Hi there, !
Today Fri 07/29/2011 Thu 07/28/2011 Wed 07/27/2011 Tue 07/26/2011 Mon 07/25/2011 Sun 07/24/2011 Sat 07/23/2011 Archives
Rantburg
531688 articles and 1855967 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 55 articles and 142 comments as of 11:05.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Arkansas soldier shooter pleads guilty, gets life
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [2] 
3 00:00 Frozen Al [3] 
0 [2] 
0 [2] 
0 [2] 
3 00:00 Frozen Al [2] 
2 00:00 USN, Ret. [3] 
0 [2] 
0 [2] 
0 [2] 
0 [2] 
0 [2] 
3 00:00 rammer [3] 
0 [2] 
0 [2] 
9 00:00 newc [4] 
0 [2] 
Page 2: WoT Background
1 00:00 Besoeker [2]
2 00:00 Procopius2k [2]
5 00:00 badanov [3]
6 00:00 Anonymoose [2]
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [2]
0 [2]
2 00:00 JosephMendiola [2]
0 [2]
0 [2]
0 [2]
1 00:00 trailing wife [2]
0 [2]
0 [2]
0 [2]
0 [2]
2 00:00 Glenmore [2]
1 00:00 American Delight [2]
0 [2]
1 00:00 Ebbang Uluque6305 [2]
0 [2]
Page 3: Non-WoT
6 00:00 Mercutio [2]
7 00:00 newc [4]
1 00:00 SteveS [2]
0 [2]
0 [2]
0 [2]
5 00:00 Barbara [4]
1 00:00 Besoeker [2]
3 00:00 JosephMendiola [3]
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [2]
0 [2]
1 00:00 gromky [2]
Page 4: Opinion
3 00:00 JosephMendiola [5]
0 [3]
48 00:00 JosephMendiola [3]
0 [2]
3 00:00 mojo [2]
Page 6: Politix
5 00:00 Pappy [4]
Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Sandra Bullock aka Leigh Anne Tuohy in "The Blind Side" aka Margaret Tate in "The Proposal" aka Jean Cabot in "Crash" aka Gracie Hart/ Gracie Lou Freebush in "Miss Congeniality" aka Lucy Moderatz in "While You Were Sleeping" aka Annie Porter in "Speed" aka Angela Bennett/Ruth Marx in "The Net" aka Melba Club in "Making Sandwiches" (age 47)



Needing protection of her "Blind Side"?
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 07/26/2011 1:16 Comments || Top||

#2  i'm kind of thinking that i can hold it above 55 mph...........
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 07/26/2011 22:25 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Yemenis hail transitional council
[Iran Press TV] Anti-government protesters have poured into the streets in southern Yemen to expressed support for the newly formed transitional council to run the country.


Mass rallies in support of the 17-member council of opposition figures were held in the cities of Taizz and Ibb on Monday.

Demonstrators also called for the downfall of the government of country's long-time dictator President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower...
and formation of a civilian government.

They also demanded the prosecution of Saleh and his regime officials over the killing of hundreds of anti-government protesters since opposition rallies began in the country in late January.

Yemeni anti-government youth groups set up the transitional council last week to manage the country's affairs and to lead efforts to try and force Saleh from power before his possible return from Soddy Arabia.

According to the Youth Revolution Council, one of Yemen's largest youth organizations, the council would include former Yemeni president Ali Nasser Mohammed, former defense minister General Abdullah Ali Aleiwa and leaders of several opposition groups, including those in exile.

Tawakul Karman, a member of the transitional council, said the council has three priorities: the abolishment of Saleh's regime, leading the country during a transition period, and the prosecution of Saleh, his son, and members of his regime.

The council will also announce a 501-member "national assembly" that will draft a new constitution, Karman said.

Since Saleh left the country for Soddy Arabia for medical treatment in early June following an attack on the presidential palace, Yemenis are holding almost daily anti-government protests across the country, demanding his resignation.

Protesters have vowed to continue their protest rallies and sit-in through the Mohammedan fasting month of Ramadan until their demands are met.

"We will continue our sit-in through Ramadan, not just during Ramadan, until all of Saleh's regime and its elements are removed. We have now removed the root but we are left with the stem, the corrupt elements who control the oil and petroleum facilities, gas and water. They want to rule this nation while they entrap its citizens," Rooters quoted anti-government protester Abdullah al-Ghashmary as saying.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Sana'a Plunged into Darkness as Attacks Continue on Power Towers
[Yemen Post] Power towers transporting electric power from Marib to Yemen's capital Sana'a came under attack on Sunday, with the Marib gas-fired power station out of commission for a second time in the past two weeks.

