Al-Ahram: Egyptians seek release of inmates held in jails in Israel and the United States in return for alleged spy
Egypt is demanding the release of dozens of Egyptian prisoners in Israel in return for Ilan Grapel, the American- Israeli law student detained in Cairo since June on suspicion of spying for Jerusalem.
Al-Ahram newspaper reported that a top-ranking Egyptian military official discussed an Egyptian-Israeli prisoner exchange during US Defense Secretary Leon Panettas visit to Cairo last week. The deal would reportedly include some 25 of the 80 Egyptians held in Israel, most of them convicted of security-related offenses or border infiltration. The paper reported that some two dozen Egyptians could be released from US prisons as well.
Egyptian media have reported that Washington has threatened to reduce military aid to Egypt if Grapel remains detained, but has indicated willingness to increase aid should the US-Israeli dual citizen be released. Reports that Grapel could leave Cairo with the defense secretary turned out to be premature.
US and Israeli officials, and Grapels family and friends, have dismissed allegations of espionage as absurd, and say the 27-year-old Emory University law student traveled to Egypt to volunteer with an organization aiding African refugees.
Maj.-Gen. Sameh Seif El-Yazel, described by Al-Ahram as a security expert, said a prisoner exchange could pave the way for discussions of modifying national security and armament agreements between Egypt and Israel.
[T]here is a desire by both sides to hold a more critical dialogue about issues that were previously probed infrequently, he said. It would not do Egypt any good to keep the spy behind bars when there can be more benefits this is standard procedure on such matters in most countries.
This weekend the daily quoted Mohamed Said Lotfi, head of the campaign to free Egyptian prisoners from Israeli jails, as saying Grapel should not be released but should be tried as a spy.
However, if he must be released, then the deal should be in return for the release of all Egyptian prisoners in Israeli jails, he said.
Al-Ahram also reported that the son of Omar Abdel-Rahman (also known as the Blind Sheikh) has filed a request for his father to be included in a prospective exchange. Abdel- Rahman, leader of the radical group Al-Gamaa al-Islamiyaa, is serving a life sentence in North Carolina for seditious conspiracy for his part in planning and promoting a series of terrorist attacks on US targets.
On Monday the Islamist group held a protest outside the American Embassy in Cairo calling for Abdel-Rahmans release.
Last week Deputy Regional Development Minister Ayoob Kara asked US Ambassador Daniel Shapiro to demand that along with Grapel, Cairo release Ouda Tarabin, an Israeli Beduin shepherd held in Egypt for more than a decade after illegally crossing the border.
This is the last chance [to secure Tarabins release] before the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood. Everyone knows what they will do and what his fate will be, the Likud lawmaker said.
In 1999 Tarabin was sentenced under Egypts Emergency Law to 15 years in prison for espionage, a crime his family and the Israeli government say he did not commit.
In 1996 Azzam Azzam, a Druse-Israeli textile worker, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor after being convicted of espionage, a charge both he and the Israeli government denied. Following the intervention of the Shin Bet, Azzam was released in 2004 in exchange for six Egyptians convicted of planning terror attacks.
'Al-Ahram:' Egyptians seek release of inmates held in jails in Israel and the United States in return for alleged spy
Returning to an old fashioned Arab tradition. Once upon a time they did this kind of thing in Montezuma, but then they gave it up for some reason.
Egypt is demanding the release of dozens of Egyptian prisoners in Israel in return for Ilan Grapel, the American- Israeli law student jugged in Cairo since June on suspicion of spying for Jerusalem.
No.
Al-Ahram newspaper reported that a top-ranking Egyptian military official discussed an Egyptian-Israeli prisoner exchange during US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993.... 's visit to Cairo last week. The deal would reportedly include some 25 of the 80 Egyptians held in Israel, most of them convicted of security-related offenses or border infiltration. The paper reported that some two dozen Egyptians could be released from US prisons as well.
"...And a pony with a long pink mane for me to brush!"
Egyptian media have reported that Washington has threatened to reduce military aid to Egypt if Grapel remains jugged, but has indicated willingness to increase aid should the US-Israeli dual citizen be released. Reports that Grapel could leave Cairo with the defense secretary turned out to be premature.
US and Israeli officials, and Grapel's family and friends, have dismissed allegations of espionage as "absurd," and say the 27-year-old Emory University law student traveled to Egypt to volunteer with an organization aiding African refugees.
Maj.-Gen. Sameh Seif El-Yazel, described by Al-Ahram as a security expert, said a prisoner exchange could pave the way for discussions of modifying national security and armament agreements between Egypt and Israel.
