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Syrian Opposition Reports Deputy Defense Minister Killed
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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Afghanistan
Karzai will not seek third term: spokesman
[Al Ahram] Afghanistan's Caped 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...
is not secretly planning to change the country's constitution to seek a third term in power, his front man insisted on Saturday.

Recent media reports, citing a document set out by Germany's foreign intelligence service, said Karzai was seeking special dispensation to guide the country through uncertainty after NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
ends its combat mission in 2014.

But Aimal Faizi said Karzai, the only leader in Afghanistan since the 2001 US-led invasion brought down the Taliban, was not planning to change the constitution, which allows two terms as president.

"Karzai has no intention to remain in power after his second term," Faizi told AFP.

"The president has made it very clear, including in his loya jirga speech, that he will not run again," he said, referring to a speech at a traditional gathering of elders last month. "He has no plan to run again. He'd rather give the chance to someone new.

"We dismiss the recent media reports citing some intelligence that said President Karzai is running for a third time," Faizi said.

Karzai was sworn in as interim leader of Afghanistan in December 2001, shortly after the US-led invasion toppled the Taliban. In 2004, he won the country's first direct presidential elections with 55.4 per cent of the vote.

But his re-election in 2009 was mired in allegations of corruption, in which challenger Abdullah Abdullah
... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun...
abandoned a second-round run-off and Sherlocks threw out a third of Karzai's original votes because of fraud.

Karzai has previously also denied rumours he is planning to cling to power when his second term comes to an end in three years' time.
Posted by: Fred || 12/11/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Tunisia security forces to break student sit-in over niqab issue
[Al Ahram] The ongoing crisis at the University of Manouba is escalating, triggered by a group of Salafist
...Salafists espouse an austere form of Sunni Islam that seeks a return to practices that were common in the 7th century. Rather than doing that themselves and letting other people alone they insist everybody do as they say and they try to kill everybody who doesn't...
students demanding the right for women to wear the niqab (full-face veil), asking for segregated classes, and a prayer room.
In late November, scuffles broke out between secular students and the Salafis, but there were no serious injuries.

Salafists briefly held Habib Kazdaghli, dean of the School of Arts, Letters, and Humanities, hostage, but he refused to submit to their demands. Tensions grew throughout the first week of December and on 6 December protesters prevented Kazdaghli from entering his office. In response, he suspended all activities at the school until further notice.

The crisis paralyzed the work of the university, forcing it to shut down of further departments on campus, eventually leading to the cease of all activities at the university.

The university website states that on 8 December a meeting was held in the university's Carthage Auditorium during which the Arts Department council joined by representatives of the workers' union and a few members of the administration discussed the current situation.

The discussion focused on finding a solution to the sit-in which was entering its ninth day. Teachers underlined the seriousness of the situation, underscoring the importance of remaining calm and reasoning while dealing with the crisis, and to avoid political or religious influences.

On 9 December, referring to Article 30 in the Higher Education Code, the dean of the Arts Department asked local security forces to consider intervening to break up the sit-in.
Posted by: Fred || 12/11/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Libya ready to forgive Qadhafi fighters: NTC chief
[Dawn] Libya's new rulers are ready to forgive the forces of slain leader Muammar Qadaffy
... who is now napping peacefully in the dirt...
who battled rebels trying to topple his autocratic regime, National Transition Council chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil said on Saturday.

"In Libya we are able to absorb all. Libya is for all," Abdel Jalil said in Tripoli as he launched a national reconciliation conference organised by the NTC.

"Despite what the army of the oppressor did to our cities and our villages, our brothers who fought against the rebels as the army of Qadaffy and we are ready to forgive them," he said.

"We are able to forgive and tolerate," he added.

The conference, the first of its kind since the NTC on October 23 declared the total liberation of Libya, was attended by delegates from the major Libyan tribes and ethnic groups, as well as from Qatar and Tunisia.

Libya's new interim Prime Minister Abdel Rahim al-Kib echoed Abdel Jalil.

"National reconciliation is an essential condition to build the constitutional institutions of a state," he told the conference. "The future cannot be built with Dire Revenge™ as a base."

A statement issued last month said the new government will help efforts by the NTC "to achieve national reconciliation" in Libya. It will also strive to rebuild the army and the security forces and promote "the integration of interested citizens into these institutions," said the statement.
Posted by: Fred || 12/11/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Arab League condemns Newt Gingrich's Palestinian stance
A senior Arab League official condemned on Sunday a statement by Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich claiming Palestinians are an "invented" people, calling it racist and a cheap stunt to get votes.

However Israeli Cabinet minister Uzi Landau said Gingrich was "right." He claimed the Palestinians do not have their own language or culture, and are instead part of the broader Arab world.

Gingrich also called Palestinians "terrorists." The comments struck at the heart of Palestinian sensitivities about the righteousness of their struggle for an independent state. Applying the label "invented" suggests that the Palestinian quest for independence is not legitimate. He later sought to clarify his position, with his spokesman saying he supports the creation of a Palestinian state as part of a negotiated settlement with Israel.

