#1
Eventually the ROEs will be so restrictive that only the last guy left alive will be allowed to shoot back. And then only if he has been badly wounded.
I say to get the f*ck out NOW. This shithole ungrateful country isn't worth a single American life. Start with Karzai's security detail.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/28/2013 12:24 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I think a good arguement for getting out would be that with such restrictions, we have gone from destroying the enemy to actually training them up. There never really was an address to the fact that this region has historically only succeeded in three revenues: taxing trade, war bribes, and drugs. Bush got away from the smash faces culture which has existed there since the mongols razed the passes, and tried to build bridges for fraggles. This new guy, he is turning our families into practice targets and for what? I find it impossible for somebody to understand the details, or simply give confidence to the mission, in between triple putts and fundraising schedules.
[Tolo News] Proponents of the Kabul-Washington security pact in Parliament came out in full force on Wednesday, calling for the agreement to be signed immediately and warning of catastrophe if it goes un-finalized.
Lawmakers said the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) involved more than just whether or not U.S. troops would stay after the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... combat mission ends in 2014, or if military aid would continue to the Afghan forces. They argued the nation's economic health and place in the international community, more broadly, were hinged on the accord.
"You are well aware that our economic, political and security situations are interrelated to the signing of the Bilateral Security Agreement," an MP from Ghazni province named Nafeesa Sultani said. "If the BSA isn't signed, Afghanistan will face new disaster."
On Sunday, President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... rejected the Loya Jirga's recommendation to sign the BSA before the end of the year. He said he would not sign it before the April elections, and only then, if the U.S. met three preconditions: transparent elections in April, no raids on Afghan homes and a breakthrough in talks with the Taliban.
U.S. officials have scoffed at these demands and said they have no "magic wand" to establish peace in Afghanistan overnight. U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice met with Karzai in Kabul this week to address these concerns, but the Afghanistan's Caped President refused to budge.
Washington has said the BSA must be signed before the end of the year so that plans for residual troops can be made with NATO allies. If not finalized by 2014, the U.S. has indicated the entire deal could be in jeopardy, which could mean no foreign troops will stay in Afghanistan after December of next year.
"All people support the signing of the Bilateral Security Agreement, but Karzai has taken hostage the agreement hostage and he doesn't want to sign it," a Kabul MP named Nazifa Zaki said on Wednesday. "This was his personal decision, and the people of Afghanistan aren't satisfied with his approach."
Business insiders have indicated the doubt recently cast over the future of the deal has already had an impact on markets. But, for many Afghans, a post-2014 Afghanistan without a close partnership with the U.S. and its NATO allies could mean something worse than a halt in economic growth.
"If the BSA isn't signed, Afghanistan will move towards civil war," Zaki said.
Representatives from the newly founded Mawj-e-Tahawol Afghanistan political movement, which has pushed hard for the BSA to be signed, expressed similar opinions. The argued that Karzai was endangering the national interests of Afghanistan through his own petty political games.
Many have questioned what Karzai's motivations are for setting the preconditions and remaining so intransigent in negotiations. Some have said it is unchecked pride, others have suggested more nefarious intentions related to his standing once out of office next year.
Either way, the legions of critics are growing by the day, and on Wednesday, Parliament did not show any support for the President.
"Karzai's precondition for restoration of peace and security in Afghanistan with the span of one month is really funny," MP Fawzia Kofi said.
"If the U.S. can guarantee the holding of transparent elections, then what are the jobs of the Afghan government and the election commission?" asked Panjshir MP Zaheer Saadat.
Others suggested Karzai be taken out of the equation all together.
"This is a security agreement, if Karzai doesn't intend to sign it, then he should allow the Minister of Defense to sign the agreement," Kandahar MP Mohammad Naeem Lalai Hamidzai suggested.
If the BSA is not signed, U.S. negotiators have indicated no foreign troops would remain post-2014 and some 4.1 billion USD in aid to the Afghan military would be frozen.
The U.S. troops who stay beyond 2014, expected to number around 10-15,000, would primarily train and mentor Afghan forces. Some special forces would stay to conduct "counter-terror operations."
The only outspoken opponents of the accord have been the Taliban, Hezb-e-Islami, the Islamic Student Association and Jabhe Wahdat Milli. They have said the continued presence of foreign troops would violate Afghan illusory sovereignty and perpetuate the krazed killer conflict, looking to reduce foreign involvement in Afghanistan.
However, if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... politicians on Wednesday said they spoke for the Afghan people, and said that if Washington pulled back all troops from Afghanistan next year, Afghans would never forgive President Karzai.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
When President Hamid Karzai met with an audience of supporters gathered by the Afghan state television network, RTA, six months ago, he was asked what he would consider a favorable conclusion to the security negotiations he was conducting with the United States.
It is favorable if they surrender to us, he said.
Another question: But what if instead they just left?
He smirked, then said: The U.S. has come and will not go, brother. It does not go. Therefore, ask for your demands and dont worry.
#2
The US holds roughly 7500 nuclear warheads, the Russers maybe 8500. We need to make a doomsday deal like we did about France, to wit, if we ever should come to doomsday blows against each other, we pledge our honor and our childrens' honor to save 20 each for Afghanistan.
