(Xinhua) -- Areva and Vinci, the two French firms whose staff members were abducted in northern Niger earlier this week, said Saturday they were pulling out all their staff from the region.
Employees working at Niger's Arlit region are the first to be evacuated, according to French media. The two companies said all their staff would be transferred to the Niger capital of Niamey over the weekend.
Five French nationals working for Areva and Satom, a Vinci affiliate, were kidnapped Wednesday night near uranium mines in Arlit, along with one Togolese and one Madagascan national.
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Posted by: Fred ||
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[Al Arabiya] A one-legged Chechen boxer injured in an explosion at a Copenhagen hotel was preparing a letter bomb, likely intended for a Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, police said Friday.
Best kind of red-wire, green-wire incident, since the boomer is maimed for life. Likely experiences phantom limb pain. That can be excruciating. So I'm told.
The device went off as the man was assembling it in a hotel bathroom on Sept. 10, said Svend Foldager, a police spokesman. The suspect received cuts to his face and no one else was injured.
Deep cuts to his face. He's no longer attractive even to the 72 virgins. And he can't dance ...
"We're dealing with a letter bomb. The bomb was completed. Apparently it was of a low-technology type, with a highly explosive substance inside," Foldager told reporters in Copenhagen. "It was filled with small steel pellets to create injuries."
How many are still lodged in his face?
He said the device contained triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, which served as a detonator for the bombs used by terrorists in the 2005 London bombings that killed 52 people.
[Dawn] Former chief of the Special Branch of Punjab Police, Col (retd) Ehsanul Haq, finally broke his silence on Friday and said that neither he nor his subordinates had authored a report about a plot to assassinate Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khwaja Mohammad Sharif.
"I have nothing to do with this report. The report that appeared in a local newspaper is not that of the special branch. My department did not issue any such report," Col Ehsan said while talking to Dawn.
This is the first time that the former chief of the special branch, who is now heading the civil defence department, has clarified his position on the controversy which erupted over a week ago after the publication of the report.
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Posted by: Fred ||
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The usual Pakistani noise machine. It's been this way forever.
The US on Saturday dismissed remarks attributed to its Special Af-Pak Envoy Richard Holbrooke that the Obama administration would not accept any slackness by the Pakistan Army in the fight against Taliban due to the military's engagement in flood relief efforts. A statement issued by the US embassy said Holbrooke had been misquoted by a Pakistani daily as saying during an interaction with the media yesterday that America would not accept slackness by the Pakistan Army in the war on terror. The Pak press sticks to 'the narrative'- which happens to be schtoopid-psycho.
"At no time did Ambassador Holbrooke make such a statement. Both the headline of the article and the quote in the article were fabricated," the statement said. Now THAT'S a denial!
It matches the one made by that general the other day, who apparently never said that there are Christian bigots in the American armed forces.
#1
It makes things hard when you have a liar's contest. Who lies more, the administration or the Pakistani press? Perhaps it's a contest between quality and quantity.
#2
BTW, The Washington Times is standing by its story, despite the official denial by the General. They claim several (anonymous, out of fear of retribution) military sources in the audience, who affirmed the exact quote. However, because the briefing was "off the record", there is no recording.
ANBAR / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki agreed to hand over the security dossier of western Iraq's province of al-Anbar to its local council, following the province's al-Jubeil explosion that killed 7 persons, including women and children, according to the council chairman, Saadoun Obeid al-Shaalan, on Saturday.
"Maliki ordered a commission formed to investigate al-Jubeil incident in a bid to bring those who carried out the attacks to justice and provide the families of the victims with compensations," Shaalan told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
An Anbar police source had said that seven civilians, including a woman and two children, were killed in a joint Iraqi-U.S. attack in al-Jubiel, south of Falluja city, on Sept. 9 that also left four others, including an 85-year-old woman, wounded.
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Posted by: Steve White ||
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As American troops exit Iraq, attacks against the Christian minority continue. The number of Christians in Iraq has dwindled to half of what it was before the American invasion in 2003, an Iraqi official said.
