Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Emily Mortimer (Great Britain) aka Rachel 1 in "Shutter Island (2010)" aka Karin in "Lars and the Real Girl (2007)" aka Lizzie in "Dear Frankie (2004)" aka Chloe Hewett Wilton in "Match Point (2005)" aka Nicole Durant in "The Pink Panther (1 & 2 - 2006 & 2009)" aka Dakota Parker in "Formula 51 (2001)" aka Cathie Dimly in "Young Adam (2003)" aka Elizabeth Marks in "Lovely and Amazing (2001)" (age 40)
[Iran Press TV] Separate bombing kabooms have left at least 38 people dead and dozens more injured in the Somali capital city of Mogadishu, Press TV reports.
Ten kabooms rocked the northern and southern districts of Mogadishu on Wednesday, killing at least 24 people and wounding several others, a Press TV correspondent said.
Our correspondent added that the victims are mostly women and kiddies.
The cause of the kabooms is not known yet and no group has grabbed credit for the attacks.
Meanwhile, ...back at the scene of the crime, Lieutenant Queeg had an idea: there was a simple way to tell whether Manetti had been the triggerman -- just look at his shoes!... a separate attack at a military compound killed over 14 soldiers and maimed 18 others.
The Army Chief narrowly beat feet the attack which was reportedly carried out by al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... fighters.
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12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Clashes between protesters and street vendors in Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square injured some 79 people overnight, the health ministry said on Wednesday.
The skirmishes erupted when protesters occupying the square for nearly two weeks tried to expel the peddlers, but the fighting quickly degenerated into festivities with both sides lobbing rocks and molotov cocktails, witnesses said.
The violence took place hours after Egyptians wrapped up two days of peaceful polling in the first phase of multi-stage elections for a new parliament.
Most of the injuries were treated on the spot but 27 people were admitted to hospital, the health ministry said.
Protesters have been occupying the square to demand the ouster of the military junta which took power when Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... was tossed in a popular uprising in February.
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12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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[Tripoli Post] The Libyan government is requesting the Algerian authorities to arrest and deport back to Libya Ayesha Al Qadaffy, the daughter of the former Libyan dictator, along with her brothers Mohammed and Hannibal to face criminal charges.
The request has become even more demanding after Ayesha put herself in direct conflict with a pledge she and her family members made when they were given a safe haven in Algeria, not to make public statements at the risk of losing their status as humanitarian refugees.
On Tuesday, in violation of the terms of her exile in Algeria, in an audio message broadcast on Syria's on Syria's Arrai TV station, Ayesha Al Qadaffy urged Libyans to overthrow their new rulers.
She called for a revolt against the men who overthrew her father, the government she said "arrived with the planes of 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... Following the traditional 40-day mourning period after her father's death, Ayesha went on to tell Libyans: "My father has not left, he is always among us. Don't forget the orders of your father urging you to continue fighting, even if you no longer hear his voice."
Her father, the former Libyan dictator was ousted from power after 42 years in power. He was captured with his son and Ayesha's brother Muatassim on October 20 and killed. Ayesha, her mother Safiya and her brothers Mohammed and Hannibal decamped Libya as the Libyan capital fell and sought refuge in neighbouring Algeria.
Two other brothers, Seif al-Arab and Khamis were killed during the NATO-led bombing, while Seif al-Islam, described as a "helpless criminal"is held captive awaiting trial for his crimes against the Libyan people in the Libyan hilltown of Zintan awaiting trial.
In September, after similar statements that she has now made, Ayesha was warned by Algerian officials that if she repeated them she could be expelled.
The Algerian rulers who had close ties with the Al Qadaffy regime, have since been making efforts to repair strained relations with Libya's new leaders, and they won't be happy with her latest message..
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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[Emirates 24/7] Egypt's Islamists claimed Wednesday they were headed for victory in the opening phase of the country's first post-revolution election after two days of peaceful polling that won international plaudits.
The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), a front for the Moslem Brüderbund, a moderate group persecuted and banned during the 30-year rule of president Hosni Mubarak, ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... said they were leading in preliminary results.
"From the start of the voting process until now (around 0930 GMT), preliminary results show the Freedom and Justice party list ahead," an FJP statement said, without giving figures.
The FJP also claimed that the Al-Nur movement, a hardline group whose members follow the strict Salafi brand of Islam, was in second place -- a trend that if confirmed will alarm secular liberals and the minority Christian community.
On Monday and Tuesday, millions of Egyptians embraced their new democratic freedoms, filing into polling stations in the capital Cairo and second-city Alexandria for the first phase of multi-stage parliamentary elections.
Publication of the results for the areas that voted this week -- only a third of constituencies -- was pushed back from Wednesday evening until Thursday, state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
reported without giving reasons.
While the figures are only for the first round of a parliamentary election that will end in March, they will show the political trends likely to shape a country that has not had a free vote in 60 years.
