President Hamid Karzai and NATO officials were apparently tricked by an imposter who claimed to be one of the highest-ranking members of the Taliban and held at least two meetings with the Afghan leader and other officials in recent months, officials said.
The con man's willingness to talk and relatively mild demands -- for example, he did not insist on the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan before opening peace talks had raised hopes that the peace process here was finally making progress after two years of often fitful and futile attempts at negotiating with the Taliban.
Instead, Afghan and U.S. officials are now trying to clean up what one Western diplomat called the "most bizarre mess" of the nearly decade-long war.
They are also faced with an embarrassing reversal: only last month, U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of American and allied forces in Afghanistan, was telling reporters that the coalition had provided safe passage for senior Taliban leaders to travel to Kabul and talk with the Karzai administration.
A senior Afghan official said that at least one of the people given safe passage was a man who purported to be Mullah Akthar Muhammad Mansour, one of the chief deputies to the Taliban's supreme leader, the one-eyed Mullah Muhammad Omar.
The Afghan official declined to say if other Taliban leaders are involved in talks or have been given safe passage by coalition forces. But he did say that the talks with the imposter were thought to be the most promising in a series of parallel efforts to inch forward a peace process that has made little progress since the first discussions were held in Saudi Arabia in the autumn of 2008.
The imposter, whose true identity is not clear, "is a very daring man he thought he was more clever than we were," the Afghan official said.
Asked Tuesday at a news conference if he had met Mr. Mansour, President Karzai said he had not, without elaborating. The existence of the imposter was first reported by The New York Times and the Washington Post.
The fake Mr. Mansour managed to convince enough people that he was the real deal that British intelligence flew him to Kabul on multiple occasions, Afghan and coalition officials said.
He was also given "a lot of money" at one point, said a coalition official.
The money was ostensibly to cover the cost of traveling to Kandahar, the southern Afghan city where the man caught his flight with British intelligence, from the southwestern Pakistani city of Quettathe home base of the Taliban's leadership council, known as the Quetta Shura. But the real purpose of the money was to encourage his return to the discussions, the official said.
There were conflicting accounts of how exactly the ruse was discovered. The senior Afghan official said a few things about the man seemed off, and his sudden willingness to talk on terms acceptable to the Afghan government eventually raised suspicions.
In addition to dropping the standard Taliban demand for a complete withdrawal before the start of talks, the man failed press the insurgents' claim for an eventual role in the Afghan government.
The Afghan official said some of his colleagues began circulating photographs of the imposter to people who knew Mr. Mansour when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan. None recognized the man in the picture. But a senior Western diplomat said the man met with people who had previously known Mr. Mansour and they did not realize he was an imposter. "He fooled everyoneus and the Afghans," the Western diplomat said.
Either way, the Afghan official said everyone should have known better, noting that the talks seemed too easy to get going. No one asked, "Why now?" the official said.
Since first disclosing the meetings last month, senior U.S. and allied military officers here portrayed the nascent talks as the clearest evidence to date that American surge forces were pummeling the Taliban and forcing them to the negotiating table.
But the Taliban maintained it was not negotiating, and the insurgents began gloating Tuesday as word spread of the ruse. "The Americans and their allies are very stupid and anyone could fool them," said Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi in a telephone interview.
The Afghan official said he and some of his colleagues are not sure what motivated the imposter. Maybe it was money or perhaps he was sent by Pakistan's intelligence service, which U.S. and Afghan officials say has deep ties to the Taliban, to find out what the Afghan government was offering in peace talks, the official said.
The Afghan official and the coalition official said the man, whom they believe to be Pakistani, may even have been sent by the Taliban to figure out what was on offer. But both acknowledged they were speculating.
Pakistan denies supporting the Taliban or harboring its leadership, and officials there could not be immediately reached for comment.
[El Universal] Gabriel Silva, Colombia's Ambassador to the United States, said that alleged drug kingpin Walid Makled will be at the disposal of US authorities while he is extradited to Venezuela, as promised by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.
Silva said in an interview published by Colombian newspaper El Tiempo that due to "reasons related to proceedings and commitments made by" Santos, the Colombian Head of State decided to extradite Makled to Venezuela rather than to the US, news agency AFP reported.
