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Today: 67 articles and 177 comments as of 13:48.
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Thailand Ends 17-Day Security Op in Deep South Swamp
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
US may relocate, pay money for Afghan family hit by drone in Kabul
[KhaamaPress] The US Department of Defense has said that they will pay an unspecified amount of condolence money and will relocate the family of those who were killed in a mishandled drone attack of the US in Kabul.

The DOD said that they have pledged money to be paid for the family and has asked the department of state to arrange relocation to the United States for the family members who are interested to.

The dronezaped a family in Kabul on August 29 in which 10 people have killed among them, seven children.

The US officials had first said that they have targeted ISIS-K affiliates who were an imminent threat to them as they were busy evacuating people from Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
...One of the more egregious mistakes of the post 9-11 era...
International Airport now Kabul International Airport.

The US DOD then called the attack a tragic mistake.

The drone attack was conducted on the last day of the US evacuation mission and days after ISIS-K affiliates carried out the attack at the gate of Kabul International Airport that killed over a hundred civilians and 13 US marines.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This makes it all better.
Makes you wonder about the other drone strikes.
Posted by: ed in texas || 10/17/2021 10:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Non-disclosure agreements, cushy Gummint jobs in some capacity or another and near a "Kill the Infidels!" U.S. mosque.

They'll be fine.
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 10/17/2021 19:12 Comments || Top||


Kam Air, Ariana, PIA to resume flights from Kabul to Pakistan, border crossings still closed, int’l charity orgs. step back
[KhaamaPress] Afghanistan’s ministry of transport and civil aviation said that Pakistain International Airlines (PIA) and Afghanistan’s Kam Air and Ariana Airlines to resume their normal fights from Kabul to Islamabad.

The decision was made after the acting minister of transport and civil aviation met with Pakistain’s ambassador to Kabul and authorities of the three Airlines.

The trilateral meeting was conducted on Friday, October 15 in Kabul.

It comes after PIA suspended its flights from Kabul following a warning by Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Administration. The statement had warned of the ban on PIA and Kam Air if they do not reduce fares.

The ministry, ambassador, and Airlines unanimously agreed to be reducing the prices of tickets, and a trilateral technical team will be established by the Airlines to do so.

Recently, PIA was charging $2,500 for each ticket the price of which was once $150 from Kabul to Islamabad.

Pakistain has closed all its land crossing points with Afghanistan that has put tens of thousands of people in trouble.

The closure of crossing points has also rotten tens of tonnes of pomegranate and the Afghan traders have inflicted heavy financial loss.

Intl Backing for Food, Farming Programs Halted: FAO
[ToloNews] The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that some of the organizations supporting food and agriculture in Afghanistan have halted their operations.

Deputy FAO Representative Fabrizio Cesaretti said on Friday that the organization would cover 3.5 million people who are in grave need. "Agriculture is still one of the main sectors for the economy of Afghanistan and it is surely the basic food production for the people and rural livelihoods are at risk because ... many government-sponsored projects funded by the World Bank or other donors are now suspended," he added.

The recent drought, Covid-19 crisis and halt in international humanitarian support are said to be the main reasons for the increase of food insecurity and challenges to the agriculture sector of Afghanistan.

The World Food Program (WFP) warned that Afghanistan was facing a severe food shortage crisis.

According to WFP officials, this year’s theme for the celebration of International Food Day was "climate change." They called climate change a main factor in hunger and food insecurity.

"There are a lot of problems this year in Afghanistan, food insecurity is a challenge, and organizations including the WFP are attempting to provide assistance to the people," said Wahidulllah Amani, a front man for the WFP.

A Kabul resident, Haji Mohammad, said: "I usually buy four pieces of bread and eat them together with a family of 13 members just to stay alive, we don’t have anything else."

October 16 is designated World Food Day. According to initial statics, over 60 percent of Afghans are jobless, and more than half of the country’s population is facing hunger.

"This year’s World Food Day finds us at a critical moment. The COVID-19 pandemic remains a global challenge, causing untold losses and hardship. The impact of the climate crisis is all around us. Crops have gone up in flames. Homes have been washed away. Lives and livelihoods have been thrown into turmoil due to conflict and other humanitarian emergencies. Global food security challenges have not been this severe for years," said, QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
According to WFP’s statistics, over 14 million people are struggling with foode insecurity in Afghanistan.

Truckloads of Medicine Stopped At Customs Borders
[ToloNews] The union of pharmacy owners said that the over 50 trucks loaded with medical supplies have been stopped at the borders for unknown reasons.