The Moslem Brüderbund, a group at pains to stress its religious tolerance during campaigning, earned respect and recognition among many Egyptians for its opposition to Mubarak and its extensive charitable work.
Many of the new political parties which have emerged in the post-Mubarak era are unknown to voters and the secular pro-democracy movement that helped overthrow the dictator is divided and disorganised.
"The real surprise is not if the Moslem Brüderbund wins, the real surprise is if it does not win," wrote commentator Tariq al-Hamid in the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat earlier in the week.
"The Brotherhood is a powerful force because it works day and night, on the ground and not through social networking sites," he added, in a swipe at the noisy liberals active on Twitter.
Many of them worry about the group's attitudes to women, its stated desire to see Islamic law instituted in Egypt, and whether its moderate rhetoric is a front for a long-term plan to make the country officially Islamic.
The Brotherhood's success would fit a pattern seen elsewhere in north Africa and the Arab region during a year of wrenching change caused by pro-democracy movements known as the Arab Spring.
In Tunisia, the origin of the Arab Spring, a moderate Islamist party won the first free election. Morocco's recent vote produced a similar result.
Also Wednesday, activists called for two separate demonstrations on Friday -- one against the interim military rulers overseeing the country's transition to democracy since the February revolution, and one to support them.
The two protests reflect split opinions among Egyptians, some of whom fear that the army leaders are determined to stay in power, while others are fed up with the instability caused by recent turmoil and unrest.
Forty-two people were killed and more than 3,000 injured last week in violent anti-regime protests around Tahrir Square, the central Cairo square where hundreds of thousands massed to force Mubarak from power.
The election this week, which saw Egyptians vote enthusiastically and in large numbers, appeared to have broken the cycle of protests and a demonstration called in Tahrir last Sunday was poorly attended.
The US State Department spoke of the "success" of the start of the election, while UN Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... sent his congratulations for the "generally calm and orderly" conduct of the poll.
The vote on Monday and Tuesday in Cairo and Alexandria and other areas was the first of three stages of an election for a new lower house of parliament. The rest of the country follows next month and in January.
After each round there will be a run-off vote, and then a further three rounds of voting for the upper house of parliament from January.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
So QUICK, award them the Government and avoid all this delay. /s
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/01/2011 1:30 Comments ||
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#2
The 'moderation' and 'tolerance' of the Moslem Brotherhood will be the real issue over the next few months.
Their spokesmen (and even some spokewomen) will be all over place speaking about this. In the meantime, on the ground, in Egypt, the Moslem Brotherhood's agenda will be unfolding quietly district by district.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/01/2011 7:27 Comments ||
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#3
Guess I missed my chance to view the Sphinx and the pyramids. I wonder if National Geographic will produce an hour long episode showing the destruction of these historic religious sites.
#4
Those sites and others like them are a key industry in Egypt. If the tourists don't come back, a lot of people are going to suffer. The Brotherhood's welcome may be shortlived.
#5
I'm surprised the Brotherhood is going for the government at this point. In a few months the country is going to run out of money to buy food, and then things are going to get really difficult for whoever is in charge. I was sure the Botherhood were clever enough to wait until they could offer to rescue the failed interim enthusiastic suckers. Now I am starting to wonder if that's the plan of the generals, or someone else.
[Al Ahram] At least 26 people were maimed on Wednesday when Shi'ite rebels in northern Yemen shelled Salafi Sunni Islamists, a front man for the Salafis said, in the latest round of fighting between the two sides.
The bloodshed on the border with oil giant Soddy Arabia is just one of the internal conflicts threatening a plan to stave off civil war and hold an election after 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... bowed to 10 months of protests demanding he step down.
It comes as the new prime minister attempts to form a government, in line with the deal brokered by Yemen's wealthier Gulf neighbours under which Saleh agreed to step aside after a 33-year rule that also saw a civil war in the country's south.
An official of the Salafis--Sunnis who espouse a puritanical creed with followers in Soddy Arabia--said Houthi fighters attacked his side early on Wednesday in Damaj, 150 km (90 miles) north of the capital Sanaa.
The official, Abu Ismail, spoke by telephone with kabooms audible in the background, and said several students of the Dar al-Hadith Sunni religious school affiliated with the Salafis had been injured in the fighting.
The Houthis, members of the Zaidi branch of Shi'ism who draw their name from a tribal leader, effectively control the northern Saada province and are deeply wary of Soddy Arabia's promotion of Salafi creeds that class Shi'ites as heretics.
Saleh's forces struggled to crush the Houthi rebellion--which Saudi forces also intervened against militarily--before a ceasefire last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Forces loyal to Yemeni ruler 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... have shelled several neighborhoods across the flashpoint city of Taizz, killing at least one person.