"The judicial and intelligence cooperation with the US began many decades ago. Colombia is the country that has extradited more national and foreign people to the United States. All of them, including this guy, are at the disposal of the US," the Colombian envoy said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that Washington has requested the drug lord's extradition to smear his government with scandals.
"Washington wants to use him so he vomits all kinds of accusations against the Bolivarian Revolution, against its political and military leadership," Chavez wrote in his weekly column.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/23/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Narcos
#1
Hmm, maybe he will ask nicely to be taken to Noriega's cell?
Somehow I feel he'd prefer Florida to Caracas.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
11/23/2010 4:48 Comments ||
Top||
China has yet to respond officially to news that North Korea showed a large uranium enrichment facility to a visiting U.S. expert. The Chinese state media are also keeping mum, with China Central Television and the Xinhua news agency only briefly reporting on Monday morning that Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, is on an urgent trip to South Korea, China and Japan.
Diplomats in Beijing speculate that North Korea failed to inform China that it was building the facility. "We don't know whether North Korea notified China of its uranium enrichment program beforehand," a diplomat said. "But looking at delayed response from China, it's unlikely."
China knows everything the Norks do, and approves of almost everything in advance. North Korea is China's dog.
Chinese President Hu Jintao repeatedly called on North Korea to be more forthcoming when he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il during Kim's visits to the country in May and August. Hu was apparently alluding to his unhappiness when the North notified China of its nuclear tests only at the last minute.
Zhang Liangui, a North Korea expert at the Party School of the Communist Party Central Committee, told Reuters that China understands "the core dispute as being between the United States and North Korea," and that it is "not up to China to exert pressure."
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/23/2010 08:09 ||
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Top|| File under:
#1
diplomats all over are tiptoeing around Chinese involvement in the Hermit Kingdom
That part of the US that makes such declarations is showing a distinct lack of imagination.
(KUNA) -- The B.O. regime said Monday that six-party talks can still play "important role" in nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea, in light of Pyongyangs revelation of a new modern nuclear enrichment facility.
In a press briefing, White House front manMinister of Information Robert Washington Bob Gibbs said, "The six-party process can plan an important role, if and when the North Koreans take that six-party process to move toward denuclearization seriously. We do not wish to talk simply for the sake of talking." He noted that North Koreas latest nuclear enrichment capability claims "contradict the pledges and commitments that theyve made repeatedly to the international community." He said the US has already dispatched representatives to the region to brief partners and allies in coordinating a policy response to their actions.
"The North Koreans have to be serious about living up to their obligations. And not having done so has put a sanctions regime in place that is the strongest that the country has ever faced and has greatly increased the price of their noncompliance," he stressed.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... Pentagon front man Colonel Dave Lapan on Monday would not confirm whether the US would redeploy nuclear weapons to South Korea following the recent reports of North Koreas growing nuclear capabilities.
"The US and our international partners are consulting on what steps to take in light of this new information. So Id say its premature to talk about specific steps," Pentagon front man Colonel Dave Lapan told news hounds.
However, The infamous However... South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-Young affirmed the possibility that Seoul may ask the US to redeploy them after the weapons were removed in 1991. He indicated the issue will likely be raised at a joint US-South Korean military committee meeting next month to discuss North Korea's nuclear programs.
In an interview with the New York Times, American nuclear scientist, Siegfried Hecker, said he toured a newly-built enrichment plant in North Koreas Yongbyon atomic complex which North Korean officials said boasts up to 2,000 working centrifuges and an "ultra-modern control room." The report triggered renewed international concerns over North Koreas intentions behind its nuclear program.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/23/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Commies
(KUNA) — The US urged calm and coordination Monday as the allies scrambled to deal with the revelation of what may be the most menacing nuclear facility made in North Korea, Seoul's Yonhap News Agency reported.
"It's not a crisis," Stephen Bosworth, top US envoy on North Korea, told South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, who voiced his agreement over a purported uranium enrichment facility at the main nuclear complex in North Korea.
"We've known about this for some time," Bosworth said in Seoul, defending the US policy intended to pressure the North into taking denuclearization steps before reopening stalled six-party talks.
