[KhaamaPress] The Australian federal government has decided to scrap a crucial visa programme for Afghans who served the country, including interpreters who assisted Australian forces.
Since the Taliban ...Arabic for students... takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, over 2,000 Afghan LEE holders and their family members have travelled to Australia.
However, a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package... unknown Afghan translators are stranded in the country, still facing the threat of violent mostly peaceful retaliation under Taliban rule.
The Australian announced on Friday that it will terminate the locally engaged employee Visa (LEE) program in May 2024, with applications to close in November.
An independent review of the programme advised that move after concluding that neither the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade nor the Defense had "adequate case management systems in place."
It was discovered that the programme needed better record-keeping, limited legal monitoring, and delays in departmental communication.
"Applicants from these cohorts who were previously found to be ineligible will be contacted, where possible," the government said in a statement.
Dr Kolomeitz accepted that the November deadline might cause applicants to rush to submit their applications. "There will be a lot of work in the short timeframe," he told SBS News.
"But just reading the general tenor of this [report] ... I certainly expect there will be much cooperation from [Foreign Minister] Senator [Penny] Wong’s office and Home Affairs.
"I am quietly confident now that we will get this job done."
In the past ten years, more than 2500 Afghan employees and their families, including translators and consular staff, have been resettled in Australia.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong criticized the previous administration for the way it handled evacuations after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021.
Since the fall of Kabul, more than 12,000 permanent humanitarian visas have been issued to Afghan citizens.
NATO can't help. Putin has nothing to do with it. Sweden's problems are self-inflicted.
[GatestoneInstitute]
After the Russian invasion of the Ukraine in February 2022, Sweden and Finland abandoned generations of neutrality to apply for membership in the NATO military alliance. However, there is already a gang war going on in Swedish streets, and it has nothing to do with Russia.
[National Police Commissioner Anders] Thornberg estimated that more than 30,000 people are now involved in gang violence in Sweden... According to Thornberg, the situation is "extremely serious," with organized crime infiltrating and corrupting the democratic society, the business world and the public sector.
Some two million immigrants (20% of the population) now live in Sweden, according to David Jones in the Daily Mail, Many come from the most troubled parts of Asia and Africa and have not integrated well into Swedish society. Rival gangs now shoot each other on a regular basis. In Stockholm alone, 52 gangs are vying for control of the burgeoning drug trade, according to a police report, and they are becoming ever more ruthless. Some child gang members even carry explosives in their school thermos flasks. Jones writes:
“Twenty years ago, gun crime was almost non-existent here." — David Jones, the Daily Mail, February 10, 2023.
"Ten to fifteen years ago, it was about shoplifting when we were dealing with 14-year-olds, but now they deal in drugs and handle automatic weapons... Older criminals use children to avoid being caught themselves, and for the children, it is a sign of status to be chosen. It starts as a cool thing for a kid who can't see consequences and ends up getting involved in gang conflicts."— Police officer who asked to remain anonymous, document.no, March 1, 2023.
When available resources are dedicated to investigating shootings and bombings, other crimes such as burglary or theft have become effectively risk-free. This inversion of law enforcement contributes to a growing sense of lawlessness now being felt by many Swedes. What is the point of having laws if they are not enforced, or only used to punish honest citizens?
Since 2010, shoplifting in Sweden has doubled.
More serious crime is also being ignored or de-prioritized by an understaffed police force. In the city of Uppsala, victims of rape complain that they must wait for months to be interviewed.... Most available police resources are now dedicated to combating criminal gangs.
Swedish schools are also becoming increasingly violent, for teachers and pupils alike. Reports about threats and violence at schools have more than doubled since 2012. These reports mainly concern students who have attacked teachers with threats, punches, or strangulation.
In Malmö, Sweden's third-largest city, native Swedes are already a minority. The city is experiencing a kind of "white flight." Many move to smaller towns to find safer environments and schools for their families.
While ownership of rifles for hunting is not uncommon in Sweden, owning guns for self-defence had never, until recently, been a reason to be granted a firearms license.