"[T]here is a desire by both sides to hold a more critical dialogue about issues that were previously probed infrequently," he said. "It would not do Egypt any good to keep the spy behind bars when there can be more benefits -- this is standard procedure on such matters in most countries."
This weekend the daily quoted Mohamed Said Lotfi, head of the campaign to free Egyptian prisoners from Israeli jails, as saying Grapel should not be released but should be tried as a spy.
"However, those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things... if he must be released, then the deal should be in return for the release of all Egyptian prisoners in Israeli jails," he said.
Al-Ahram also reported that the son of Omar Abdel-Rahman (also known as the "Blind Sheikh") has filed a request for his father to be included in a prospective exchange. Abdel- Rahman, leader of the radical group Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyaa, is serving a life sentence in North Carolina for seditious conspiracy for his part in planning and promoting a series of terrorist attacks on US targets.
On Monday the Islamist group held a protest outside the American Embassy in Cairo calling for Abdel-Rahman's release.
Last week Deputy Regional Development Minister Ayoob Kara asked US Ambassador Daniel Shapiro to demand that along with Grapel, Cairo release Ouda Tarabin, an Israeli Beduin shepherd held in Egypt for more than a decade after illegally crossing the border.
"This is the last chance [to secure Tarabin's release] before the rise of the Moslem Brüderbund. Everyone knows what they will do and what his fate will be," the Likud politician said.
In 1999 Tarabin was sentenced under Egypt's Emergency Law to 15 years in prison for espionage, a crime his family and the Israeli government say he did not commit.
In 1996 Azzam Azzam, a Druse-Israeli textile worker, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor after being convicted of espionage, a charge both he and the Israeli government denied. Following the intervention of the Shin Bet, Azzam was released in 2004 in exchange for six Egyptians convicted of planning terror attacks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/12/2011 06:57 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Maj.-Gen. Sameh Seif El-Yazel, described by Al-Ahram as a security expert, said a prisoner exchange could pave the way for discussions of modifying national security and armament agreements between Egypt and Israel.
So they want to partially scrap Camp David (except for the part where they get $$$) and re-militarize Sinai?
In addition to espionage, American-Israeli is accused of throwing fire bombs at Egyptian Interior Ministry following revolution, 'Al-Ahram' reports.
"She turned me into a newt!"
Egypt added setting fire to cop shoppes to the list of charges faced by American-Israeli law student Ilan Grapel, who has been jugged in Cairo since June on suspicion of spying for Jerusalem, state-run Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Monday.
The state reportedly accused Grapel of throwing fire bombs at police headquarters at the Egyptian Interior Ministry in the wake of Egypt's January revolution, based on witness statements. The charges are in addition to espionage.
US and Israeli officials, and Grapel's family and friends, have dismissed allegations of espionage as "absurd," and say the 27-year-old Emory University law student traveled to Egypt to volunteer with an organization aiding African refugees.
Grapel's parents were allowed to visit him for the first time late last month, along with US Consul-General to Egypt, Robert Powers.
He served in the IDF and was maimed in the Second Leb War, an incident that was well publicized.
An Egyptian court ruled to extend the remand of Grapel by 45 days on September 14, Al-Ahram reported.
Grapel was set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock at his downtown Cairo hotel by Egyptian state security officers in June on suspicion of working for Israeli intelligence to foment sectarian strife and gather intelligence on post-revolution Egypt.
After dismissing nonviolence as a dead end, he admits that for the Occupiers to achieve their goals, violence and bloodshed will be necessary, a speaker at "Occupy L.A." say that for the Occupiers to achieve their goals, violence and bloodshed will be necessary.
Occupy L.A. Speaker: "One of the speakers said the solution is nonviolent movement. No, my friend. I'll give you two examples: French Revolution, and Indian so-called Revolution.
Gandhi, Gandhi today is, with respect to all of you, Gandhi today is a tumor that the ruling class is using constantly to mislead us. French Revolution made fundamental transformation. But it was bloody.
India, the result of Gandhi, is 600 million people living in maximum poverty. So, ultimately, the bourgeoisie won't go without violent means. Revolution! Yes, revolution that is led by the working class.
Long live revolution! Long live socialism!"
Also see (in case you missed it earlier):
Occupy New York chant: "You Can Have Sex With Animals!" Logical problem: The 'worker class', unionized, often make far more money, and think of themselves as *part* of the 'middle class', unless he means a violent revolt by illegal aliens. This being California, he very well might.
#1
He might mean that welders and machinists in the middle states should overthrow the "upperclass twits of the year" type rich assholes in Los Angeles and Noo Yawk who screw us over and keep us from working for a living.
But the probable rich spoiled little bourgeoise asshole probably doesn't mean something like that.