"I would not accept that our policy toward North Korea is a failure," Bosworth was quoted as telling news hound'>news hounds following his meeting with the minister.
"This is a very difficult problem that we have been struggling to deal with for almost 20 years. We're not throwing our policy away," he said, pledging to "refine" approaches to North Korea because "we can't just ignore" the purported uranium program unveiled through a US scientist. Nah. 20 years. They got bombs. Who could call that a "failure"?
"We have to incorporate this now into our strategy as we move forward," said the envoy, who arrived in Seoul Sunday night as part of a quickly arranged three-nation Asian swing.
Bosworth, who was to later travel to Tokyo and Beijing, expressed hope for the eventual resumption of the six-party talks on denuclearizing the North through assistance. The talks involving two Koreas, the US Russia, Japan, and China have not been held since late 2008, and Seoul and Washington maintain Pyongyang must take tangible denuclearization steps before they can consider resuming the talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/23/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Commies
#1
Uh, uh, DPRK ANTI-US "DEATH BY A THOUSAND KIMCHEE/CABBAGES" ala "2012"???
Gut nuthin.
* WORLD NEWS > NEW CENTRIFUGES IN NORTH KOREA FORCE RECALCULATION OF IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRESS [serious implications for both ME + East Asia].
US forced to into "RETHINK" of effec of IRAN, DPRK ANTI-NUKE POLICIES.
Lest we fergit, TOPIX/WORLDNEWS > VARIOUS > [AQAP aka AQIY] SOMALI-BASED AL QAEDA/QAEDA AFFILIATE THREATENS SMALL-SCALE ATTACKS AGZ US [Intensive Terr Campaign to cause serious damage to US Economy].
#3
OOOOOOPSIES, forgot WMF > NO CHOICE FOR CHINA BUT WAR:RUSSIA'S DESIRE TO LIMIT OR KEEP CHINA OUT FROM ARCTIC ROUTES + SEOUL'S DESIRE TO BASE US TACNUKES IN SOUTH KOREA TO COUNTER NORTH KOREA'S NUCPROGS NULLS CHINA'S ACCESS INTO NORPAC, WESTPAC VIA "FIRST ISLAND CHAIN". INDIA + RUSSIA + US IN SEA OF VIETNAM + SOUTH CHINA SEAS AGZ CHINA.
* TOPIX/WORLD NEWS > US: NO DECISION [yet] ON SOUTH KOREA TACNUKES.
SRI LANKA = former CEYLON is [politely]turning into another ANTI-CHINA "VIETNAM II" for the US-RUSSIA-INDIA-JAPAN, while in PAKISTAN the PAK NAVY CHIEF would like to see the GWADAR PORT DEAL wid CHINA CANCELLED???
IMO, BOTH RUSSIA + US ARE TRYING HARD NOT TO SAY THEY SSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH WANT JAPAN [ROK?]TO GO NUCWEAPS NUKULAAR???
#4
It's not a crisis... look away, look away...
nothing to see here
because....
we are broke, stretched across Iraq and Af-Pak and we CAN'T afford another war front
and so we are trying to pretend it is not a crisis
so it doesn't look like what it is
a testing of power relations to see how the chips are gonna fall now.
and now the whole world sees how they are gonna fall
china is happy: it means US is too weak to fight back so is urging calm.
china's plans to do whatever the hell it wants will proceed apace.
now we can forget a floating yuan and don't bother about pressure for human rights abuses because the Hermit Kingdom just got a free pass to pump artillery on the south
that is what it is looking like as the hours pass....and comments like this one come out.... though maybe this came out before the shelling
(KUNA) -- North Korea's claim to have secretly constructed a uranium enrichment facility is "absolutely unacceptable," Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Monday. ... but since there won't be any real consequences you might actually describe it as "inconsequential."
His remarks came after a US scientist revealed he had toured a modern, new uranium enrichment plant during a recent trip to North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex. "We will cooperate with the US and other countries to deal with this issue," Kan told news hounds.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... the country's Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara and US Special Representative for North Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth agreed to work together with South Korea to address Pyongyang's nuclear program.
During their talks in Tokyo, Maehara said if the North builds the nuclear facility, it is "really something grave" and a violation of UN Security Council resolutions that prohibit the country from carrying out nuclear development.