Between January and May 2023, Swedish police recorded on average one completed bomb detonation every two days. If you add the bombs that were in preparation, but not yet detonated, Sweden experienced one explosives-related crime per day. Rival gangs increasingly continue to target each other's relatives with revenge attacks.
In early May 2023, National Police Commissioner Anders Thornberg stated that more than 1,000 people are initiated into criminal gangs across Sweden every year. Despite some arrests, the rate of recruitment shows no sign of slowing down. With three new recruits, many noticeably young, added every day, it is virtually impossible to reduce the total number of active gang members. Thornberg estimated that more than 30,000 people are now involved in gang violence in Sweden. For comparison, he stated that the number of police officers in Sweden is 22,600. The number of gang members already exceeds the number of police and keeps growing at an alarming rate. According to Thornberg, the situation is "extremely serious," with organized crime infiltrating and corrupting the democratic society, the business world and the public sector.
That Sweden has become one of Europe's most violent countries has finally attracted international attention. The French newspaper Le Monde lamented "Sweden's powerlessness in the face of organized violence." The paper quoted Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson from the Moderate Party stating that the situation is "uncontrollable" and may "get worse before it gets better." Kristersson labelled the dozens of criminal gangs in Sweden "domestic terrorists."
Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer admitted to state broadcaster SVT that with 62 fatal shootings in 2022, Swedish society has clearly failed in the fight against organized crime. Strömmer stated that there is no quick fix to the rise of gang crime in the country and warned it would take time for the government to get a handle on the situation.
According to David Jones in the Daily Mail, the Swedish justice system, "which many feel prioritises young offender's rights over those of their victims," has failed at handling the ultra-violent gang crime of recent immigrants.
"Barely a day goes by in Stockholm without a shooting or a bombing," noted Swedish journalist Paulina Neuding.
"In one part of the city, housing estate residents have been informed about what to do if their building is a bombing target. For all too many Swedes, this is the new normal.
"Under Swedish law, children under 15 cannot be sentenced to any criminal punishment and older teenagers are seldom given more than four years in 'compulsory care'. So mobsters now recruit young people, arm them with thermos-flask bombs or guns and send them out as soldiers in their gang wars.
"The country's liberal criminal justice system and the fact that the police were never trained for such problems have made life comfortable for new gangs in immigrant neighbourhoods."
"Sweden has become a gangster's paradise — and a case study in how not to integrate migrants," wrote Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator and a columnist for The Daily Telegraph. He further commented that its "liberal migration and criminal justice systems have incubated a shocking sub-culture of violence" and that Sweden's police are losing control of some cities and towns.
While true, it should be noted that France, Britain, and other Western European countries have plenty of problems of their own from violent crime. Nigel Farage, former leader of the UK Independence Party said he fears that Britain, if it continues allowing in waves of young male illegal migrants into the country, could face the same fate as Sweden. His warning came after the arrest of four asylum seekers from Afghanistan accused of raping a 15-year-old girl in Kent. The suspects had arrived in Britain illegally by crossing the English Channel in small people-smuggler boats from France.
Almost all gang members in Sweden are either first- or second-generation immigrants, usually with a background from the Islamic world or Africa. Although many politicians may not like to admit it, this problem was largely imported.
Jama Omar, a Somali immigrant who resides in the troubled Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby, lost his son to a fatal shooting in August 2021. So far, the police have not arrested anyone. Omar told the newspaper Aftonbladet that he does not believe that the legal system in Sweden works. Omar blamed racism from Swedes for why many Somali immigrants have been killed in gang-related crimes, adding:
"Shootings are happening all over Sweden, but have hit the Somali community extra hard. The state is responsible for the safety of residents, but we do not consider our children to be included in that protection."
It’s ok, nobody else’s children are included in that protection, either.
Gang violence in Sweden has become so widespread, according to Christoffer Bohman, who resigned as a member of the Swedish police force in early 2023, that the police are no longer able to contain the problem.
A Swedish police officer, who asked to remain anonymous, lamented the involvement of "very vulnerable" young children, many of whom are under the age of 15 and therefore below the minimum age for criminal responsibility in Sweden. The police officer remains pessimistic about the future. "There is no chance. It only gets worse and worse," he replied. "There is simply no respect for the police" in crime-riddled immigrant areas, he said.