The attacks occurred in Nihm district where the army has been fighting tribes for months.

The capital Sana'a was plunged into darkness last night after electricity was cut off at 10:00 pm.
"Lookit that, Ahmed, we're a metaphor!"
On Thursday and Friday power towers in Bani Al-Harith on the outskirts of Sana'a and in Bani Al-Jadan in Marib sending the station, which supplies almost 40 percent of the country's electricity, out of service.

This year, the station and power towers have been attacked for almost 35 times, according to officials at the Public Electricity Corporation.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe they don't like air conditioning.
Posted by: Kojo Snump5054 || 07/26/2011 7:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Electricity is an infidel invention, anyway.
Posted by: gr(o)mgoru || 07/26/2011 9:57 Comments || Top||

#3  People are the most complex combat environment.

Ask yourself, "What is so important about turning off the electricity? How does it help them win?"

Answer that and you will learn how to fight them. Fail to do so, and we will not win.
Posted by: rammer || 07/26/2011 23:03 Comments || Top||


Yemen Says Suicide Attack on Military Convoy Bore Hallmarks of Al-Qaeda
[Yemen Post] Yemen said on Sunday the suicide kaboom on a military convoy this morning in its business capital Aden bore the hallmarks of Al-Qaeda. The attack left 4 soldiers dead and 21 others injured.

An investigation is underway to identify the attacker and the group behind, a security source said.

An car bomb was rammed into the military convoy near the air force base in Al-Mansoura district while on its way to Abyan, where the army has been fighting Islamists for months.

Lately, the army with support from tribes has regained several cities in Abyan which were taken over by Islamists who announced the province as an Islamic emirate amid the persistent unrest across the republic.

Many turbans, soldiers and civilians have been killed in the battles and tens of thousands of families have been displaced.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Bangladesh
Jamaat leader summoned for contempt
[Bangla Daily Star] The High Court on Monday directed ATM Azharul Islam, acting secretary general of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami
... a Pakistani catspaw remaining active in Bangla politix, loosely affiliated with the Pak religious party of the same name and closely affiliated with most of the terror organizations in Bangla. A member of the BNP's four party governing coalition....
, to appear before it on August 8 in connection with a contempt of court petition against him.

Dhaka University teacher Wahiduzzaman Chan filed the contempt of court petition with the court Monday morning.

In his petition Wahiduzzaman said Azharul at a presser on July 19 said "the government has scrapped the caretaker government system by pointing the gun on the shoulders of the court".

After hearing the petition, the HC bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore directed the government to take appropriate legal action against the Jamaat leader for making such comment.

The bench also asked the government to submit a report before it in 10 days describing the progress in complying with the order.

The bench issued a rule upon Azharul to explain in two weeks why he (Azharul) should not be punished for displaying contempt of court through his comment.

The home secretary, inspector general of police (IGP), commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan of Police and Supreme Court's registrar will have to take legal steps against Azharul in two weeks, the court said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Caribbean-Latin America
2 Bad Guys, 1 Bystander Die in Ambush of Top Cop
For a map, click here. For a map of Nuevo Leon, click here. I do so love a happy ending.
Five elements of a police chief's security detail were wounded and two armed suspects were killed in an ambush of a police chief Sunday, according to Mexican news reports.

Teniente Adelaido Flores, chief of police of Torreon, Coahuila, and five of his security team were travelling down the Torreon-San Pedro road to attend a soccer game when they were attacked at around 1610 hrs by armed suspects who were aboard an SUV, an Ecosport and a Chevrolet pickup truck.

Following the encounter, all three vehicles fled the scene, but the SUV was later found near ejido La Concha with two apparent shooters shot dead.

A bystander was hit by stray gunfire near the ambush site. He was identified as Miguel Ãngel Alvarado Saenz. Alvarado Saenz was struck twice by gunfire. He died hours after receiving medical attention.