"If an Arab or Palestinian official said a racist comment that was one-millionth of what this US candidate said, the world would have been in continuous uproar," said Mohammed Sobeih, the Arab League official who handles Palestinian affairs. Gingrich's comments were "irresponsible and dangerous," he added.

"If these comments were made for political gains, then this is an even bigger disaster. But it appears that this is a cheap attempt to get more votes in an election," said Sobeih. "And to get this small number of votes, this person sold America's interests by denying international law and democratic principles."
Posted by: tipper || 12/11/2011 17:01 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


The Grand Turk
22 Turks charged with terrorism get bail
ANKARA: Twenty-two Turks charged with terrorism offenses after being arrested at an anti-government protest have been freed on bail after six months in jail in a case that rights activists say highlights the government's growing intolerance toward dissent.

Police arrested 28 people in June at an Ankara protest against the death of a retired teacher who suffered a heart attack when police fired pepper spray at a demonstration against the prime minister in the Black Sea town of Hopa a few days before. Police raided their houses and found left-wing tracts and pictures of executed Turkish leftists. While no weapons were found, police seized a broken umbrella as evidence, media said.
Was it a Bulgarian umbrella?
Prosecutors charged 22 of them with crimes ranging from "membership of a terrorist organization", to "committing crimes in the name of a terrorist organization."

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Ankara court on Friday for the first hearing of their case. After a 12-hour hearing, the judge ordered the 22 freed on bail and demanded the files of an investigation by prosecutors into whether the accused had been tortured in custody.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/11/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Great White North
Canada Moves to Strip Citizenship from Thousands
[An Nahar] Canada is investigating 6,500 people from more than 100 countries, including Leb for fraudulently attempting to gain citizenship or permanent residency, the immigration minister announced Friday.

"Canadian citizenship is not for sale,"
It is, actually. But Canada has standards for who may buy.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said in a statement. "Canadians are generous people, but have no tolerance or patience for people who don't play by the rules and who lie or cheat to become a Canadian citizen."

He said the government has moved to strip 2,100 people of their citizenship. And nearly 4,400 with permanent residency "who are known to be implicated in residence fraud" have been flagged for additional scrutiny should they attempt to enter Canada or obtain citizenship.

Prior to this year, only 67 citizenships had been revoked since the enactment of the Citizenship Act in 1947.

Permanent residents must acquire three years of residence out of four years to apply for Canadian citizenship. To retain their status as permanent residents, they must be physically present in Canada for two years out of five.

Most of the cases are reportedly linked to three immigration consultants. In March, authorities charged Halifax consultant Hassan Al-Awaid with fraudulently helping foreigners obtain permanent residency or citizenship. Some 1,100 applicants mostly from the Middle East and their dependents were implicated in the fraud, including 76 who obtained citizenship.

Another consultant, Nizar Zakka, was placed in long-term storage in Montreal in 2009 for allegedly providing false evidence of Canadian residency for hundreds of Lebanese nationals, used to claim child care and tax credits.

The daily Ottawa Citizen, citing an unnamed government source, said a third consultant in Mississauga is now also under investigation for providing proof of residence in Canada for clients living abroad most, if not all, of the time.
Posted by: Fred || 12/11/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This is what will happen to you if you're rude to other people: you get the big, well polished, Mountie boot battering your butt.

The Conservative Party of Canada got their majority and now they're using it. A lot of us Canuckistanians are pleased with them.
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 12/11/2011 2:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Don't worry, they'll just claim asylum. Or go to a city that refuses to enforce immigration laws. They ain't going home, not from Canada.
Posted by: gromky || 12/11/2011 5:25 Comments || Top||

#3  We have no idea how many illegals are in the U.S. and what country they are from.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/11/2011 15:01 Comments || Top||

#4  Many of these people do not even live in Canada. But Canadian citizenship is useful when you reside in, say, Lebanon and you have a medical emergency or need a rescue when Hezbollas get uppity.
Posted by: manversgwtw || 12/11/2011 19:20 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Nuggets from the Urdu press
Cricketers weep on conviction
According to daily Pakistan three cricketers - Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Amir - started weeping when the jury at a London court found them guilty of cheating in the game for money. Asif was heard saying to Butt, 'Tum nay marwa diya' (You are to blame.)
 
Hafiz Saeed now after Indian Hyderabad
World famous man of God Hafiz Saeed told daily Pakistan that Kashmir will soon be liberated from the tyranny of India but he would not rest till he had made Hyderabad Deccan in the south of India join Pakistan. He said that the world saw the Soviet Union go to pieces and it will soon see America meet the same fate. And this will happen because of jihad.
 
Allah, give us just one leader!
World-famous scientist Dr AQ Khan was quoted by daily Pakistan as saying that Allah should grant only one great leader to Pakistan who would get the nation released from the slavery of America. He said nuclear power was not good for Pakistan because it would expensive; electricity should be made from hydel resources.
 