[Libya Herald] The Minister of Defence has flown to Italia to discuss collaboration on security. In the advance to his meetings in Rome, Abdullah Al-Thinni divulged plans to invest in a state-of-the-art border surveillance system with the help of Italian expertise.
Speaking just before his departure, Thinni said that the Ministry of Defence would be working with an Italian satellite company to set up a border monitoring system. The plans are the latest in attempts to combat the movement of bully boy groups and smugglers across the open frontiers.
Thinni told Rooters that Libya had contracted Selex, part of the defence and aerospace group Finmeccanica, to devise a satellite-based surveillance system to cover the border from the Mediterranean coast to the sub-Saharan boundaries. Work would start in December.
"It will cover the whole border. From the end of 2014 the southern border will be sealed. The crossing points and weak spots will be closed with the help of satellites," he said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the dirigible, Jack stuck the cigar in his mouth, stepped onto the gantry, and asked Got a light, Mac?
Von Schtinken stopped short, lowering the dagger and trying to control his features. If you light that thing, Herr Armschtröng, he pointed out, his voice tense, we all die!... the Ministry of Defence announced, also this week, that Egypt and Libya would be creating a joint border force to stop the movement of faceless myrmidons between the two countries.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[An Nahar] Egypt will put on trial eight people including Islamist leaders and an Al-Jazeera ... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means the Peninsula, as in the Arabian Peninsula. In recent years it has settled in to become slightly less biased than MSNBC, in about the same category as BBC or CBS... journalist on charges of inciting "torture" during the 2011 uprising, judicial sources said Wednesday.
A date has yet to be fixed for the trial of the eight, who also include a former minister, the sources said.
The group has been accused of "inciting the torture of a lawyer in Tahrir Square after accusing him of being an officer of the state security" during the uprising that ousted longtime president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... in January 2011.
The defendants include Mahmoud El-Khodeiry, a former judge close to the Moslem Brüderbund, Osama Yassin, youth minister under the government of ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... , and Ahmed Mansour, an anchor with Al-Jazeera television.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[An Nahar] Egypt's new constitution is still in the drafting stage but has already disappointed rights groups and activists who had hoped it would curb the military's wide-ranging powers and privileges.
They have particularly objected to a provision which would allow military trials for civilians accused of "harming" the armed forces, which they fear could be interpreted expansively to target protesters, journalists and dissidents.
The passing of the revised constitution through a referendum is the first milestone of a road map to elected rule offered by Egypt's military-installed authorities, who took office after the ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... on July 3.
The army toppled Morsi after millions of Egyptians called for his resignation, citing among their chief grievances a 2012 constitutional decree that gave Egypt's first democratically elected leader extraordinary powers, which he later rescinded.
Under Morsi, a new constitution was hastily drafted by a 100-member panel dominated by Islamists and boycotted by liberals, and was approved in a December 2012 popular referendum by a more than 60 percent margin.
The military-installed authorities quickly suspended the constitution after his overthrow and appointed a 50-member panel to draft a new one.
The panel includes just two Islamists and no one from Morsi's Moslem Brüderbund movement, which has been the target of a sweeping crackdown in recent months that has seen hundreds of protesters killed by security forces.
"Where has the revolution gone? It has not (been) transferred into the document," Joerg Fedtke, professor at Tulane University Law School in the U.S. city of New Orleans, said.
"The paradigm has not changed since 1971" -- the year when Egypt adopted an earlier constitution which undergirded decades of autocratic rule by President Anwar Sadat and his successor Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... , who was toppled by a popular uprising in February 2011.
Military retains vast powers
The revised text keeps the military's budget beyond any civilian scrutiny and also stipulates that members of the military be tried only in military courts, even in cases not related to their service, according to Heba Morayef, the Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... representative in Egypt.
"The revised constitution also says that members of general intelligence services should also be tried by military" tribunals, said Morayef, calling it "an extension of the immunity" given to law enforcement agencies in a country with a long history of torture and police brutality.
The end of such proceedings is the most divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... issue among members of the 50-member constitutional panel.
On Tuesday, 10 of its members halted work to protest the arrest of demonstrators, including prominent activists, who rallied against this article, forcing the committee to suspend its work until the next morning.
The panel only includes two representatives from the security forces, but the committee has heard from members of the armed forces who strongly advocated retaining provisions favoring the military.
Egypt's military, and particularly its top general Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has seen its popularity soar in the wake of Morsi's ouster, and the crackdown on Islamists has been allowed to proceed in part because of a spike in nationalist sentiment.
Islamists have meanwhile been driven underground after the arrest of some 2,000 Morsi supporters, including nearly the entire leadership of the Brotherhood, Egypt's best-organised political movement.
On Sunday, dozens of filmmakers slammed their representative on the constitutional panel, a noted movie director, for not objecting to the clause allowing military tribunals for civilians, which was adopted in the first reading of the document.
Another intense debate inside the committee revolves around the place of religion in the constitution, with Mohammedan and Christian representatives regularly threatening to quit the panel.
The revised text does not include section 219 of Morsi's constitution, which bolstered conservative interpretations of Islam, although the new document retains Islamic sharia law as the primary source of legislation, as did the Mubarak-era constitution.
Alexis Blouet, a French researcher who is studying the draft of the new constitution, said removing articles that bolstered conservative interpretations of Islam is only "symbolic, with no legal consequences".
