, he said, "they are shooting at a moving target."
The still-fresh sting of Iraq
There is also the chastening experience of Iraq. A decade ago, analysts at the CIA and other agencies were confident that Iraq had stockpiles of banned weapons, including the components of a nuclear weapons program. A costly U.S. invasion and futile search for those stockpiles proved them wrong.
The sting of that intelligence failure was still fresh when U.S. spy agencies came under pressure to ramp up collection efforts against Iran. By 2006, U.S. intelligence officials and top Bush advisers had become alarmed by deep gaps in U.S. knowledge of Iran's nuclear efforts and ambitions.
Michael V. Hayden, then the new CIA director, recalled a White House briefing in which Bush became visibly agitated.
At the time, Iran was rapidly expanding its stockpile of enriched uranium at its main Natanz facility while working on what was then a secret site at Qom. American officials feared that Iran might surprise the world with a nuclear weapons test that would leave U.S. leaders with two highly unpalatable options: Attack Iran or accept the emergence of a new nuclear power in the Middle East.
At one point, Bush turned to Hayden and said, "I don't want any U.S. president to be faced with only two choices when it comes to Iran," according to Hayden. Efforts to reach Bush for comment were not successful.
The meeting became the impetus for overhauling the CIA's approach to a country considered one of its hardest targets. The agency's Iran experts and operatives were moved from its Near East Division to a group focused exclusively on Iran, much as the CIA had formed its Counterterrorism Center 20 years earlier.
"We put the best people on the job and put the most talented people in charge," Hayden said. "Then we said, 'Tell us what you need to get the job done.' "
Known internally as "Persia House," the Iran Operations Division was set up in the agency's Old Headquarters Building. Over time, it swelled from several dozen analysts and officers to several hundred. The division is now headed by a veteran case officer who previously served as CIA station chief in Islamabad, Pakistan.
"It got a robust budget," said a former senior CIA official who worked in the Near East Division at the time. The Iran division's emphasis was "getting people overseas in front of people they needed to be in front of -- there are a lot of places to meet Iranians outside Iran."
The division began assembling an informant network that stretched from the Middle East to South America, where Iran's security services have a long-standing presence. The CIA also exploited the massive U.S. military presence in Afghanistan and Iraq to mount espionage operations against the country sandwiched between those war zones.
Limited damage
One of those operations was exposed last year, when an RQ-170, flown from an airstrip in Afghanistan, crashed inside Iran. Officials in Tehran have triumphantly claimed credit for bringing the stealth drone down and have released pictures showing the drone apparently patched up after the crash. U.S. officials say a technical failure caused the crash.
The former intelligence official familiar with the beginnings of the stealth drone missions said that there had been pointed debate before deploying the first aircraft over whether it should be equipped with a so-called self-destruction package, which could blow an RQ-170 to bits if it flew off course.
The director of national intelligence at the time, Michael McConnell, was among the high-ranking officials who pushed to have the package installed. But the CIA's engineering team balked, saying it would add too much weight to the delicately balanced frame. Maybe it's true, but I personally don't believe it for a second.
Despite the setback, U.S. officials said that some surveillance flights continue and that the damage to American espionage capacity overall has been limited.
That is partly because the drone flights were only a small part of a broad espionage campaign involving the NSA, which intercepts e-mail and electronic communications, as well as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which scours satellite imagery and was the first to spot the uranium enrichment plant at Qom.
The CIA's expanded efforts continued under director Leon E. Panetta, who built partnerships with allied intelligence services in the region capable of recruiting operatives for missions inside Iran, former intelligence officials said.
The agency has encountered problems. Shahram Amiri, an Iranian defector and scientist in the country's nuclear program, had been given $5 million by the CIA and relocated to Tucson. But in 2010, he abandoned his American life and returned to Tehran -- where he had a young son -- giving Iranian officials not only a propaganda victory but probably information on what his CIA debriefers were most desperate to learn.
U.S. officials said Amiri had been handled by the CIA's Counterproliferation Division after he approached U.S. officials in Vienna and volunteered to spy. That division continues to handle scientists and technical experts connected to Iran's program, while Persia House focuses on leadership figures and the nation's sprawling military and security services, including the Republican Guard Corps.
"The real damage was image -- we looked like the Keystone Kops," said a former senior CIA official of Amiri's return to Iran. "In terms of actual damage -- no, we collected all kinds of great stuff."
The expanded espionage effort has confirmed the consensus view expressed by the U.S. intelligence community in a controversial estimate released publicly in 2007. That estimate concluded that while Iran remains resolutely committed to assembling key building blocks for a nuclear weapons program, particularly enriched uranium, the nation's leaders have opted for now against taking the crucial final step: designing a nuclear warhead.
"It isn't the absence of evidence, it's the evidence of an absence," said one former intelligence official briefed on the findings. "Certain things are not being done."
Continued on Page 49
#1
The meeting became the impetus for overhauling the CIA's approach to a country considered one of its hardest targets. The agency's Iran experts and operatives were moved from its Near East Division to a group focused exclusively on Iran, much as the CIA had formed its Counterterrorism Center 20 years earlier.
Because if there's something that gets work done in the CIA, it's organizing a new department.
The Obama administration is responding to the recent report that shows a federal agency spent more that $800,000 on a lavish conference near Las Vegas by putting some of the blame on the Bush administration.
At least we have taken, bold, swift forceful action to hold those responsible accountable and put in place protections to make sure this never happened again, a White House official told Fox News. Since when is allowing something to languish for 11 months before the public finds out about it and then finally doing somethign about it called "bold, swift forceful action"?
The Inspector General Offices report last week about the 2010 General Services Administration conference outside of Las Vegas indicates the Obama administration knew about the trip since May 2010. The report was followed by a release of videos.
One video shows an employee performing in the fake music video, which is laced with jokes and references that only federal employees are likely to get.
In the lyrics, the employee sings: "Donate my vacation, love to the nation, I'll never be under OIG investigation."
The report found the Public Buildings Service, part of the General Services Administration, spent more than $840,000 on the conference.
Two House committees now are probing the agency. One of those, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, posted the video of the GSA employees online.
Committee Chairman Darrell Issa said a briefing Thursday by the Office of the Inspector General shows General Services Administrator Martha Johnson and Steven Leeds, senior counselor to the administrator, were told in May 2011 about the investigation of the conference. They resigned Monday.
The administration also argued Friday night that the cost of the Western Regional Conference increased sharply under the Bush White House -- from $93,000 in 2004 to $323,855 in 2006 to $655,025 in 2008, then $840,616 in 2010, or just 28 percent under Obama. Because the Obama administration was watching their budget so closely?
However, on Saturday morning Emily Baker, a former GSA regional administrator for President Bush, suggested to Fox News that the Obama administration is spinning the numbers.
"When they're talking about that it sounds good to say it went up over 100 percent," she said. "It went up to about $250,000 dollars. I mean it's a lot but when you start small it's easy to say it increased a lot."
#2
I am really tired of the whole "blame Bush" thing. You have been in office over 18 months, douche. You own it, even if you knew about it or not. Man up for once in your fucking life.
People do not realize that Bush really was lame duck for the 2 years zombies controlled the house and senate so that was 5 years of democrat control of the government that brings us to now.
Let's see if it makes it past Spoiled Prince Harry.
Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-Calif.) intends to press GOP leaders to move his bill to include the number of individuals who gave up looking for work in the percentage of jobless claims.
Should the government measure unemployment with Hunter's figure, the unemployment rate would be higher than the current rate of approximately 8 percent-- a potentially devastating assessment for the White House, especially in an election year.
The San Diego-based lawmaker contends that he did not introduce his bill to make the president look bad, since the number would reflect poorly on all individuals in charge of government.
On a recent interview with Fox News Channel's Martha MacCallum, Hunter said, "it makes me look bad too when unemployment is sliding ... it makes the Republican Congress, the president and the Democratic Senate - anybody who is an elected representative and in charge look bad. I don't think it goes one way."
His one-page legislation, the "REAL Unemployment Calculation Act" would require "the federal government [to] cite, as its official unemployment calculation, the figure that takes into account those who are no longer looking for work," not only those individuals actively seeking jobs.
#1
The current official lies statistics help Zero and give a fig leaf to he MFM, so good luck with that. Perhaps Hunter can get the govt. to stop leaving out food & fuel from the inflation rate while he's at it.
#3
Here's a potential State by State metric, I call it..... "Folks Who Are Not Doing So Well" or (FWANDSO)
A = Folks receiving State Unemployment checks.
B = Folks receiving other forms of financial aid.
C = Folks who filed, but paid - 0 - income taxes.
D = Pensioners not receiving aid.
E = Total number of Folks in State.
#4
Better to expand unemployment by shutting down the DoL bureau of statistics. Once compromised as they've been, they're never going to accurately report numbers. As we see now, we have dueling numbers and statisticians. It won't go away, so just let the private and state sectors do the work. That at least removes the national government from citing their own bogus numbers when rationalizing actions or inaction.
And then there was a comedian so many years ago that I can't remember his name who said, "When your neighbor loses his job it's a recession. When you lose your job it's a depression."
Iran's official inflation rate has almost doubled over the past year as prices are driven up by budget reforms, a weak currency and international sanctions, according to new data which could add to criticism of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Inflation in urban areas was 21.5 percent for the last Iranian year which ended on March 19, the central bank said in a statement on Sunday. Prices of goods and services rose 12.4 percent during the preceding year, according to figures previously released by the bank.
#1
the Iranian rial now has an official exchange rate of about 12,000 rial to one US dollar (during the the time of the Shah it was about 70 rial to the dollar).