#2
Paleostan theory - even if the leadership were golden apple pure in intention and dialogue, there are those factions who will grab the torch and charge anyways. I'm afraid this is what is going to happen here with the snookipy movement. Going to be interesting. Closing the Brooklyn Bridge during work travel and attempting to sturm perhaps the most popular museum in the US is a poor start to the original gang, nevermind what will happen when the real loons, like this goof, steal their brand.
#3
Think you all are right, we need a program and score card to see what ranking we all are, so as to what color cloth to hang out the window when the organized and quite polite retreaders knock door to door, asking for fair share. Of course, to pick up you have to go to central processing, sign on the line, and hope you don't get robbed on the way back to your approved living quarters.
#4
Any universities burn [other than after a sporting event celebration] after Kent State?
You think the National Guard types are going to feel solidarity with the cuddled middle class wannabe revolutionary types that supported the other side when their buddies and comrades were dying delivering the semblance of real democracy to real poor? Not the poor with cell phones, wide screens, and subsidized housing that puts the hovels of the ME to shame in basic amenities.
#5
Considering who's backing these clowns, anyone thinking these are simply the useful idiots for Obama's version of the Red Guard to keep the party members in line and from deserting to the political center? They know its not going to effect the right, but its to put a chill into a primary challenge within the party. You go down with me or split the party and go down anyway because my goons will hound you to the end.
#9
Interesting examples from the historically illiterate speaker.
French Revolution led to Twenty years of Napolean, dictatorship and war and a general draft that put commoners on the front line like never before.
Ghandi's revolution convinced the British to peacefully leave the colony rather than gun down thousands on the way. And the poverty did not come after the revolution.
#12
Hey, big Sis sick-em. I'm tired of her sitting on her hands. A fireman stops a fire. A Cop stops a fight. Rosy O'Donnell stops a stops a train. Well you get the idea. Just, don't do nothing, do something.
#14
I remember how the Democrat party tanked in the 1968 election after their infamous little gathering in Chicago. So please, all you occupiers, do your thing. When the American people see riots in the streets it's usually not good for whichever party is in power at the time.
#15
Political Will : Party : Political Wing : Objective Victory : Have Political Party ! That is , Wall Straits Thuh Legal Means Party ! ( Occupy Wall Street Journal Party Box 1 Beverly Hills , California 90320 - USA ! Send : Donations For Fundraiser Help The Wall Straits Funded For Occupy Wall Street Journal !! Thank you : Gloog
Posted by: Gloog Seis ( Siis ) er ||
10/12/2011 12:56 Comments ||
Top||
#16
90210 ! Not 90302 ! Karin Mohl hacks with Alex Schnur
Posted by: Gloog Seis ( Siis ) er ||
10/12/2011 12:58 Comments ||
Top||
#18
Gloog Seis (Siis) er dear, you would be more successful if you wrote in proper sentences rather than key words that don't convert into sensible concepts.
While the media is giving sympathetic coverage, I think the longer these mugs are on TV, Mr and Mrs Middle America will get disgusted with the dirty lot of them and their supporters. While most Americans are hunkering down, seeing their wages cut, taxes raised and are doing their best to put food on the table, these parasites are demanding free everything while producing nothing in return. That no longer flies with a shrinking pie.
So more TV coverage please for these dozens to hundreds of dopers that are disrupting traffic, creating a sanitation mess and causing thousands of extra police overtime. November 6, 2012 can't come soon enough.
#20
Wikipedia: "Mensheviks", derived from the Russian word меньшинство (men'shinstvo, "minority"), whereas Lenin's adherents were known as "Bolsheviks", from bol'shinstvo ("majority").
#21
Indeed, Scooter was noting some of the ironies, the one big theme is a protest of greed, while the demands are in themselves the definition of greed.
The definitions for catchy phrases is in constant flux, turns out to be a bit of a feature in some ways.
Posted by: Barbara ||
10/12/2011 15:16 Comments ||
Top||
#23
Indeed, Scooter was noting some of the ironies, the one big theme is a protest of greed, while the demands are in themselves the definition of greed.
The James OKeefe Occupy Wall Street video is an instant classic. Loved how Woodstock Van Winkle instantly turned into Michael Milken the instant the thought of dollars penetrated his THC-brain barrier.
Idiocracy: The next generation. Great job, American universities. Providing the miseducation no one else will.
#27
Rosie O'Donnel would make a freight train take a dirt road.
There will be an "Occupy" demonstration here in East Tennessee Saturday in Johnson City. It's where East Tennessee State University is. I will be listening to Herman Cain speak in Rogersville.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/12/2011 19:48 Comments ||
Top||
#28
Love how the guy in that video takes a swig of cool-aide. Its almost too perfect.