Three others were also maimed in the shelling. Witnesses say regime forces began shelling the city Tuesday night and continued until Wednesday and that the attacks were mainly concentrated in the area surrounding Al-Huriya (Liberty) Square, the epicenter of anti-regime protests since January.
A dozen homes and several shops were reportedly destroyed in the shelling. Activists say the attacks have forced thousands of Taizz residents to flee the city and seek safety elsewhere.
Taizz, Yemen's second-largest city and a hotbed of the opposition to Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule, is regularly shelled by regime forces.
On Saturday, at least two people were killed and several others were maimed after regime forces shelled the city.
The recent wave of violence comes despite the resignation of Saleh as the country's president after 33 years in office.
Yemeni Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, in charge of country's affairs after Saleh's resignation, has named head of the opposition coalition Mohammed Basindawa as the new prime minster tasked with forming a new government.
Hadi has also announced February 21 as the date of the presidential vote in the country, which will be the first presidential election in Yemen since 2006.
Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands more have been injured in Yemen since the beginning of the uprising against the Saleh regime in late January.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Indian police said Wednesday they had jugged six suspected cut-throats over three attacks including a bombing at a restaurant last year in western India that killed 17 people.
The six men, including one Pak, were believed to belong to the Indian Mujahedeen, a homegrown krazed killer group, police said in a statement.
The men are alleged to have targeted the German Bakery restaurant in Pune, the Chinnaswamy cricket stadium in the southern software hub of Bangalore and the nation's biggest mosque, the Jama Masjid, in New Delhi.
Home Minister P. Chidambaram confirmed the arrests at a news conference, adding that an "investigation is still underway" into the actions of the six men.
In the blast at the German Bakery in February last year, attackers left a bomb under a table that went kaboom!, killing 17 people. Ten people were maimed when two bombs went off outside the Bangalore cricket stadium in April 2010.
In the mosque attack in September 2010, two Taiwanese visitors who were part of a film crew were maimed when two men on a cycle of violence opened fire and a small car went kaboom!.
Police said they recovered guns, cartridges, detonators, doctored documents, fake Indian currency and explosives during their probe.
The Indian Mujahideen A locally recruited auxilliary of Pakistain's Lashkar-e-Taiba, designed to give a domestic patina to Pakistain's terror war against its bigger neighbor... has grabbed credit for numerous kabooms in Indian cities in recent years, most recently for a blast outside the Delhi High Court in September which left 15 dead.
[Dawn] The Bloody Karachi police claimed to have locked away five suspected hard boyz belonging to proscribed outfit Jundullah on Tuesday.
Speaking at a presser, Additional Inspector-General of Police Ghulam Shabbir Sheikh said that the suspects arrived in the city from Wazirstan and Punjab aboard Khyber Mail to carry out a terrorist attack in the city.
He said that the Special Investigation Unit carried out a raid within the remit of the Artillery Maidan cop shoppe on Tuesday and locked away the five suspects -- Syed Kamran alias Waqar, Salar Mohammad alias Khalid, Amjad Khan alias Kargil, Farhan Khan alias Husain and Mohammad Munir alias Azeem.
The police also claimed that maps of the Bloody Karachi central prison and an alleged 'hit list' were recovered from the suspects.
The city police chief said that the suspects had attacked the police on the city courts premises on July 19, 2010, killed a police constable and got freed their locked away accomplices, who had been involved in the 2009 Ashura bombing on main M.A. Jinnah Road.
He said that the held suspects were involved in many terrorist activities and they were also behind the 2010 twin kabooms on a bus carrying mourners and outside the emergency section of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre on the occasion of chehlum of Hazrat Imam Hussain.
Besides, he said, the suspects were also involved in the 2004 attack on the then Bloody Karachi corps commander and several bank heists.
He said that the suspects disclosed to the police that one of their accomplices, Fasihur Rehman, had devised a new method to conceal bombs in cement blocks.
The cement bombs were used in the 8th, 9th and 10th Muharram blasts in 2009, he added.
The city police chief informed the media that many members of the Jundullah including Hamza Jofi alias Haji Mumtaz, Ghulam Mustafa alias Ansar Bhai, Arif alias Haider Shuja, Bloody Karachi chief Abu Bakar alias Arsalan, Israfel alias Javed, Ajab Khan alias Zakir were killed in drone strikes in Wazoo over the past few years.
Fasihur Rehman alias Hamad, the Bloody Karachi chief of the outfit, Mehmood alias Talha, Saqib alias Shahab, Rasheed Khan Pathan, Shakib Farooqi, Murtaza Inyat, Dilawar, Baba, Wazir Mohammad and Ishaq Gul were among those who were still on the run, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti on Tuesday urged followers of different Islamic schools of thought to be tolerant towards each other for peace during Muharram.