The union warned that if the trucks are not allowed to enter Afghanistan, there will be a severe shortage of medical supplies across the country within the next month.

“The medicine factories are faced with a shortage of medicine and the important medicine is used up,” said Azizullah Shafiq, a member of the union. “If this situation continues, Afghanistan will face a serious crisis of medical supplies.”

The majority of medical supplies are imported to Afghanistan from foreign countries.

Shukrullah, a resident of Kabul, said: “The doctor gave me this prescription. I have been searching for this medicine for the last three days but couldn't find it. The important medicines don’t exist.”

The owners of the medicine factories said that many factories stopped operating due to a shortage of medicine elements.

The chief inspector of medical factories, Abdul Karim Khosti, said: “The flights are suspended and the customs stopped many trucks with medical products and now many factories lack access to medical materials to produce medicine.”

Pharmacy owners voiced concerned, saying that the stopped flow of medical supplies at the border is affecting their business.

“The increasing rate of the dollar and closure of ground borders and suspension of flights caused us to face a shortage of drugs,” said Abdullah, a pharmacy owner.

Earlier, the World Health Organization warned that due to the suspension of flights, the public hospitals in Afghanistan are facing a shortage of medical supplies.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban/IEA


Africa Horn
UN: Over 7,000 forcibly evicted from Las Anod, north of Somalia
[Garowe] The number of southerners forcefully displaced from Las Anod, a town in the breakaway region of Somaliland has hit slightly of 7,000, the United Nations
...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks...
said, with a big humanitarian crisis now building up in the federal republic of Somalia.

According to UNHCR’s Protection and Return Monitoring Network [PRMN], over 7,250 people have so far been affected, in a conflict that caught the world unaware despite the existence of differences between Hargeisa and Mogadishu.

Some 24 households have also reportedly moved to nearby villages in Buhoodle district, according to mapping done by PRMN. In Ceerigaabo town, Sanaag region, 75 people have reportedly left for Gaalkacyo and Baidoa towns after authorities issued a notice asking people from southern areas to leave by 21 October, the agency said.

"Over 3,300 displaced people from Laas Caanood have arrived in Gaalkacyo since 2 October when the forced displacements started, of whom 986 have proceeded to South West State, Hirshabelle and Banadir," the global body said in a statement.

"Another 32 families [75 people] arrived in Margaga settlement in the outskirts of Ba’adweyn town, 50km northeast of Gaalkacyo. On 14 October, they were airlifted to Baidoa. Since 10 October, 561 displaced families [3,366 people] have arrived in Baidoa," the agency added.

So far, there are incidents of separation of families following the mass deportation of people which further worries the United Nations. Most of the deportees have settled in various towns of Puntland
...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion...
, a state within northern Somalia.

"The forceful displacement of scores of families from Laas Caanood has raised protection concerns. The displaced have reported separation of families, child abandonment, and loss of property," UN further said. "Protection Cluster partners in Gaalkacyo reported that seven separated minors have now been reunited with their families. One unaccompanied minor is living with IDPs in Gaalkacyo, according to Puntland authorities."

Somaliland has since defended the evictions which are apparently targeting those from the south, arguing that the operation was carried following security concerns in the region. However,
a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package...
some reports intimate that business rivalry between northerners and southerners triggered the incident.

The breakaway region of Somaliland claimed independence from Somalia in 1991 after three decades of a toxic relationship that led to a civil war. Since then, Somaliland, although unrecognized by the international community, has been running a parallel government from that of Mogadishu.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Algeria to Train Libyan Female Police
[LIBYAREVIEW] The Algerian Ministry of Justice is organizing a training course for 15 female members of the Libyan judicial police force working in the prison administration. The training will be carried out during the period from October 17th to 26th, at the Meddouda El Djamil Hotel in Skikda.In a statement, the Ministry said that the organization of this training session falls within the framework of cooperation that links the Algerian Ministry of Justice and the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

This training course will deal with the topic of caring for female prisoners according to international standards, as well as a number of theoretical and applied axes related to its topic. These axes will be framed by a group of Algerian competencies in the prison sector, according to the latest pedagogical methods.

According to her statement, this course will include a field visit to the penal institution in Skikda in order to learn about its organization and management.

In addition, this course aims to make the participating female employees acquire scientific knowledge and practical skills in accordance with international standards. This will contribute to upgrading the quality of care for women imprisoned in Libya, and in general in reforming the Libyan penal system.



Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Europe
Poland Passes Law to Turn Away Migrants at Border and Build a Wall
The next step in taking the invasion seriously.
[Breitbart] The Polish parliament has passed a new law that will see illegal migrants turned away at the border and banned from entering Poland for a number of years, and a wall on the border with Belarus funded.

The legislation was passed on Thursday by Poland’s parliament, and will allow Polish border guards to turn away migrants at the border and push them back to the country they illegally crossed from.

The law also states that anyone caught entering Poland illegally will be banned from entering the country again from a period of six months to three years, and also states that asylum claims from those who have entered Poland illegally can be ignored, broadcaster SVT reports.

According to the EU-funded website InfoMigrnats, there are exceptions for asylum seekers who have come directly from a country where their lives and freedoms are threatened and have not stopped in other countries before coming to Poland.

Polish lawmakers have also given the go-ahead to build a wall on the roughly 250-mile border with Belarus, estimated to cost around €353 million.

The former Soviet Socialist Republic is believed to be engineering the surge in crossings by migrants — originally from Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, for the most part — in order to punish Poland for sheltering Belarusian dissidents.

Poland’s Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said the wall would be a “solid high barrier with a surveillance system of cameras and movement sensors.”

A similar barrier has been built in Greece along the country’s land border with Turkey and is also equipped with “extremely technologically advanced” surveillance systems according to the Minister of Citizen Protection, Michalis Chrysochoidis.

Both Greece and Poland are among 12 signatories to a letter addressed to the European Union earlier this month which called on the political bloc to do more to tackle illegal immigration.

Tensions along the border with Belarus have increased in recent weeks, with reports that Belarusian forces opened fire at Polish personnel stations along the border, although no one was injured during the inciden.

A spokeswoman for the Polish border guard speculated that the shots fired were not live ammunition.
Posted by: Skidmark || 10/17/2021 09:48 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Migrants/Illegal Immigrants


Home Front: WoT
US to release only Afghan prisoner from Guantanamo
[KhaamaPress] US Defense Ministry said that they are releasing two prisoners from Guantanamo bay one of them is Asadullah Haroon Gul,
...Asadullah Haroon “al Afghani” Gul, as he is listed in his lawsuit against Donald J. Trump, et al demanding his release as a mere member of merely Al Qaeda-linked Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin rather than a full member of boogey-groups Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The lawsuit ignores the fact that the innocent economist was also an admitted courier for senior Al Qaeda leaders...
the only Afghan left in the jail.

The second prisoner who is going to be released is a Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
i citizen by the name of Sanadi Salaam al-Kazimi.
...listed in Wikipedia as Sanad Ali Yislam Al-Kazimi, who arrived at GITMO on 2004-09-20, but has not previously appeared in our archives in either version...
The pardon verdict of Haroongul (40) reads that he was not leading krazed killer groups and has now shown remorse for what he did in the past.

Asadullah Haroongul who is also known as Haroon al-Afghani was arrested in 2007 accused of leading krazed killer groups.

He has personally written 900 letters for his innocence and was recently denied past year.
Clearly a degree in economics is not as helpful to one’s life endeavours as has been so frequently promised, however pleasant it might have been to acquire the thing.
Haroon al-Afghani was rumored to be suffering from serious depression last year.

Posted by: trailing wife || 10/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  1st all terrorists naturally will say anything to get released.

2nd its pretty clear this is political release, not one done based on edvidence or charges.

3rd Ref: last in Gitmo.. maybe, but what about the numerous Secret INTEL jails ran in other countries?
Posted by: NN2N1 || 10/17/2021 5:43 Comments || Top||

#2  /\ Secret INTEL jails ran in other countries?

We'd rather not discuss conspiratorial concepts such as the release of terrorist prisoners for purposes regime change or bribery payment, or 'Rendition', or the 'Five Eyes' assisted electronic monitoring of US presidential candidates and other USCITS in CONUS, project terminations via Ginsu drone, massive midnight cash payments to Iran, or bilateral child-porn, off-shore Caribbean asset recruitment sites and resultant suicides or retentions.

Do you other questions or comments of interest ?