Once approved by the panel, the revised text will be submitted to a public referendum expected in the second half of January.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[An Nahar] Egypt said it has approved a request for a demonstration on Wednesday against a new protest law that has faced stiff opposition since it was enacted at the weekend.
The interior ministry said the demonstration organized by activist groups would be held at Talaat al-Harb Square in downtown Cairo later on Wednesday.
The first to win official approval since the disputed law on demonstrations was adopted on Sunday, the rally would also demand the release of tossed in the slammer ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... protesters.
On Tuesday, police tossed in the clink Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! dozens of people as they broke up protests by youth movements and activists against the law that bans demonstrations held without prior notice.
During the night, 28 protesters were released, but another 24 have been ordered into detention for four days.
The new law requires protest organizers to apply to the ministry for permission to hold any demonstrations at least three days before they are staged.
The disputed law says protesters can be jugged Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! for up to five years if found guilty of offenses ranging from covering their faces to carrying weapons during demonstrations.
It also says security forces must first verbally warn protesters at prohibited demonstrations to disperse before using water cannon or tear gas, and should only gradually escalate to the firing of birdshot if other means fail.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[An Nahar] The United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... is to send a 235-strong special force to Libya to protect U.N. staff because of increasing attacks in the country, officials said Wednesday.
The U.N. Security Council has agreed a request by U.N. Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... to send the force, China's U.N. ambassador Liu Jieyi said.
Ban said in a letter to the council that U.N. staff are "at increased risk of attack" because of worsening tensions and "the lack of reliable national security forces."
The force, probably to be taken from U.N. peacekeeping missions, would guard the U.N. base in Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... . "This would act as a deterrent against bully boy elements who are not welcoming of foreign personnel," Ban commented.
He added that the guards could also help evacuate the more than 200 staff in the U.N. Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
The mission has been helping with a political transition in Libya after fall of dictator Muammar Qadaffy ...Proof that a madman with money will be politely received for at least 42 years until his people get tired of him and kill him... in October 2011.
Foreign missions stepped up security after an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi in September last year in which four people, including the U.S. ambassador, died.
Militias and bully boy groups have been battling for control and since the U.S. attack, the French and United Arab Emirates embassies in Tripoli have been bombed and other missions and diplomatic vehicles targeted.
China's ambassador told news hounds that as Security Council president for November he had sent a letter to Ban agreeing to the force.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Al Ahram] Libya has deported more than 500 African immigrants, state news agency Lana said, sending them to Niger as it tries to tackle an influx of refugees and Islamist hard boys. Western powers fear Libya has become a safe haven for al Qaeda gunnies as its government struggles to rein in militias and former rebels who helped topple Muammar Qadaffy ...a proud Arab institution for 42 years, now among the dear departed, though not the dearest... two years ago.
Weak border controls and a small army lacking training and equipment have turned Libya into a weapons smuggling route for al Qaeda in sub-Saharan countries and a transit route for Islamist fighters heading to Syria's civil war.
People traffickers also use the remote desert borders with Egypt, Sudan, Niger and Chad to smuggle refugees into Libya from where many try to reach Europe by boat.
Authorities deported 350 undocumented Democrats from Niger and 208 from Chad via its remote al-Tum crossing to Niger, Lana reported late on Tuesday, citing a security official.
In total 4,875 undocumented Democrats of various nationalities were being held in detention centres, the agency said.
Hundreds of illegal migrants have died in the past two months on their way from North Africa to Italia. Many set off in small boats from the Libyan coast which authorities struggle to monitor.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Libya Herald] The Second Isnad (Support) Battalion attached to the Military Police handed back its headquarters at the Tuna Factory in the Benghazi area of Kuwaifiya on Sunday to its owners. The handover was attended members of Benghazi Local Council, Kuwaifiya Local Council and the Benghazi Council of Elders.
The Second Isnad battalion, which was guarding the factory and water desalination plant in Kuwaifiya, is the first in Benghazi to hand over the premises it has been occupying since Congress passed Law Nos. 27 and 53 ordering militias to vacate buildings Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... and Benghazi bases respectively by 31 December 2013.
The battalion's members have moved to the Libya Shield forces camp in the Rahma area.
Benghazi Local Council praised the move and encouraged other armed formations to follow suit by handing back the premises they occupy to state institutions.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[DAILYPOST.NG] Security agents on Wednesday barred newsmen from covering the arraignment of 17 suspected Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... members at a Federal High Court, Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the security agents asked journalists covering the court to leave for security reasons.
The accused are Ali Mohammed, Adamu Karumi, Ibrahim Usman, Bala Haruna, Idris Ali, Mohammed Murtala, Kadiri Mohammed, Mustapha Daura, Abba Duguri, Sanni Adamu, Danjuma Yahaya and Musa Audu.
Others are Mati Daura, Farouk Haruna, Abdullahi Azeez, Ibrahim Bukar and Zula Diani.
The accused are standing trial on an amended seven-count charge on acts of terrorism.
According to the charge sheet, the accused are alleged to have committed the offences on March 21, at Plot 5, Road 69, Lekki Phase I Housing Estate, and No. 24, Oyegbeni St., Ijora-Oloye, Apapa-Iganmu, Lagos.
They were alleged to have in their possession three packets of explosive construction pipes, 15 detonators, and 11 AK47 rifles with 30 rounds of live ammunitions.