When available resources are dedicated to investigating shootings and bombings, other crimes such as burglary or theft have become effectively risk-free. This inversion of law enforcement contributes to a growing sense of lawlessness now being felt by many Swedes. What is the point of having laws if they are not enforced, or only used to punish honest citizens?
Since 2010, shoplifting in Sweden has doubled. In an article in the newspaper Aftonbladet, a number of shop owners stated that the situation for Swedish grocery stores is urgent. One grocer in Uppsala said that his shop is forced to remove expensive meat in the evenings, for fear that it will be stolen. Shoplifting has become a big problem that is not given a high priority by the legal system. Few people in Sweden are now prosecuted for theft. Traders are therefore urging politicians and the police to expend more resources on stopping everyday crimes that affect many people — and necessary, they claim, to maintain the social contract and people's willingness to pay taxes.
More serious crime is also being ignored or de-prioritized by an understaffed police force. In the city of Uppsala, victims of rape complain that they must wait for months to be interviewed. Some of them choose to drop the case because of that. "We have had women who have waited up to eight months to get in touch with the police after they made a report [about rape]," said Josefine Agius, coordinator at the Uppsala women's shelter. According to section manager Andreas Pallinder from the local police, this situation is painful, but due to a lack of resources. Most available police resources are now dedicated to combating criminal gangs.
Despite diverting resources from investigating other types of crime, a disturbing number of murders and bombings in Sweden are never solved at all. Swedish Radio News has gone through all the bombing incidents that took place in Sweden during 2020 and 2021, a total of 186 explosions. The investigation shows that a person was convicted of either planning or carrying out a bombing in just 12 of those cases. Jon Wåhlander, head of operations at the police's national bomb squad, admits that the current conviction rate of merely 6 percent is unacceptable.
Violence has spread throughout all sectors of Swedish society like a cancer. The Work Environment Authority has received an increasing number of reports of threats and violence on the job from ambulance staff in various parts of Sweden. In 2022, there were more than three times as many such reports, compared to five years earlier. This includes staff being threatened with guns, receiving death threats, being beaten, or physically stopped from leaving an incident.
Swedish schools are also becoming increasingly violent, for teachers and pupils alike. Reports about threats and violence at schools have more than doubled since 2012. These reports mainly concern students who have attacked teachers with threats, punches, or strangulation.
In Malmö, Sweden's third-largest city, native Swedes are already a minority. The city is experiencing a kind of "white flight." Many move to smaller towns to find safer environments and schools for their families.
A group of five Arab immigrants in Malmö were recently charged with aggravated assault. The incident took place on November 22, 2022. The gang harassed a Ukrainian truck driver who was fishing, pushed him into the freezing cold river, and laughed while watching him fight for his life while they filmed the event on a mobile phone. When pulled from the water by emergency responders, the victim's body temperature was just 34 degrees, classed as hypothermia.
During police questioning, one member of the gang insisted they were only "having fun." Four are from Iraq. They arrived in Sweden between 2007 and 2014 and all now possess Swedish citizenship. The fifth arrived in Sweden from Syria in 2014 and obtained Swedish citizenship in 2016.
On March 2, 2023, an Iranian immigrant stabbed a 10-year-old Dutch tourist and her grandmother in Gothenburg. The attack, which seems to have been totally unprovoked, happened in broad daylight in the middle of the city center. The girl suffered life-threatening injuries. According to the independent news sites Samnytt and Fria Tider, the assailant had 52 registered offenses on his criminal record. He had previously been convicted of many crimes in Sweden, including robbery and assault, but had escaped with lenient sentences.
A few months prior to nearly murdering the child, he was convicted of stealing a computer from a shop close to the scene of the stabbing. The prosecutor wanted him to be sentenced to prison; instead, he was given probation. The court said it was of the opinion that there had been an "improvement in his personal and social situation."