Posted by: Besoeker || 10/17/2021 6:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Guess the Taliban needed more personnel for the new government ministries and the request has been 'honored'.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/17/2021 19:14 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Geelani's grandson among two employees dismissed from service by J&K govt under Article 311
[GREATERKASHMIR] Jammu and Kashmir
...a disputed territory lying between India and Pakistain. After partition, the Paks grabbed half of it and call it Azad (Free) Kashmir. The remainder they refer to as "Indian Occupied Kashmir". They have fought four wars with India over it, the score currently 4-0 in New Delhi's favor. After 72 years of this nonsense, India cut the Gordian knot in 2019, removing the area's special status, breaking off Ladakh as a separate state, and allowing people from other areas to settle (or in the case of the Pandits, to resettle) there....
government on Saturday dismissed from service grandson of late Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and another teacher from Doda district under the recently invoked Article 311 of the Indian Constitution "in the interest of the security of the state".Separate orders issued in this regard by the General Administration Department, said that Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha is "satisfied after considering the facts and circumstances" of the cases that the "activities" Anees-ul-Islam, late Geelani's grandson, working as a Research Officer in the Sheri Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) and Farooq Ahmad Butt, a local regularized Rehbar-e-Taleem teacher at Government Middle School Kathawa in J&K's Doda district "as such as to warrant" their dismissal from service.

The dismissal orders of Anees and Butt further read that the LG is "satisfied under sub-clause (c) of the proviso to clause (2) of Article 311 of the Constitution of India it is not expedient to hold an enquiry" into the cases.
Translation: the lad was caught supporting jihadi activity.
Pertinently, the J&K government in April constituted a Special Task Force (STF) to recommend the names of such employees involved in activities posing a threat to the security.
Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistain Proxies


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
These women are the first IDF tank crew preventing drug smuggling along Egyptian border
[Jpost] Deep in the Negev sit a pair of Merkava IV tanks, operated by Israel’s first female tank crews. The women, making history, are keeping a close eye on the Egyptian border, ready for any threat that might appear.

The tanks and their crews are guarding one of Israel’s longest borders, and while there has been peace with Egypt for more than 40 years, the 240-kilometer long border with the restive Sinai Peninsula sees almost daily action for IDF troops: regular smuggling attempts as well as terror attacks by the Islamic State terror group’s Sinai Province.

Operating Merkava IV tanks, the company of all-female tank operators are serving under the command of the Paran Brigade and serve as tank operators in the mixed-gender Caracal Battalion.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Skidmark || 10/17/2021 08:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Narcos


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Prepare for a nuclear Iran, Biden envoy says - Blames Orange Man
[American Military News] Robert Malley, President Joe Biden’s Special Envoy for Iran, warned this week to prepare for Iran to ignore all constraints on its nuclear program, as Iran continues to approach weapons-grade nuclear fuel.

During a virtual discussion on Iran policy hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Malley said, "We have to prepare for a world . . . where Iran doesn’t have constraints on its nuclear program."

Malley also criticized President Donald Trump’s administration for withdrawing the U.S. from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Trump withdrew from the deal in May 2018, following criticisms the agreement did little to constrain Iran and that Iran had violated it by not disclosing a past nuclear weapons program.

Following the U.S. withdrawal from the deal, Iran has also begun ignoring constraints on its nuclear program, such as the amount and enrichment levels of nuclear materials it can have. According to a September report, Iran stands poised to achieve a nuclear breakout in which it could rush to enrich enough nuclear material to fuel its first nuclear warhead in a matter of weeks.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/17/2021 08:52 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Gosh, we'd better start a war then! That always works. Especially when the war doesn't benefit us at all!
Posted by: Omomolet Phutch9064 || 10/17/2021 8:57 Comments || Top||

#2  ^ Naive wishcasting. When someone says "Death to Great Satan America", believe them. At least don't constrain the Little Satan Israel from self-defense
Posted by: Frank G || 10/17/2021 9:37 Comments || Top||

#3  What is it about the Israeli "Never Again" that Democrats don't comprehend.
Posted by: Bertie Crains2651 || 10/17/2021 11:50 Comments || Top||

#4  Following the U.S. withdrawal from the deal, Iran has also begun ignoring constraints on its nuclear program --- when was Iran ever observing constraints?
Posted by: warthogswife || 10/17/2021 12:42 Comments || Top||

#5  when was Iran ever observing constraints?

Not since that little kerfuffle in 1979, certainly.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/17/2021 12:50 Comments || Top||

#6  "We have to prepare for a world where Iran doesn’t have constraints on its nuclear program."

You goof: of course the Israelis are prepared. Ready, willing and able to take out or degrade Iranian nuclear facilities -- as they've done successfully so many times to their enemies during the last 40 years.