The street exchange rate is somewhere between 18,000 and 24,000 to the dollar.
Given the situation, Iran will be trying to re-normalize their currency this year or next.
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/09/2012 8:14
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Probably the official inflation stats are as honest as the west's ones.
[An Nahar] Libyan leaders in Misrata could be held legally accountable by the International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... for crimes committed by militias under their command, Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... warned on Sunday.
"The leaders of the Libyan city of Misrata could be held criminally responsible for ongoing serious crimes by forces under their command," the watchdog said in an open letter to the city's military and civilian leaders.
The International Criminal Court could bring local leaders into account for ongoing torture and abuse in jails and around Misrata as well as the forced displacement of people from the nearby town of Tawargha it said.
"The city's leaders can be held legally responsible for those acts by the ICC," the rights group said, adding that the ongoing abuse is so widespread and systematic that it could amount to crimes against humanity.
Misrata in February became the first city to elect a local council after the 2011 conflict that toppled the regime of slain leader Muammar Qadaffy ... one of those little rainstorms from the Arab Spring... . Its military council, forged last year, wields influence beyond the coastal city.
"Our letter to Misrata authorities is a wake-up call," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2012
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[An Nahar] Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Wally Jumblat ... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling... on Sunday stressed that his support for the Syrian uprising does not imply a change in his domestic alliances, noting that his ministers will not resign from Premier Najib Miqati's government.
"We stress the firm stances: we will stay in this government and we are with (Hizbullah's) weapons in order to defend Leb in the face of Israel, but we reject the use of arms domestically," Jumblat said during a meeting with his party's cadres in the Mount Leb town of al-Khalwat.
"Nowadays, we have chosen to side with the Syrian people, but that does not mean a change in alliances. We have agreed with Hizbullah to manage our differences. They have their point of view concerning the Syrian regime but I won't discuss it now, and we have our point of view which is supportive of the Syrian people, and in my opinion they will eventually realize that they were mistaken," Jumblat added.
He also noted that Moscow will sooner or later regret its support for the regime in Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... , calling on Russia and China to "rescue Syria" and stressing that the regime's crackdown on dissent will only lead to "further killings, displacement and destruction."
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04/09/2012
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[An Nahar] An ethnic Albanian from Kosovo was killed and his wife and four children maimed Sunday in a bomb kaboom at their home in Kosovska Mitrovica, police said.
The bomb was placed overnight on the window ledge of the victims' home, in the Serb-majority northern part of town, police added.
The blast occurred around 1.20 am (2320 GMT), police said, adding that they were not ruling out ethnic motives for the crime.
Northern Kosovo is almost exclusively populated by Serbs who do not recognize the government in Pristina and there is frequent tension between the two communities.
Tension flared earlier this week when a Serbian delegation was stoned in Pristina Wednesday as it headed to a meeting with Kosovo officials to discuss the implementation of agreements reached in EU-sponsored talks.
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[An Nahar] Iran on Sunday rejected demands the West is reportedly to submit at talks due to take place in days, saying it will neither close its Fordo nuclear bunker nor give up higher-level uranium enrichment.
Those two demands, outlined by European and U.S. diplomats to The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... newspaper, were "irrational," the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Fereydoon Abbasi Davani, told ISNA news agency in a lengthy interview.
Fordo, an underground bunker near the holy city of Qom, "is built underground because of sanctions and the threats of attacks," he pointed out.
"If they do not threaten us and guarantee that no aggression will occur, then there would be no need for countries to build facilities underground. They should change their behavior and language," he said.
Iran's enrichment of uranium to 20 percent purity would likewise continue, despite unease from members of the P5+1 group -- the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany -- that it produced uranium stock just a few steps short of military-grade 90-percent purity, Abbasi Davani said.
"We do not see any rationale for such a request from the P5+1," he said.
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#1
Gee Whizzers, "DA BIRD" is just everywhere today.
Now its the Bammer's turn, vee DA-BIRD-VS-IRAN'S-LAST-CHANCE???
[Shabelle] Somali government troops backed by Ethiopian forces on Friday captured two strategic towns in the south of the horn of African nation after Al-Shabaab ... successor to the Islamic Courts... fighters decamped the area, residents and officials said.
The towns of Bur-Hakaba and Qadsax-dhere, Bay region in the southwest of the country fell into government hands without any fighting with Al-Shabaab fighters who left the town hours before the troops entered, residents said.
Somali government officials have welcomed the retaking of these two strategic towns in Bay region and called local residents for calm after the allied forces rolled in.
The cut-thoat group of Al-Shabaab linked with Al-Qaeda has been losing territory to Somali government forces and forces from neighboring country following the retreat of the group's fighters from the Somali capitalMogadishulast year.
The Al-Shabaab commanders have previously described their withdrawal from the areas in south and centre of the country, includingMogadishuas tactical move, saying their forces would revert to guerilla war.
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04/09/2012
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North Korea has apparently finished assembling a three-stage rocket at its launch pad in Tongchang-ri, North Pyongyang Province and there are signs that it is preparing for another nuclear test.
A government source here said, "North Korea appears to have completed assembling the second and third stages of the rocket at the launch pad on Saturday after setting up the first stage on Friday." The source added, "A payload believed to be a small satellite has also been mounted. The launch is expected around Saturday after liquid fuel is injected this week."
The government source added analysis of satellite images show an increasingly large pile of soil forming along the southern entrance of the North's nuclear test site in Punggye-ri, North Hamgyong Province, which appears to have come from another site, "so it looks like they buried a nuclear weapon for testing and are covering it up."
Prior to an underground nuclear test, a shaft is dug, the nuclear weapon is placed inside and the shaft filled up. The fact that soil has piled up in front of the shaft that was dug in the second half of last year could mean a nuclear device has been placed there and is now being covered.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/09/2012
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#1
"Buried a Nuclear Weapon for testing and are covering it up" > HHHMMM, HMMMMM, well ya know, the DPRK isn't exactly that big of country to successfully hide a NucTest???
* TOPIX, FREEREPUBLIC > [Mainichi News.JP = old] NEWSPAPER: 3-4 NORTH KOREAN SUBS DISAPPEAR AFTER LEAVING EAST COAST BASE.
Not sure how these DPRKN Subs are gonna sink the USS ENTERPRISE in the PG for Iran + IRGC iff they are "over there" in East China Sea + WESTPAC.
just sayin'.
* SAME > PHILIPPINES TO SET UP NFZ WHERE NORTH KOREAN ROCKET MAY FALL.
#3
Maybe they're getting gray-market Estes rocket kits...
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
04/09/2012 1:05
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Logistics Management Specialist (GS-0346-13),
Wile E. Coyote, sez: Pharaoh Obama has ordered that, given the gravity of this particular DPRK "defense" requirement, an elevated procurement priority code be assigned...meaning, go anywhere in the world to procure what you need to bring us down...and then, send us the bill.
When it comes to World-Wide Peace, "We're here to Help", BHO.
[An Nahar] Turkey's prime minister has warned of as yet unspecified "steps" if the government of neighboring Syria fails to abide by an April 10 deadline to cease violence, local media reported on Sunday.
"We will patiently follow the process until April 10," Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying by daily Hurriyet.
But "we will implement steps" if violence does not stop after that, he added.
The Turkish premier did not specify what measures his government would take, but the mass influx of refugees fleeing the Syrian unrest has raised alarm in Ankara which has voiced support for the Syrian opposition.
Different scenarios are being floated by the press, including the setting up of a buffer zone along the border with Syria to protect refugees.
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"Nice country ya got there. Be a shame if something happened to it."
Egypt: Moslem Brüderbund presidential candidate says Omar Suleiman ... Now former Vice president of Egypt. From 1993 until his appointment to that office in 2011 he was Minister without Portfolio and Director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate (EGID)... 's entry into race 'an insult to the revolution'.
A bid for power by Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... 's former intelligence chief is an insult to Egypt's revolution that, if successful, would trigger a second nationwide revolt, the Moslem Brüderbund's candidate for Egypt's presidency said.
In his first public comments since being nominated by the Brotherhood on March 31, Khairat al-Shater played down fears of a clash between the powerful Islamist movement and the army generals who have ruled Egypt since Mubarak was ousted last year.
But he warned the Brotherhood would not back a $3.2 billion emergency IMF loan requested by the army-backed government unless the terms are changed or the government steps down and lets a new administration oversee how the funds are spent.
In an interview with Rooters on Sunday, the 61-year-old millionaire businessman denounced former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman's eleventh-hour decision to seek his former boss's job. Mubarak made Suleiman vice president just before losing power.
"I consider his entry an insult to the revolution and the Egyptian people," Shater said. "Omar Suleiman has made a big mistake. He will only win through forgery and, if this happens, the revolution will kick off again."
Shater, who stepped down as Brotherhood deputy leader to run for the presidency, said the decision was motivated by fear that the army-backed government was failing to cooperate with the Brotherhood-dominated parliament and the movement needed an executive post in case the assembly lacked teeth. But he said a clash with the military - backbone of national security - must be avoided.
"Even if there are issues with the military council's handling of the transitional period, such issues must be resolved in a way that does not lead to a real clash with the armed forces," he said. "We must, in fact, work to strengthen and develop the army."
The government began negotiating the loan with the International Monetary Fund in January to help it avert a balance of payments crisis. The IMF has said broad political support in Egypt is a pre-requisite for the loan deal and the Brotherhood has yet to provide its backing. The government now says the talks might not conclude before June.
"We told them (the government), you have two choices. Either postpone this issue of borrowing and come up with any other way of dealing with it without our approval, or speed up the formation of a government," Shater said.