About 20% of Swedes now state that they would feel safer in their country if they had the right to self-defence with a firearm. This number might be considered low in the USA, with its Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. However, it represents a major shift in public opinion for a historically safe Scandinavian nation. While ownership of rifles for hunting is not uncommon in Sweden, owning guns for self-defence had never, until recently, been a reason to be granted a firearms license.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
06/03/2023 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[21 views]
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#1
Yup - they're fucked, and any effort to reverse course will of course be described as xenophobic and racist by the usual suspects in the Guardian and Aftonbladet.
#2
The horrific consequences of all the ignorant--and I do mean ignorant--virtue signaling about refugees. I do see that the new government is trying to implement assimilation measures like civics tests and Swedish language requirements. But I fear it's too little, too late.
Very glad my great grandfather left Sweden in 1879.
Posted by: Tom ||
06/03/2023 7:06 Comments ||
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#3
Hey, but at least they can feel good about themselves now, eh?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/03/2023 7:09 Comments ||
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#4
..but, but they said Trump was wrong about no-go areas.
#6
Fifteen or so years ago I bought the last example of an end of production go fast Volvo (they exist) for factory delivery in Malmo. A couple of weeks before pickup I got an email saying the vehicle was no longer available offering me a full refund or the choice of another model. I got on the phone and pressed the issue. Eventually, Volvo admitted a gang had broken into a secure lot and stolen a number of factory delivery vehicles. They were embarrassed to discuss the matter. Today it's probably just a routine fact of business.
[Dawn] Aafia Siddiqui ...American-educated Pak cognitive neuroscientist who was convicted of assault with intent to murder her U.S. interrogators in Afghanistan. In September 2010, she was sentenced to 86 years in jug after a three-ring trial. Siddiqui, using the alias Fahrem or Feriel Shahin, was one of six alleged al-Qaeda members who bought $19 million worth of blood diamonds in Liberia immediately prior to 9-11-01. Since her incarceration Paks have taken her to their heart and periodically erupt into demonstrations, while the government tries to find somebody to swap for her... , a Pak neuroscientist jugged You have the right to remain silent... in the US for 86 years for allegedly attacking American soldiers in Afghanistan, had a third meeting with her sister at a prison hospital in Texas on Thursday.
"Please think of Fowzia Siddiqui and Aafia today! After the tainted joy of their reunion after 20yrs today they must say goodbye at least for a while," Aafia’s lawyer Clive Stafford Smith wrote in a tweet he posted before the meeting.
The two sisters had their first reunion in 20 years at the Carswell prison hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, on Tuesday. The lawyer attended all three meetings between the two sisters while Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... Senator Mushtaq Ahmed also accompanied them on at least one occasion.
"Govt of Pakistain you owe her honesty," the lawyer wrote in another tweet. "Aafia and I spoke today about how she needs to know whether her infant Suleiman was really killed when she was originally kidnapped."
US authorities say Aafia was detained in Afghanistan in 2008 and was brought to a US military base for interrogation, where she grabbed a rifle and opened fire on her interrogators.
The US government said it was unaware of her location from March 2003 until July 2008, but statements released by Aafia’s side indicated that she was kidnapped earlier in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , where her son also disappeared.
Her other two children — a son and a daughter — were babies when she was incarcerated but they are in their 20s now. She saw their pictures on Tuesday, after 20 years.
She had not been in contact with any of her family members for more than a decade.
"It was deeply depressing, but nevertheless a privilege, to be present for this emotional reunion," said Mr Smith, the lawyer. The visits, he said, focused on "how we can get her home from the hell of her current existence".
Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, in a tweet, said the sisters met in a room separated by a glass wall and were not allowed to exchange gifts. Quoting Dr Fowzia, he said Aafia was not in a good condition and was not aware of the death of her mother, who passed away last year.
Dawood Ghaznavi, a Pakistani lawyer associated with the free Aafia movement, said US authorities could send Aafia to Pakistan if the Pak establishment assured them that "they would keep Aafia in a secure place" and would not allow her to resume her activities.
Yes, but who would be gullible enough to believe Pakistani government assurances in this matter?
Mr Smith said, "our request is to let Aafia go home" but it could only happen if Pakistain made sincere efforts.