He said this while chairing a consultative jirga of Shia and Sunni Learned Elders of Islam, and officials of provincial, district and divisional levels about maintenance of religious harmony and Islamic brotherhood during Muharram here at the Chief Minister`s House.The chief minister said presence of Learned Elders of Islam of different sects in the meeting showed that the nation was united and would remain united against those trying to destabilise the country by fanning sectarianism.
He said the current delicate security situation facing the country demanded unity and harmony among different schools of Islamic thought.
Mr Hoti said the recent 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... attack on Pak troops in Mohmand ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... agency was in fact an attack on the country`s illusory sovereignty and national integrity. He said ironically, the NATO didn`t act against Kunar (Afghanistan) terror camps targeting Pak troops.
"Firing for hours on Pak posts was not a mistake," he said, adding that the decision to suspend NATO supplies and ask the US to vacate Shamsi airbase within a fortnight was necessary but there was a need to take more such decisions, including review of diplomatic relations with the US.
The chief minister said the nation was united on the matter, adding that if the country`s existence was in danger, then politics, ideologies and manifestos were meaningless.
"It is time to aptly respond to those targeting our illusory sovereignty," he said.
Mr Hoti lauded efforts of Learned Elders of Islam and district administrations in the province for maintaining peace and religious harmony during Muharram and expressed the hope that the month would pass peacefully.
He appreciated the suggestions and recommendations of participants and said appropriate steps would be taken accordingly. He said Pakhtuns had paid a heavy price for peace in the shape of massive killings and bombings of places of worship but still, the government was ready to hold dialogue with those willing to give up militancy and lead peaceful life.
In response to a suggestion of health minister Zahir Shah, the chief minister directed police bosses to permanently solve the law and order problem during Muharram.
He appreciated the role of peace committees and said provincial, divisional and district administrations would help Learned Elders of Islam in maintaining peace during Muharram.
Senior provincial minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour, provincial ministers Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Zahir Shah, Qalb-e-Hassan and Qazi Muhammad Asad, Learned Elders of Islam of different sects from Peshawar, DI Khan, Hazara and Kohat Division, representatives of religious organizations, politicians, coppers, commissioners and provincial authorities were also present in the jirga.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Call me weird, but he just doesn't look like a Hot Chick/Babe to me???
[Dawn] Twelve suspected Death Eaters were killed during a clash with security forces in the Kurram tribal region's Masozai area on Wednesday, DawnNews quoted security sources as saying.
Seven security personnel were also maimed in the clash, sources said.
The sources claimed that Kurram's areas of Marghan and Matano had been cleared of turbans.
Moreover, an operation was carried out in Masozai due to the suspected presence of Death Eaters in that area, sources said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Pakistain resumed some cooperation with US-led forces in Afghanistan following NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... strikes that killed 24 Pak soldiers by working with the coalition to prevent another cross-border incident from escalating, a front man said Wednesday.
Pakistain is still outraged by the soldiers' deaths and has retaliated by closing its Afghan border crossings to NATO supplies, demanding the US vacate an air base used by American drones and boycotting an international conference aimed at stabilizing Afghanistan.
But NATO said Islamabad communicated with the alliance to prevent an exchange of artillery fire late Tuesday from turning into another international incident.
German Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, a NATO front man in Kabul, expressed hope that Pakistain's cooperation in resolving the incident in eastern Afghanistan's Paktia province signaled the two sides could recover from the recent tragedy.
He did not provide more details about targets or who was doing the shooting but said no damage or injuries were reported.
"We are continuing operations and it is of great importance that the incidents of Saturday, as tragic as they were, do not disrupt our capability to operate in the border area and cooperate with the Pak side," said Jacobson.
The Pak military did not immediately respond to request for comment on the latest incident.
Pak and American officials have offered different accounts of how NATO aircraft attacked two Pakistain army posts before dawn Saturday, killing 24 soldiers. But it seems clear that a breakdown in communication contributed to the tragedy.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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KIRKUK / Aswat al-Iraq: One of the cadres of northern Iraq's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has been killed in a sticking bomb that blew up under his car south of the city of Kirkuk on Wednesday, a Kirkuk Province's Police source reported.
"An explosive charge, stuck under a car, belonging to a PUK cadre in Kirkuk, blew off in Kirkuk's Military district on Wednesday, killing him on the spot and causing severe damage for his car," the Police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, giving no further details.
In another incident, Kirkuk's Police Director, Lt-Brigadier, Sarhad Qader, said that "a joint force had inspected a number of villages in al-Riyadh township, 45 km to the southwest of Kirkuk, arresting 3 persons, wanted for Article-4 - Terrorism - along with confiscating a number of leaflets of al-Qaeda, Naqshabandiya and Saraya al-Haq groups.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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A local administrator was killed by terrorists in a drive-by shooting in Narathiwat's Cho Irong district late Tuesday night.