Other items also alleged to have been found in their possession include 200 rounds of 7.6 mm live ammunition, two suit cases containing explosives, and a water container filled with explosives.
The alleged offences contravened the Terrorism Act of 2013.
It also contravened the Firearms (special provisions) Act of 2004.
They, however, pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." to the charges.
NAN reports that during the arraignment, five of the accused, Ali Mohammed, Adamu Karumi, Ibrahim Usman, Bala Haruna and Idris Ali were not legally represented.
Justice Ibrahim Buba, however, directed the prosecutor, who is the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mrs Olabisi Odugbesan, to ensure that those without legal representation were allowed to get one.
He adjourned the case to Dec. 3 for trial.
NAN reports that the case first came up on Oct. 2, but the suspects could not be arraigned because some of them could not secure legal representation.
Similarly, the case, which was initially before Justice Musa Kurya, was transferred to justice Ibrahim Buba on Nov. 27.(NAN)
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Boko Haram
#1
Taking a lead from the
WH news conferences, eh?
[Pak Daily Times] A south Yemeni separatist leader on Wednesday walked out of national reconciliation talks meant chart a new constitution for US-allied Yemen, setting back efforts to keep the fragile country together.
The move could prompt other politicians to quit the talks and deepen instability in a country afflicted by Sunni Islamist krazed killers, Shia Musselmen rebels and a southern separatists.
The Conference of National Reconciliation, launched in March as part of a 2011 Gulf-brokered power transfer deal that eased long-serving President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... out of office, has been struggling with demands by southern separatists to restore South Yemen, which merged with North Yemen in 1990.
Lack of progress on this issue has raised Western concern that the power transfer deal could unravel, deepening nationwide disorder, boosting al Qaeda's most deadly franchises and unsettling adjacent oil exporting heavyweight Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... .
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Bangla Daily Star] Criminal Investigation Department (CID) yesterday pressed charges against 13 members of banned Death Eater outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) Founded in 1984 by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Aktar. The Bangla branch was established in 1992 with assistance from Osama bin Laden. Recruits come mostly from Deobandi madrassahs. HuJI and Fazlur Rehman Khalil are signators of bin Laden's declaration of war on the west. including its chief Mufti Abdul Hannan in two cases filed over the kabooms on a CPB rally in 2001.
Earlier in his confessional statement, Mainuddin had admitted his involvement in carrying out the attack, and said Mufti Hannan and several others were involved in this as well.
Of the cases, one was filed for killing five people and injuring 50 others while another was filed under the Explosive Substances Act following the kaboom on a rally of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) at the capital's Paltan Maidan on January 21, 2001.
CID Inspector Mrinal Kanti Saha, also the Investigation Officer (IO) of the cases, submitted two charge sheets to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka with a list of 107 prosecution witnesses.
During the investigation, 26 people including Mufti Hannan were tossed in the calaboose Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! for their alleged involvement with the kaboom.
The names of 20 people have been dropped from the charge sheets as no evidence of their involvement could be found.
According to the charge sheets, the accused carried out the blasts on the pretext that the CPB members were "atheists".
Asked about the charge sheets, the then CPB president Monzurul Ahsan Khan, also the complainant of the cases, told The Daily Star that he was satisfied with charge sheets despite the fact that it took 12 years for the police to do that.
Soon after the blasts, police arrested 12 people but the CID, in its final investigation report submitted on December 17, 2003, cleared the arrestees of the charges as no "correct, impartial and reliable" evidence was found against them.
Later the home ministry ordered a reinvestigation into the incident following an application submitted by the CID in 2005.
This article starring:
Anisur Rahman
HuJI
Arif Hassan Sumon
HuJI
Jahangir Alam Badar
HuJI
Maulana Sabbir Ahmed
HuJI
Maulana Shawkat Osman
HuJI
Md Moshiur Rahman
HuJI
Md Nur Islam
HuJI
Mohibul Mustakin
HuJI
Mufti Abdul Hai
HuJI
Mufti Abdul Hannan
HuJI
Mufti Mainuddin Sheikh
HuJI
Rafiqul Alam Miraj
HuJI
Shafiqur Rahman
HuJI
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: HUJI
#1
Is Abdul Hannan related to Daniel Hannan?
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
11/28/2013 22:30 Comments ||
Top||
Canadian police have arrested three men in the attacks on a Hindu temple and a mosque that took place just days after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Police said the case against the three would be prosecuted as a hate crime. The Hindu temple was destroyed in the arson.
Sgt. Matt Kavanagh of the Hamilton Police said, "In 2013, Hamilton Police Service received new information from the public. The accused parties have been linked to both crime scenes."
Kavanagh said none of the accused men were previously known to police. The men were charged in connection with both the fire at the temple and the broken window at the mosque.
The attacks on the temple and mosque took place in the early morning of Sept. 15, 2001. The incidents received international attention during the following days.
[Pak Daily Times] Chief Justice of Pakistain (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said on Wednesday the Supreme Court (SC) would be satisfied with the performance of authorities concerned only when the culprits tossed in the calaboose Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! during a security operation in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... are put on trial.
The CJP presided over a five-member larger bench of SC for the hearing concerning implementation of SC's decision in Karachi violence case, at Karachi registry of the court.