The Brotherhood could also accept a loan if the size of the initial disbursement is reduced so that most of the funds are paid out after a new government takes power following the completion of a presidential vote in June, he added.
#2
A revolt might transpire. A perennial problem for revolt-minded individuals is not knowing the breadth of support for their cause. Anyone who risks his life in such an endeavor wants to know that he's not merely throwing it away for a hopeless cause. The 75% of votes cast for Islamist parties in Egypt assures Islamists that they have tens of millions of fellow travelers - enough to give the military a run for its money. And that is what will sustain any Islamist rebellion - the knowledge that there are more of them than any other combination of factions, by a factor of 3.
#3
At the same time, it has to be said that numbers alone do not ensure the success of a revolt. Algeria, which elected an Islamist majority to office, and then had its military government rescind the elections, was successful in squashing the Islamist revolt that ensued. The masses might have their convictions, but the military does have most of the guns and the training to use them.
#4
The thing about the Egyotian army, as I understand it, is that the ranks are filled with draftees, in for two years. The officers and NCOs are professionals, but can one fight an Algerian-style civil war when a good portion of the force is both unskilled and untrustworthy?
#5
The thing about the Egyotian army, as I understand it, is that the ranks are filled with draftees, in for two years. The officers and NCOs are professionals, but can one fight an Algerian-style civil war when a good portion of the force is both unskilled and untrustworthy?
The regime in power has access to the full resources of the state, however meager they may be. Rebel movements generally don't have that. The Gulf states are extremely unhappy that Mubarak was deposed, and will spend what they need to keep Mubarak's confederates standing. Short of a NATO intervention on behalf of the Islamists, I can't see how they would be able to stand against the repressive machinery of the military. As Barry Rubin noted, Mubarak's fall consisted of a coup by military officials who concluded that he was simultaneously too sick to rule and too much of a lightning rod.
#7
Ah. I forgot to think about the police and the secret police as being as much tools as the army proper. Thank you for explaining, Zhang Fei.
I'm not referring to the secret police. What keeps Assad standing is that he has full access - although somewhat attenuated by the disruptive effects of an insurgency - to the financial resources of the Republic of Syria. The power of the purse is a serious weapon, and it is the primary reason why most rebellions fail - the ruling power can feed and arm its troops whereas the rebels are living hand-to-mouth.
Ana de la Reguera (Mexican) aka Sister Encarnación in "Nacho Libre (2006)" aka Maria in "Cowboys & Aliens (2011)" aka Gabriela in "Cop Out (2010)" aka Blanca in "El traspatio (Backyard (2009)" (age 36)
[Shabelle] A federal trial involving more than a dozen defendants accused in a sex trafficking ring run by Somali gangs is being complicated by cultural issues within the Somali refugee communities in Tennessee and Minnesota.
U.S. District Judge William J. Haynes again this week ordered jurors to return on Monday as defense attorneys argued that the defendants, many of whom are refugees fromSomalia, were juveniles at the time the alleged crimes occurred.
The indictment said three gangs called the Somali Outlaws, the Somali Mafia and the Lady Outlaws were forcing teenage girls into prostitution and operated inSt. Paul,Minn.;Minneapolis;Columbus,Ohio; andNashville.
After selecting a jury last month, the trial was delayed last week when prosecutors turned over thousands of documents and audio recordings from the investigation to defense attorneys on the eve of trial. Both defense attorneys and federal prosecutors have repeatedly declined to comment about the case.
"It can be frustrating to have delays, but it is understandable because the case is so complex," said Derri Smith, executive director of End Slavery Tennessee, who will be an expert witness in the case. "I have the utmost confidence that the judge and jury will bring justice about in the case, but it's challenging for all of them."
The indictment, which was originally unsealed in 2010 and amended by a superseding indictment in 2011, says the defendants, many of them from the Somali immigrant communities in Minneapolis and Nashville, were members or associates of the three gangs. Four unidentified victims, some of who were under age 14, are listed in the indictment.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2012
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#1
Why aren't we honest enough to admit they were taking slaves?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
04/09/2012 12:58
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[Dawn] Pak helicopter gunships attacked hideouts on Sunday in a tribal area near the border with Afghanistan on Sunday, killing 14 suspected orcs, military sources said.
Ten suspected forces of Evil were maimed in the operations in two areas of the Orakzai tribal agency.
The casualty figures provided by the Pak military could not be independently verified and forces of Evil often dispute official accounts.
Pakistain's army and air force have been conducting operations against forces of Evil in Orakzai and the neighbouring Kurram tribal region since the beginning of the year.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2012
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[An Nahar] MP Strida Geagea slammed on Wednesday Hizbullah MP Mohammed Raad, saying that he could've had the minimum amount of "credibility and morality" before criticizing the liquidation attempt of Lebanese Forces A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb... leader Samir Geagea ... Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005 ... .
MP Geagea said in a statement issued by LF press office that all the official stances confirm the "seriousness of the attack."
"The stances of President (Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... ), Prime Minister (Najib Miqati), and Interior Minister (Marwan Charbel) confirm the seriousness of the attack, and constitute an overwhelming response to the statements of MP Raad," she stated.
Earlier, Head of the Loyalty to the Resistance That'd be the Hezbullies, natch... bloc MP Raad criticized attempts by some politicians to exaggerate events and instigate incidents hinting to Samir Geagea without naming him.
MP Geagea expressed regrets over the "low political rhetoric, regardless of the different points of view."
"Personally if I was informed that (Hizbullah secretary general) His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... was attacked, I would've been the first one to condemn it," the MP added.
She lashed out at Raad calling on him to realize that the liquidations might target the March 8 forces ... the opposition to the Mar. 14th movement, consisting of Hizbullah and its allies, so-called in commemoration of their Mar. 8th, 2006 demonstration of strength in Beirut ... someday, rather than only targeting the March 14 forces figures.
"But we refuse violence and killings, and if that happens we will be the first to condemn any attack," Geagea stated.
She hoped that MP Raad and others "commit to a certain level of morality and values as Leb shouldn't lose those principles that constitute a main part of its culture."
The LF leader said Wednesday that he beat feet an liquidation attempt when a sniper fired at his residence in Maarab.
Security forces extracted two sniper bullets, ranging between 12.7 and 14.5mm, from a wall at his house.
The LF leader added that the security of the Maarab compound was not breached and that the attacker had carried out the attack from a distance of up to four kilometers using very advanced equipment.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/09/2012
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[Dawn] Six persons, including a rag-picker, a rickshaw driver and a roadside vendor, were rubbed out in separate violent incidents in different areas of the city on Saturday, police said.
In Baldia Town, a rag-picker was rubbed out when he was busy in his regular work, said the police, adding that gunnies fired shots at 22-year-old Barkat Khan when he was going to some place on a bicycle in Baldia Town No 4 ½.
"The victim was a resident of Afridi Colony in Baldia Town," said an official at the Baldia Town cop shoppe.
He said the motive and the people behind the killing could not be ascertained as the victim's family members did not share any information or express their suspicion on anyone.
The body was shifted to the Civil Hospital Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , where the family took it away without legal formalities, said the official.
In the Landhi area, the police found the perforated carcass of a rickshaw driver.
Officials said the victim, identified as 22-year-old Khurram Sardar Ali alias Shani, was a resident of Korangi's 51-B Area and found rubbed out in the area between Landhi No 6 and the 5-D area.
"The police found the body close to a bus stop called Navy Building," said Landhi SHO Mazhar Iqbal Awan. "Area people, however, said he was killed by some gunnies when he was passing that place in his rickshaw. The body was handed over to the family after completing medico-legal formalities at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre."
The area SHO said the victim was not affiliated with any political or religious group. The family also ruled out any personal enmity behind his killing, he added.A similar killing of roadside vendor took place in PIB Colony.
Police said armed riders rubbed out 42-year-old Abdul Karim Ghanchi, who was standing by his stall near Meena Bazaar. He sustained two bullet wounds and was struck down in his prime. The body was shifted to the JPMC for medico-legal formalities.
"He was a resident of the same area where the incident took place. He sold spices and other items," said Assistant Sub-Inspector Rana Ajmal of the PIB Colony cop shoppe.
He confirmed that the area where the incident took place had been badly affected in the recent violence where only a couple of days ago three coppers were killed in an armed attack.
In the early hours of the day, a suspected criminal was found rubbed out in North Nazimabad.
The area police said the body was thrown out from a moving car near the DC Office bus stop.
"The victim, who appears to be his late-twenties, was hit by multiple bullets. He was identified as Imran Hussain Baloch," said Inspector Kamal Nasim, the SHO of the Taimuria cop shoppe. "As we gathered facts, it came to our knowledge that the victim had a criminal record. He used to be a member of one of the criminal gangs operating in Lyari, and now lived in the Manghopir area."
The perforated carcass of a young man was found in the Korangi area on Saturday, police said.
They said the victim was identified as 27-year-old Shahid Afzal, who had been missing since Friday night. He was an employee of a private company.
"The victim was a resident of Shah Faisal Colony and worked with a private firm in Kornagi," said Inspector Naik Mohammad Jakhrani, the SHO of the Ibrahim Hyderi cop shoppe.
"He originally hailed from southern Punjab. After talking to his family members and friends, we have reasons to believe that his killing was motivated by some personal enmity.
Investigations are going on and we don't think it would be appropriate to reveal the details right now."
A teenage Madressah student was rubbed out in Malir on Saturday, police said.
They said two students of Madressah Al-Arabia Islamia in Ghazi Town, Malir, came out of the seminary in the evening when armed motorcyclists emerged there, fired shots on them and rode away.