Teniente Adelaido Flores was named to replace former police chief General Carlos Bibiano Villa Castillo after a putative replacement, Victor Flores Gallardo, 50, and his girlfriend, Patricia Gonzalez Sifuentes, 26, were ambushed and killed by armed suspects at Gonzalez Sifuentes'residence in Villas San Agustin colony in Torreon last March.
To read the Rantburg report on the murder of Victor Flores Gallardo Patricia Gonzalez Sifuentes click here
Posted by: badanov || 07/26/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Mayhem in Monterrey: 18 Die
For a map, click here. For a map of Nuevo Leon, click here. For a map of Monterrey, click here.
A total of 18 individuals were killed in drug and gang related violence in and around Monterrey, Nuevo Leon since Friday, including three people shot to death at a grocery store in Santa Catarina Monday.

  • A total of 14 individuals were killed in drug and gang violence over the weekend in and around Monterrey.
    • Two Nuevo Leon State police agents were killed Friday afternoon as they were riding aboard motorcycles on Morones Prieto expressway. The agents were assigned to the security detail of the US Consulate in Monterrey.

    • Friday in Guadalupe, an unidentified man who had been abducted earlier was found shot to death. The victim was found near the intersection of Calle Epicurio and Avenida Lincoln in the La Silla colony.

    • At 2030 hrs Friday a couple was found tortured and shot to death in Marin. A message was found with the victims, but its contents were not disclosed.

    • Friday morning in Santa Monica colony in Monterrey, a Mexican Army patrol arrested three unidentified individuals who were travelling in a vehicle with two bodies in the vehicle's trunk.

    • Saturday, Dario Alejandro Pompa Medina, 23, was found shot to death near a payphone.

    • Saturday morning four black bags containing the remains of one individual were found in Monterrey.

    • Some decomposed human remains were discovered by locals near General Teran near the China-General Teran road.

    • Saturday night an unidentified individual was found shot to death in the Residencial Española colony in Monterrey. The victim was found near the intersection of Calle José Alvarado and Privada Onix.

    • Two armed suspects were killed in a firefight with Nuevo Leon state police agents late Saturday night in Monterrey. The firefight lasted 20 minutes. Weapons seized in the aftermath included three guns, two short and one grenade launcher.

    • Sunday Antonio Ibarra Castillo, 25. was found shot to death in Buenos Aires colony in Montemorelos municipality. Ibarra Castillo was reportedly kidnapped two days before he was killed.

  • An unidentified man was found shot to death in Santiago municipality Sunday. The victim was found in Presa de la Boca.

  • An unidentified man was shot and wounded in south Monterrey Sunday near the intersection of avenidas Lazaro Cardenas and Alfonso Reyes. An AK-47 was used in the attack.

  • Enrique Soto Serrato, 28, was shot and wounded Saturday night near the hotel serving as the quarters for the Preventive Federal Police in Zona Centro in Monterrey. The shooting took place near the intersection of Avenida Madero and Calle Juan Mendez.

  • Three unidentified individuals were shot to death ta a grocery store in Santa Catarina Monday. One of the victim was found dead inside the store, near the intersection of calles San Juan del Rio and San Felix. The other two victims were found shot to death outside the store.
Posted by: badanov || 07/26/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


13 Bad Guys Die in 2 Guerrero Firefights
For a map, click here

Nine armed suspects were killed in a firefight with municipal police, while five more were killed Mexican army forces near Iguala, Guerrero late Sunday night, according to Mexican news accounts.

Reports say municipal police were patrolling around 1930 hrs in the village of Zacacoyuca in Iguala municipality when they encountered a group of armed suspects travelling aboard three vehicles. Suspects were ordered by police to stop, but instead opened fire on the patrol, then attempted to flee, sparking a pursuit.

Police forces returned fire. During the pursuit towards the village of Paitla Zapotal, suspects dumped the bodies of their dead out of their moving vehicles, six dead in all. Apparently the pursuit ended at that point.

Subsequent patrols by police forces in the area found a Nissan sedan with two wounded suspects, who subsequently died while on their way to receiving medical attention. Later a Volkswagen sedan was found with one dead suspect.

Later that evening at about 2200 hours a Mexican army detachment of the Mexican 35th Military Zone on patrol encountered a convoy of several vehicles in the nearby village of Zacacoyuca.

Reports say the suspects aboard opened fired and attempted to flee. The ensuing gunfight and pursuit lasted 40 minutes in which five suspects were killed.

Reports suggested the suspects were likely members of the Beltran-Leyva cartel.