Witnesses told police that Areepeng Jehmu, 49, was driving his motorcycle to a friend's home in his village when a terrorist gunman riding pillion on another motorcycle shot at him six times with an 11 mm pistol. The terrorists attackers then fled.
Areepeng was hit six times in the body and left leg and fell from his bike. He was taken to the hospital by neighbors and was later pronounced dead.
The sources said the explosion was the work of a “sophisticated bombing squad” that penetrated Isfahan’s formidable defenses. Citing analysis of Western satellite imagery, they said the explosion rocked Iran’s largest city with smoke and debris...
Satellite imagery seen by The Times confirmed that a blast that rocked the city of Isfahan on Monday struck the uranium enrichment facility there, despite denials by Tehran.
The images clearly showed billowing smoke and destruction, negating Iranian claims yesterday that no such explosion had taken place. Israeli intelligence officials told The Times that there was "no doubt" that the blast struck the nuclear facilities at Isfahan and that it was "no accident".
...Major-General Giora Eiland, Israel's former director of national security, told Israel's army radio that the Isfahan blast was no accident. "There aren't many coincidences, and when there are so many events there is probably some sort of guiding hand, though perhaps it's the hand of God," he said.
Landis, a supposed Syria expert, has flipped from the Assad regime will likely survive to the regime likely won't survive, over the last couple of weeks.
The FSA was formally announced on July 29, but it can trace its origins to well before that. The groupÂ’s formation was a reaction to regime brutality against peaceful mass protests. Desertion from the Syrian army increased as individual soldiers and small units refused to obey orders to shoot unarmed demonstrators or simply decided to abandon the regime. Although not all of these soldiers have joined the FSA, numerous media reports indicate a steady flow of defectors into the groupÂ’s ranks.
Defectors include individuals of all ranks, from conscript to brigadier general, and from a wide variety of combat units and organizations, including key regime props such as the Republican Guard and the intelligence services. Some small units have defected as a group, and several battalion-size defections have been reported but not confirmed. In at least some cases, the defectors took their weapons with them. And in most cases, they appeared to join local FSA elements.
Easing the process of defection and FSA unit creation is the fact that the personnel in question are moving from a military organization to a fairly well organized quasi-military force. Based on available evidence, the FSA has a chain of command, organizational and rank structures, and named units.
ORGANIZATION AND FORCES
The FSA appears to be a relatively flat organization, with a command and headquarters in Turkey, possibly a set of regional or area commands with subordinate groups in Syria, and, according to media reports, one or two combat elements in Lebanon.
#1
This is the most dangerous kind of insurgent army, because they are getting all sorts of valuable support from other nations.
Satellites are likely giving them security force movements, ELINT is likely giving them security force communications intercepts, smuggling is likely providing them with critical, if not bulk, supplies. They're even probably being spoon fed their strategy and optimal targets at lowest risk.
h/t Instapundit
Satellite imagery seen by The Times confirmed that a blast that rocked the city of Isfahan on Monday struck the uranium enrichment facility there, despite denials by Tehran.
The images clearly showed billowing smoke and destruction, negating Iranian claims yesterday that no such explosion had taken place.
...Major-General Giora Eiland, Israel's former director of national security, told Israel's army radio that the Isfahan blast was no accident. "There aren't many coincidences, and when there are so many events there is probably some sort of guiding hand, though perhaps it's the hand of God," he said.
[An Nahar] Leb will enforce Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... sanctions imposed on neighboring Syria even though it did not back the punitive measures, Economy Minister Nicolas Nahhas told Agence La Belle France Presse on Wednesday.
"We are committed to implementing the vaporous Arab League sanctions," Nahhas said, pointing out that the Syrian government in any case had no trade dealings with Leb.
"The Lebanese state has no trade dealings or financial transactions, neither with the Syrian government nor the central bank," he said.
Nahhas said the Arab League sanctions were clear in that while no transactions could take place with the Syrian government that did not apply to the private sector.
He said Lebanese banks however would have no dealings with the Syrian central bank or any individuals targeted by the sanctions.
Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... has no funds deposited in the Lebanese central bank and there is therefore no need to act on the Arab League sanctions, governor Riyad Salameh said on Monday.
In an unprecedented move, the pan-Arab bloc on Sunday approved a raft of sanctions against Syria to pressure Damascus to end its deadly crackdown against an eight-month revolt.
The sanctions include freezing government assets, suspending cooperation with Syria's central bank and halting funding for projects in the country.
Leb, whose government is dominated by the pro-Syrian Hizbullah, disassociated itself from the vote at the Arab League.
Syria has long held sway in Lebanese politics and the revolt threatening the regime in Damascus has deepened the rift between Lebanese officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
So Lebanon will enforce the sanctions but Iraq won't?