#30
Funny but the way the Davis Bacon wages work in California, most of the union guys ARE middle class.
Who do they think is middle class anyway? Warren Buffett? I'm middle class and I'm fighting the same crap they are complaining about, tanked real estate values, unemployment, higher taxes, economic stagnation, etc., welcome to the world of the California Liberal paradise. The crap you clowns are complaining about came out of Sacramento from a dingbat democrat assembly and a looney left democratic congress with a Radical leftist President.
Don't these clowns read? Even with all of the misinformation being spewed by the MSM, anyone who reads or watches TV would know where the screws are being tightened.
I guess they get all of their news from DailyKos
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
10/12/2011 21:03 Comments ||
Top||
#31
The sort of bloodbath this person is demanding:
1. Makes refusing to blind oneself to reality a capital offense.
2. Treats having the wrong ancestors as an unpardonable atrocity.
3. Encourages sadism and hatred of "them" in the people.
4. Ultimately makes the leaders incredibly paranoid.
Iran will be "held accountable" for its foiled plot to kill Saudi Arabia's US ambassador, according to Joe Foreign Policy Whiz Kid Biden, The former Senator-for-Life from Delaware, an example of the kind of top-notch Washington intellect to be found in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body... the US Vice President. Does that mean a demand for the plotters to be handed over, followed by a declaration of war if they don't?
Mr Biden delivered a strong rebuke to Iran, warning them that "nothing has been taken off the table", regarding Washington's reaction after the US Justice Department charged two men with conspiring with Iranian government factions to kill Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir on US soil.
The alleged high-level plot involved detonating a bomb at a restaurant the envoy frequented, an act which could also have claimed the lives of countless of innocent patrons.
"It is an outrageous act, where the Iranians will have to be held accountable," Mr Biden told ABC television's Good Morning America.
"The first thing we do is make sure the entire world and all of the capitals in the world understand what the Iranians had in mind," Biden said.
He called the alleged plot "an outrage that violates one of the fundamental premises, which is the safety and sanctity of diplomats.
#1
Iranian government factions to kill Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir on US soil.
Hey, anyone noticing that the real 'act of war' is against the Saudis, not the US. That they choose to use American territory is a less than war issue being drummed up for ratings. Someone been watching Canadian Bacon at the White House?
#2
"Iran to be 'held accountable' for assassination plot"
How, exactly, you idiot?
A "strongly worded letter"? "Sanctions" no one will follow? Ahmadinnahjacket will fatally hit his head while he's rolling on the floor laughing at you and Bambi? >:-(
Posted by: Barbara ||
10/12/2011 19:13 Comments ||
Top||
#3
The Taliban are getting away with 9/11. The goal Operation 'Enduring Freedom' is peace and reconciliation, not retaliation.
The Bush administration's reaction to a 21st century Pearl Harbor was extremely restrained by historical standards. Yet Bush was repudiated by the political class and the electorate not for moderation but for excessive militancy.
Why should the Iranian regime fear serious retribution for a big attack on the US that would still have been smaller in scale than 9/11?
#4
Procopius2k, I disagree. A bomb exploding in a us restaurant would likely kill Americans. Act of war there. Doesn't matter who the actual target was.
#5
Remember the case of the CIA agents in Italy, indicted for kidnapping terror suspects. While death wasn't involved, action was directed against third party nationals. Would that be an act of war or a police issue for Italy? Someone decided we did something we shouldn't have, thus the indictments. The direct parties effected were the belligerents in a war, but the location was Italy.
AFP- A Syrian-born US citizen has been charged with spying on anti-Assad protesters and providing recordings to the regime's intelligence agents in a bid to silence the opposition, US officials said Wednesday.
A federal grand jury charged Mohamad Anas Haitham Soueid, 47, on October 5 in a six-count indictment for his efforts against activists in the United States and Syria opposed to Syrian President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Latakia... 's regime. He was placed in long-term storage Tuesday.
The Leesburg, Virginia man was charged with conspiracy and acting as a Syrian government agent in the United States without notifying the US attorney general as required by law. He was also charged on two counts of providing false statements on a firearms purchase form and two counts of providing false statements to federal law enforcement.
The naturalized American, also known as "Alex Soueid" and "Anas Alswaid," was due to make an initial appearance before US Magistrate Judge Theresa Buchanan at 2:00 pm (1800 GMT) in Alexandria, Virginia.
The charges came amid escalating tensions between 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... and Washington over the Syrian government's months-long crackdown on opposition protests seeking to oust Assad. In July, top State Department officials summoned Syrian Ambassador Imad Mustapha to discuss reports that embassy staff had filmed "peaceful" US protests against the Syrian regime.