"One of the students, 17-year-old Muhammad Dawood was hit by a bullet in the chest," said DSP Rao Iqbal, the area's sub-divisional police officer. "He was shifted to the JPMC where he died. The other student remained unhurt. We are not sure about the motive behind the firing."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
What is a "rag-picker"? The other two mentioned I think I understand what they do; but "rag-picker"?
[Yemen Post] At least 24 faceless myrmidons were killed in Arclight airstrikes in south Yemen on Sunday, the Defense Ministry reported.
"About 16 suspected al-Qaeda faceless myrmidons were killed in the al-Kawd area near Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province," the ministry said in a statement.
"The other turbans, 8, were killed when a US drone targeted their car in the province," alsahwa-yemen.net quoted a tribal source as saying.
Dozens of faceless myrmidons have been recently killed in the battles with the army in Abyan, where some towns including Zinjibar were seized and have become terrorist strongholds.
The US is directly helping Yemen fight the al-Qaeda faceless myrmidons and the Sharia Supporters, who seized the towns and have been fighting the authorities for more than a year.
The growing presence of these groups, which started when protests erupted in Yemen last year, represents a big concern to the West.
The faceless myrmidons have recently revealed plans to expand their presence in south and southeastern regions amid merciless Arclight airstrikes by the US drones.
More recently, al-Qaeda has threatened to attack key economic and security installations in retaliation for drone attacks, and so far, faceless myrmidons bombed the main LNG pipeline and an oil pipeline in Shabwa province.
In addition to al-Qaeda threats, Yemen is witnessing battles between the elite republican guard and rustics, allegedly including al-Qaeda suspects, in the Arhab district north Sanaa.
Furthermore, the battles between the Shiite Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates.... Group and tribes backing the Salafis in Saada province in the far north are continuing. Armed conflicts are threatening the political reconciliation at a time when by the power-sharing government is exerting major efforts to conduct reforms in the army and to hold a national dialogue to put an end to the country's crisis.
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[Yemen Post] Al-Qaeda denied on Sunday media reports claiming that joint Yemeni-American Arclight airstrikes in the southeastern province of Shabwa left some of its beturbanned goons killed, or maimed.In a blurb, Ansar Al-Sharia, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula wing in the country, said that no myrmidon was killed or maimed in the Arclight airstrikes in Bani Ashak area of Shabwa last night. However, there's more than one way to stuff a chicken... local sources confirmed to Yemen Post that massive kabooms occurred last night and the its source was areas-held by the terrorists..Joint Yemeni-US Arclight airstrikes targeted on Saturday night the myrmidons' hideouts in Asaed andBani Ashak areas, 40 kilometers southwest Ataq, the bustling provincial capital of the province, local security source told Yemen Post on condition of anonymity.The security official said that the air strikes also targeted a training camp of the terror network, without giving any further details.Yemen-based al-Qaeda branch has expanded its hold in the southen parts of the country, taking an advantage of the current unrest in the poor Middle Eastern state.AQAP has taken control of some town in the south including, Zinjubar, the bustling provincial capital of Abyan, Jaar, and Moudia in Shabwa.The air strikes coincided with army shakeup decrees by President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi.
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#1
Well, if it wasn't a drone, maybe it was more of those cheap detonators - may not be the best place to go with lowest bidder...
Last week Partido Accion Nacional (PAN) candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota fainted in Baja California state, raising questions both about her health and about her campaign strategy.
Part of the problem for Vazquez Mota has been low turnout of supporters at campaign rallies. Most notable was just before her campaign began at a stadium in central Mexico which had only partially been filled. Her campaign manager, Roberto Gil took the blame for the low turnout. The second was a little more problematic being in Sonora state, a state held by a PAN governor.
Josefina Vazquez Mota
Vazquez Mota's fainting spell also took place in Baja California, due to low blood pressure. But in a rapid response her campaign released photos of her exercising at a hotel equipment, and showing a dynamic, and more importantly, healthier face.
At the time talk was of adjusting her campaign strategy to include forcing Gil out, but after the Easter break, Vazquez Mota has, at least for the moment, dismissed all such ideas..
As with the other candidate, Vazquez Mota took off Thursday thru Saturday for Easter, emerging Sunday to talk about universal health coverage in Mexico.
Gabriel Quadti de las Torres, in an effort to get any kind of bounce in the polls for his moribund campaign told the press earlier in the week he supported PAN president Felipe Calderon Hinojosa's strategy of using Mexico's popular military to stop drug trafficking, adding he would increase the number of Policia Federal operatives to about 10 times the total now deployed.
Gabriel Quatri de la Torres
Quadti de las Torres entered the campaign late as Partido Nuevo Alianza's (PANAL) standard bearer, and has yet to receive more than one percent of the total polled. His proposal to increase the number of Policia Federal agents in the streets is an obvious attempt to wedge an issue Partido Revolucinario Institucional (PRI) leaders have hammered against PAN since PAN's disasterous showing in the statehouses in 2010. His proposal is risky in that he could permanently turn off a large number of his potential supporters.
Leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador began his campaign by promising to reconcile with Zapatista supporters at a campaign rally in Chiapas. About 15,000 suporters were present last week when he spoke of his campaign theme, at least in regard to the Mexican political and independent left, as Reconciliation, Justice and Progress.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
Zapatistas are supporters of the violent Marxist Ejercito Zapatista Liberacion Nacional (EZLN) which attempted to take over Chiapas state 18 years ago last January, in 1994, by waging a war against the Mexican government and supporters. The hot portion of the war ended less than two weeks after it began with a ceasefire negotiated with the help of the Mexican Catholic church and a team including peace activist and poet Javier Sicilia.
Sicilia has protested his nascent non-partisan group the Movement for Peace, Justice and Dignity, even as several high profile members have been included in at large slates for the national Chamber of Deputies.
The Partido Revolucion Democratica(PRD) has included those peace movement leaders as part of their offering for the elections, and Sicilia has responded by suggesting his supporters go to the polls and turn in blank ballots.
PRI candidate Enrique Pena Nieto attended rallies in Veracruz before suspending his campaign for Easter.
Enrique Pena Nieto
Meanwhile, two top PRI leaders have been selected to coordinate the campaigns for Chamber of Deputies and senate seats. Senator Manilo Fabio Beltrones will coordinate Chamber of Deputies candidates, while current party secretary, Cristina Diaz will coordinate senatorial candidates.
Lastly, PAN president Gustavo Madero lamented the "dirty war", as he called it, being conducted in the political season as a Proceso news weekly article was published which showed PAN candidate Miranda Wallace for president or Distrito Federal in a police mugshot taken in 1998. Wallace was arrested by Mexico City police on a charge of resistance of particular and attempted murder. She was subsequently cleared of both charges. According to reports, she had been detained in a women's prison in Mexico City in March, 1998.
Gustavo Madero Munoz
The Dirty War reference by Madero appears to be a warning by Madero to PRI of just how vulnerable they are to vote poaching because of the Dirty War by a series of PRI presidents from 1968 to 1982. Pena Nieto's currently comfortable lead conceivably could evaporate overnight under the right circumstances if enough supporters turn to the other three candidates.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national politcal news for Rantburg.com
#1
As with the other candidate, Vazquez Mota took off Thursday thru Saturday for Easter, emerging Sunday to talk about universal health coverage in Mexico.
Does that mean they'll stop using our emergency rooms?
SANAA, Yemen - Yemens main airport reopened on Sunday, a day after gunmen loyal to the nations ousted president seized the facility in the capital Sanaa in a brazen challenge to the new governments authority, officials said.
Supporters of former Yemeni leader Ali Abdullah Saleh attacked the airport on Saturday, shooting up a surveillance tower and sending tanks and armored vehicles to occupy the tarmac. Their action followed a military shake-up in which key commanders loyal to Saleh were fired.
The security officials said the attackers pulled out from the airport on Sunday but that ex-president Salehs half brother, air force commander Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmar, was determined not to leave his office at the military wing of the airport despite being fired in Hadis purge. Aides have said he would not give up his post until Hadi also fired some of the ex-presidents opponents.
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04/09/2012
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(Rooters) - Police incarcerated 10 suspected Islamist forces of Evil in dawn raids across La Belle France on Wednesday after a shooting spree by an al Qaeda-inspired gunman prompted President Nicolas Sarkozy ...23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. Sarkozy is married to singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit... to order a security clampdown, just ahead of an April 22 election.
The DCRI domestic intelligence service, supported by elite police commandos, carried out arrests in the southern cities of Marseille and Valence, two smaller towns in the southwest, and in the northeastern town of Roubaix, a police source said.
Interior Minister Claude Gueant pledged there would be no respite in La Belle France's pursuit of orcs.
"The pressure on radical Islam and the threats it represents will not stop," he said.
The raids, which followed Friday's arrest of 19 suspects, came 13 days after police snipers rubbed out 23-year-old gunman Mohamed Merah, who had killed three Jewish school children, a rabbi and three soldiers in a spate of attacks around Toulouse. ...lies on the banks of the River Garonne, half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The Toulouse metropolitan area is the fourth-largest in La Belle France... "Those incarcerated have a similar profile to Mohamed Merah," a local police source said. "They are isolated individuals who are self-radicalized."
He said the suspects were tracked on Islamist forums expressing extreme views and were preparing to travel to areas including Afghanistan, Pakistain and the Sahel belt of West Africa to wage jihad (holy war). Some of those incarcerated had already visited these areas, the source said.
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Israel delivered a threatening message to Egypt, according to which it would take action against gun-hung tough guys in the Sinai if Cairo did not take responsibility and secure the countries' shared border, Egyptian officials indicated on Saturday.