During the hearing, Karachi police chief Shahid Hayat submitted a report in the court on the Karachi operation.
The CJP remarked that no court could convict any accused without evidence.
"What are the evidence against the incarcerated Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! accused persons?" the court said, adding that performance of authorities would be ineffective without evidence.
"No court can convict any accused without evidence."
The advocate general (AG) told the court that Sindh government was recruiting 200 investigation officers. The court was told that investigation officers and prosecutors are scared. Prosecutor Abdul Maroof has already been attacked, the AG said.
He told the court that Naimat Ali Randhawa has been killed by culprits for being associated with the Wali Babar case. All the public prosecutors from Karachi are scared, he added.
He also told the court that Naimat Randhawa murder case is being transferred to another province.
The decision to transfer the murder case to another province had been taken during a meeting under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... . The home of Abdul Maroof has also been attacked upon.
The Sindh government, Rangers and police said in their report that 9,000 persons involved in murders, terrorism, extortion, kidnappings for ransom and other crimes have been arrested so far during the operation started on September 5.
As many as 2,293 weapons, 115 hand grenades and 222 kilogrammes of kaboom has been recovered from the accused, the report said.
The court was further informed that 1,386 cases were registered on account of keeping weapons illegally, and the Sindh High Court has been requested to constitute five special courts in Karachi to hear these cases.
It was mentioned in the report that 5,996 persons who were found involved in various cases were apprehended during the operation.
As many as 236 people among them were involved in murders and murder cases, 15 in terrorism incidents, 49 in kidnapping for ransom, 92 in extortion and 2,070 people were nabbed under the relative arms ordinance, according to the report.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[The Hindu] The President of Pakistain on Wednesday approved the appointment of Justice Tassaduq Jillani as the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, according to official sources.
Justice Jillani who is acting Chief Election Commissioner, will take over on December 12, 2013 from Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry when he retires after a tenure of eight years.
A Supreme Court judge since 2004 he too was sacked like many others after General Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... imposed an emergency in 2007.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[The Hindu] Pakistain Tehrik e Insaf (PTI) has named the CIA station chief in Islamabad, Craig Osth and CIA Director John O. Brennan in a complaint lodged at Tal cop shoppe in Hangu district ... Hangu is famous for its greenery, hills, beauty and water. Most of the people of this area are Bangash & Orakzai Pashtuns. Part of the Bangash are Shia. The Orakzai and the Sunni Bangash are determined to kill them... in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... on Wednesday against the drone strike on November 21 which killed six persons.
In a complaint filed for committing the offences of murder and waging war against Pakistain by Shireen Mazari, central information secretary PTI alleged that Craig Osth is running an illegal clandestine spying operation throughout Pakistain but specifically in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and annexed Tribal Areas, wherein Osth and his allies (names not known yet) throw a GPS (Global Positioning System) device at a targeted house/ car and the Drone (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), which is remotely controlled from some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location, strikes at the target. In the Hangu case it was Craig Osth and his clandestine network which threw a GPS device at the madrassa in Tal and further ordered the missile strike, which killed and injured a large number of those present including children.
The Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. High Court has already declared such drone strikes illegal and a violation of Pak and International laws in its judgment. Ms Mazari stated that Craig Osth is currently residing and operating from the United States Embassy situated in the Diplomatic Enclave in Islamabad, which is a clear violation of diplomatic norms and laws as a foreign mission cannot be used for any criminal activity within a sovereign state. CIA Station Chief is not a diplomatic post therefore he does not enjoy any diplomatic immunity and is within the bounds of domestic laws of Pakistain. It is a fact that the nominated accused Craig Osth is not a Pak citizen, but under Pakistain Penal Code he is clearly subject to the jurisdiction of Pakistain under Section 3 of the Pakistain Penal Code, she said.
The complaint said Osth is guilty of committing offences under the law of the land and he should be put on the exit control list so he doesn't try and leave the country.
This is not the first time a CIA station chief in Islamabad has been named in a police complaint. Advocate Shahzhad Akbar too had, before filing a public interest in the Peshawar high court which resulted in the landmark order, named the CIA station chief in 2010.Then the complaint was filed on behalf of Karim Khan whose brother and son died in a drone attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[HINDUSTANTIMES] Lt General Raheel Sharif, Pakistain's newly appointed chief of army staff, will take charge on Friday and is considered as a soldier's soldier by some for his family background and as a thinking soldier by others because of his emphasis on training and operational thought. He is said to be the man behind the doctrinal response of the Pakistain Army to the Indian Army cold start doctrine.
He will be the country's fifteenth army chief and comes from a decorated army family which includes an elder brother, Major Shabbir Sharif who was awarded a Nishan-e-Haider, Pakistain's highest military award for valour against Indian forces. Shabbir Sharif was earlier given the Sitara-e-Jurrat and that makes him Pakistain's highly decorated military officer. General Raheel's uncle was Major Aziz Bhatti, another receipant of the Nishan-e-Haider.
Born in Quetta, Raheel Sharif is the son of Major Sharif, an army officer who at the time was serving at the Command and Staff college there. While the Sharif family is originally from Gujrat city in Punjab, it traces its roots to Kashmire. But for most part of his education, General Raheel sharif spent time in Lahore.