Posted by: American Delight ||
12/01/2011 9:05 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] Foreign ministers of the world's largest Mohammedan body urged Syria on Wednesday to cooperate with the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... , which imposed unprecedented sanctions on Damascus ...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world... over its crackdown on months of protests.
Ministers from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) called on the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Sonny, disguised as Fredo, trying to be Mike... to "respond to the decisions of the vaporous Arab League," according to a statement released at the end of emergency talks on Syria.
The OIC also urged Damascus to "immediately stop using excessive force against civilians ... to spare the country the danger of internationalizing the crisis," it added.
The statement, issued after the meeting that was attended by the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, urged "all parties in Syria to renounce violence and resort to peaceful means."
OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, speaking after the meeting, said the group "urged Syria to stop violating human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... and to allow Islamic and international human organizations access to Syria."
The meeting was also attended by Ali Akbar Salehi, the foreign minister of Iran which is a key regional ally of the regime in Damascus.
Earlier, Ihsanoglu reiterated the Jeddah-based group's rejection of any moves "to internationalize the crisis."
"We also refuse any military intervention and affirm our respect to Syria and its illusory sovereignty ... and welcome international and Arab efforts" to reach a solution, he said.
But the OIC chief expressed frustration at the lack of any breakthrough to end the violence since March that the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... says killed more than 3,500 people, mostly civilians, in its first eight months.
"We have exhausted all our mechanisms and powers in our attempt to bridge the gap and end bloodshed" in Syria, he said.
The Arab League approved on Sunday sweeping sanctions against Assad's government over the crackdown -- the first time that bloc has enforced punitive measures of such magnitude on one of its own members.
Measures include an immediate ban on transactions with Damascus and its central bank and a freeze on Syrian government assets in Arab countries.
They also bar Syrian officials from visiting Arab countries and call for a suspension of all flights to Arab states to be implemented on a date to be set next week.
The vote on sanctions came after Damascus defied an ultimatum to accept observers under an Arab League peace plan and put an end to the eight-month crackdown.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Is there an "English League"? Or a "Spanish League"? The arab-league is all about re-establishing calipha tyranny. And BHO - son of a muslim spouse and child abandoner - welcomes arab-league enforcement.
Posted by: Sonny Scourge of the Poles9835 ||
12/01/2011 15:16 Comments ||
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[Iran Press TV] After the UK withdrew its diplomatic mission from Iran, Germany, La Belle France and the Netherlands have also recalled their ambassadors to Tehran for consultation.
On Wednesday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said London is withdrawing its diplomatic staff from Tehran after Iranian students demonstrated outside the British Embassy.
Hague went on to say that the Iranian Embassy ...You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy!... in London would also be immediately closed and Tehran must remove its diplomatic mission within 48 hours.
Following Hague's statement, La Belle France, Germany and the Netherlands also announced that they are recalling their ambassador to Iran for consultation.
"In view of yesterday's events in Tehran, Foreign Minister (Guido) Westerwelle has decided to recall the German ambassador in Iran to Berlin for consultations," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Hundreds of Iranian students staged a protest rally outside of two UK diplomatic compounds in Tehran on Tuesday, pulling down the UK flag and demanding the expulsion of the British envoy.
Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Wednesday that Tehran considers any attack against diplomatic missions and buildings and the violation of international law are unacceptable.
He added that the incident in Tehran was the result of the anger of demonstrators at British policies and was unexpected.
The Iranian official said that the vigilance of authorities had prevented any of the diplomats from being injured and Iran's Judiciary will punish perpetrators accordingly.
He described Britannia's demand that Iranian diplomats leave London as hasty and Tehran will take necessary measures in return.
Mehmanparast stressed that London is responsible for protecting Iran's diplomatic mission and buildings.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Wednesday that Tehran considers any attack against diplomatic missions and buildings and the violation of international law are unacceptable.
...Which is what they said the last time.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/01/2011 5:58 Comments ||
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#2
Any video of the perpetrators being jugged?
I thought not.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 12:54 Comments ||
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#3
Now they're getting tough. That'll breake their Iranian hearts for the Europeans to call their ambassadors home.
[The Local (Norway)] Norway has closed its embassy in Tehran a day after the British mission in the Iranian capital was attacked by an angry mob, the government said on Wednesday.
Norway's diplomatic staff are still in Tehran and no decision has been taken to evacuate them, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hilde Steinfeld told AFP.
"The embassy was closed yesterday (Tuesday) after the attack on the British embassy," she said.
"We are continuously evaluating the situation," she said when asked how long the embassy would remain closed.
The diplomatic staff, which consists of a handful of Norwegian citizens, is still in Tehran, she said.
Asked about a possible evacuation, she said "it has been evaluated, but for now no such measure has been taken."
Britain said on Wednesday that some staff at its embassy in Tehran were being evacuated for their own safety after the storming of two British compounds in Tehran by protesters angry at new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.