Hints of possible Israeli intervention in Sinai could intensify tension between the Bedouin and the Egyptian government, as well as put the fate of the Camp David agreements at risk.
The reported message was transferred days after Sinai gun-hung tough guys fired a volley of Grad-type Katyusha rockets into a residential area of the southern Israeli city of Eilat, and a little over a month since gun-hung tough guys attacked a gas pipeline in the desert Peninsula that transports fuel to neighboring Israel and Jordan for the 12th time.
According to Egyptian officials, the fall of a grad rocket in Eilat and Egypt's denial that it was fired from the Sinai Peninsula has created new tensions between Israel and Egypt, with Israel sending a resolute "and even threatening" message to the Egyptian Military Council regarding the council's responsibility for events occurring in the Sinai.
The warning message, sources said, included hints that Israel might be forced into taking action in the Sinai, if attacks against Israeli targets continue to originate from within the peninsula.
Coupled with Egyptian media reports of Israeli forces massing close to the Egyptian border, the reported warning led to negative reactions from within the Egyptian public.
In an editorial, Halad Salah, editor of the newspaper Youm al Sabbah, warned Israel against using the "false" excuse of attacks from Sinai in order to try and create a rift among the Egyptian Public.
According to Salah, Israel is claiming that it now faces security threats originating from within Egypt, and that the situation in Egypt, specifically the rise of the Islamists "is the main threat, as reported by Israeli newspapers, under the influence of the Shin Bet and the Mossad." If Israel continues to blame the Egyptians, it will soon discover that all Egyptians are united against it.
However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... despite public backlash, the Egyptian Supreme Military Council is aware of its ineptitude in the Sinai, especially after Bedouin militias "conquered" two cop shoppes in El-Arish and Sheikh Zuweid, and are not allowing Egyptian forces to monitor the trade taking place through tunnels between Sinai and the Gazoo Strip.
In response, Egypt began sending reinforcements to natural gas facilities and El-Arish last week. General Salach Al Masri, responsible for the safety of northern Sinai, reported Egyptian intent to clear the Sinai of terrorist activity.
Al Masri reported last week that an initial cadre of 50 coppers and dozens of armored vehicles entered the Sinai, with a mission to retake the cop shoppes, and patrol the natural gas pipeline.
On Saturday, Al Masri told the website "el- masrawy," that a decision was made to increase the security presence in northern Sinai, and that an additional force of 150 coppers and additional armored vehicles will be dispatched to the area surrounding El-Arish and Rafiah.
These additional forces will patrol the length of the natural gas pipeline, and attempt to thwart smuggling of weapons through the tunnels.
This is not the first time that Egypt has sent reinforcements to Sinai. Last November, Al Masri declared that his forces succeeded in arresting those responsible for bombing the natural gas pipeline. A short time later, however, the pipeline was bombed again, and Bedouin militias took control of roads, and Egyptian police guard towers.
The desert peninsula has become a gigantic weapons storage facility, the contents of which are available to anyone willing to pay the Bedouin a reasonable price.
Egyptian Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri reported this month that at least 10 million illegal weapons, including heavy machine guns, submachine guns, rocket launchers and mortars have been smuggled into Egypt from Libya and Sudan since the beginning of the revolution. Some weapons are said to have been smuggled in from Israel as well.
Security officials have reported to the Egyptian media that weapons caches are confiscated on a daily basis, and that it seems today that "every Egyptian family is in possession of a weapon." Large quantities of weapons have made it into the Sinai as well, and are being sold into Gazoo or to organizations active within the Sinai.
In the past, Haaretz has reported that the Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda built a munitions base in the Sinai, meant to serve its forces in Gazoo while radical organizations also found cover at sites in central Sinai that the Egyptian military was unable to breach.
The Egyptian government is aware of the fact that any military endeavor in Sinai will fail without cooperation from the Bedouin tribes. However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... that cooperation would require a very substantial financial investment, including the creation of water and electric systems, the building of schools, and the creation of jobs in an area where unemployment rates reach 90%.
Since Mubarak was removed from office and the creation of the civil government, the Bedouin, numbering around 360,000, have heard numerous promises of government intent to improve their situation.
Despite the fact that meetings have been held with the heads of the tribes, no significant changes have come. Without these changes, the Bedouin will continue to be forced to rely on smuggling and trade with terrorist organizations in order to survive.
The tensions between the Egyptian government and the Bedouin have deteriorated far beyond the relations between the regime and its citizens. It is threatening the delicate relations between Israel and Egypt, just as the Supreme Military Council and the Moslem Brüderbund, set to control the country's future, are declaring their devotion to the Camp David Accords.
A scenario in which Israel would act on its own in the Sinai could turn the cooperation between the Bedouin and the terrorist organizations and the tension between the Bedouin and the Egyptian government into a strategic threat, capable of destroying the peace agreement for which all are worried.
Continued on Page 49
Lest we fergit, ME > OLD DREAM/VISION = DARK, "BLOODY/REDDISH"-COLORED "MAP" OF ISRAEL + ME WHERE ITS NOT CLEAR IFF THE US WILL BE ABLE TO HELP OR DEFEND ISRAEL ANYMORE, or iff it even could.
and
* NOSTRADAMUS = "... None shall see the Powers of Asia destroyed until the Seven/Seventh holds the Line".
#3
The Gyppies are supposed to build schools for these clowns? Why not just draw some lines on the ground and set off your explosives there? Be cheaper, and you can get started right away.
Hmm. Unless they're for training....
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
04/09/2012 19:32
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[Dawn] Pakistain on Sunday evacuated 120 foreigners, mostly Japanese tourists who had been stranded in the north of the country following sectarian festivities that killed at least 14 people.
The town of Gilgit has been under an indefinite curfew since April 3 when at least 14 people were killed and over 50 maimed in two separate incidents involving majority Sunni and minority Shia communities.
Around 120 foreigners including Chinese, German, Japanese, Korean and Thai tourists, were evacuated from Gilgit, officials at the Islamabad airport said.
An AFP photographer said the tourists, both male and female included 77 Japanese.
Earlier, senior police officer Tahira Yasubuddin told AFP in Gilgit that a C-130 aircraft had arrived to transport them to Islamabad.
Clashes erupted in the northern town on April 3 after gunnies opened fire during a strike called by Sunnis over the arrest of a leader for his alleged involvement in a sectarian attack in February that left 18 dead.
After the incident, in which at least five people died, the government imposed a curfew in the town.
Also on April 3 in Chilas, a Sunni-dominated town about 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Gilgit, a mob blocked the main Karakoram Highway and killed nine Shia Mohammedans.
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[Yemen Post] An officer of the Yemeni intelligence was assassinated in the city of Taiz on Sunday, one day after the appointment of a businessman, Shawqi Hail Saeed, as a governor of Taiz.
Local sources affirmed that unidentified persons on a motor cycle showered fires at Major Brigadier Esmaeel Ba-Alwi, leaving him killed, and managed to escape.
The sources said this liquidation was similar to the killing of an American teacher, Joel Shrun, who was killed last Marche by gunnies on a motor cycle in the central of Taiz. The recent liquidation process came amid insecurity Taiz witnesses particularly after the dismissal of the former governor Hamoud Khalid Al-Sufi and other security chiefs accused by Yemeni officers of involving in committing crimes.
News reports alleged on Sunday that the huge Hayel Saeed Anaam Group of Companies has rejected the acceptance of the appointment decree, but the group later affirmed it acceptance of decree.
While some protesters of Taiz expressed their refusal to the appointment of Shawqi as governor, saying that he previously criticized their revolution, others described the decree as appropriate for the current stage.
President Abd Rabo Mansour Hadi issued on Friday several republican decrees changing dozens of military commanders and four governors including Al-Sufi.
Taiz has been a source of anti-regime activity throughout the 11-month popular uprising seeking to end Saleh's 33-year rule, and security forces have often responded with deadly force.
In late May, Taiz security forces attacked the central protest camp in Taiz city, shooting demonstrators and setting their tents on fire. More than 50 people were killed.
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[Yemen Post] The former Yemeni Prime Minister Haidar Abu Bakar Al-Atass has called for removing the former president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... and his aides from Yemen in order to help the state overcome its challenges.
In an interview with the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat Newspaper, he cautioned against turning Yemen to a battlefield of regional and international conflicts under the reasons of combating Al-Qaeda and terrorism.
Al-Atass who presided over the first government after the Yemeni unification in 1990 affirmed that Saleh has not respected immunity given to him by Yemen's parliament, hinting that Saleh and his family seek to spark turbulence and turmoil inside the state, calling in the meantime for a unification state based on equal citizenship and justice.
He asserted that the Yemeni stalemate is a political in the first place and that other problems will be solved easily, reiterating that Saleh created Al-Qaeda in the South and that he attempted to assassinate southern leaders.
Al-Atass who is in exile since the 1994 conflict called for reconstruction of the military and security forces in order to enable the interim government to perform its tasks, citing that he took part in a meeting with Yemeni leaders in Berlin mediated by German institutions, referring that mechanisms of the national dialogue were discussed.
He also stressed that the references of the dialogue should be based on three cases; the Southern Movement, the case of Saada and the Yemeni public revolution.
He said that the global community occurred in mistakes as it granted Saleh immunity and the partnership in the interim government that his stay poses threats to Yemen's stability and security.
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#1
Ahh, you are sooo much better off with your "global community" ehh?
[Dawn] A policeman was injured when he tried to defuse an improvised bomb in Shabqadar area here on Saturday. A mosque and a house were also damaged partially in the blast.
Officials said that police got information that an bomb was planted by unidentified persons near the house of a local, Abaseen. Police rushed to the scene and tried to defuse the bomb, they added.