Hindu doctors killed in Shikarpur
Daily Mashriq reported that incidence of rape of Hindu women due to rise of religion in Sindh Hyderabad city staged protests on the murder of Hindu doctors in Shikarpur. The protests were conducted by nationalist Sindhis who don't regard Hindus as aliens but that the rising tide of extremist religion in Sindh is now negating their progressive influence.
 
India is not most favoured!
Daily Pakistan reported religious and other leaders as saying that instead of giving India the Most Favoured Nation status Pakistan should declare India as a terrorist state. The MFN declaration by Pakistan had betrayed the Kashmiri as well as the Pakistani nation. Indian Kashmiri leader Ali Gilani sent word that Pakistani leaders were taking decisions against their own people.
 
Nusrat Bhutto and Bhutto
Daily Mashriq quoted Abdur Razzaq Soomro as saying that Bhutto's wife Nusrat Bhutto was not responsible for getting Bhutto and Iskander Mirza together. Bhutto had married Amir Begum at the age of 13. When Nusrat Bhutto started visiting Larkana she wore a black burqa. Murtaza Bhutto was in Syria when General Asif Nawaz sent word to him that he should return and take part in elections. Benazir did not like this. Nusrat Bhutto met Bhutto at a bank where Sir Shahnawaz introduced them.
 
Pakistanis in Indian jails without trial
According to daily Pakistan supreme court of India had taken notice of the fact that 250 Pakistanis were languishing in India jails without trial. He said most of them were being kept there without registration of any case of offence by them.
 
Imran owns land in Mian Channu!
Disclosed by Jinnah Imran Khan owned 530 kanals of land in Mian Channu outside Lahore which is worth Rs 50 thousand only. According to his 2007 declaration he also owns 30 kanals in Islamabad (Tilkhar). According to Nawa-e-Waqt Imran Khan put a very low price on assets that were worth crores of rupees.
 
Doctors strike against lawyers
According to Mashriq doctors of Sheikh Zaid Hospital struck work against what they called wukla-gardi (lawyers' hooliganism) after an incident at the hospital had lawyers becoming violent. The protest asked commissioner Lahore to immediately drop the cases registered against the doctors by the wukla persons.
 
Imran will prefer China
Quoted in daily Nawa-e-Waqt Imran Khan said that if he came to power in the country he would most favour closer relations with China. He called Hilary Clinton 'Chachi Clinton' and pledged that he will rescue a scattered Pakistan. He also informed that he had bought land with Jemima's money but Jemima had 'forgiven' him the loan after divorce.
 
Eunuchs should have right to vote!
Reported in Mashriq the Supreme Court once again directed the ID card authority NADRA to register the heejra community as such on ID cards so that they can have a vote. Perhaps as response, the police in Kamalia in Punjab attacked a community of gay eunuchs on charges of immorality and thrashed them handsomely.
 
Allama Iqbal would have committed suicide!
Quoted in Jinnah wife of the son of Allama Iqbal Nasira Javid Iqbal stated in Lahore that had the philosopher of Pakistan Allama Iqbal been alive today he would have committed suicide out of shame. She said that clerics had opposed Pakistan, while after 1947, Pakistan had failed to educate its population.
 
Army not consulted on MFN
Quoted in daily Pakistan Sheikh Rashid said that Pak Army was not consulted before giving the go ahead to MFN status to India. He said that MFN would destroy Pakistan's economy and make Pakistan a slave to India in addition to America.
 
Karachi police stations without SHOs
Reported in Jinnah fully 15 police stations in Karachi were without top officers called SHOs. Police sources said that the delay was owed to the cleansing operation against sifarishi officers and that the new officers were being put through a clean process.
 
Tehreek Taliban condemns Imran
According to Express Tehreek Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had declared that Imran Khan was a slave of America and Europe. The TTP said that the Taliban were under no illusion that Imran Khan was on their side. Imran Khan said in Jang that the statement from the Taliban was prompted by his opponents who were afraid of losing seats to him. Daily Pakistan reported Tehreek Insaf as saying that those guilty of killing Benazir were now getting the Taliban to issue statements against Imran.
 
Shah Mehmood on India
Quoted by Jinnah ex-foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi while discussing the MFN status remarked that India was in the habit of setting up the agenda for discussion in the light of its own interest. Ex-Foreign Secretary Akram Zaki said Pakistan had bent the knee to India on the dictation of America.
 
Pakistan is doomed after MFN
Daily Pakistan reported that political leaders were of the opinion that after the grant of MFN to India Pakistan was doomed. India had no friends in the world but America wanted it to become thanedar. Bharat will remain our enemy. They said that Pakistan's economy will be destroyed after the MFN. Giving MFN to India was also treacherous to Kashmiris. The lawyers were of the opinion that MFN could not be granted before getting India to give up Kashmir.
 