He attended the Government College Lahore, the alma mater of PM Sharif. Prior to his appointment as COAS, Lt Gen Sharif was working as the Principal Staff Officer to General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... as well as the Inspector General Training and Evaluation.
Talking about PM's new choice, Professor Shaun Gregory, Chair in International Security, School of Government and International Affairs of University of Durham said, "I think the choice of COAS is not unexpected, but it does indicate Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... reaching beyond the seniority order of succession to the younger man, as he did before with Musharraf (let's hope that is not a precedent!). Indeed I understand the new COAS was a Musharraf protege at one point." "His roles in leading education and training in the Pak Army have also kept him out of the more difficult theatres (FATA/KPK/AFG, Kashmire, etc) but may suggest some creative thinking by Nawaz Sharif about the future evolution of the Pakistain Army," Gregory added.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[An Nahar] U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... returns to Israel next week, seeking to ease tensions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has denounced the nuclear deal with Iran as a "historic mistake."
Kerry will also travel to Ramallah for talks with Paleostinian president the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... as he tries to keep delicate Israeli-Paleostinian peace negotiations on track, a U.S. official said Wednesday.
The Middle East portion of the December 3-6 trip will come after the globetrotting top U.S. diplomat first attends a meeting of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... foreign ministers in Brussels on Tuesday, and then travels to Moldova as well.
"In Chisinau, Secretary Kerry will meet with senior Moldovan officials. He will discuss bilateral issues, as well as Moldova's path toward European integration," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
But the toughest leg will be his return to Israel and the West Bank -- his eighth overnight visit since becoming secretary of state in February.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
Posted by: Matt ||
11/28/2013 11:54 Comments ||
Top||
#7
"In Chisinau, Secretary Kerry will meet with senior Moldovan officials. He will discuss bilateral issues, as well as Moldova's path toward European integration," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
Say WTFuckingWhat????? Moldova...Europe, er, whats the attraction for either apart from revving up the Cold War again and pissing Vlad off? Good stuff.
[Pak Daily Times] President Hassan Rouhani said Iran's economic problems went beyond sanctions, blaming "unparalleled stagflation" on the profligacy and mismanagement of his predecessor, hardliner Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad.
In office from 2005 until August, Ahmadinejad presided over a period of unprecedented revenue growth due to high oil prices but, analysts say, squandered much of it on subsidies that pumped money into the economy and drove up inflation.
He also antagonised the United States and the West by threatening to wipe Israel off "the page of time", repeated denials of the Holocaust and an uncompromising stance on Iran's disputed nuclear programme.
"The stagflation in 1391 was unparalleled," Rouhani said, referring to the Iranian year that ended in March. During that year, the economy contracted by 6 percent, while inflation rose above 40 percent, he said.
The International Monetary Fund expects Iran's economy will shrink 1.5 percent this year in inflation-adjusted terms, after an estimated 1.9 percent contraction last year which was the biggest since 1988, when Iran's eight-year war with Iraq ended.
Despite receiving 600 billion dollars in oil revenue over the past eight years, Rouhani said the legacy of Ahmadinejad's two terms was around $67 billion dollars of debt. Iran's nominal GDP was $549 billion in 2012 and will shrink to $389 billion in 2013, according to the IMF's October outlook.
"These facts show the conditions we inherited from the previous government and in what conditions we must grapple with the problems," Rouhani said in a speech late on Tuesday to mark his first 100 days in office.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Ahmadinejad presided over a period of unprecedented revenue growth due to high oil prices but, analysts say, squandered much of it on subsidies that pumped money into the economy and drove up inflation.
Doctor, Doctor gimme the news.
Son you got a bad, bad case of the oil shit blues
#2
"President Hassan Rouhani said Iran's economic problems went beyond sanctions, blaming 'unparalleled stagflation' on the profligacy and mismanagement of his predecessor, hardliner Mahmoud "Short Round" Ahmadinejad George W. Bush."
[An Nahar] Iran and the United States are to establish a joint chamber of commerce within a month, with direct flights also planned, an Iranian official said Wednesday in a newspaper report.
"Iran-U.S. chamber of commerce will be launched in less than one month," Abolfazl Hejazi, a member of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, told the English-language Iran Daily.
In the wake of a historic accord on Sunday between Tehran and major powers on Iran's controversial nuclear program, Hejazi also said his country was ready to start direct flights to the United States.
After the 1979 revolution in Iran, Washington severed diplomatic relations with Tehran following the seizure of its embassy in Tehran, during which Islamist students held 52 U.S. diplomats hostage for 444 days.
According to Hejazi, the project which he said had already been registered in the United States would allow the two countries to work towards restoring ties.
Hejazi also said the government has authorized the private sector to launch joint activities and that Iran was ready to establish direct flights to the United States.
Flights would connect Kish Island in southwest Iran with New York, he said.
"This is because Kish Island is a free trade zone and Iranian passengers who have U.S. citizenship will not need to obtain visas to enter it," he said.
Hejazi said direct flights would "enable us to export domestic products to the U.S. and import high-tech products and raw materials from the country."
On the sidelines of his visit to the U.N. General Assembly in late September, President Hassan Rouhani pledged to ease travel to Iran for the hundreds of thousands of Iranians living in the United States.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[An Nahar] Israel installed a new spying station in Mount Hermon (Jabal al-Sheikh), near the border with Leb, As Safir newspaper reported on Wednesday.