They said that all at a sudden the bomb went off with a bang, injuring a police constable Alaf Khan. The injured policeman was taken to district headquarters hospital for treatment.
A nearby mosque and house were also damaged in the kaboom. The blast was so powerful that it was heard in far-off areas of the district.
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Abbas gave the PM a month to respond to the Paleostinian positions, which will be laid out in a letter to be delivered to Netanyahu next Wednesday during a Jerusalem meeting with Paleostinian PM Salam Fayyad ...Fayyad's political agenda holds that neither violence nor peaceful negotiations have brought the Paleostinians any closer to an independent state. The alternative to both, violent negotiations, doesn't seem to be working too well, either...
Making friends and influencing people, in the inimitable Palestinian way. But President Obama read Abbas the riot act about getting back to the negotiating table, so here we all are, courtesy of the smartest man in the room.
"It won't be just a letter," Abbas said, according to a source who was present at the meeting. "I also intend to turn to the public in Israel and around the world, and present the Paleostinian positions regarding a peace agreement with Israel."
Abbas said he would not wait until after the U.S. presidential elections in November, which he said U.S. administration officials had requested, before asking the UN General Assembly to upgrade the Paleostinian Authority from "observer" status to that of a state without full membership in the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... "In another month the picture will become clearer," a source quoted Abbas as saying. "If I don't receive a positive response from Netanyahu, I will resume the UN process and ask the UN General Assembly to receive the status of a nonmember state."
Abbas made the comments in a meeting with former Meretz chairman Yossi Beilin and others involved in promoting the Geneva Initiative, an unofficial 2003 proposal for an Israeli-Paleostinian peace accord.
The PA president "told us he was determined to rock the boat, because the present situation cannot continue," one of the meeting's participants said.
Abbas discussed Beilin's recent article in Foreign Policy magazine, in which Beilin - one of the architects of the Oslo Accords - wrote in an open letter to Abbas that he should dismantle the Paleostinian Authority's institutions and declare an end to the Oslo process. Abbas said PA officials have discussed dismantling the Paleostinian Authority and that the issue will rise again if the Paleostinians resume seeking UN membership.
Abbas pledged during the meeting that the Paleostinians will continue to cooperate with Israel on security matters as long as he is in office, and that PA leaders will continue to try to prevent violence.
[An Nahar] Mortar rounds fired from the Syrian side of the border targeted a number of Lebanese towns in the vicinity of the al-Masharfeh area in the northern region of Wadi Khaled on Sunday evening, LBC television reported.
On Tuesday, Syrian troops staged a brief incursion into Lebanese territory amid fierce festivities with rebel forces, local official and residents said.
The official, who requested anonymity, told Agence La Belle France Presse the troops briefly entered the Lebanese side of Masharii al-Qaa, a region that sits along the border between the two countries.
He said one house in the area was hit by mortar shells and gunfire. Its residents had decamped shortly before, he added
Another local resident said several houses were hit.
Another local official in the Lebanese town of al-Qaa, Mansour Saad, told AFP that Syrian troops were apparently chasing rebels trying to flee to Leb.
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(Sh.M.Network)- At least 10 people were killed in a renewed fighting between Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a, pro-government fighters and Al Qaeda-affiliated Al shabab Islamic fascistiin central Somalia, witnesses said Sunday.
The shootout which the locals described was the fiercest took place after Al shabab fighters ambushed Ahlu Sunna forces who were conducting overnight security operations at El-Qohle,a small village locates near the town of El-Bur, central Somalia and a former rebel-stronghold before Ahlu Sunna backed Ethiopian forces rolled in.
News reports said the figures on the casualties were from both warring sides in the area. The stuationa is calm and Ahu sunna still maintain the control as residents started their daily business activities.
Neither Al-shabab nor Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a has made comments on the combat so far.
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[An Nahar] Mali's President Amadou Toumani Toure, who was toppled in a military coup 17 days ago, formally resigned Sunday in a move paving the way for the departure of the junta that ousted him.
Under the terms of a transition deal with the West African bloc ECOWAS, the junta's leaders said they would allow a return to democracy once Toure formally quit.
Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and may be in the process of being chased out now... President Blaise Compaore hailed the accord as a first step in restoring order in chaos-split Mali, whose northern half is now under the control of Islamists, Tuareg rebels and outlaws.
Comparore noted that "two issues warrant the attention of the international community."
"It's the return to constitutional order on one hand, and on the other, it is the preservation of Mali's territorial integrity."
"We have been able to make progress on the first, and we have in days to come to engage on the second," he added.
The deal also led to an immediate lifting of ECOWAS-imposed sanctions and an amnesty for coup participants.
Speaker of parliament Dioncounda Traore is also to become interim president with the task of organizing elections, if possible within 40 days, according to the agreement.
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[Yemen Post] The General People Congress party condemned an liquidation attempt carried out by unidentified gunnies in Saraf area on the outskirts of Sana'a against one of its leaderships on Sunday.Abdul-Alam Abu Nashtan, the general secretary of the local council in Arahab area, some 35 kilometer north of the Yemeni capital of Sana'a, was attacked leaving one of his guards killed, local sources close to the GPC told Yemen Post.While aboard his car along with some of his guards, gunnies opened a barrage of gun shots, but Abu Nashtan was unharmed, said the sources.In a statement, the former General People Congress party, which is headed by former Yemen President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... , said this incident is one of a serious of attempts which target high-ranking leaders in the party, pointing the finger of blame to what it called elements of political sides.This comes as the Elite Republican Guards forces, the best equipped and trained military troops in the country, continue to attack tribal regions in Arhab.
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[An Nahar] The security situation in Leb is "fragile" and any security incident may lead to internal unrest, reported Al-Seyassah Kuwaiti newspaper on Sunday.
A centrist ministerial source told the daily: "Unrest will erupt in more than one region, especially in areas of mixed political presence in order to avoid blame being directed against a certain camp."
It added that "saboteurs" have been deployed in areas that are controlled by the March 14 camp.
"The unrest is aimed at destabilizing Leb through assassinating an influential opposition figure and damaging the country's tourist season," it revealed.
On Wednesday, Lebanese Forces A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb... leader Samir Geagea ... Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005 ... was the target of a failed liquidation attempt at his Maarab residence.
The source predicted that security incidents will take place "very soon, because all the signs indicate that the situation has reached a dangerous phase given the escalation of the crisis in Syria."
It explained that Syrian regime is keen ending the popular uprising against it and it may therefore seek to shift attention from its crackdown by creating strife elsewhere, such as Leb.
Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... bloc MP Ahmed Fatfat told the daily that "everything is possible" after Geagea's liquidation attempt, adding: "It seems that we have entered a new phase in Leb and everything is possible for the criminal mind that does not heed the consequences of its actions."
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The view from Ha'aretz, proud to be the New York Times of Israel.
Ground forces are expected to contribute much more than in 2006, when Israel relied mainly on the IAF, which would entail much more intense urban warfare.
Officers say the Israel Air Force would destroy targets like training bases and rocket-launching pads within a few days, based on the intelligence gathered by the Israel Defense Forces. But this would not be enough, so a ground offensive would be necessary.
"When you stick an [Israeli] flag [on enemy territory], there's no question who won," says a high-ranking officer who requested anonymity. "You need to seize a geographic space. This is the only way the concept of victory can be established."
#1
No point in holding Arab ground. Better to either displace the arabs from said ground to create a buffer or hand the territory over to someone that can be dealt with. In either cases the Israel's should have plans and implement them immediately so they can pull out before the manufactured atrocities start being created.
I would suggest beginning with a series of assassinations of high priority individuals the way Al Queda hampered the Northern Alliance in the days prior to Sept 11.
#2
Iran + Proxies may wanna make sure US Economic Inidcators go up this summer so that the pro-Diplomacy, anti-Iran War Bammer can win re-election in November.
[An Nahar] Syria said Sunday it will not withdraw its forces from protest hubs without "written guarantees" that the opposition will also lay down its arms, a demand swiftly rejected by rebels, who said they will not give guarantees to a regime they do not recognize.
"To say that Syria will pull back its forces from towns on April 10 is inaccurate, with (U.N.-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy) Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... having not yet presented written guarantees on the acceptance by armed terrorist groups of a halt to all violence," the Syrian foreign minister said in a statement.
"Mr. Annan has not submitted written guarantees from the governments of Qatar, Soddy Arabia and Turkey on stopping their funding to terrorist groups," the ministry added.
But Riad al-Asaad, commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army, refused the regime's demand for a "written guarantee" to end the fighting
Al-Asaad said that his group does not recognize Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... 's regime and for that reason they will not give guarantees.
He told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named by telephone from Turkey that if the regime abided by Annan's six-point plan to end the violence, his group would cease fire.
Al-Asaad also said the government should withdraw its forces to bases and remove checkpoints from streets.
Later on Sunday, al-Asaad told Agence La Belle France Presse his fighters will respect Annan's six-point plan.
"We are committed to the Annan plan," al-Asaad told AFP in Beirut by telephone.
"We will present our guarantees and our commitments to the international community, but not to this (Syrian) regime," the FSA chief added.
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[An Nahar] The international mediator for Syria, Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... , said on Sunday he was shocked by the "unacceptable" surge in bloodshed there despite a U.N. deadline for a halt to all violence next week.
"I am shocked by recent reports of a surge in violence and atrocities in several towns and villages in Syria, resulting in alarming levels of casualties, refugees and displaced persons, in violation of assurances given to me," Annan said in a statement.
The U.N. Security Council on Thursday formally endorsed April 10 as the deadline for the Syrian army to withdraw from cities, with a complete halt to violence by all sides 48 hours later.