As it has in the Palestinian territories, Pakistan, and wherever else Muslim extremists have acted up.
Abdallah Al-Nofali, head of the government's Bureau for the Endowments of Christians and Other Religions, said in an interview with the Arab daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat that according to a recent survey some 40 percent of Iraqi refugees in Syria are Christian.
According to UN statistics, 1.5 million Christians of different sects were living in Baghdad before the American invasion.
Israel's Urim base in the Negev desert is among the most important and powerful intelligence gathering sites in the world.
Those damned sneaky Juices, listening in on everyone! Le Monde diplomatique gets even with them, though; not only do they describe the installation, but they even give targetting coordinates and a Googlemaps satellite photo.
Israel's powerful position in the Middle East is often associated with its armed forces, nuclear weapons arsenal or covert (Mossad) operatives. But just as important is its intelligence gathering -- monitoring governments, international organisations, foreign companies, political organisations and individuals.
Most of this happens at the installation in the Negev a couple of kilometres to the north of the kibbutz of Urim. Our sources, close to Israeli intelligence,
Some of our bestest friends are juices.
know the base first-hand. They describe lines of satellite dishes of different sizes, and barracks and operations buildings on both sides of the road (the 2333) that leads to the base.
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(Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, movement is unhappy with the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society teaching human rights to students in the Gazoo Strip as a contradiction with Islamic rules and laws.
According to the deposed Hamas government, which rules the coastal enclave of 1.5 million people, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) exceeded its role by adding the rights subject to the curriculum without having the government's approval.
The statements that appeared this week, the first week in school year, indicate a new crisis between Hamas and the UNRWA, which cares for nearly three-quarters of the entire population who are registered as refugees.
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Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Allah forbid, that facts be included in education.
#3
You know, one would think that certain intellectual elites would get a clue after reading the line, "teaching human rights to students in the Gazoo Strip as a contradiction with Islamic rules and laws."
(Xinhua) -- Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas hints at stepping down from office in case direct negotiations with Israel was aborted, an official from Abbas's Fatah party revealed on Saturday.
A member of Fatah Central Committee, Jamal Mohissen, told Xinhua that Abbas informed Fatah leadership and the Executive Committee of Paleostine Liberation Organization (PLO) that he was planning "a serious step" if the negotiations failed.
The current situation, in which Israel is unlikely to renew a partial freeze on Jewish settlement in the West Bank, would force Abbas to take that decision, Mohissen added.
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#1
Check the Swiss bank accounts first, Mahmoud. It's always nice to have a few billion to fall back on when you make a career move...
(Xinhua) -- Philippine Police urged Mohammedan rebels to help run after on the lam suspects involved in last year's political massacre that left 57 people dead, police said Saturday.
Leaders of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) can help in the hunt as some of the suspects were hiding in areas they controlled in the southern part of the country, said Marcelo Pintac, head of police in the southern province of Maguindanao where the massacre took place on Nov. 23, 2009.
"Some of the suspects were hiding in areas of MILF. We want them to help," he told Xinhua.
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(Xinhua) -- Political bickering in Leb continues on Saturday as Leb's former security chief Jamil Sayyed threatened to rally against "false witnesses" over the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
"If false witnesses are not held accountable under the law, we shall settle this against them on the street," Sayyed said Saturday at a press conference.
Sayyed's words came as Lebanese cabinet tasked a minister to deal with the issue of the Special Tribunal for Leb's "false witnesses" after the Shiite group Hezbullies called for such a move. Those witnesses accused four generals of killing Rafik Hariri in February 2005.
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[Iran Press TV] Iran's diminutive PresidentMahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad, after a sojourn in the Algerian capital, has set off for New York, where he is to address the UN General Assembly.
Ahmadinejad flew out of Algiers on Saturday evening following a meeting with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika after a visit with Syrian President Bashar "Pencilneck" al-Assad in Damascus earlier in the day, the IRNA news agency reported.