According to the newspaper, the espionage station includes advanced equipment that enable Israel to monitor Hasbaya, Arqoub, Rashaya, the Bekaa and several areas in eastern Leb mountain range.
Syria's Mount Hermon, near the border with Leb, is occupied by Israel.
The newspaper reported that installing the spying station lasted several hours on Tuesday and was accompanied by a drone.
Israel's recent installation of spying stations along its border with Leb angered several politicians as the parliamentary telecommunications committee vowed to confront the matter.
Several media reports said that Leb is expected to file a complaint to the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... Security Council over the issue.
Earlier in November, Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet... revealed that Israel had set up a number of espionage stations along its border with Leb, starting from al-Naqoura passing by Khayyam all the way to Sheba.
The biggest espionage station is allegedly erected in al-Abbad and Jan al-Alam areas, which are located near the U.N. demarcated Blue line.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
it also beams rays that prevent erections.
"Fatima, it's not my fault! Da Jooos are causing it"
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2013 11:14 Comments ||
Top||
[JPOST] The US and Hezbollah are in secret indirect talks managed by London dealing with the fight against al-Qaeda, regional stability and other Lebanese political issues.
Senior British diplomatic sources, quoted in a report in Kuwait newspaper al-Rai on Wednesday, said British diplomats are holding discussions with leaders of the Lebanese organization and transferring the information to the Americans.
The discussions "are aimed at keeping tabs on the changes in the region and the world, and prepare for the upcoming return of Iran to the international community," according to diplomatic sources in Washington.
Because the US, unlike the UK, recognizes both the political and military wings of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and refuses to distinguish between them, US officials cannot legally meet with any member of the party. But according to the sources, the US is willing to hear the views of the party and "warm up to a direct relationship in the future."
Al-Rai noted that Iran's President Hassan Rouhani spoke to British Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... last week, and placed the talks with Iran backed Hezbollah in the context of the ongoing negotiations between the West and Tehran.
Relations between Britannia and Iran deteriorated after Iranians stormed the British embassy in Tehran in November 2011. But in October, Britannia and Iran decided to renew diplomatic relations, and Britannia named a new chargé d'affaires to Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
[An Nahar] Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel on Wednesday said reports of a plot to carry out a bombing at the Roumieh prison to facilitate the escape of Islamist inmates were "inaccurate."
"Reports about a blast at the Roumieh prison are inaccurate and those who have such information must pass them on to the judiciary," Charbel said in an interview with Voice of Leb radio (93.3).
Al-Akhbar newspaper reported Wednesday that Death Eater networks were plotting to attack several Lebanese prisons to facilitate a jail break by Islamist inmates.
According to the newspaper, the Army Command has warned the Internal Security Forces of a mass breakout from several prison facilities in Leb.
Commenting on the recent standoff at the Universite Saint-Joseph campus in Beirut, Charbel said the university's administration must not hesitate to "expel any troublemaker to prevent the university from being taken hostage by a group of students."
Earlier on Wednesday, a verbal dispute between students pushed the university to suspend classes at its Huvelin campus. The incident comes at the heels of a several-hour student standoff at the campus on Monday which prompted the administration to suspend classes and sparked a heated debate between political forces in the country.
Separately, the minister spoke of "imminent positive developments" in the case of the two Syrian bishops who were kidnapped in Aleppo, Boulos Yazigi and Yohanna Ibrahim.
"We sensed this today in Qatar and we hope our efforts will be crowned with success," he added.
On the situation in restive Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , the minister said "the security plan has succeeded in Tripoli and the incidents that are happening daily there are of a personal and isolated nature," adding that "a meeting will be held soon to evaluate the plan."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in the Levant
[An Nahar] Syria will send delegates to a Geneva peace conference under Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... 's orders, but his grip over the war-torn country will not be under discussion, an official said Wednesday.
The announcement was immediately condemned by Syria's opposition, which restated its demand that the talks, dubbed Geneva 2, must lead to a political transition that excludes any role for Assad.
Despite the dim prospects for peace with both sides refusing to compromise, Iran said it and Turkey, which support opposing sides in the war, would press for a ceasefire ahead of the talks.
The January 22 peace conference is aimed at ending the nearly three-year-old civil war, a bloody stalemate which has killed an estimated 120,000 people and driven millions from their homes.
"Syria announces the participation of an official delegation under the orders of (Assad) and the demands of the Syrian people, with the top priority eliminating terrorism," said a foreign ministry source quoted by state media.
The source also said the delegation was not going to Geneva to hand over power, and that the condition stipulated by Syria's opposition and the West that Assad must not have a role in the country's future was out of the question.
"Our people will not allow anyone to steal their right to choose their future and their leaders, and what is key about Geneva is to assert the Syrians' rights, and not of those who are spilling the people's blood."
The source criticized "the French, British and other foreign ministries as well as their agents in the Arab world who have insisted that there can be no place for President Assad in the transitional period.
"The ministry reminds them that the age of colonialism is over, and they need to wake up."
The main opposition National Coalition dismissed the announcement as "a pretense of cooperation with the international community as a cover to continue its war on the Syrian people".
"The regime claims that the demand for the end of the Assad regime is a colonialist policy of the West. The truth is that it is the Syrian people who are demanding his removal," said the statement issued by the office of Coalition president Ahmad Jarba.