One unidentified police officer was reported wounded in the earlier pursuit and firefight.
Posted by: badanov || 07/26/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Umarov warns Russia of renewed insurgency
Doku Umarov warned that Russia would be the target of a newly strengthened insurgency in a video posted on an Islamist web site on Monday.

During the 17-minute-long video Umarov, who fancies himself the Emir of the Caucasus, says his insurgency has been strengthened by overcoming recent divisions that saw three high-level militants split from his Caucasus Emirate last year.

Wearing camouflage gear and an Islamic skullcap in the video posted on the Kavkaz Center web site, he said, "We want to assure you that our jihad is starting a new chapter, inshallah."

"We are calling on all mujahedin in the Caucasus and in other territories so that all differences stay in the past and that all our strength, will and power is directed at attesting to the word of Allah and against our enemy."

At the end of the video Umarov hugs high-ranking militants Hussein Gakayev and Aslambek Vadalov, who had left Umarov. Their allegiance to Umarov is likely to consolidate authority within the insurgency.

Meanwhile, security forces killed three suspected militants in a gunfight in Dagestan. One of the victims was Mekhtibek Bashirov, leader of an insurgent group in the Caspian Sea city of Derbent, according to the press service of the National Anti-Terrorist Committee.
That explains why he wasn't in the video with Doku...
Two women alleged to be trained as suicide bombers were in the alleged militant safe house seized by security forces in the town of Dagestanskiye Ogni, south of the regional capital Makhachkala. One woman was killed in the operation, while the other is in the hospital injured after surrendering to police.

Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev told Interfax, "Today's operation foiled possible serious terrorist attacks ... Two female suicide bombers have been disarmed."
This article starring:
Aslambek Vadalov
Doku Umarov
Hussein Gakayev
Posted by: ryuge || 07/26/2011 06:20 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  IOW, more Decentralized Leadership [post-Osama/Abbottabad] while allowing for expanded, but autonomous or wholly independent, Insurgent + Terror Campaigns. Also protects the "Next Generation(s)" of Regional, Global Jihad Leaders.

[HAMZA BIN LADEN, etal. here].

ALA AYMAN ZAWAHIRI + POST-OSAMA "CORE AL-QAEDA"; + MUQTADA SADR'S MILITIAS IN IRAQ + SOMALIA [East-Central Africa].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/26/2011 19:03 Comments || Top||


Europe
Roofer hailed a hero after Norway island rescue
"You do not get scared in such a situation, you just do what it takes," Marcel Gleffe said.

But the 32-year-old German roofer's actions of sailing towards Utoya island - as gunman Anders Behring Breivik was on his shooting spree - to try to rescue the youths who were trying to escape from him, has been hailed as nothing short of heroic.

Mr Gleffe and his parents had been drinking coffee at the Utvika camping ground - just 600 metres opposite Utoya island where a summer camp for youth members of Norway's ruling Labour Party was being held - when they heard a series of bangs. They looked up and saw smoke coming from the island.

When they rushed down to the camp ground's jetty, hoping to find out what happened, they saw another camper pulling a teenager out of the water as a girl swimming behind her screamed "help", "shooting" and told them to call the police, Mr Gleffe told German magazine Der Spiegel.

Mr Gleffe, his parents and other campers snapped into action, jumping into their small boats and paddling towards the island in an attempt to save as many people in the water as possible.

"I immediately suspected that there was a connection to the attack in Oslo. I know the difference between fireworks and gunfire. I knew what it was about," Mr Gleffe, who was described in media reports as having a military background, told Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet.

"In such a situation, you don't think at all," he told Der Spiegel.

"There were people swimming everywhere in the water. I threw them lifejackets and pulled those into the boat who were having the most trouble. Everyone was screaming, but they were also helping each other."

Mr Gleffe brought his boat as close to the shore of Utoya island as he could and kept an eye out for Breivik - whom he had earlier spotted through his binoculars.

He was initially puzzled as to why some of the youths were frightened of him when he tried to rescue them, with some screaming "don't come too close" or "do you want to kill us", but later found out that Breivik, while dressed in a policeman's uniform, had called the youths to come to him before he fired on them.

Mr Gleffe made about four or five boat trips and pulled up to 30 people out from the water. Together with other campers, they rescued a total of 150 people from the island.