The protesters were reflecting official anger at Britain's decision last week to cut all relations with Iran's financial sector as part of a raft of new sanctions unveiled in coordination with the United States and Canada.
The storming of Britain's embassy sparked international condemnation, including a strongly worded statement from the UN Security Council.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[WSJ] Turkey imposed sanctions against Syria on Wednesday, including a freeze on the regime's assets in Turkey and on official lines of credit, further isolating Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... and his embattled government.
"The Syrian Administration has further lost its legitimacy with every bullet fired and with every minaret bombed," Mr. Davutoglu said, explaining the decision to turn on Mr. Assad, a former close ally. "In our opinion, by wasting all the opportunities offered to them... the Syrian Administration has come to the end of the road."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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Iranian Freedom Institute And Confederation of Iranian Students Press Release
As the U.S. and its European allies begin to impose effective sanctions on the Islamic Republic, the western democracies should anticipate that the regime will initiate more of these fully-authorized, staged incidents under the guise of a student movement. The so-called students, of course, are plain-clothed basiji following orders from the regime. Even Moussa Ghornani, a member of the legal committee of the Iranian Parliament, admitted unwittingly in a statement that "the students who entered the British Embassy yesterday were members of one of the official and effective organizations within the regime." The basiji "students"Basiji-led Attack on the British Embassy in Tehran published an announcement in the Raja News (the official news agency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) that railed against the government of Britain because "this evil government had the audacity to sanction our Central Bank."
The western democracies should take this incident as evidence that the recently imposed sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) have infuriated the regime. And for good reason. The CBI sanctions will disrupt the smooth flow of revenue to the regime that is essential to pay its loyalists, the basiji, and the Revolutionary Guard Corps leadership. The Iranian Freedom Institute (IFI) and the Confederation of Iranian Students (CIS) applauded the imposition of CBI sanctions noting that this is a major step in the right direction.
Contrary to the regime's propaganda, the Iranian freedom student movement believes the regime has lost its legitimacy and has called repeatedly for its removal. The western democracies should not be misled by the regime's subterfuge. The Iranian freedom student movement seeks a free, democratic and secular Iran. The Confederation of Iranian Students, in particular, has been at the forefront of this fight for basic human rights and freedoms that the Iranian people desperately seek. Be clear on this point. The Iranian regime, not the average Iranian citizen, is affected by the CBI sanctions and only the imposition of oil sanctions would have a decisive impact on the Islamic Republic.
IFI and CIS believe that the imposition of oil sanctions against the Islamic Republic will cut off the life blood of the regime -- the revenue essential to meet the payrolls of its domestic security forces, the basiji and the Revolutionary Guard Corps leadership. The oil sanctions report prepared by the CIS presents a detailed analysis showing how a carefully developed and implemented plan, coordinated closely with the Saudi government, would cripple the Iranian regime and avoid shocking the international oil markets during the current period of international financial turmoil. In this regard, IFI and CIS strongly support French President Sarcozy's call for international sanctions on the Iranian regime's oil exports, and will continue their efforts to encourage the U.S. Congress to adopt bipartisan legislation toward that end.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#5
This was most likely done by the Mullaus to embaress Dinnerjacket.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/01/2011 12:14 Comments ||
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#6
The poorest of iran's 10 top ayatollahs has only US$200 million in extorted wealth. they routinely use basij gestapo to break strikes and enforce labor discipline in ayatollah owned factories, which butcher all rules of employee safety.
Basij animals are recruited from the brainwashed class who believe they must serve as slaves to the guardian council. Many of these will turn against the elites, if the message of elite parasitism is allowed to impact on their brains. So why doesn't BHO order public diplomacy, a al Radio Free Europe, to tell the truth that iran's govt censors? Because BHO is ideologically committed to share elite lies. When iranians erupted against their tyrants in 2009, BHO invoked "events of 1953" as if same founded legitimate greivances. The tyranny - a Jimmah Carter Frankenstate - would collapse if a US President had the integrity to act in his own country's interests. BHOs orientation is clearly directed toward globalism, with its sympathy for islamonazism.
Posted by: Sonny Scourge of the Poles9835 ||
12/01/2011 15:05 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Jimmy Carter to the white courtesy phone, please.
#8
Certainly possible that the Brits knew this was coming. The attack does Iran no good whatsoever. On the other hand, it does do those who want to impose a serious embargo on their central bank a great deal of good. Methinks there are elements inside Iran's power elite that want change that will keep them in the clover.
(Rooters) - Britannia shut Iran's embassy in London and expelled all its staff on Wednesday, saying the storming of the British mission in Tehran could not have taken place without consent from Iranian authorities.
Foreign Secretary William Hague also said the British Embassy in Tehran had been closed and all staff evacuated following the attack on Tuesday by a crowd that ransacked offices and burned British flags in a protest over sanctions imposed by Britannia on Tehran.