Pak 'kabaddi' manager thrashed
Reported in Jang while the players of kabaddi were engaged in international tournament in Amritsar India, the manager of the Pakistani team was caught hold of by the American kabaddi team and thrashed. Akhtar Mian was taken into a bathroom and given a proper hiding. After much hatha-pai he was successful finally to save his life by running away.
 
Mirza ate up Zardari's sugar mills!
Eeported in Mashriq the real cause of the split between Zulfiqar Mirza and Zardari was that Mirza had been given some sugar mills for safekeeping during Zardari's absence. After his return Zardari asked Mirza to return his personally set up sugar mills and some land, Mirza refused to do so and decided to raise the standard of revolt from. It was in hopes of getting his assets back that Zardari had appointed Mirza as home minister and his wife as speaker of National Assembly.
Posted by: || 12/11/2011 00:28 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Nuggets from the Urdu press
Cricketers weep on conviction
According to daily Pakistan three cricketers - Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Amir - started weeping when the jury at a London court found them guilty of cheating in the game for money. Asif was heard saying to Butt, 'Tum nay marwa diya' (You are to blame.)
 
Hafiz Saeed now after Indian Hyderabad
World famous man of God Hafiz Saeed told daily Pakistan that Kashmir will soon be liberated from the tyranny of India but he would not rest till he had made Hyderabad Deccan in the south of India join Pakistan. He said that the world saw the Soviet Union go to pieces and it will soon see America meet the same fate. And this will happen because of jihad.
 
Allah, give us just one leader!
World-famous scientist Dr AQ Khan was quoted by daily Pakistan as saying that Allah should grant only one great leader to Pakistan who would get the nation released from the slavery of America. He said nuclear power was not good for Pakistan because it would expensive; electricity should be made from hydel resources.
 
Hindu doctors killed in Shikarpur
Daily Mashriq reported that incidence of rape of Hindu women due to rise of religion in Sindh Hyderabad city staged protests on the murder of Hindu doctors in Shikarpur. The protests were conducted by nationalist Sindhis who don't regard Hindus as aliens but that the rising tide of extremist religion in Sindh is now negating their progressive influence.
 
India is not most favoured!
Daily Pakistan reported religious and other leaders as saying that instead of giving India the Most Favoured Nation status Pakistan should declare India as a terrorist state. The MFN declaration by Pakistan had betrayed the Kashmiri as well as the Pakistani nation. Indian Kashmiri leader Ali Gilani sent word that Pakistani leaders were taking decisions against their own people.
 
Nusrat Bhutto and Bhutto
Daily Mashriq quoted Abdur Razzaq Soomro as saying that Bhutto's wife Nusrat Bhutto was not responsible for getting Bhutto and Iskander Mirza together. Bhutto had married Amir Begum at the age of 13. When Nusrat Bhutto started visiting Larkana she wore a black burqa. Murtaza Bhutto was in Syria when General Asif Nawaz sent word to him that he should return and take part in elections. Benazir did not like this. Nusrat Bhutto met Bhutto at a bank where Sir Shahnawaz introduced them.
 
Pakistanis in Indian jails without trial
According to daily Pakistan supreme court of India had taken notice of the fact that 250 Pakistanis were languishing in India jails without trial. He said most of them were being kept there without registration of any case of offence by them.
 
Imran owns land in Mian Channu!
Disclosed by Jinnah Imran Khan owned 530 kanals of land in Mian Channu outside Lahore which is worth Rs 50 thousand only. According to his 2007 declaration he also owns 30 kanals in Islamabad (Tilkhar). According to Nawa-e-Waqt Imran Khan put a very low price on assets that were worth crores of rupees.
 
Doctors strike against lawyers
According to Mashriq doctors of Sheikh Zaid Hospital struck work against what they called wukla-gardi (lawyers' hooliganism) after an incident at the hospital had lawyers becoming violent. The protest asked commissioner Lahore to immediately drop the cases registered against the doctors by the wukla persons.
 
Imran will prefer China
Quoted in daily Nawa-e-Waqt Imran Khan said that if he came to power in the country he would most favour closer relations with China. He called Hilary Clinton 'Chachi Clinton' and pledged that he will rescue a scattered Pakistan. He also informed that he had bought land with Jemima's money but Jemima had 'forgiven' him the loan after divorce.
 
Eunuchs should have right to vote!
Reported in Mashriq the Supreme Court once again directed the ID card authority NADRA to register the heejra community as such on ID cards so that they can have a vote. Perhaps as response, the police in Kamalia in Punjab attacked a community of gay eunuchs on charges of immorality and thrashed them handsomely.
 
Allama Iqbal would have committed suicide!
Quoted in Jinnah wife of the son of Allama Iqbal Nasira Javid Iqbal stated in Lahore that had the philosopher of Pakistan Allama Iqbal been alive today he would have committed suicide out of shame. She said that clerics had opposed Pakistan, while after 1947, Pakistan had failed to educate its population.
 