He brushed aside praise, telling Der Spiegel: "What we did simply goes without saying."
Hero. Simple, straight-forward, modest, righteous man. Bless you, Mr. Gleffe.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/26/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Thanks for finding that, Dr. White. Too bad you had to go to Australia (electronically) to find it.
Posted by: Bobby || 07/26/2011 6:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Having known some Norweigians pretty well and having visited Oslo, one of the eyeopeners I had involved firearms and the norwegian culture.
While "peace loving" is Norweigian "brand attribute", I got into a couple of discussions about gun violence in America. What I discovered is that among the generations, from 20 somethings to those that remember the Nazi's marching "the wrong way" down their main boulavard, is knowledge and use of firearms. I was in a crowd of 10 young adults and every one of them had handled guns before- part of the rural culture where most everyone of them has some type of rural mountain cabin- usually without electricity that has been in the family.
I realized they did not share the same debate politicized debate we are subjected to in the USA.
Posted by: Capsu78 || 07/26/2011 9:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Some disturbing info about the incident:

Unarmed Norwegian police needed permision to retrieve guns
Posted by: Frozen Al || 07/26/2011 11:40 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
PKK kills three Turkish soldiers
(KUNA) -- Three Turkish soldiers were killed by members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in south east of Turkey, security source said on Monday. The three soldiers were returning from the village of Ikipinar to their military post when they were ambushed by members of PKK in south eastern province of Mardin, National TV (NTV) quoted the source. The attack comes in response to clashes between Turkey's armed forces and PKK along with parliamentary boycott, sources added.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
Arkansas soldier shooter pleads guilty, gets life
A terrorist who carried out a deadly shooting at an Arkansas military recruiting station pleaded guilty to his crimes in an Arkansas courtroom Monday, receiving a life sentence without parole and avoiding the death penalty.

Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, 26, a convert to Islam, had already confessed to the 2009 crime, in which he drove to the recruiting office in Little Rock and fired numerous rounds, killing one soldier and injuring another. Police said he told them he had done so to protest the U.S. military and "what they had done to Muslims in the past." But Muhammad originally pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges.

Muhammad's jury trial, which began last week, was noteworthy for taking place in state court. Other terrorism-related cases since the Sept. 11 attacks have been tried in federal courts, but none have resulted in a death sentence.

On Monday morning prosecutors received his written plea offer. The prosecuting attorney said his office relayed the offer to the families of the victims, Army Pvts. William Long, 23, and Quinton Ezeagwula, who then decided they could tolerate a life sentence.

Ezeagwula's mother, Sonja, 46, said in a telephone interview that she was not entirely satisfied with the outcome. Her son, who was 18 at the time of the shooting, still has dozens of bullet fragments in his body, and suffers major physical and psychological pain. And she did not think that Muhammad was remorseful.

"Who's to say if he's in prison he won't recruit other people who think the way he thinks?" she said.
This article starring:
Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad
Posted by: ryuge || 07/26/2011 00:43 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hang him high.
Posted by: Dave UK || 07/26/2011 6:59 Comments || Top||

#2  The bottom line was the prosecution agreed to this after jury selection, so they calculated that the defense had one or two jurors who would never vote for the death penalty.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/26/2011 9:07 Comments || Top||

#3  I think it is a terrible waste of oxygen that this POS is going to live to a ripe old age. I hope the Aryan Nation gives him what he deserves.
Posted by: Frozen Al || 07/26/2011 15:08 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Afghan rockets land in Bajaur
[Dawn] Four rockets fired from Afghanistan landed in Mamond area of Bajaur Agency, aka Turban Central on Sunday.

Residents said that the rockets were fired from Kunar province
... which is right down the road from Chitral...
of Afghanistan, but did not cause any damage. Elders of Mamond tribe have deployed volunteers near the border to prevent the faceless myrmidons from crossing over in their area.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


At least 27 militants 'killed' in NW Pakistan
[Emirates 24/7] At least 27 gunnies and four rustics were killed in shootouts in a restive Pak tribal area bordering Afghanistan, officials said Monday.

The gunbattles between a local tribal force and Taliban beturbanned goons erupted in Kurram Agency
...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora...
late Sunday, they said, adding that Pak forces later reinforced the tribal fighters and pounded bully boy positions with artillery.

"At least 27 gunnies and four members of peace lashkar (the tribal force) were killed in the fighting in Masuzai area of central Kurram," local government official Sher Buhadar told AFP.

The tribal lashkar was backed up by paramilitaries and artillery units of the Pakistain army, he added.

Regional commissioner Sahibzada Anees confirmed the fighting and said more than 30 people had been killed in the gunbattles.