While you idiots blabber, the next Osirak attack is being prepared. How does it feel to be totally irrelevant?

Step aside and let the adults take care of this menace.
Posted by: Merrick Ferret || 10/17/2021 12:53 Comments || Top||

#7  I guarantee our intelligence agencies are monitoring Israeli military facilities to identify any preparations for a strike against Iran. What is heartbreaking for me is that they may well do so knowing that the information might be used to alert the target by the ValJar connection at the Kalorama Kompound.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 10/17/2021 14:07 Comments || Top||

#8  /\ They know we are watching. We know, they know, we are watching. The origins of whatever takes place will likely be suspected, but....unknown. Beta testing has long been underway.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/17/2021 17:03 Comments || Top||

#9  "Trump did it!"

Facist political deflection.
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 10/17/2021 19:05 Comments || Top||


Geagea Says 'Ain el-Remmaneh People' Foiled Hizbullah's 'Mini May 7'
[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...
has described Thursday’s deadly festivities in the Tayyouneh-Ain al-Remmaneh-Shiyyah area an an attempt by Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
to stage a "mini" May 7-like armed campaign against "Christians" with the objective of halting the probe into the Beirut port blast.Asked whether he takes credit for "foiling a new May 7," the LF leader said: "No, it wasn’t Samir Geagea who foiled the new May 7 but rather the alive people present in Ain al-Remmaneh."

"It is true that we are present on the ground, seeing as we are present in all regions and we’re not absent from any issue... but the claims about a military structure are totally baseless and the Lebanese Army is the only party that knows the facts as they are," Geagea added in an interview with the journalist Walid Abboud via Sawt Beirut International.

"The claims about a supply route and paramilitary deployment are completely unfounded and the presence there was the natural presence of the young men in their neighborhoods. As for the talk about snipers, the army has arrested snipers, let it say who they are and where they came from," the LF leader said.

Dismissing accusations by Hizbullah and Amal Movement that what happened was "an ambush against a protest," Geagea stressed that this is also untrue and that it wasn’t the LF who "defended the area" but rather "all of Ain al-Remmaneh’s residents."

"Before any shot was fired, four people from Ain al-Remmaneh had already been maimed, also before anyone from the other side was killed or maimed," Geagea added, voicing sorrow over the Hizbullah and Amal supporters who were killed and maimed while blaming "their leaderships who dragged them into that position."

The LF leader also decried that the army’s Intelligence Directorate is summoning people from Ain al-Remmaneh for interrogation. "They were sitting in their homes and neighborhood. It is fine, summon them, but you should have summoned those who came to attack them," he said.

Told that al-Manar TV has claimed that "the LF snipers are known by names," Geagea said: "This is untrue. Let them hand over the alleged names to the Lebanese Army."

Asked whether he and the LF are "prepared for war," Geagea said: "No, but if someone wants to attack us, we will always do this. However,
Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried...
this is something and having an armed organization is something else. But let no one think that we will die with open eyes; they will be very mistaken."

"This is not a declaration of war, but our dignity is very dear to us and we do not accept to be attacked by anyone, period," Geagea added.

Bassil Accuses Geagea and LF of 'Bloodshed, Murder' and 'Sniping People from Rooftops'

[An Nahar] Free Patriotic Movement
Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
chief Jebran Bassil on Saturday launched a vehement attack on 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...
in connection with the deadly Tayyouneh festivities, while criticizing Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
and Amal over the "provocations" of their supporters in Ain el-Remmaneh."Whenever he tries to clean himself he later gets dirty with shedding blood, because this is his nature, and the Tayyouneh crime is the biggest proof," Bassil added, referring to Geagea.

"A strong party is not one that carries arms and snipes people from the rooftops of buildings. A strong party is not the one that claims to be protecting its neighborhood by opening fire from among its people. A strong party spares its neighborhood strife, not through submission, but through standing strongly and wisely," the FPM chief added, in a speech marking the October 13, 1990 anniversary.

"The rights of Christians cannot be recovered through blood!" Bassil stressed.

"They haven’t learned anything from the policies of treachery, sniping and murder! They kill our people -- be them Christian or Moslem, children or elderly, secular or clergymen, premiers or citizens, civilians or soldiers," the FPM chief charged.

He added that no one has the right to "murder protesters through sniping and backstabbing" even if they make "provocations."

Without naming the LF, Bassil charged that the rival Christian party is still "prepared, trained and carrying on with the killing policy" and is willing to "make a massacre, strife or civil war when it is offered a green light."