[GEO.TV] Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has claimed that incarcerated Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) Vice-Chairman Shah Mehmood Wormtongue Qureshi ...a Pak political shape-changer. He is undistinguished except for his habit of periodically needing to have his lips reattached... will leave the Imran Khan ...aka The Great Khan, who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five... -led party as soon as he finds an alternative.
Asif's comments come days after sources had said that PTI's key deserters met Qureshi in Adiala jail and tried to convince him to part ways with the former prime minister — who was voted out in April last year.
However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... Zain Qureshi — son of Qureshi — dismissed the perception that his father would part ways with Khan or the former ruling party.
Over 80 PTI leaders and politicians have already parted ways with Khan over, what they claimed, May 9 mayhem when party workers and supporters attacked public and military installations almost across the country.
"Shah Mahmood had told me he wanted to join the PML-N [Pakistain Moslem League-Nawaz] when he left the PPP [Pakistain Peoples Party]," said the defence minister while speaking during the Geo News programme "Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath" on Friday.
Asif, who is also a PML-N big shot, said that the former foreign minister had also met PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif ...served two three non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf, then by the courts... in this regard.
Speaking about the May 9 riots that erupted after the deposed premier's arrest, the federal minister said that the establishment was challenged in May. "Mutiny was broken out in May, do they not know what is the punishment of rebellion against the army?" he said.
"The establishment, politicians and the people are on the same page regarding the May 9 events," he said, adding that the state was attacked in that month.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/03/2023 00:00 ||
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[20 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Rudaw] Last year, Zaid Salam travelled to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... , the first leg of what he hoped would be a journey to Europe. But his dreams were cut short when he was arrested by Ottoman Turkish police and deported back to the Kurdistan Region, along with more than a hundred others. A year later, he is thinking of trying again.
"In September last year, we were arrested and deported. I once again applied for a [Ottoman Turkish] visa, but they denied me a visa," Salam, a 19-year-old unemployed youth from Ranya in the Raparin district of Sulaimani province, told Rudaw on Wednesday.
"I am planning to go back again through the smuggling routes. I am unemployed. I do not have a job here in this country. I make only 10,000 dinars and work from sunrise to sunset and when I go back home, I sleep at 7 pm out of exhaustion. Every youth from Raparin wants to migrate," he said.
Scores of people, mainly youth, from across the Kurdistan Region and Iraq take to smuggling routes on a daily basis out of desperation, in hopes of escaping endless crises in the country, including high unemployment, political instability, and corruption.
Raparin has around 30 businesses that offer assistance in obtaining visas, and according to them, around 500 young people apply for Ottoman Turkish visas every day. The companies also act as intermediaries between migrants colonists and smugglers.
Abdulla Omer, the owner of a travel agency, says every day around 20 youth come to apply for a Ottoman Turkish visa, but strict visa requirements for youth between the ages of 18 and 25 mean most of them opt to travel through illegal routes.
"Two classes of people want to travel: most of them are those who never return, and others just travel for vacations, but their number is small. A Schengen visa is very difficult to get," he said.
According to data from the Association of Returned Moslem colonists Migrants from Europe, in the first five months of 2023 up to 1,000 people have left for Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... from Raparin. Of this number, two have gone missing.
In the past three years, 74,200 people have left the Kurdistan Region for the West. Of this number, 16,100 were from the Raparin administration alone. Of those, 216 died en route to Europe, 57 of them from Raparin.
"There is a heated market of transporting migrants colonists from here to European countries. And no one guarantees whether or not they will safely arrive. If they [migrants colonists] manage to make it to Europe, then the smugglers receive their money, and if they die, they [the smugglers] will get away with that," Abu Bakir Ali, head of the Association of Returned Moslem colonists Migrants from Europe told Rudaw.
Government authorities and the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... mission in Iraq (UNAMI) are investigating the issue.
"The Kurdistan Regional Government authorities are aware of this situation. A few days ago a UNAMI delegation was here. We explained and informed them about this trend in this region," said Hiwa Qarani, head of the Raparin Administration.
[IsraelTimes] Washington also targets other Iranians for suspected conspiracies to murder perceived threats against Tehran, which is seeking to avenge 2020 killing of top general
The US imposed sanctions Thursday on an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official and others it says took part in wide-ranging plots to kill former national security adviser John Bolton and others around the world, including at least one additional US government official.