The corpse counts could not be verified independently as the area is out of bounds to the media.

Army front man Major General Athar Abbas
... who is The Very Model of a Modern Major General...
said earlier this month that a military operation in the area would clear it "of beturbanned goons involved in all kinds of terrorist activities, including kidnapping and killing of locals, and suicide kabooms".

Pakistain's seven tribal districts bordering Afghanistan are rife with a homegrown insurgency, and are strongholds of the Afghan Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Washington has described them as the most dangerous place on Earth.

Kurram also suffers from sectarian violence between majority Sunni Mohammedans and minority Shiites.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Iraq
2 civilians killed in Iranian bombardment of Arbil villages
ARBIL / Aswat al-Iraq: Two citizens have been killed and three others were injured by Iranian artillery bombardment of Kurdish villages in northeast Arbil over the past 24 hours, the Border Guards Command in Arbil reported on Monday.

“The Iranian artillery has continued its bombardment of Seidakan area of Soran Township, 110 km to the northeast of Arbil, beginning from last night till this (Monday) afternoon, killing 2 civilians and wounding 3 others of villages inhabitants,” the Border Guards Command announced, adding that the “Iranian forces have given the inhabitants of those villages 3 days to leave their home villages.”

Noteworthy is that northern Iraq’s Kurdistan Region’s border areas, close to Iran and Turkey, had become targets for Turkish and Iranian bombardment, under justification of chasing the anti-Ankara Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the anti-Tehran Free Life Party (PJAK), taking refuge in those areas.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/26/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Arrests after Anti-Assad Demos in Damascus
[An Nahar] Syrian armed forces have placed in durance vile several people after demonstrations against President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
regime were held across 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...
rights activists said on Monday.

"The army on Sunday placed in durance vile nine people in the district of Hajar al-Aswad and many others in Sahnaya," a suburb south of Damascus, said Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"Protesters demanding the fall of the regime marched on Sunday night in Hajar al-Aswad ... in response to a campaign of arrests carried out earlier by the army in the capital," he told Agence La Belle France Presse by telephone.

As part of the protests, "more than 300 lawyers gathered at the courthouse in Damascus calling for the release of placed in durance vile lawyers and prisoners of conscience," he added.

On Saturday, the military placed in durance vile at least 26 people in the Damascus neighborhood of Juber, many of whom were returning to their homes, said the Observatory.

Security forces have already carried out sweeping arrests in other parts of the capital, including Rukneddine and Qaboun, after erecting barriers around the protest hotspots to isolate them.

The arrest campaign is part of a brutal crackdown launched in response to pro-democracy protests that broke out in mid-March, killing at least 1,483 civilians and 365 troops, according to rights groups.

At least 12,000 people have been placed in durance vile and thousands have decamped to neighboring Turkey and Leb, rights groups say.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Syrian govt adopts multipartism: report
[Dawn] Syria's government has adopted a draft law authorising multipartism in a move that could end the decades-old monopoly on power of President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor...
Baath party, a report said on Monday.
Really momentous. Recall that Egypt had a "multiparty" system under Mubarak. You had to have a permit to form a party, and if you had the temerity to actually field a candidate he'd be jugged for something or other, usually something disgusting.
The law was adopted by the government during the night, the official SANA news agency reported. The government "adopted a draft law regarding political parties in Syria as part of a programme of reform aimed at enriching the political life, creating a new dynamic and allowing for a change in political power," SANA said.

The current constitution stipulates that the Baath party, in power since 1963, is "the leader of state and society." Political pluralism has been at the forefront of demands by pro-reform dissidents who since March 15 have been taking to the streets across Syria almost daily to call for political freedoms.

"The bill stipulates the essential objectives and principles governing the activities of parties, conditions for their establishment ... and rules relating to their financing, their rights and their obligations," SANA said.

It prohibits parties founded on the basis "of religion, tribal affiliation, regional interests; professional organizations as well as parties which discriminate on the basis of race, sex or colour," the report said.

It added that non-Syrian parties are also banned.

According to SANA, the draft law stipulates that "party organs should not comprise any military or paramilitary elements, whether public or secret" while the party principles, objectives and funding must be clearly established.

Prime Minister Adel Safar had early June ordered the creation of a committee tasked with drafting a law on political parties.

A few days earlier, the Syrian authorities had announced a series of measures aimed at ending the popular revolt against Assad's autocratic regime.