Bosworth, who arrived here from Seoul earlier in the day, said the situation "is not a crisis." American scientist Siegfried Hecker said over the weekend that he saw more than 1,000 new centrifuges for processing uranium on November 12. The development of the new facility would allow the North to produce enriched uranium-based nuclear bombs in the future. Pyongyang conducted plutonium-based nuclear tests twice, in 2006 and 2009.
North Korea said last April that it resumed reprocessing nuclear spent fuel rods to produce plutonium at the Yongbyon complex, some 90 kilometers north of Pyongyang, in protest against a punitive UN resolution for its long-range rocket launch earlier that month.
The complex had been disabled in accordance with six-party agreements involving the two Koreas, the US, China, Russia and Japan. The six-way talks involving two Koreas, the US Russia, Japan and China aimed at North Korea's denuclearization have not been held since late 2008.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/23/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Commies
#1
FREEREPUBLIC > BREAKING = NORTH KOREA FIRES ARTILLERY [shells]AT SOUTH ISLAND, OFFICALS SAY
[started fire, one House repor destroyed].
#3
Oh yeah, I can see this happening in Boston. T employees make the TSA look like Delta Force. Tough to search anything when there's a perpetual cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee in one of your hands.
But then I saw this was from the paranoid loons over at Infowars and quit worrying.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
11/23/2010 10:12 Comments ||
Top||
#5
I've been in the Boston and New York subways during Rush Hour. Anything even near what is going on at the airports would shut those two cities down.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/23/2010 19:09 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Just might as well call them TSA brown shirts.
Traffic stops, home visits, whatever they think is necessary. This was always about control.
[Geo TV] Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza has alleged that judiciary is providing relief to terrorists, Geo News reported.
He was talking to media men after chairing a high-level meeting to review security measures for Sindh Assembly building and its members.
The meeting was attended among others by Speaker Sindh Assembly Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, CCPO Bloody Karachi Fayyaz Laghari and other senior police officials.
Zulfiqar Mirza said that the courts, hospitals, assembly building and other public places are facing threats.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... Nisar Ahmed Khuhro stated that Sindh Assembly building has not received any threat yet, but pre-emptive measures be taken to avoid any untoward incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/23/2010 00:00 ||
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Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani said on Monday that foreign forces were involved in a conspiracy against the province by creating a serious law and order situation. He called on the youth to join the civil service, army and defence forces to defend the legitimate rights of the people of Balochistan.
Speaking at a function for grant of Rs 10 million financial assistance to 400 flood-affected families, Raisani said that people could defend the legitimate rights of the province by joining the bureaucracy and defence forces of Pakistain. He criticised those elements that encourage the youth to kill hairdressers, labourers and other innocent people. He said they were not serving the people and the nation. "They are not well wishers of Balochistan. They are disturbing the traditional peace and public order by indulging in assassination of non-combatants and innocent people from other ethnic groups," Raisani said.
"Climate of brotherhood and peace can bring prosperity and progress in Balochistan," the chief minister said, adding all the sections of the society will have to play a positive role in retaining and defending peace and tranquility. He said that those raising the slogan of nationalism were not sincere with the people and the country. "They are creating and spreading hatred in politics and also against the innocent and unarmed people," Raisani told the gathering. "Those who are involved in the assassination of teachers are pushing the province into the Stone Age and depriving the young generations of education. But we, the government, will not let such people destroy the education system," he added.
The chief minister said he was a Pak first and Pak last and he was proud to be a Pak. He said that the revenue receipts of the provincial government had been doubled as a result of the just National Finance Commission Award. There was no precedence of such a big leap forward in history of Balochistan, he said.
Raisani said that five thousand youth had got jobs and he had sought a pledge from the prime minister for creation of 20,000 jobs for local youth in the Gwadar Deep Water Port Project. He hoped this measure would end the sense of deprivation among the unemployed youth. The chief minister announced establishment of an intermediate college at Mithari, basic health units at Bheri and Kolachi and announced Rs 20 million grant for development of the area. He also announced Rs 100 million for roads between Bala Nari and Kachhi.