Army not consulted on MFN
Quoted in daily Pakistan Sheikh Rashid said that Pak Army was not consulted before giving the go ahead to MFN status to India. He said that MFN would destroy Pakistan's economy and make Pakistan a slave to India in addition to America.
 
Karachi police stations without SHOs
Reported in Jinnah fully 15 police stations in Karachi were without top officers called SHOs. Police sources said that the delay was owed to the cleansing operation against sifarishi officers and that the new officers were being put through a clean process.
 
Tehreek Taliban condemns Imran
According to Express Tehreek Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had declared that Imran Khan was a slave of America and Europe. The TTP said that the Taliban were under no illusion that Imran Khan was on their side. Imran Khan said in Jang that the statement from the Taliban was prompted by his opponents who were afraid of losing seats to him. Daily Pakistan reported Tehreek Insaf as saying that those guilty of killing Benazir were now getting the Taliban to issue statements against Imran.
 
Shah Mehmood on India
Quoted by Jinnah ex-foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi while discussing the MFN status remarked that India was in the habit of setting up the agenda for discussion in the light of its own interest. Ex-Foreign Secretary Akram Zaki said Pakistan had bent the knee to India on the dictation of America.
 
Pakistan is doomed after MFN
Daily Pakistan reported that political leaders were of the opinion that after the grant of MFN to India Pakistan was doomed. India had no friends in the world but America wanted it to become thanedar. Bharat will remain our enemy. They said that Pakistan's economy will be destroyed after the MFN. Giving MFN to India was also treacherous to Kashmiris. The lawyers were of the opinion that MFN could not be granted before getting India to give up Kashmir.
 
Pak 'kabaddi' manager thrashed
Reported in Jang while the players of kabaddi were engaged in international tournament in Amritsar India, the manager of the Pakistani team was caught hold of by the American kabaddi team and thrashed. Akhtar Mian was taken into a bathroom and given a proper hiding. After much hatha-pai he was successful finally to save his life by running away.
 
Mirza ate up Zardari's sugar mills!
Eeported in Mashriq the real cause of the split between Zulfiqar Mirza and Zardari was that Mirza had been given some sugar mills for safekeeping during Zardari's absence. After his return Zardari asked Mirza to return his personally set up sugar mills and some land, Mirza refused to do so and decided to raise the standard of revolt from. It was in hopes of getting his assets back that Zardari had appointed Mirza as home minister and his wife as speaker of National Assembly.
Posted by: || 12/11/2011 00:28 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Nuggets from the Urdu press
Cricketers weep on conviction
According to daily Pakistan three cricketers - Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Amir - started weeping when the jury at a London court found them guilty of cheating in the game for money. Asif was heard saying to Butt, 'Tum nay marwa diya' (You are to blame.)
 
Hafiz Saeed now after Indian Hyderabad
World famous man of God Hafiz Saeed told daily Pakistan that Kashmir will soon be liberated from the tyranny of India but he would not rest till he had made Hyderabad Deccan in the south of India join Pakistan. He said that the world saw the Soviet Union go to pieces and it will soon see America meet the same fate. And this will happen because of jihad.
 Something will most certainly happen because of Pakistani jihad, but it won't be that. Sorry.
Allah, give us just one leader!
World-famous scientist Dr AQ Khan was quoted by daily Pakistan as saying that Allah should grant only one great leader to Pakistan who would get the nation released from the slavery of America. He said nuclear power was not good for Pakistan because it would expensive; electricity should be made from hydel resources.
 
Hindu doctors killed in Shikarpur
Daily Mashriq reported that incidence of rape of Hindu women due to rise of religion in Sindh Hyderabad city staged protests on the murder of Hindu doctors in Shikarpur. The protests were conducted by nationalist Sindhis who don't regard Hindus as aliens but that the rising tide of extremist religion in Sindh is now negating their progressive influence.
 
India is not most favoured!
Daily Pakistan reported religious and other leaders as saying that instead of giving India the Most Favoured Nation status Pakistan should declare India as a terrorist state. The MFN declaration by Pakistan had betrayed the Kashmiri as well as the Pakistani nation. Indian Kashmiri leader Ali Gilani sent word that Pakistani leaders were taking decisions against their own people.
 
Nusrat Bhutto and Bhutto
Daily Mashriq quoted Abdur Razzaq Soomro as saying that Bhutto's wife Nusrat Bhutto was not responsible for getting Bhutto and Iskander Mirza together. Bhutto had married Amir Begum at the age of 13. When Nusrat Bhutto started visiting Larkana she wore a black burqa. Murtaza Bhutto was in Syria when General Asif Nawaz sent word to him that he should return and take part in elections. Benazir did not like this. Nusrat Bhutto met Bhutto at a bank where Sir Shahnawaz introduced them.
 
Pakistanis in Indian jails without trial
According to Daily Pakistan supreme court of India had taken notice of the fact that 250 Pakistanis were languishing in India jails without trial. He said most of them were being kept there without registration of any case of offence by them.
 