As part of his conspiracy, Soueid and others intended to "undermine, silence, intimidate and potentially harm persons in the United States and Syria who protested against the government of Syria and President al-Assad, all at the direction and control of the government of Syria and Syrian officials," the indictment said. Soueid was said to have ordered individuals to make audio and video recordings of anti-regime protests in both countries and of conversations with activists that he would then pass on to the Syrian mukhabarat, or intelligence agents, and other government officials.
From about April 2 to June 10, Soueid emailed a Syrian intelligence agent about 20 audio and video recordings taped in the United States, according to the indictment. He discussed individual protesters using assigned "product codes" and also provided their contact information. "We're in his ring now, (very) important details I have for you," Soueid wrote in an April 6 email to a Syrian embassy official that included a link to a website for protesters in the United States.
During a late June-early July trip to Syria paid for by the government, Soueid was said to have met with Assad and spoken with him in private. But when questioned by FBI agents around August 3, Soueid denied he had ever recorded or collected information on people in the United States and or shared any such data with Syrian government officials.
Soueid is also accused of lying on his application to purchase a 9mm pistol. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison on the spying charges, 15 years for the firearms charge and 10 years for making false statements to federal Sherlocks.
The US Treasury Department has designated five individuals involved in an alleged plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US, including Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). Soleimani "oversees the IRGC-QF officers who were involved in this plot," according to Treasury.
Another of the five is Abdul Reza Shahlai, an IRGC-QF officer who planned the Jan. 20, 2007 attack on US soldiers stationed in Karbala, Iraq. That attack left five US soldiers dead and wounded three others.
Shahlai, according to the Treasury Department, "coordinated the plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States Adel Al-Jubeir, while he was in the United States and to carry out follow-on attacks against other countries' interests inside the United States and in another country."
Shahlai was previously designated by the Treasury Department in Sept. 2008. At the time, Treasury noted that he was a "deputy commander" in the IRGC-QF and planned "Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM) Special Groups attacks against Coalition Forces in Iraq." One of the attacks he "planned" was the 2007 raid in Karbala, a daring and sophisticated operation in which Iranian-trained terrorists posed as American soldiers during an assault on the Provincial Joint Coordination Center. The assault team was reportedly trained in a mock-up of the center that was built in Iran.
In 2009, the Obama administration released two of the Iranian-backed terrorists involved in the Karbala operation. The brothers, Qais and Layith Khazali, were freed even though they were directly implicated in the attack. The release of the Khazalis was said to be part of a reconciliation effort inside Iraq.
However, US military officials told The Long War Journal that the Khazalis' release was really part of a negotiation to free British hostages who had been kidnapped by Iranian proxies. Statements made by an Iraqi spokesman and other press reporting confirmed these suspicions.
In the summer of 2009, prior to Qais Khazali's release but after Layith Khazali's release, two Republican Senators questioned the administration's policy. In a letter to President Obama dated July 1, 2009, Senators Jeff Sessions and Jon Kyl said they were "deeply concerned by recent news reports that suggest your administration may be negotiating directly or indirectly with terrorist organizations for the release of dangerous terrorist detainees." The Senators argued that such negotiations were inconsistent with longstanding US policy, which prohibited negotiations with terrorists.
Qais Khazali was released several months later. The same day Khazali was released, on Dec. 30, 2009, British hostage Peter Moore was freed by Khazali's Iranian-backed network.
[Dawn] Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... on Tuesday offered to Afghanistan intelligence sharing for investigation into the liquidation of former president of Afghanistan Burhanuddin Rabbani ... the murdered legitimate president of Afghanistan... Talking to media persons here at Quetta Cantonment, after the passing out parade of Baloch recruits, Gilani said Pakistain was too shocked about the murder of Rabbani and offered to collaborate with the Afghan government regarding and probe into the killing.
He offered intelligence sharing to the Afghan government to unveil the elements involved in the killing of Rabbani.
Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistain was working on the lines to devise a combined strategy with Afghanistan to counter-terrorism in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/12/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
The chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize committee has dismissed concerns that one of this years three recipients, Tawakkul Karman of Yemen, represents a party directly linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Thorbojern Jagland told reporters in Oslo this weekend that he disagrees with the perception widespread in the West that the Brotherhood is a threat to democracy.
There are many signals that that kind of movement can be an important part of the solution, he said. We have included the Arab Spring in this prize, but we have put it in a particular context.
Namely, if one fails to include the women in the revolution and the new democracies, there will be no democracy.
Karman, 32 and a mother of three, is a leading member of Islah (Reform), Yemens main opposition movement. The movement is split into three wings: a tribal confederacy led by the head of the powerful Al- Ahmar tribe; a political movement that operates under the Muslim Brotherhood banner; and a religious branch linked to the worldwide Salafi movement.