The chief minister inaugurated the Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Raisani Bridge. He said his government believed in a peaceful struggle and wanted complete control of people over their resources. He said these issues were being taken up with the federal government. "We have persuaded the federal government successfully at many stages and efforts are still underway for complete rights over the resources of this province because the problems can not be resolved by armed struggle and the only way is negotiation," he maintained. Raisani urged the political parties and Baloch people to foil evil designs against Balochistan and not to let the province be part of the Great Game.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/23/2010 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) — Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn called on Israel Monday to stop Jewish settlement activities in East Jerusalem. When Luxembourg speaks the mighty tremble... Fear our wrath!!!
He told journalists that today's meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels will focus on the last proposition by the Americans on the Middle East Peace Process. "This proposition is not yet written but I hope that the government in Jerusalem will have the feeling and also respect to do what the international community and not only what the Americans have asked and recognize the borders of 67 and stop settlements in eastern part of Jerusalem," said Asselborn as he arrived for the one-day formal meeting.
On Iran, he said "they feel now the tensions not only from Europe but from other countries in the world." He noted that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sent "a very strong" message from Lisbon during the weekend.
Medvedev told a presser after a sumit meeting with NATO in the Portuguese capital on Saturday that Iran must prove to the world that its nuclear drive was entirely peaceful.
"So I hope in December negotiations will take place, negotiations based on two thing, first Iran has the right for nuclear energy on civilian level but also must cooperate with the international community and this international community is the IAEA in Vienna," he added.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... EU High Representative Catherine Ashton and EU foreign ministers will have a broad discussion on the Middle East over lunch today, focusing in particular on the efforts to encourage Israel and the Paleostinians to restart direct talks and on the situation in Gazoo. They will also discuss recent developments in Leb, Iraq, the Iranian nuclear issue and situation in Sudan .
The ministers will discuss the preparations for the forthcoming EU summits with Africa, Russia and India.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/23/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under:
#1
ION INTERNATIONALE', PRAVDA > WAR FOR CASPIAN SEA INEVITABLE [Oil-Gas Pipeline Wars]. Ex-Soviet -STANS + RUSS FEDERATION + IRAN arguing oer Caspian Sea shelfs = maritime borders, espec as Iran is claiming up to 1/5th of Caspian area.
* SAME > CHINA DOES NEED RUSSIAN ARMS ANYMORE TO ATTACK THE USA.
ARTIC = ...
To wit,
* CHINA does NOT need RUSS ARMS anymore thanx to MORE-THAN-ENOUGH TECHS TRANSFERS, legal or illegal.
* US-CHINA ESRC = US LOST IT MIL PRE-DOMINANCE IN
ASIA OR EAST ASIA.
* NO US-CHINA WAR TO OCCUR FOR 5-7 YEARS [2015-2017 = 2020?], although the World should expect a steady worsening of bilateral relations = "Cold War" due to increasing geopol competition.
--------------
* WAFF [Washington INEP] IRAN NUKES.BACK TO ANALYSIS.WAIT*ING FOR IRAN'S RESPONSE TO NATO 'S MISSLE DEFENSE SHIELD.
ARTIC = Among other, LEBANON + its HEZBOLLAH-domin GOVT = IRAN'S FORWARD STAGING BASE IN WAR. Iran at present can only threaten approxi SIX EAST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, BUT IS UNLIKELY TO DE FACTO EFFEC THREATEN WESTERN EUROPE = PRIMARY NATO COUNTRIES UNTIL AFTER 2012, i.e. AFTER IT MAKES A FINAL DECISION TO FORMALLY PRODUCE + DEPLOY ITS SAJIL/SAJJIL-II IRBMS.
* WORLD NEWS > REAL CLEAR POLITICS > WHY IS FRANCE AL-QAEDA'S NEW TARGET.
* TOPIX/WORLD NEWS > AQIM DEMANDS [French] AFGHAN WITHDRAWAL IN RETURN FOR FRENCH HOSTAGES, + FRANCE REJECTS AL-QAEDA DEMAND FOR BIN LADEN HOSTAGE TALKS [face-to-face wid OSAMA].
[An Nahar] The Paleostinian Islamist movement Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, on Monday accused its rivals in the Fatah party of President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas of sabotaging reconciliation efforts with a campaign of arrests in the West Bank.