Imran owns land in Mian Channu!
Horrors!
Disclosed by Jinnah, Imran Khan owned 530 kanals of land in Mian Channu outside Lahore which is worth Rs 50 thousand only. According to his 2007 declaration he also owns 30 kanals in Islamabad (Tilkhar). According to Nawa-e-Waqt Imran Khan put a very low price on assets that were worth crores of rupees.
 
Doctors strike against lawyers
According to Mashriq doctors of Sheikh Zaid Hospital struck work against what they called wukla-gardi (lawyers' hooliganism) after an incident at the hospital had lawyers becoming violent. The protest asked commissioner Lahore to immediately drop the cases registered against the doctors by the wukla persons.
 
Imran will prefer China
Quoted in daily Nawa-e-Waqt Imran Khan said that if he came to power in the country he would most favour closer relations with China. He called Hilary Clinton 'Chachi Clinton' and pledged that he will rescue a scattered Pakistan. He also informed that he had bought land with Jemima's money but Jemima had 'forgiven' him the loan after divorce.
 
Eunuchs should have right to vote!
Reported in Mashriq the Supreme Court once again directed the ID card authority NADRA to register the heejra community as such on ID cards so that they can have a vote. Perhaps as response, the police in Kamalia in Punjab attacked a community of gay eunuchs on charges of immorality and thrashed them handsomely.
 Probably not "perhaps", then.
Allama Iqbal would have committed suicide!
Quoted in Jinnah wife of the son of Allama Iqbal Nasira Javid Iqbal stated in Lahore that had the philosopher of Pakistan Allama Iqbal been alive today he would have committed suicide out of shame. She said that clerics had opposed Pakistan, while after 1947, Pakistan had failed to educate its population.
 
Army not consulted on MFN
Quoted in daily Pakistan Sheikh Rashid said that Pak Army was not consulted before giving the go ahead to MFN status to India. He said that MFN would destroy Pakistan's economy and make Pakistan a slave to India in addition to America.
 
Karachi police stations without SHOs
Reported in Jinnah fully 15 police stations in Karachi were without top officers called SHOs. Police sources said that the delay was owed to the cleansing operation against sifarishi officers and that the new officers were being put through a clean process.
 
Tehreek Taliban condemns Imran
According to Express, Tehreek Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had declared that Imran Khan was a slave of America and Europe. The TTP said that the Taliban were under no illusion that Imran Khan was on their side. Imran Khan said in Jang that the statement from the Taliban was prompted by his opponents who were afraid of losing seats to him. Daily Pakistan reported Tehreek Insaf as saying that those guilty of killing Benazir were now getting the Taliban to issue statements against Imran.
 
Shah Mehmood on India
Quoted by Jinnah ex-foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi while discussing the MFN status remarked that India was in the habit of setting up the agenda for discussion in the light of its own interest. Ex-Foreign Secretary Akram Zaki said Pakistan had bent the knee to India on the dictation of America.
 
Pakistan is doomed after MFN
Daily Pakistan reported that political leaders were of the opinion that after the grant of MFN to India Pakistan was doomed. India had no friends in the world but America wanted it to become thanedar. Bharat will remain our enemy. They said that Pakistan's economy will be destroyed after the MFN. Giving MFN to India was also treacherous to Kashmiris. The lawyers were of the opinion that MFN could not be granted before getting India to give up Kashmir.
 
Pak 'kabaddi' manager thrashed
Reported in Jang while the players of kabaddi were engaged in international tournament in Amritsar India, the manager of the Pakistani team was caught hold of by the American kabaddi team and thrashed. Akhtar Mian was taken into a bathroom and given a proper hiding. After much hatha-pai he was successful finally to save his life by running away.
 
Mirza ate up Zardari's sugar mills!
Eeported in Mashriq the real cause of the split between Zulfiqar Mirza and Zardari was that Mirza had been given some sugar mills for safekeeping during Zardari's absence. After his return Zardari asked Mirza to return his personally set up sugar mills and some land, Mirza refused to do so and decided to raise the standard of revolt from. It was in hopes of getting his assets back that Zardari had appointed Mirza as home minister and his wife as speaker of National Assembly.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: || 12/11/2011 00:28 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Nawaz vows to unveil Benazir's killers
[Dawn] Pakistain Moslem League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief 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...
on Saturday vowed to unveil those behind the murder of Benazir Bhutto, DawnNews reported.

Talking to media, after laying floral wreath and offering prayers at the grave of Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP) chairperson Benazir Bhutto in Garhi Khuda Bux, Nawaz said that he had finished 'no-go-area' of Larkana today and the next to end was in Bloody Karachi.

He said government had failed to unveil the culprits behind the murder and vowed to bring the murders of his 'sister' to justice once he was in power.

He said no political statements would be issued here, otherwise his opponents would blame him for making political mileage.

"I have not used Sindh card by holding gathering in Larkana as I have only one card that is Pak card," he added.

The party chief also offered condolences with Ahmed Ali Mirani, elder brother of Major Mujahid Ali Mirani, who was killed during November 26 NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
strike 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.