"I remind the Syrian government of the need for full implementation of its commitments and stress that the present escalation of violence is unacceptable," he said, calling on both the government and the opposition to cease all forms of violence by Thursday's deadline.
His comments came after one of the deadliest days in Syria since the regime launched a brutal crackdown on protests in March last year, with nearly 130 people killed on Saturday alone.
"This is a time when we must all urgently work towards a full cessation of hostilities, providing the space for humanitarian access and creating the conditions for a political process to address the legitimate aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people," Annan said.
Annan, who is the U.N.-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy for Syria, said he was in "constant contact" with the Syrian government and he asked "all states with influence on the parties to use it now to ensure an end to the bloodshed and the beginning of dialogue".
Syria earlier Sunday said its forces would not withdraw from protest hubs without written guarantees from the rebels.
"To say that Syria will pull back its forces from towns on April 10 is inaccurate, Kofi Annan having not yet presented written guarantees on the acceptance by armed terrorist groups of a halt to all violence," the Foreign Ministry said.
The international mediator for Syria, Kofi Annan, said on Sunday he was shocked by the "unacceptable" surge in bloodshed there despite a U.N. deadline for a halt to all violence next week.
"I am shocked by recent reports of a surge in violence and atrocities in several towns and villages in Syria, resulting in alarming levels of casualties, refugees and displaced persons, in violation of assurances given to me," Annan said in a statement.
The U.N. Security Council on Thursday formally endorsed April 10 as the deadline for the Syrian army to withdraw from cities, with a complete halt to violence by all sides 48 hours later.
"I remind the Syrian government of the need for full implementation of its commitments and stress that the present escalation of violence is unacceptable," he said, calling on both the government and the opposition to cease all forms of violence by Thursday's deadline.
His comments came after one of the deadliest days in Syria since the regime launched a brutal crackdown on protests in March last year, with nearly 130 people killed on Saturday alone.
"This is a time when we must all urgently work towards a full cessation of hostilities, providing the space for humanitarian access and creating the conditions for a political process to address the legitimate aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people," Annan said.
Annan, who is the U.N.-Arab League envoy for Syria, said he was in "constant contact" with the Syrian government and he asked "all states with influence on the parties to use it now to ensure an end to the bloodshed and the beginning of dialogue".
Syria earlier Sunday said its forces would not withdraw from protest hubs without written guarantees from the rebels.
"To say that Syria will pull back its forces from towns on April 10 is inaccurate, Kofi Annan having not yet presented written guarantees on the acceptance by armed terrorist groups of a halt to all violence," the Foreign Ministry said.
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[An Nahar] Clashes between government troops and army deserters raged on Sunday across Syria, where at least 84 people were killed and more than 200 placed in durance vile, activists and monitors said.
The weekend escalation in violence came ahead of a U.N. deadline of Tuesday for regime forces to cease fire, prompting harsh words from international envoy Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... who said the escalation was "unacceptable."
The Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said security forces killed 59 people across the country, among them six children.
Twenty-four people were killed in Idlib, 13 in Hama, 12 in Homs, five in the Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... suburb of Beit Jinn, two in Daraa, two in Deir Ezzor and one in Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... , the LCC reported.
For its part, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said five deserters were killed in festivities with government troops in Beit Jinn as army helicopters flew overhead and loud blasts rang out.
The Britannia-based monitoring group said two other deserters were killed in the northwestern province of Idlib and in Aleppo in the north, while 17 regime soldiers died in other fighting across the country.
In the Idlib region, regime forces, backed by helicopters, carried out a large-scale operation east of the town of Jisr al-Shughour, said the Observatory.
A civilian was rubbed out near the Lebanese border, while another two died in the central province of Homs and one was killed by gunfire as troops raided the southern Daraa province looking for suspects, it reported.
According to the monitoring group, 200 people were placed in durance vile across Syria by regime forces as they pressed on with a bloody campaign to crush dissent.
Raids were carried out in the Idlib region of Kafar Nubul, where regime forces, under cover of intense fire, placed in durance vile dozens after government troops clashed with fighters of the rebel Free Syrian Army, activists said.
Clashes also broke out between deserters and security forces on Saturday night in the Damascus neighborhood of Barzeh.
"Security forces stormed Barzeh under cover of darkness, searched homes and placed in durance vile several people," activist Dib al-Dimashqi told Agence La Belle France Presse via Skype.
Security forces also deployed in the central Hama province town of Murk where they "torched houses and cars and placed in durance vile several people," said another activist, Abu Ghazi al-Hamwi.
Fourteen people were also placed in durance vile in the eastern oil province of Deir Ezzor, activists said.
According to the Observatory, violence on Saturday killed 128 people across Syria, including 86 civilians, half of them in the town of Latamna near Murk.
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#1
If the Syrians are killing each other, then they are not killing others outside their borders. More please.
Posted by: regular joe ||
04/09/2012 10:39
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(Sh.M.Network)-- Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden, the speaker of somalia's Transitional Federal Parliament announced Sunday that the ongoing combat against Al Qaeda-allied Al shabab beturbanned goons is at the Ending point.
While giving an Exclusive interview with Shabelle Media, the speaker said operations against Al shabab by Somali government forces allied with the regional troops would be finished in the coming few days the rest of the country.
"The presence of Al shabab in the country is against the peace and stability and it is also a regional issue. The group poses security threats to Somalia and as well as whole east African countries so that it should wiped out from the country soon," the speaker added.
Al-shabab still controls some regions in south and central Somalia, but facing defeat in the battle since withdrawing its fixed military bases in Mogadishu last year 2011.
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[Dawn] Police incarcerated four smugglers, including a woman, and recovered arms from their cars on Indus Highway here on Saturday.
Officials said that on a tip-off that weapons would be smuggled from Darra Adamkhel to down country, the police deputed two teams at Kohat tunnel toll plaza and Khawasi Banda to foil the attempt. They said that the police stopped one car (569-Sindh) near the toll plaza and another (6182-Beautiful Downtown Peshawar) at Khawasi Banda and during search found 105 pistols of various bores and 4,300 cartridges.
The four alleged arms smugglers were identified as Ameer Khan and his wife Shaheen Akhtar of Dera Ismail Khan ... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ... , and Shahzada and Rehan of Darra Adamkhel. They were shifted to Riaz
Khan cop shoppe for further interrogation. The accused were presented before a magistrate, who sent them to jail.
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Poor Barack Obama: he's not just running against the Tea Party and the muckety-mucks of the Supreme Court, but also against actual members of the world-wide one percent! A taste from a long article printed yesterday on the front page of the New York Times..
The two young men had woefully little in common: one was a wealthy Mormon from Michigan, the other a middle-class Jew from Israel.
Sure, if one looks only at nationality and family income. But both were very bright, hard working, goal-oriented, and comfortable being members of a minority in a majority world.
But in 1976, the lives of Mitt Romney ...whose real first name is actually, no kidding, Willard, was governor of Massachussetts and is currently the front-runner for president on the Publican ticket. He is the son of the former governor of Michigan, George Romney, who himself ran for president after saving American Motors from failure, though not permanently. Romney's foot is in an ideological bucket because of Romneycare, a state-level experiment that should have been a warning against Obamacare if anyone had been paying attention. Romney's charisma is best defined as soporific, which is probably why he is leading the Publican field... and Benjamin Netanyahu intersected, briefly but indelibly, in the 16th-floor offices of the Boston Consulting Group, where both had been recruited as corporate advisers. At the most formative time of their careers, they sized each other up during the firm's weekly brainstorming sessions, absorbing the same profoundly analytical view of the world.
That shared experience decades ago led to a warm friendship, little known to outsiders, that is now rich with political intrigue.
Such emotionally loaded language! One gets the impression the New York Times journalist disapproves of such connections for some reason.
Mr. Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, is making the case for military action against Iran as Mr. Romney, the likely Republican presidential nominee, is attacking the B.O. regime for not supporting Mr. Netanyahu more robustly.
The relationship between Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Romney -- nurtured over meals in Boston, New York and Jerusalem, strengthened by a network of mutual friends and heightened by their conservative ideologies -- has resulted in an unusually frank exchange of advice and insights on topics like politics, economics and the Middle East.
Remembering always that conservative ideology is to be read as a curse when used by the highly trained journalists of the New York Times.
CAIRO: Hosni Mubaraks former vice president and spy chief Omar Suleiman will have the behind-the-scenes backing of Egypts ruling generals and the state medias powerful propaganda machine in his bid to succeed his longtime mentor for the nations highest office, according to officials with firsthand knowledge.
Suleiman, 75, will set out as a formidable presidential challenger to stop the Islamists from taking over the country and may also try to sell himself as a safe pair of hands for those increasingly frustrated over tenuous security and a worsening economy.
His surprise candidacy speaks to the seismic changes Egypt has gone through since millions of people took to the streets last year united by a desire to topple Mubaraks regime and the dream of a free, democratic and more just Egypt.
The notion of a Suleiman presidency would have been ludicrous then. But not any more. Many Egyptians have since lost faith with the young revolutionaries who engineered Mubaraks stunning overthrow. The euphoria over his ouster soon gave way to frustration as Egyptians struggled to cope with a surge in violent crime, the fallout from a faltering economy and seemingly endless strikes, street protests and sit-ins that disrupted their daily life.
There is a real constituency that now yearns for law and order and stability after the tumultuous period following the fall of the Mubarak regime, said Michael Hanna, an Egypt expert from the Century Foundation in New York. Many among this sector will view him as a force for such stability in the face of rising chaos and economic uncertainty. But his inextricably tight connection to the former regime and some its most repressive practices will also limit his support.