These included the lifting of a state of emergency which had been in force for almost 50 years, and which authorised the arrest and interrogation of any individual while restricting gatherings and movement.

Assad later announced a general amnesty for political prisoners while saying talks were under way on new laws on the media and political pluralism.

On June 20 he called a national dialogue which he said could lead to a new constitution and even the end of his Baath party's political domination.

Opposition groups said however the reforms did not go far enough and called for the introduction of genuine multiparty democracy.

The opposition also boycotted the July 10 "national dialogue" meeting in protest at the government's continued deadly crackdown on the unprecedented anti-regime protests.

Human rights groups say at least 1,483 civilians are now confirmed dead in the government crackdown. The violence has also claimed the lives of 365 troops and security forces.

At least 12,000 people have been tossed in the clink and thousands have decamped to neighbouring Turkey and Leb, rights groups say.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Multipartism sounds like multiculturalism. "programme of reform aimed at enriching the political life, creating a new dynamic and allowing for a change in political power" lots of ruck.
Posted by: Dale || 07/26/2011 7:20 Comments || Top||

#2  "Multipartism sounds like multiculturalism."

Do you mean you prefer single-party states, Dale? (China, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam etc)
Posted by: Aris Katsaris || 07/26/2011 9:31 Comments || Top||

#3  They've got what they call a multiparty system in Iran, Aris, but all candidates have to be approved by the Mullahcracy regardless. While slightly more liberal than official
single party states, these states are neither democracies nor republics, and not therefore not praiseworthy. Except, perhaps, in the American saying, "For a fat girl she doesn't sweat much."
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/26/2011 12:26 Comments || Top||

#4  TW that was good. I had never heard that expression. That was the direction I was headed.
An effort to deflect, diffuse, divide and conquer.
The Baath party will call the shots in my opinion. Otherwise we will hear that the "reforms did not go far enough" nor will they go fast enough. Ideal environment for provocateurs to sprout.
Posted by: Dale || 07/26/2011 13:48 Comments || Top||

#5  Dale, a friend from a small town in South Carolina used to say that. Also, "Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick."
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/26/2011 14:09 Comments || Top||

#6  I see Aris is still dumb as a post.

Posted by: Rob Crawford || 07/26/2011 18:19 Comments || Top||

#7  Multipartism is like Greece where you have your choice of Papandreou family or the Karamanlis family.
Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 || 07/26/2011 19:15 Comments || Top||

#8  An effort to keep the Hashemite's from being slaughtered if fallen, Like the Assyrians 2000 years ago and their Assad.
Posted by: newc || 07/26/2011 22:34 Comments || Top||

#9  Pardon My confusion of Alawite with Hashemite - Predominately Jordanian.
Posted by: newc || 07/26/2011 22:36 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
38[untagged]
7Govt of Pakistan
3Govt of Syria
1Hezbollah
1Jamaat-e-Islami
1Palestinian Authority
1Taliban
1TTP
1al-Qaeda in Arabia
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2011-07-26
  Arkansas soldier shooter pleads guilty, gets life
Mon 2011-07-25
  Taliban hang 8-year-old boy in Afghanistan
Sun 2011-07-24
  More than two million Somalis out of aid groups' reach
Sat 2011-07-23
  8 Dead in Syria as More Than 1.2 Million March in Hama, Deir Ezzor
Fri 2011-07-22
  Blast rocks Oslo, Norway PM's office
Thu 2011-07-21
  AQAP Announces Allegiance to New Al-Qaeda Leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri
Wed 2011-07-20
  'Death squads' on streets of Homs
Tue 2011-07-19
  Libyan Rebels Claim Control of Brega
Mon 2011-07-18
  Gunmen Kill Senior Karzai Aide, Afghan MP in Kabul
Sun 2011-07-17
  Yemen protesters form council to run country
Sat 2011-07-16
  Indonesia arrests principal after school blast
Fri 2011-07-15
  U.S. Strikes in Yemen Said to Kill 8 Militants
Thu 2011-07-14
  Saudi Dismantles Group Plotting to Overthrow Regime
Wed 2011-07-13
  Three blasts in Mumbai, city on high alert
Tue 2011-07-12
  Karzai's brother killed by bodyguard

Better than the average link...



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.
54.226.155.151
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (20)    Non-WoT (12)    Opinion (5)    (0)    Politix (1)