Sharif frowned over Pakistain's airbases being used to attack its own people in northern areas. He said that he did not trust government-constituted commissions as the commission constituted to probe PNS Mehran base attack had done nothing so far.

Nawaz Sharif further said his party firmly support army's principled stance of declaring the NATO strike a deliberate act.

To a question whether President Zardari was suffering from political disease or real disease, he said 'some disease' and declined to offer more comments.

Earlier speaking at a public gathering in Larkana, the PML-N chief said "Sindh is changing, Pakistain is changing and Larkana is also changing."

Nawaz also said those who bravely ran away leaving behind the dead body of Benazir Bhutto had now become ministers.

He said he had promised Benazir to work with her for Pakistain's prosperity but the current government did not implement the Charter of Democracy.

He further said the government had not been able to help the people affected by the floods. "If Sindh can not help the flood victims then Punjab will come to their aid," he added.

The PML-N chief said his party did not know how to run away after fetching votes and would work for Pakistain's prosperity.

He said if the PML-N would come into the power it would abolish 'dakoo-raj' and would provide employment to the people.
Posted by: Fred || 12/11/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


US determined to recover 'essential' Pakistan ties
[Dawn] Describing the US-Pakistain relationship as "complicated but essential," the US State Department on Saturday has said it is working hard to get back to cooperative work with the South Asian country.

Following last month's deadly NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
strike which killed 24 Pak soldiers and led to a sharp decline in bilateral ties between both countries.

"This relationship is complicated, but it's also essential to both the United States and Pakistain. And we are working very hard to keep open channels and to get back to work together," Victoria Nuland, the State Department spokesperson, said.

On efforts towards repairing the relationship, the spokesperson referred to ongoing US-Pak contacts including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as America's Blond Eminence and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another John C. Calhoun ...
's call to Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ...
as well as the latest meeting between US Ambassador in Islamabad Cameron Muner and Pakistain's Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.

"We are continuing our intensive engagement, including through the recent meeting between Ambassador Munter and Foreign Minister Khar. Obviously, we are both trying to roll up our sleeves and get back to work together," said Nuland.

"With regard to what might emerge from any internal review, I would refer you to the Government of Pakistain on that. But we are obviously making very clear that we think we have hard work to do together, and we need to get back to it as quickly as we can."

In reaction to the November 26 attacks on two Pak border posts, which infuriated the Pak public and government, Islamabad shut down two routes for NATO supplies. The United States has also reportedly vacated the Shamsi airbase in Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
province, as asked by Pakistain in the aftermath of the NATO strikes.

In addition to seeking anti-militant cooperation along the porous Afghan border, the United States and its allies rely greatly on Pakistain for transportation of fuel and other supplies for the NATO mission in Afghanistan.

Despite recent efforts to ramp up supplies from Central Asian northern route into landlocked Afghanistan, a large percentage of supplies must still pass through Pak border routes to sustain the 10-year-old war.
Posted by: Fred || 12/11/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  OTOH FREEREPUBLIC > PAKISTAN SAYS US DRONES IN ITS AIR SPACE WILL BE SHOT DOWN.

Fotunately for the US-NATO, Moscow hasn't yet made any final decision on closing the land routes into Afghanistan.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/11/2011 5:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Here's another heapin' helpin' of hopey-changey:

9352886-pakistan-says-us-drones-in-its-air-space-will-be-shot-down
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 12/11/2011 9:46 Comments || Top||

#3  Uncle Phester, did you mean to post this?
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/11/2011 10:25 Comments || Top||

#4  #3 Uncle Phester, did you mean to post this?
Posted by: trailing wife 2011-12-11 10:25



Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....yup! Tx..... :-)
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 12/11/2011 14:19 Comments || Top||

#5  DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [CFR] WAR WID PAKISTAN TOP THREAT FOR US IN 2012 | [Daily Bhaskar] TOTAL BREAKDOWN: US-PAKISTAN MAY GO TO WAR IN 2012.

ARTIC > CFR Report indics possible catalyst(s) for US-PAK conflict may be [MilTerr-led = PAK-controlled/suppor] terror strikes or US-led Counter-Terror Operations agz Pakistan, PAK NATIONAL INSTABILITY DUE TO [post-Abbottabad style] CIVIL-MILITARY INTERNAL CHAOS.

HMMMM, HMMMM, INTERESTING, NOT US-VS-IRAN OR AFGHAN [India]-VS-PAK[China]???

* PAKISTAN DEFENCE FORUM > [People.co.uk] ATTACK ON PAKISTAN COULD SPARK RIOTS IN BRITAIN - US PREPARED TO SEND ARMY INTO PAKISTAN, 15 SENSITIVE SITES [nuclear] TARGETTED.

versus

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > PAKISTAN'S NATO BLOCKAGE [supplies = logistcs] ENTERS THIRD WEEK.

* SAME > [Gilani] PAKISTAN BLOCKAGE OF NATO CONVOYS "MAY LAST WEEKS".