The alleged 2021 plot against Bolton, one of the best-documented of the alleged liquidation efforts, is part of what US prosecutors and former government officials describe as ongoing efforts by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to kill Trump-era officials behind a 2020 US Arclight airstrike
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/03/2023 01:58 ||
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[19 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Sanctioned because they failed?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/03/2023 6:57 Comments ||
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#2
Only because Bolton really never was a "Trump aide".
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/03/2023 8:16 Comments ||
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#3
Everybody get your Bolton posters ready for our protest marches if they successfully whack him.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/03/2023 8:46 Comments ||
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#4
The problem with the Bolton posters is you need a separate page for the mustache.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
06/03/2023 9:25 Comments ||
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#5
He is the Lanny McDonald of the deranged NEOCON movement.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/03/2023 9:33 Comments ||
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[Rudaw] Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... has released one Danish and two Austrian citizens in an arrangement mediated by Oman and Belgium a week after a prison swap with Belgium.
"I’m very relieved that we can finally bring Kamran Ghaderi and Massud Mossaheb home after years of arduous imprisonment in Iran," Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said in a statement.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen stated that he was "happy and relieved that a Danish citizen is on his way home to his family in Denmark after imprisonment in Iran," without naming the individual. He thanked Oman and Belgium who "played an important role" in securing the person’s release.
Schallenberg also thanked his Omani and Belgian counterparts for their "valuable support."
The three Europeans were departing Iran for Oman and then to Belgium, Alexander De Croo, the prime minister of Belgium, said on Twitter. "We’ll continue advocating for the release and humane treatment of all Europeans unjustly held in Iran," he said.
Last week Iran conducted a prisoner swap with Belgium mediated by Oman, freeing an Iranian diplomat convicted of a bomb plot and a Belgian aid worker charged with spying.
Iran's Mizan news agency said the three were released on humanitarian grounds. Iran is accused of detaining foreigners and dual nationals and using them as bargaining chips with the West.
Ghaderi and Mossaheb are Austrian businessmen who were arrested in 2016 and 2019 on charges of spying for the United States. They were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment each.
Oman is a frequent mediator between the West and Iran. Sultan Haitham bin Tarik visited Tehran this week and met Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini... On May 6, Iran executed Habib Farajollah Chaab, a Swedish-Iranian national accused of terrorism. Chaab was from the Arab minority in Iran and led the Swedish Branch of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz (ASMLA).
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/03/2023 00:15 ||
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[14 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Rock bottom prices and three for one swaps. There are crazy hostage deals available during Iran’s Spring Clearance Sale. All foreign prisoners must go.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/03/2023 8:54 Comments ||
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[IsraelTimes] TV report comes after US intelligence officials say Iran-backed operatives were conducting drills at camp for attack on American troops in Syria
Airstrikes in the Damascus area earlier this week that were attributed to Israel targeted a Hezbollah terror group training base, according to an Israeli television report. Citing a Middle Eastern intelligence source, the Kan public broadcaster said Wednesday that the camp in the city of Dumayr, northeast of Damascus, was hit during a wave of strikes on targets in Syria’s capital on Sunday night.
The unit training at the Dumayr base — known within the Iran-backed terror organization as the Golan File — operates in southern Syria near Israel’s border. Kan said Golan File members were training for operations against Israel.
The Golan File mostly involves collecting intelligence and recruiting operatives, but also has weaponry in its possession — namely explosives, light arms, machine guns, and antitank missiles, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Last week, it was reported that Golan File Hezbollah operatives were conducting military exercises at the Dumayr base in preparation for an attack on American troops in Syria. The report was first published by the al-Hadath network and later confirmed by two US intelligence officials to the Long War Journal, a daily publication of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank.
According to the reports, the training involved tanks and small arms.
The Golan File also made headlines last month after a Hezbollah operative in Syria tasked with enlisting locals to gather intelligence on Israel was reported by Kan to have resumed activities, after lying low in response to Israel’s recent arrest of one of his spies.