"Justice is achieved through the judiciary, not sectarian incitement. Those whose history is black cannot claim to be fond of justice while killing protesting people and trying to stir strife in the country on former frontiers in order to gain popularity," Bassil added.

Criticizing Hizbullah and Amal, the FPM chief said "no one has the right to impose their opinion on others nor to threaten street action."

"Everyone has the right to have an opinion about the investigator and the (Beirut port blast) probe and everyone has the right to have doubts and suspicions, but this should happen through the judicial, legal and institutional course. But no one has the right to undermine the principle of the separation of powers by trying to impose their opinion on Cabinet contrary to the norms and laws. They must know that someone will stand in their face to say No!" Bassil added.

Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Families of Port Victims Back Bitar after Spokesman Appears in Surprising Video
[An Nahar] The front man for relatives of those killed in last year's Beirut port blast quit on Saturday, following fears he had been intimidated into urging the dismissal of the lead investigator in the case.Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
and allies have accused Judge Tarek Bitar of political bias in his probe into the August 4, 2020 explosion that killed more than 210 people.

Tensions came to a boil Thursday when seven people were killed in violence following a rally organized by Hizbullah and its ally Amal demanding Bitar's dismissal.

The shootout on Beirut’s edge kept many residents trapped indoors for hours, reviving memories of Leb
...In 2006 unknown persons blew up Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the car he was traveling in, the road he was traveling on, and a few innocent bystanders of no account whatsoever. The person or persons unknow weren't Hezbollah, you can bet on that. Really. Even though there was an international tribunal that said it was them...
's 1975-1990 civil war.

In a complete U-turn from his previous support for the investigator, Ibrahim Hoteit, a front man for the families of the victims, called in a video circulated Friday night for the judge to step down.

Many social media users worried that Hoteit, whose brother was killed in the port explosion, had been threatened.

In the video, he is seen glancing off camera as he speaks, in what some charge could be a sign of him speaking under duress. He also uses rhetoric and words typically used by Hizbullah's officials.

But Hoteit told AFP he had spoken only for himself and denied having recorded the video under any pressure.

"The only pressure I came under were the events of Thursday and the fear of sliding into civil war," he said.

"I therefore decided to step down as front man" for the families.

- '180-DEGREE TURN' -
Other victims' relatives, who still support Bitar, said in a statement: "This position... does not represent us at all."

William Noun, whose firefighter brother died in the blast, told AFP that he remained firm in his support and that Hoteit "was without doubt pressured."

Lina Khatib, a senior analyst at the Chatham House think-tank, said the video was "alarming because it is a sudden 180-degree turn from earlier statements... in support of the port probe."

"In the video he appears to be under duress," she said, and the wording of the statement was unlike his usual language.

"All this suggests that Hoteit issued the video statement because he felt pressured to do so."

Posted by: Fred || 10/17/2021 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah



Who's in the News
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3Migrants/Illegal Immigrants
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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2021-10-17
  Thailand Ends 17-Day Security Op in Deep South Swamp
Sat 2021-10-16
  Lebanon on edge as funerals held for seven killed in Beirut gunbattle
Fri 2021-10-15
  Socialist Labour Party MP in Leicester, England and a BLM activist, has been convicted over threatening to throw acid on the face of a woman
Thu 2021-10-14
  Six dead, dozens injured as Beirut protest erupts into heavy gunfights
Wed 2021-10-13
  Antifa member files frivolous lawsuit claiming he was injured by cops while rioting
Tue 2021-10-12
  Iraqis nab ISIS finance chief with $5 million bounty on his head
Mon 2021-10-11
  NIA raids 16 locations across Kashmir amid fresh civilian killings
Sun 2021-10-10
  UN: 10,000 Displaced as Clashes Escalate over Marib
Sat 2021-10-09
  Suicide bomber kills at least 100 at Shi'ite mosque in Afghanistan
Fri 2021-10-08
  Now in Power, Taliban Set Sights on Afghan Drug Underworld
Thu 2021-10-07
  Tunisia police seize equipment used by pro-Ennahdha channel
Wed 2021-10-06
  Turkey seeks to merge al-Nusra and National Army in Syria's Idlib
Tue 2021-10-05
  Palestinian president hosts Israeli minister in West Bank
Mon 2021-10-04
  He was transporting illegal Mexican migrants
Sun 2021-10-03
  Children are dying of starvation in Afghanistan

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