The Iranian leader is scheduled to deliver a speech at the 65th UN General Assembly session, which officially opened on Tuesday at the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society headquarters in New York City.
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#1
Too bad they couldn't fly the summit members and the General Assembly to Algiers...
[An Nahar] Tripoli MPs on Saturday rejected threats against Prime Minister Saad Hariri and calls to inflict harm on State institutions. "This approach is unacceptable ... and leads to discord and fragmentation of the country," the lawmakers warned in a statement following their monthly meeting. "This is far from political ethics and Lebanese values," the statement said. The Tripoli MPs stressed commitment to the Special Tribunal for Leb.
Posted by: Fred ||
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"We Will Settle Score against False Witnesses in the Street if We Were Prevented by the Law"
[An Nahar] Former Head of Leb's General Security Department Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed arrived in Beirut Saturday to a warm welcome from Opposition political and party officials who escorted him home.
Sayyed, once again, launched a vehement attack against Prime Minister Saad Hariri, State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza, Police Chief Gen. Ashraf Rifi and Detliv Mhelis, former head of the U.N. investigation into the assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri.
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[An Nahar] Police chief Gen. Ashraf Rifi on Saturday hit back at Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed, vowing to face him in court.
"Prison is made for you and people like you and for killers under your protection," he told Sayyed in a statement.
"We will face you (Sayyed) in court and we will carry on our drive," Rifi said.
He said State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza and Police Intelligence chief Wissam al-Hasan deserve "medals on their chests."
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#1
Hope the chief has one of them remote car starters...
[An Nahar] Hizbullah MP Nawwaf Moussawi on Saturday said the Opposition was present at Beirut airport to "rescue the State and the Judiciary."
"The Lebanese state and its reputation had been damaged by the arbitrary arrest of the four officers. And today they wanted once again to damage the State's institutions by implicating the judiciary," Moussawi said from Beirut airport ahead of Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed's arrival from Paris.
Sayyed arrived at Beirut airport to a warm welcome from Hizbullah political and party officials.
[Al Jazeera] An Iranian court has sentenced a prominent human rights activist to six years in prison on various anti-government charges, a semi-official Iranian news agency has reported.
ILNA news agency said on Saturday that Shiva Nazar Ahari was convicted of gathering and plotting to commit crimes against the Iranian state, propaganda against the establishment and waging war against God, a crime punishable by death under the Islamic Theocratic Republic's Sharia law.
Nazar Ahari, the 26-year-old founder of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters in Tehran, was jugged in December on her way to the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the spiritual adviser of the Green movement which opposed the re-election of Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, last June.
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The longtime White House correspondent who resigned from Hearst newspaper in June in the wake of comments she made about Israel will receive a lifetime achievement award from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
They, of course, deserve each other ...
CAIR is honoring Thomas, who is of Lebanese descent and now 90 years old, at its Leadership Conference and 16th Annual Fundraising Banquet on Oct. 9 in Arlington, Va.
Speakers will also include Oxford Islamic studies scholar Tariq Ramadan.
That's right -- Hillary Clinton's State Department let him in. I'd forgotten that son of a Muslim Brotherhood leader was here, but no doubt he's been whispering interesting things into various shell-like ears.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/19/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Yes, Hillary's State dept let Tariq R in but there were many others who helped out. The ACLU did hundreds if not thousands of hours of work and advocacy on this.
And, it was the U of Notre Dame that invited him to take a professorship back in 2004.
Yes, Tariq is a very successful practitioner of doubletalk (e.g., condemning Terrorism but not terrorists, condemning suicide bombers in Israel for using a bad 'tactic', etc.). Him and Helen are an old couple with Helen so verbally clumsy.
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/19/2010 9:34 Comments ||
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#5
Thomas, who is of Lebanese descent and now 90 years old,
Her recent statements and longevity only proves there is no such thing as a "moderate Arab." They ALL want the Jews and Israel to somehow just disappear.
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.