Damage was caused to two warehouses in Damascus in the strike late Sunday, according to the Russian military. Russia is a close ally of Syria, has forces operating in the country, and provides Syria with air defenses that try and shoot down Israeli jets and missiles.
"At 11:45 p.m. on 28 May 2023, two F-15 tactical fighter jets of the Israel Defense Forces from the airspace of the occupied Golan Heights fired six GBU-39 guided aerial bombs on targets near the city of Damascus," the so-called Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria said Monday.
"Two air bombs were intercepted by the air defense forces of the Syrian Armed Forces using Russian-made Buk-M2E systems. The Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... damaged two warehouses. There were no casualties or injuries," it added.
Iran-backed Hezbollah, considered the most significant threat along Israel’s borders, is Lebanese but has become increasingly active in Syria since coming to the aid of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... during the civil war in the country.
While Israel’s military does not as a rule comment on specific strikes in Syria, it has admitted to conducting hundreds of sorties against Iran-backed groups attempting to gain a foothold in the country, over the last decade.
Many of the strikes have targeted the Golan File and other Iranian efforts to entrench themselves on Israel’s border with Syria, including one such strike in April.
The IDF says it also attacks arms shipments believed to be bound for those groups, chief among them Leb ...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... ’s Hezbollah. Additionally, airstrikes attributed to Israel have repeatedly targeted Syrian air defense systems.
[An Nahar] A Hezbollah official said Friday there was "no justification" for linking the group to an Irish peacekeeper's killing, a day after a judicial official accused five murderous Moslems of last year's attack.
Private Sean Rooney, 23, was killed and three others were maimed on December 14 when their U.N. Interim Force in Leb ...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... (UNIFIL) vehicle was attacked near the southern coastal village of al-Aqbiyeh.
Fadi Sawan, the investigating judge in the military tribunal for the case, had issued a 30-page indictment accusing five people of "forming a gang to commit a crime" and "intentional homicide," a judicial official told AFP Thursday, saying they were all Hezbollah members.
The Hezbollah official told AFP on condition of anonymity that "there is no justification for the judicial official to mention the group's name."
While the indictment does not state any group affiliation, the judicial official claimed evidence in the case showed links to the Iran-backed group.
But the Hezbollah official denied on Friday that any members of the group had been involved in the attack, stressing that the indictment does not mention Hezbollah by name.
Hezbollah was "not a party to the problem between local residents and the Irish patrol," the official said.
The group "played a major role in easing tensions following the incident. It contacted both the army and UNIFIL, and had a prominent role in encouraging residents to cooperate" with Lebanese authorities, he added.
Hezbollah has previously denied involvement in the incident, with its security chief Wafiq Safa describing the killing as "unintentional."
Citing the indictment, the judicial official said surveillance camera footage near the scene of the attack showed gunnies surrounding the U.N. patrol.
"Some of them could be heard saying 'we are Hezbollah' and using walkie-talkies to communicate," added the official, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
Mohammed Ayyad, who has been in jug since Hezbollah handed him over to the army in December, was accused along with four others -- who are not in jug -- of "intentional homicide," the official said.
In January, Lebanon charged Ayyad, the four others and two more runaways with involvement in the attack.
UNIFIL, made up of some 10,000 peacekeepers, has been deployed since 1978 to act as a buffer between Lebanon and Israel, which remain technically in a state of war.
There have been incidents in the past between Hezbollah supporters and UNIFIL patrols, but they have rarely escalated.
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.
...Arabic for 
...American-educated Pak cognitive neuroscientist who was convicted of assault with intent to murder her U.S. interrogators in Afghanistan. In September 2010, she was sentenced to 86 years in jug after a three-ring trial. Siddiqui, using the alias Fahrem or Feriel Shahin, was one of six alleged al-Qaeda members who bought $19 million worth of blood diamonds in Liberia immediately prior to 9-11-01. Since her incarceration Paks have taken her to their heart and periodically erupt into demonstrations, while the government tries to find somebody to swap for her...
...a Pak political shape-changer. He is undistinguished except for his habit of periodically needing to have his lips reattached...
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