The last of these is led by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani, a Sunni religious scholar and former adviser to Osama bin Laden who is considered a terrorist by the US.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
10/12/2011 4:53 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Ah, yes, the Nobel Peace Prize committee. Money for nothing and chicks for free. Just hand out the priiiize for the year to the like of distinguished gentlemen like Al Gore and Obama. /sarc off
(Ma'an) -- Israel will release 450 prisoners "in 10 to 14 days," including 279 detainees sentenced to life imprisonment, a senior Paleostinian official familiar with the prisoner swap deal said Wednesday.
Of these, 110 prisoners will be released to their homes in the West Bank and 131 will return to the Gazoo Strip, the official told Ma'an.
Of the 110 prisoners to be freed to the West Bank, 33 are affiliated to Fatah, 15 to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Paleostine ... a breakaway faction of the Pöpular Frönt för the Liberation of Paleostine. The are regarded as the most intellectual of Paleostinian fedayeen groups, smoking cheap cigarettes and drawing heavily on Marxist-Leninist theory to explain their crappy lives. They can occasionally be seen strutting through the streets of Paleostine, dressed up like soldiers and lugging firearms, though they seldom manage to hit anything and then usually by accident. This may be because of their habit of wearing black masks that cut off most of their vision. That would also explain their habit of occasionally walking into walls, which is a well-known attribute of those immersed in true understanding of the dialectic... and the remainder are Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, affiliates, the official told Ma'an.
Six of the prisoners to be released in the first phase are from Jerusalem, or inside Israel, and they will return to their homes, he added.
Some 203 prisoners from the West Bank will not be allowed to return home: 40 will be sent into exile in foreign countries and the rest will be sent to Gazoo, he said.
The release will be the first phase of an agreement to free over 1,000 Paleostinian prisoners in exchange for an Israeli soldier held in Gazoo since 2006.
Under the agreement, a further 550 prisoners will be released in two months. Israel will choose which prisoners to release in this phase, the official said.
Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal confirmed the deal in a televised address from 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... on Tuesday night.
"Hamas and Israel have reached an agreement under which 1,027 Paleostinians, of whom 27 are women, will be freed in two phases," he said at a news conference broadcast on Arabic-language news channels.
He said the first phase of the deal would see 450 prisoners freed "in one week," with another 550 Paleostinians to be freed "in two months."
Mashaal met with Israeli negotiators and Egyptian mediators on Wednesday to discuss the practical implementation of the deal, sources close to the matter told Ma'an.
The head of Israel's domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet Yoram Cohen briefed news hounds on Tuesday, and said 203 of the prisoners slated for release in the first phase would be exiled to countries not yet named.
Cohen told the Israeli news site Ynet that prisoners returned to the West Bank would not be allowed to enter Israel or travel abroad for 10 years, and would be restricted to the area of their homes.
They will have to report to the Israeli army every month and will be subject to military arrangements, he added.
The deal, which was reached on Thursday and signed on Tuesday, comes after years of failed attempt Curses! Foiled again! s to agree a prisoner exchange despite the efforts of Egyptian and German mediators.
Israeli tank gunner Gilad Shalit was captured in a deadly cross-border raid on June 25, 2006 by forces of Evil from three Gazoo-based groups including Hamas, the Popular Resistance Committees and a Salafi group called the Army of Islam.
The deal had repeatedly stalled over the issue of which prisoners would be released and where they would be allowed to go, with Israel insisting that some go to Gazoo or be exiled overseas, and not return to their homes in the West Bank.
One of the main factors for Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, in accepting a prisoner exchange deal to free Gilad Schalit was the fact that the group had lost its headquarters in 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... amid unrest in Syria, according to defense assessments presented to the cabinet late Tuesday night.
In mediating the deal, Egypt apparently used the loss as leverage to put pressure on Hamas to accept the deal.
One of the main factors for Hamas in accepting a prisoner exchange deal to free Gilad Schalit was the fact that the group had lost its headquarters in Damascus amid unrest in Syria, according to defense assessments presented to the cabinet late Tuesday night.
In mediating the deal, Egypt apparently used the loss as leverage to put pressure on Hamas to accept the deal.
Mashaal says 1,000 prisoners in exchange for Schalit; Izaddin al-Kassam spokesman claims Israel has accepted all the demands of the captors.
Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, leader Khaled Mashaal on Tuesday night called the deal to exchange Gilad Schalit for over 1,000 Paleostinian prisoners a "great achievement." "We are happy with this great achievement and we thank our God for that. But our happiness is mixed with sorrow because we were not able to gain the freedom of all prisoners," Meshaal said from 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... , speaking in a televised speech.