Iran warned that Britannia's closure of the Iranian embassy in London would lead to further retaliation.
Tuesday's incident was the most violent so far as relations between the two countries steadily deteriorate due to Iran's wider dispute with the West over its nuclear programme.
On top of its ban on British financial institutions dealing with Iran and its central bank last week, Britannia has called for further measures and a diplomatic source said London would now support a ban on oil imports from the Islamic Theocratic Republic.
Hague said Iranian ambassadors across the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... had been summoned to receive strong protests over the incident. But Britannia stopped short of severing ties with Iran completely.
"The Iranian charge (d'affaires) in London is being informed now that we require the immediate closure of the Iranian embassy in London and that all Iranian diplomatic staff must leave the United Kingdom within the next 48 hours," Hague told parliament.
"We have now closed the British embassy in Tehran. We have decided to evacuate all our staff and as of the last few minutes, the last of our UK-based staff have now left Iran."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The embattled regime of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... on Wednesday pressed on with a deadly crackdown on dissent.
Activists reported that 11 non-combatants were killed by Syrian forces in the flashpoint provinces of Idlib and Homs, while in the southern Daraa province, cradle of eight months of anti-regime unrest, a blast killed seven security forces.
The latest violence came as the world's largest Islamic body, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, held emergency talks at its Jeddah headquarters to find ways of ending the bloodshed.
Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, who has repeatedly accused "armed terrorists" of fuelling the unrest, attended the meeting as OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu warned against foreign military intervention in Syria.
On Wednesday, security forces killed seven civilians in the northwestern Idlib province, including a 12-year-old boy and a woman, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Four other non-combatants were killed in separate incidents in the central city of Homs by gunfire.
And seven members of the security forces were killed in festivities with army deserters in the Daraa town of Dael, the Britannia-based group said.
It quoted a witness as saying the festivities were triggered by the arrival in Dael of at least 30 armored personnel carriers, adding that two vehicles were destroyed in the fighting.
More than 164 people were also set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock in Dael where security forces carried out search operations, the group said, adding that 19 people were maimed by gunfire.
State television meanwhile reported that authorities released 912 people who were involved in anti-regime unrest but have "no blood on their hands, the third batch freed this month.
In Jeddah the OIC expressed frustration at the unending bloodshed and raised concerns about the international response to the crisis in Syria.
"We also refuse any military intervention and affirm our respect to Syria and its illusory sovereignty ... and welcome international and Arab efforts" to reach a solution, the head of the pan-Islamic organization told the gathering.
"We have exhausted all our mechanisms and powers in our attempt to bridge the gap and end bloodshed" in Syria, OIC chief Ihsanoglu said, urging ministers to "reach practical recommendations that would help achieve a compromising solution."
According to a U.N. estimate released in early November, more than 3,500 people have been killed in the crackdown on dissent since mid-March.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Leb's Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Wednesday he had transferred its share of funding to a UN-backed court probing the murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, an issue that threatened to spark the collapse of his government.
"This morning, I transferred Leb's share of funding to the Special Tribunal for Leb (TSL)," Mikati said in a surprise announcement.
He said the decision was in Leb's interest and would protect the country from the upheavals shaking the region.
"This does not constitute a victory for one party over another," the premier told news hounds.
Mikati last week threatened to resign should his Hezbullies-dominated government refuse to fund the STL, and the issue was to be discussed on Wednesday at a cabinet meeting that was postponed.
The Netherlands-based court has indicted four Hezbullies operatives in connection with Hariri's murder but they have not surrendered to the court.
Hezbullies chief Hassan Nasrallah, who has denounced the court as part of a US-Israeli conspiracy, has steadfastly pushed with his allies for Leb to cut all ties with the tribunal.
The Shiite bad boy group toppled the government of Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's liquidation. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. , the slain leader's son, in January after he refused to stop cooperation with the court.
Leb is responsible for meeting 49 percent of the STL's financing, which amounts to some $35 million (25.2 million euros) this year.
Mikati's government had until the end of October to transfer the now overdue funds.
The premier said last week that he would rather quit than be head of a government that did not honour its international obligations.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
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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.
[Iran Press TV] Separate bombing 
[Emirates 24/7] Egypt's Islamists claimed Wednesday they were headed for victory in the opening phase of the country's first post-revolution election after two days of peaceful polling that won international plaudits.
In Tunisia, the origin of the Arab Spring, a moderate Islamist party won the first free election. Morocco's recent vote produced a similar result.
... 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...
... 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...
cycle of violence
Punjab
Mohmand
Pakistain resumed some cooperation with US-led forces in Afghanistan following 
KIRKUK / Aswat al-Iraq: One of the cadres of northern Iraq's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has been killed in a sticking bomb that blew up under his car south of the city of Kirkuk on Wednesday, a Kirkuk Province's Police source reported.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