"The arrests carried out by the security services of the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas and (premier) Salam Fayyad against symbols of national action and representatives of the Paleostinian people are poisoning the atmosphere," it said.
Hamas, in a statement issued in the Syrian capital where its politicianship in exile is based, said the arrests were "raising new obstacles to Paleostinian national reconciliation."
It said "more than 50 gunnies of the security services of the Paleostinian Authority on Sunday night raided the home of MP Fathi al-Qarawi, jugged one of his sons and confiscated computers."
And a preacher, Tamam Abu Saud, was "kidnapped" from her home in the West Bank city of Nablus, Hamas said.
Such actions "prove the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas is not serious in wanting to achieve a reconciliation (with Hamas)," it said, protesting what it said was "provocation" aimed at sabotaging any deal between Fatah and the Islamists who rule the Gazoo Strip.
Hamas also charged that Abbas's security services were working "in close coordination with those of the Israeli occupation" in the West Bank, where Fatah has control.
Fatah last week accused Hamas of plotting to kill one of its governors in the West Bank, an accusation which the Islamists denied. A number of suspects were rounded up in connection with the alleged plot.
The Paleostinian rival factions had agreed to resume reconciliation talks after last week's Mohammedan feast of Eid al-Adha, following two rounds of talks in Damascus, held earlier this month and in September.
They have been fiercely divided since Hamas seized power in Gazoo in a bloody rout of Abbas's forces in 2007.
A series of attempts at reconciliation, mainly mediated by Egypt, have failed with Fatah and Hamas accusing each other of undermining trust by persecuting political rivals in the territory under its control.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/23/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
(KUNA) -- Head of the negotiations' department in the Paleostinian Liberation Organization Saeb Erekat on Monday has accused Israel of being responsible of halting direct negotiations between the Israelis and Paleostinians.
During his meeting with US Deputy Envoy for Middle East David Hill, Erekat said that negotiations would only resume once Israel halts all its settlement activities.
He said that the time now is of decisions and not negotiations, adding that the aim of the grinding of the peace processor according to the international road map is to end the Israeli occupation, which began in 1967, and the establishment of a Paleostinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
He added that other arrangements should also include the final status issues, topped by the issue of refugees in accordance with the international legitimacy resolutions.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/23/2010 00:00 ||
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The so-called Ground Zero mosque recently applied for a $5 million federal grant from a fund designed to rebuild lower Manhattan after 9/11, reports The Daily Beast's John Avlon.
The application was submitted under a "community and cultural enhancement" grant program administered by the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Corporation (LMDC), which oversaw the $20 billion in federal aid allocated in the wake of 9/11 and is currently doling out millions in remaining taxpayer funds for community development. The redevelopment board declined to comment on the application (as did officials from Park51), citing the still ongoing and confidential process of determining the grant winners.
While news of the application has not previously been made public, developer Sharif El-Gamal outlined it in closed-door meetings, according to two individuals he spoke with directly. The thirtysomething, Brooklyn-born El-Gamal is motivated more by real estate ambition--one of these sources describes him as aspiring to be the next Donald Trump--than Islamic theology or ideology. h/t Jammie via Maggie
#1
Now THAT is a Victory Mosque. Islamists attack Manhatten killing thousands, the Mayor allows the Islamists to build a new Mosque AND pays for it. You talkin about victorious Submission! On top of all the locals frisking each other...
#3
Heh. Looks like they'll take whatever they can get...
But the project likely doesnt qualify for a grant in the first place. Specifically, the grant criteria mandate a demonstration of a projects financial feasibility, based on benchmarks set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The government will help complete development projectsbut it does not provide seed capital. And in their last public financial statement, Park51 was found to have less than $20,000 in the bank for a project with a slated cost of $100 million.
[Straits Times] THE actions of Mas Selamat Kastari's brother Asmom and his family in helping him escape two years ago are not a reflection of the wider Malay-Mohammedan community, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam told Parliament.
The community, he noted, had disapproved of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) leader's deeds, and took part in the manhunt for him after he broke out of Whitley Road Detention Centre in 2008.
'We should therefore not allow this episode to affect the trust and goodwill that has been built up over the years between our different communities,' he said.