The Coalition reiterated its demand that Geneva 2 must lead to the creation of a "transitional governing body" with "full executive powers" that excludes Assad "and those associated with him".
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[An Nahar] Syria's deputy foreign minister on Wednesday insisted that his war-torn country is not isolated diplomatically, according to remarks published by state news agency SANA.
"Syria has contacts and diplomatic relations. There are 43 diplomatic missions in Syria, which is not as isolated as some might claim," said Faisal Muqdad.
"Contacts are being made to open embassies (in Damascus) and most of Syria's embassies abroad are still open, with the exception of those that Damascus does not want to open," the Syrian official added.
Syria has been ravaged by a civil war for more than two-and-a-half years that has killed 120,000 people and forced millions more to flee their homes.
The conflict erupted after the authorities launched a massive crackdown on an Arab Spring-inspired revolt that demanded political change.
Several Western countries, among them the United States and members of the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , as well as Gulf states ended their diplomatic relations with Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... 's regime in the wake of the crackdown.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[Breitbart] Last week, the Times of Israel reported that senior presidential adviser ValJar had been leading talks with Iran in secret for a year before the formal negotiations in Geneva this month. While the White House denied the report "100 percent," the existence of back-channel talks has been confirmed by other reporting. The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that President Champ had "personally overseen" the talks.
Almost anything "personally overseen" by President Champ is likely to bear the heavy stamp of ValJar, who is the president's closest adviser, despite a entirely predictable shocking track record of failure. In foreign policy, her most important mistake was her effort to dissuade the president from proceeding with the raid on Osama bin Laden. It was one of the few times that President Champ overruled her counsel--and one of his few successes.
ValJar's involvement in Iran is cause for concern for three additional reasons--two minor and one major. One minor reason is that she was born there. That should not automatically disqualify anyone, of course, any more than being born in the Soviet Union would have disqualified an anti-Soviet dissident. But ValJar was born in 1956 to American expatriates in the aftermath of the CIA-assisted coup that deposed Mohammad Mossadegh.
The Iranian regime remains obsessed with the Mossadegh coup as proof of America's innate evil--and for decades, some Americans have felt a sense of post-colonial guilt about it. That feeling may be particularly acute for an American born in the shadow of that event. The temptation to show contrition by acceding to Iran's goals, as a kind of restorative justice, could well shape ValJar's involvement, and Champ's approach.
The second minor reason to worry about ValJar's involvement in Iran is her political background. Her entrée into the world of left-wing politics in Chicago was through her father-in-law, VernJar, a journalist with somewhat radical views. VernJar spoke out against antisemitism in the black community, for example, but also took anti-Israel stands, accusing pro-Israel Jews of "support of genocide" in the Lebanon War, for example.
These two reasons for concern are fairly minor, because they are based on mere speculation, and would have to be balanced out by other factors, such as ValJar's personal associations with leaders of the pro-Israel community in Chicago. But the major reason for concern about her role is simply that ValJar has banished, and repulsed, most of the Champ administration's most competent Jewish appointees from the White House.
One of the most important departures was that of Dennis Ross, who was brought into the White House early in the Obama presidency to advise the president on the Middle East. Ross, who advocated a tough approach to Iran, is widely thought to have been marginalized by the president's inner circle. He left the White House in 2011, ostensibly because he had only promised to serve two years, but likely because he was Jewish not being utilized.
Finally, it is worth noting that ValJar, despite her expatriate origins, has little experience in international affairs, and is said to manage Champ's socialist policies through a domestic political lens. If she was as involved in the talks as reports suggest, that could be a major reason for the president's eagerness to sign almost any deal, even one the French rejected as too weak. In any other administration, she likely would have been ignored.
#1
ValJar, piano wire, ankles. It explains itself in terms of consequences were she to live in the society that she is granting so many things to in 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.
... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means 
[An Nahar] Egypt's new constitution is still in the drafting stage but has already disappointed rights groups and activists who had hoped it would curb the military's wide-ranging powers and privileges.
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
Canadian police have arrested three men in the attacks on a Hindu temple and a mosque that took place just days after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Police said the case against the three would be prosecuted as a hate crime. The Hindu temple was destroyed in the arson.
[Pak Daily Times] Chief Justice of Pakistain (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said on Wednesday the Supreme Court (SC) would be satisfied with the performance of authorities concerned only when the culprits 
Nawaz Sharif
Pervez 
[HINDUSTANTIMES] Lt General Raheel Sharif, Pakistain's newly appointed chief of army staff, will take charge on Friday and is considered as a soldier's soldier by some for his family background and as a thinking soldier by others because of his emphasis on training and operational thought. He is said to be the man behind the doctrinal response of the Pakistain Army to the Indian Army cold start doctrine.
[An Nahar] U.S. Secretary of State 
[An Nahar] Iran and the United States are to establish a joint chamber of commerce within a month, with direct flights also planned, an Iranian official said Wednesday in a newspaper report.
[JPOST] The US and Hezbollah are in secret indirect talks managed by London dealing with the fight against al-Qaeda, regional stability and other Lebanese political issues.
David Cameron
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[An Nahar] Syria's deputy foreign minister on Wednesday insisted that his war-torn country is not isolated diplomatically, according to remarks published by state news agency SANA.