Hamas presented the prisoner exchange agreement as a "historic victory," saying Israel has accepted all the demands of the captors.
Abu Obaida, front man for the armed wing of Hamas, Izzadin Kassam, said the agreement includes prisoners from east Jerusalem, Israeli Arabs and all the women and minors among the security prisoners.
He also pointed out that two-thirds of the prisoners who would be released in return for Gilad Schalit are serving lengthy terms in prison.
"This is an historic deal," Abu Obaida boasted. "Hamas will remain faithful to the cause of the prisoners and will continue to work toward securing the release of all of them."
Hamas officials revealed that the agreement was achieved with the help of the Egyptians. They said that the head of Egypt's General Intelligence Service, Murad Mawafi, was personally involved in the negotiations.
According to the officials, Ahmed Ja'bari, Izzadin Kassam's overall commander, visited Cairo two weeks ago to oversee the final details of the exchange.
Deal passes 26-3 in cabinet vote; Israel to release 1,000 prisoners in two-stage process, including 1/3 serving life sentences; Netanyahu: "My heart is with the families of terror victims."
Exactly 1,934 days after Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, kidnapped Gilad Schalit near Kerem Shalom on the border with Gazoo, the cabinet met in a dramatic meeting Tuesday night, approving a deal for his release.
Twenty-six ministers voted to approve the prisoner exchange deal signed with Hamas, with only three voting against the deal. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon and National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau voted against the deal.
"The Jewish people is a special people, responsible for one another," Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said at the opening of the cabinet meeting. "Our sages teach that those who save one Jewish life, it's as if they have saved an entire world. Today I am bringing a proposal for the saving of Gilad Schalit in order to bring him back, finally, after five years, to his home, to Israel."
The cabinet vote brought close to conclusion a saga that tortured the Schalit family - and the country - for more than five years, and which made the kidnapped soldier, now 25, a household name in large parts of the world.
In return for Schalit, Israel will release 1,027 prisoners, some 400 of them prisoners serving long sentences for some of the worst terrorist atrocities in the country's history.
Netanyahu said that the deal, which has been in the works for weeks, was initiated in Cairo on Thursday of last week, and Tuesday received the final approval.
The framework for this deal has been on the table for years, but was rejected as Israel demanded that the snuffies with blood on their hands be deported to Gazoo or abroad, and Hamas demanded that all the names they submitted be on the list.
In the final analysis, both sides showed flexibility, with Israel agreeing to let hundreds, but not all, of the released terrorist remain in the West Bank, and Hamas dropped some of the names on its list.
Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head Yoram Cohen said that the Shin Bet would be able to deal with those returning to the West bank. His predecessor, Yuval Diskin, was adamantly opposed to letting the prisoners return to the West Bank.
Cohen, as well as the heads of the Mossad and the IDF all expressed support for the prisoner exchange deal at the cabinet meeting.
The Shin Bet chief said that while the deal to free Schalit would be difficult for Israel, there is no better alternative in the near future to bring the captured soldier home. "There is no question that for many families who lost loved ones to terror this is a difficult deal. If we want to bring Schalit home though, this is the way," he said.
#2
No reason why the 1,000 can't be arrested again after Schalit is safely home.
Or whacked.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/12/2011 9:35 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Be interesting to see what happens to what passes for public safety in Gazoo after these assholes are sent bank. Expect the crime rate and foot shots to increase
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/12/2011 10:19 Comments ||
Top||
#4
These people will just reoffend the moment they get out of jail. More will die just so one soldier can be free. Bad decision.
#6
With DoD lawyers in charge of a totally ineffective warranting program, we are "catching and releasing" thousands of murdering bastards in Afghanistan. Appears to be no issue at all. Can't see how we can comment on what Israel does.
The Military Court charged on Wednesday four Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,beturbanned goons with carrying out a terrorist attack near the Jerusalem International Convention Center (Binyanei Ha'uma) that killed a British citizen in March, according to Israel Radio.
Three of the men were charged with recruiting the man responsible for executing the attack, a resident of east Jerusalem. The four were also charged with planning a suicide kaboom that was thwarted by their arrest.
The Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad Khazaei today sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voicing "outrage" over the US allegations of the Islamic Republic's involvement in a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington.
Khazaei said in the letter that the allegation was politically-motivated and warmongering by the United States
[An Nahar] Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... leader MP Michel Aoun ...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... renewed on Tuesday his rejection of the funding of the Special Tribunal for Leb, slamming any potential United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... Security Council sanctions against Leb should it fail to fund it.
He said after the Change and Reform bloc's weekly meeting: "Any sanctions against Leb over this matter are tantamount to a military invasion." "And that would mean WAR!"