'Instead, this episode should reinforce how important it is for every Singaporean to unite together and assist the security agencies to overcome the threat of terrorism from a small number of persons in our society.'
Mr Shanmugam made these points in a ministerial statement updating the House on ongoing investigations into how the former runawaybeat feet.
Several MPs sought clarifications that the matter would not affect relations among the various communities.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/23/2010 00:00 ||
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Iran has been experiencing significant technical problems with equipment in its uranium enrichment drive and has temporarily shut down some of its centrifuge machines, Western diplomats said on Tuesday.
If we have a CIA worth anything, the blame will be on Mossad. If Mossad is worth anything, the blame will be on the CIA.
One senior diplomat said Iran acted after suffering power fluctuations but that it was unclear to what extent the Stuxnet computer virus was to blame.
Security experts have said the release of Stuxnet could have been a state-backed attack -- possibly by Ruritania Israel or another foe of Iran -- to sabotage the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme.
Another diplomat confirmed Iran had switched off and then restarted centrifuges used to refine uranium but that this had happened also in the past. The diplomats did not say how many machines had been turned off or when and for how long.
Perhaps they need more extension cords?
"I don't think you can necessarily blame Stuxnet entirely. There could be some other issues but clearly they have been having some real problems," the senior diplomat told Reuters.
Son of Stuxnet! Nice going, Halliburton!
The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation was quoted as saying its adversaries had not achieved their aims with Stuxnet, which he suggested Tehran had discovered some 18 months ago.
Which means the Iranians were late to the party, heh ...
Iran has previously confirmed the virus had infected staff computers at its long-delayed Bushehr nuclear power plant, but had not affected major systems there.
Nothing other than the janitor's closet, according to them ...
"Fortunately the nuclear Stunext virus has faced a dead end ... and the desires and dreams of the enemies have not become true," ISNA news agency quoted Ali Akbar Salehi as saying.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog was expected later on Tuesday to distribute its inspection report on Iran to member states.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/23/2010 08:04 ||
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#2
Lord Garth submitted this link independently, with the following summary:
Diplomats reporting from Iran on 11-23 reported that many of the centrifuges have been taken off line.
Possible reasons:
- Stuxnet computer virus
- The equipment wasn't that good to start with and is wearing out
- The electrical company complained that their commercial and/or industrial customers were complaining about the brownouts.
- maintenance personnel were praying to Allah instead of tending the equipment and stuff happened
Iran's parliament revealed it planned to impeach President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but refrained under orders from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, exposing a deepening division within the regime.
Lawmakers also launched a new petition to bring a debate on the president's impeachment, conservative newspapers reported Monday.
The reports of challenges to Mr. Ahmadinejad were intended as retorts to a powerful body of clerics that urged Mr. Khamenei to curb the parliament's authority and give greater clout to the president.
In a report released Sunday and discussed in parliament Monday, four prominent lawmakers laid out the most extensive public criticism of Mr. Ahmadinejad to date.
They accused him and his government of 14 counts of violating the law, often by acting without the approval of the legislature. Charges include illegally importing gasoline and oil, failing to provide budgetary transparency and withdrawing millions of dollars from Iran's foreign reserve fund without getting parliament's approval.
"The president and his cabinet must be held accountable in front of the parliament," the report stated. "A lack of transparency and the accumulation of legal violations by the government is harming the regime."
The moves against Mr. Ahmadinejad come as the regime faces domestic pressure over his plans to gradually eliminate subsidies for fuel, food and utilities from an economy strained by a string of international sanctions over Tehran's controversial nuclear program.
Authorities have tightened security and arrested members of the opposition to prevent riots and uprisings in response to the subsidy cuts, which economists say will drive up inflation.
In opposition to the conservative lawmakers are Iran's ultraconservativesled by Mr. Khamenei, who has final say in all state matterswho have increasingly backed the president when he carries out policy without parliamentary approval.
Mr. Ahmadinejad hails from this ultraconservative camp, which has largely supported populist economic policies and taken a defiant stance abroad, as opposed to mainstream conservatives' more pragmatic approach.