On Friday, Suleiman reversed a decision not to run and on Sunday he presented his candidacy papers to the election commission just minutes before the deadline expired. His supporters boasted that he collected more than 100,000 signatures, nearly four times the number of endorsements required for independent politicians to be able to run in the May 23-24 presidential election.
I can say with certainty that the (ruling) military council pushed Omar Suleiman to run, declared moderate Islamist candidate Abdel-Moneim Abolfotoh. I cant imagine the Egyptian people will elect a figure from the old regime.
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Blogger Nathan Hersh wields his scalpel, leaving J Street bleeding and in small pieces. He recently left an IDF combat unit, which may have something to do with the directness of his prose.
The general election is just two days away, but neither pundits nor polling agencies have any idea which party will emerge as the victor. The projections differ wildly, with the number of National Assembly seats seen going to each party varying anywhere from 10 to 20.
Political strategists in both the ruling and opposition parties said Sunday there are so many constituencies that are too close to call that 20 to 30 seats could easily be won or lost depending which way voters swing on the day.
As a result, the leaders of the ruling and opposition camps believe everything depends on the last two days of campaigning and are launching a full-court press in the Seoul metropolitan area, which has a much higher proportion of floating voters than other regions. A 48-hour battle has begun in the capital over control of the National Assembly.
The ruling Saenuri Party's election committee chairwoman Park Geun-hye plans to stay in the capital during the period and make the last pitch in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon. The main opposition Democratic United Party's leadership have decided to hold a 48-hour campaign on social networks like Twitter to encourage voting. DUP leader Han Myeong-sook campaigned in 19 constituencies in Seoul on Sunday and plans more rallies all over the capital and surrounding Gyeonggi Province on Monday and Tuesday.
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More at the link. The reporter is much exercised by what he discovered.
Washington, DC - For Alem Dechesa, death was the only way out. For thousands of voiceless Ethiopian domestic workers working in Leb, suicide is the only avenue for escaping a nihilistic existence.
I witnessed the range of human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... abuses endured by Ethiopian maids - from both the perspective of a Lebanese insider and a human rights attorney - and found that Dechesa's death was anything but a horrific aberration, but a common consequence of the modern-day slavery industry in Leb.
I challenged family and friends, who employed undocumented maids, many of whom were working or middle class, only to hear unapologetic echoes including, "Everybody here has a maid, no matter your economic class", or "They have no opportunities in Ethiopia, and they are grateful for the work".
Dechesa took her life on March 14, after experiencing severe beatings, mental abuse and potentially more, from her employer. A video, showing Ali Mahfouz brutally beating Dechesa in front of the Ethiopian Consulate in Beirut, went viral after she took her life. The video, viewed by millions around the world and propelling the story into the global news spotlight, uncovered the dehumanisation and brutality endured by Ethiopian domestic workers in Leb.
Poverty, lack of viable employment alternatives and desperation, give fertile ground for traffickers to exploit despondent Ethiopian women. Once the birthplace of mankind, Ethiopia today serves as a cradle for traffickers pursuing profit and Lebanese nationals, seeking cheap labour - a virtual one-stop shop for inexpensive and convenient servitude.
Recipe for enslavement
An unsavoury blend of Lebanese ethnocentrism, racial animus toward Africans, human trafficking and the debt bondage of maids upon arrival from Ethiopia, make up a recipe for contemporary enslavement. While the images of silent and submissive African maids trapped inside cosmopolitan Beirut apartments, condos and villas seemed juxtaposed at first, the modern portrait of Middle Eastern slavery - I gradually discovered through on-the-ground research, interviewing nearly 50 maids, and an examination of Lebanese labour laws and observance of human rights - was a common picture and practice.
Witnessing the living conditions of these maids - from being made to sleep on kitchen or bathroom floors in small, congested apartments, to being denied the opportunity to travel home for vacation - I was prompted to search for more. I challenged family and friends, who employed undocumented maids, many of whom were working or middle class, only to hear unapologetic echoes including, "Everybody here has a maid, no matter your economic class", or "They have no opportunities in Ethiopia, and they are grateful for the work".
However, a woman is only as old as she admits... the more maids I spoke to - oftentimes surreptitiously - the more I heard pleas for help and a desire to return home. The deeper I dug, the more akin to chattel or classical slavery the maid industry in Leb resembled.
What I found was an ugly underbelly of rape, subjugation, violence and comprehensive dehumanisation - underlined by a pervasive and entrenched racism toward brown and black people - which looked, smelled and felt like slavery.
Many of these women wanted to return to their lives in Ethiopia, but denied that wish due to tallied debts, confiscation of their passports and travel documents and lack of funds. As evident in the video, Dechesa was desperately fighting to flee from Mahfouz's bondage, in front of the Ethiopian Consulate in Beirut - an attempt many Ethiopians have pursued, contemplated or fell short of undertaking.
#1
Slavery never is going to be part of the past in the Muslim world
Posted by: ana ||
04/09/2012 14:07
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#2
Notice how the author paints a wide brush with the term 'Middle Eastern Slavery'?
how many slaves are there in Israel? While I'm sure there might be a few - its not institutionalized (and blessed by the state religion) like in Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Lebanon, etc...
It's not 'Middle Eastern' Slavery - its Islamic Slavery.
TRIPOLI: Libya will not send Seif Al-Islam Qaddafi, the most prominent son of the country's former leader, to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, but will put him on trial in his own country, Justice Minister Ali Ashour said on Sunday.
Seif Al-Islam remains in a secret prison in the custody of the Zintan rebels who caught him last year and will be tried in Libya by Libyan judges on charges of financial corruption, murder and rape, Ashour told Reuters.
Despite the ICC's demands that he be sent to The Hague for trial, "there is no intention to hand him (Seif Al-Islam) over to the ICC, and Libyan law is the right system to be used to try Saif Qaddafi," Ashour said.
Seif, buddy, you'd better open a bigger bag of Kruegerrands...
He denied allegations of mistreatment made by an ICC defense lawyer, who said this week that Seif Al-Islam had been beaten and had been misled about the charges against him. "He eats with the people who guard him, and he is in good condition," he said.
Pressure is mounting on Libya to hand Qaddafi's son to the ICC as human rights organizations say the country is unable to give him a fair trial.
Then again, the ICC can't give anyone a fair trial if by fair you include a timeline that proceeds faster than geologic...
An ICC delegation arrived in Tripoli on Sunday to discuss Seif Al-Islam's case with the justice ministry, Libya's representative in the ICC, Ahmad Al-Jahani, told Reuters.
Ashour said his ministry had prepared a prison for Seif Al-Islam and negotiations were under way with the Zintan rebels to transfer him to Tripoli.
The ICC says it has jurisdiction over the case because it issued warrants last year for the arrest of Muammar Qaddafi, Seif Al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah Al-Senussi, who was arrested last month in Mauritania. A UN Security Council Resolution obliges Libya to cooperate with the court, the ICC says, and Tripoli's failure to hand over Seif Al-Islam could result in it being reported to the Council.
Which would then do what? I think this is what the ICC really fears, that it would be show to be toothless.
Seif Al-Islam faces the death penalty if found guilty by a Libyan court and a prison term if convicted by the ICC.
On Wednesday, the ICC ordered Tripoli to "comply with its obligations to enforce the warrant of arrest" and surrender Seif Al-Islam to the court's custody without delay. The ICC had earlier given Libya until Jan. 10 to say whether and when it would surrender Seif Al-Islam and to provide information about his health, then extended the deadline to February.
Ashour declined on Sunday to give details of how Seif Al-Islam would be tried or of preparations for his trial, saying only that the judicial committee responsible for the trial had not yet been created.
"Carla del Ponte to the yellow courtesy phone, Ms. del Ponte..."
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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.
ZIMBABWEAN dictator Robert Mugabe was yesterday said to be fighting for his life in a Singapore hospital with an undisclosed illness, amid reports he had agreed to hand over power to his feared Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The Obama administration is responding to the recent report that shows a federal agency spent more that $800,000 on a lavish conference near Las Vegas by putting some of the blame on the Bush administration.
International Criminal Court
Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling...
Najib Miqati
[An Nahar] Iran on Sunday rejected demands the West is reportedly to submit at talks due to take place in days, saying it will neither close its Fordo nuclear bunker nor give up higher-level uranium enrichment.
North Korea has apparently finished assembling a three-stage rocket at its launch pad in Tongchang-ri, North Pyongyang Province and there are signs that it is preparing for another nuclear test.
[Shabelle] A federal trial involving more than a dozen defendants accused in a sex trafficking ring run by Somali gangs is being complicated by cultural issues within the Somali refugee communities in Tennessee and Minnesota.
[Dawn] Pak helicopter gunships attacked hideouts on Sunday in a tribal area near the border with Afghanistan on Sunday, killing 14 suspected
Samir Geagea
Six persons, including a rag-picker, a rickshaw driver and a roadside vendor, were 
At least 24 
Josefina Vazquez Mota
Gabriel Quatri de la Torres
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
Enrique Pena Nieto
Gustavo Madero Munoz
(
[Yemen Post] The former Yemeni Prime Minister Haidar Abu Bakar Al-Atass has called for removing the former president 
(Sh.M.Network)- At least 10 people were killed in a renewed fighting between Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a, pro-government fighters and Al Qaeda-affiliated Al shabab 
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
The two young men had woefully little in common: one was a wealthy Mormon from Michigan, the other a middle-class Jew from Israel.
TRIPOLI: Libya will not send Seif Al-Islam Qaddafi, the most prominent son of the country's former leader, to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, but will put him on trial in his own country, Justice Minister Ali Ashour said on Sunday.