"War?"
"That'th right! War! Leb against the UNSC! We'll murderlithe 'em! We'll grind 'em into da dutht! We'll..."
[Ring!]
"Yes?"
"The men in the white coats are here, sir!"
"Help M. Aoun into his new jacket and take him away!"
"The STL is acting as if it is part of the Security Council and it should therefore fund it itself," he added.
On other local developments, the MP remarked: "We don't support increasing the price of gasoline or the Value Added Tax."
Addressing the infiltration of Syrian troops into the Bekaa town of Arsal last week, Aoun stated: "The government should assume its responsibilities and control the border between the two countries."
In addition, he noted that a joint force along the border should address matters of border violations, saying: "We don't have to take rumors into consideration."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/12/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
Would cutting military aid to Lebanon also constitute an act of war??
Posted by: American Delight ||
10/12/2011 6:52 Comments ||
Top||
[An Nahar] Lebanese Forces A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb... leader Samir Geagea ... Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005 ... hoped on Tuesday that Hizbullah would allow the government to perform its duties in order for it to protect the Lebanese people's rights.
He said after holding talks with the Egyptian Ambassador to Leb Mohammed Mustapha Toufic: "If only Hizbullah would leave the Lebanese people alone."
He made his statement while commenting on a remark by a Hizbullah official in which he said that Leb has the right to drill for oil and natural gas in its exclusive economic zone without taking into consideration United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... demands.
"The Lebanese government alone represents Leb and guarantees the citizens' interests," Geagea noted.
"Hizbullah is not allowing the government that it formed carry out its duties," he added.
On the March 8 forces's ... the opposition to the Mar. 14th movement, consisting of Hizbullah and its allies, so-called in commemoration of their Mar. 8th, 2006 demonstration of strength in Beirut ... objection to the funding of the Special Tribunal for Leb, he said: "Some sides in Leb reject the idea of trials."
"The opinions and positions of the majority of the Lebanese people are being disregarded," he stated.
Furthermore, he questioned claims that the STL lack credibility given the numerous resignations that have taken place among its staff.
The LF leader renewed his condemnation of the Lebanese government's position on Syria's ongoing infiltration of Lebanese territory, slamming some individuals' justification of the infiltration to the lack of clear borders between the two countries.
"Some sides want Leb to remain an open ground for settling scores among foreign powers," Geagea noted.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/12/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
[An Nahar] China urged Syria Tuesday to move faster to implement reforms, a week after Beijing infuriated the West by blocking a U.N. resolution against President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad's Trampler of Homs... deadly crackdown on protests.
It is the first time that China has veered away from its longstanding policy of non-interference in the affairs of Syria, which has been rocked by anti-government protests and violence since earlier this year.
"We believe the Syrian government should move faster to honor its reform pledges and swiftly start to push forward the inclusive political process with the broad participation of all parties in Syria," foreign ministry front man Liu Weimin told news hounds.
His comments come as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile... visits Beijing.
Both China and Russia, veto-wielding permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, blocked the U.N. resolution last week, drawing strong condemnation from countries such as the United States and Britannia.
But on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow and Beijing were ready to propose a new U.N. resolution on Syria that would condemn violence carried out both by Assad's regime and the opposition.
Liu said the original draft resolution against Syria "threatened to use sanctions".
"We believe this is not conducive to stability in Syria," he added.
Liu said China hoped the U.N. Security Council would "ease the tensions in Syria and help promote political dialogue", as Syrian opposition forces step up their efforts to unseat the embattled Assad.
"All parties in Syria should actively take part in the process of political settlement," he said.
Washington has renewed calls for Assad to step down immediately amid escalating violence against anti-regime protesters that the United Nations ...what started out as a a diplomatic initiative, now trying to edge its way into legislative, judicial, and executive areas... says has left nearly 3,000 people dead.
On Monday, the leader of the opposition Syrian National Council warned that Assad could suffer the fate of other "criminals" if his regime fell.
"If Assad falls without accepting his mistakes, his fate will be the same as those of any other criminal," Burhan Ghalioun told the Lebanese television network LBCI from Gay Paree.
Syrian dissidents established the national council in Istanbul on August 23 to coordinate the campaign to topple Assad, and formally formed a common front uniting all groups that oppose his regime last week.
On Monday the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... welcomed the creation of the grouping and urged the world to do the same, as it readied new sanctions against Assad's regime.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/12/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
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.
'Al-Ahram:' Egyptians seek release of inmates held in jails in Israel and the United States in return for alleged spy
Joe 
President-for-Life Bashir 
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Paleostine
Michel Aoun
Samir Geagea
al-Assad's
...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile...