Conservative newspapers reported on Monday that lawmakers have started a motion to collect the 74 signatures needed to openly debate impeachment. Mousa Reza Servati, the head of the parliament's budgetary committee, was quoted as saying 40 lawmakers, including Mr. Servati, have signed the motion.
[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 ... on Monday reassured that "the current situation is leaning towards stability, despite all the political tensions we're witnessing."
Geagea lauded President Michel Suleiman's Independence Day speech, describing it as "a speech by a statesman."
The LF leader stressed the importance of the things Suleiman called for, such as "respecting the Constitution and legitimate state institutions and the need for the Lebanese to hold onto dialogue."
Geagea also lauded the performance of Prime Minister Saad Hariri and the parliamentary majority in cabinet.
He saluted the stern role of the Army Command, "which will not allow the current political disputes to turn into security incidents."
Geagea criticized those who say that the army might split should it intervene to contain any possible security disturbances, describing such remarks as "irrational."
In the same context, Geagea expressed his satisfaction over the reassurances of Defense Minister Elias Murr and Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji about the army's intervention in the event of any unrest in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/23/2010 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Phalange party The Kataeb (Phalange) party was founded by Pierre Gemayel in 1936, who modeled the party after Spanish and Italian Fascist parties he had observed as an Olympic athlete during the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, then Nazi Germany. The movement's uniforms originally included brown shirts and members used the Nazi salute. Despite the party's uniform, its strong sense of nationalism and dedication to a single charismatic leader, the Lebanese Kataeb was not and never became a fascist party nor did it espouse a totalitarian ideology. leader on Sunday said Leb does not need another Taif or Doha agreements "but a ruling" on who killed politicians.
"We are not in need of another Taif or Doha. We need a ruling first on who killed our martyrs," Gemayel said after a mass memorial marking the fourth anniversary of the liquidation of his son, former Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.
The mass for Gemayel and his bodyguard Samir Shartouni took place at St. Anthony Church in Jdeideh.
"We will not rest until justice is achieved. We want the truth because we reject false testimonies. We want the Tribunal because we seek stability," he stressed.
"Loyalty to Pierre is achieved through commitment to the party's goal of serving Leb well."
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11/23/2010 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Iran has set February 6 as a new trial date for three US hikers charged with espionage, their lawyer said on Monday, prolonging the uncertainty of the two still in jail more than 15 months after being held on the Iraq border.
"I have received an official notification to appear in court on the 17 Bahman (February 6) to represent my three clients, Sarah (Shourd), Josh (Fattal) and Shane (Bauer)," lawyer Masoud Shafii told AFP.
He added that he was unaware if a special summons had been sent to Shourd, who was released on bail and left Iran on September 14 in a deal brokered by the Gulf sultanate of Oman.
However, The infamous However... prosecutor general Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie later said the judiciary had asked the foreign ministry to summon her.
"A memo has been sent to the foreign ministry to take measures so that this defendant (Shourd) can be present" during her trial, ILNA news agency quoted him as saying.
Shafii, who criticised the new delay in the case which has increased tension between the United States and Iran, said the charges against his clients remained "illegal entry and espionage."
Shourd, 32, her fiance Bauer, 28, and Fattal, 28, all insist they innocently strayed across the border with Iraq when they were nabbed on July 31, 2009.
The new trial date falls in early February, when Iran celebrates the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution and the fall of the US-backed shah's regime -- and when anti-American rhetoric reaches a climax.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/23/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
The new trial date falls in early February, when Iran celebrates the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution and the fall of the US-backed shah's regime -- and when anti-American rhetoric reaches a climax.
Oh yeah, these two are screwed.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
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#2
I can't really feel all that sorry for these three. Anyone with more than half a brain would stay away from Iran.
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.
Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani said on Monday that foreign forces were involved in a conspiracy against the province by creating a serious law and order situation. He called on the youth to join the civil service, army and defence forces to defend the legitimate rights of the people of Balochistan.
[An Nahar] The 
The so-called Ground Zero mosque recently applied for a $5 million federal grant from a fund designed to rebuild lower Manhattan after 9/11, reports The Daily Beast's John Avlon.
Iran has been experiencing significant technical problems with equipment in its uranium enrichment drive and has temporarily shut down some of its centrifuge machines, Western diplomats said on Tuesday.