* SAME > PAKISTAN: [Afghan-Pak]AFGHAN TRANSIT TRADE TREATY BEING USED TO BYPASS NATO SUPPLY SUSPENSION | [Pakistani Defence Forum] PAKISTAN TO REVISE [treaty]TERMS FOR AFGHAN TRANSIT TRADE.

Transit Trade Treaty is being Weirdly + Maliciously abused as agz Pakistan's sovereign interests in wake of deadly NATO airstrike agz Pak troops.

* SAME > NATO FORCES MAY FEEL FUEL PINCH EVEN AFTER [iff-n-when] SUPPLIES RESUME.

* SAME > [old] NATO SUPPLIES BLOCKADE CONTINUES ON 12TH DAY.

* SAME > NEW RECORD OF LONGEST BLOCKADE OF NATO SUPPLIES.

Milyuhns + Dilyuhns + Rilyuhns [000's] of Fuel Tankers + Containers just sitting around Pakistan.

WASTING AWAY IN NOT-A-MARGARITA PAKI-VILLE???

* TOPIX > US, NATO FUEL COSTS RISE EXORBITANTLY DUE TO PAK BLOCKADE.

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > BALOCHISTAN: A "HUMAN RIGHTS" FREE ZONE?

Thats a'mighty almost-Iranian of 'em???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/11/2011 21:54 Comments || Top||


Maulvi Faqir Mohammad Claims Peace Talks Going On With Pakistan
[VOA News] A big shot of the Pak Taliban says his group has opened peace talks with the government.

The Pak Taliban's Deputy Commander Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, while speaking to local news hounds by telephone, revealed that his group is negotiating a peace deal with the government and that the talks are progressing well.

Giving further details, the cut-thoat leader says he believes any peace deal emerging from the dialogue could be used as a "role model" for the rest of insurgency-hit districts in northwestern Pakistain, most of which are on the border with Afghanistan.

The Taliban capo says the government has also released scores of his fighters as a goodwill gesture and in return Death Eaters have halted their attacks.

No direct confirmation

Without directly confirming reports of alleged peace talks with cut-thoats, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ...
told a local TV station holding such talks is part of his government's policy, and it is a continuing process.

"First is dialogue, the other is development and the third is deterrence. That [peace talks] is a part of our policy," he said.

The Pak prime minister did not give further details.

Reports of talks between the government and Talibs have been carried by local and foreign media outlets recently, but both sides had denied them. At the time, Pak officials had stated that there would be no talks unless Death Eaters lay down their arms.

Pakistain in the past has struck peace deals with Taliban faceless myrmidons but they did not last long and Death Eaters used the lull in fighting to regroup.

The Pak Taliban has carried out hundreds of attacks prompting the government to launch major military offensives to root out their bases.

Political and public demands for engaging in peace talks with Death Eaters have also intensified in Pakistain.

A government-sponsored national conference of Pakistain's political and military leaders in September ended with a resolution to "give peace a chance" with cut-thoats.

While U.S officials are pushing for talks to end the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, they are unlikely to support Pakistain's peace initiatives with local Taliban forces because of their close association with al-Qaeda-led cut-thoats.

Ties with NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
, U.S. still problematic

Reports of peace talks come amid Islamabad's growing tensions with Washington following last month's NATO Arclight airstrikes on Pak border posts that killed 24 soldiers.

Pakistain condemned the "unprovoked" attack and responded by closing border crossings used by NATO to supply its forces in Afghanistan. It also told Washington to vacate an airbase in southwestern Pakistain by December 11 and has vowed to review anti-terror cooperation with international forces.

Prime Minister Gilani in his Saturday remarks reiterated that, on his instructions, politicians are preparing recommendations for future relationship with the United States.

"We want to have maintained excellent relations with the United States but [based] on mutual respect and mutual interest," he said.

The United States insists the Arclight airstrikes on Pak border posts were not intentional. U.S. officials say an investigation into what it calls a "terrible tragedy" is expected to be concluded later this month.
Posted by: Fred || 12/11/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  "ARAB/MUSLIM SPRING" IN PAKISTAN = Al-Qaeda + Taliban, etal. MilTerrs get legitimate = electoral control of both the Pak Govt-State + espec Pak's nuclear arsenal.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/11/2011 21:25 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Civilian Deaths Are Why US Can't Stay in Iraq
Just like Afghanistan. Too many fluffy ducks and baby bunnies.
HADITHA, IRAQ -In the accounting of what was won and lost in America's Iraq war, this sleepy farming town deep in the western desert will rank as a place where almost everything was lost.
The WaPo puts eight years of war into an afternoon. And half-a-dozen comments.
It was here, on Nov. 19, 2005, that a group of Marines went on a shooting spree in which 24 Iraqi civilians were killed. Their patrol had been hit by a roadside bomb and one of their comrades was dead. They ordered five men out of a taxi and gunned them down. Then they went into three nearby homes and shot 19 people, including 11 women and children.

On those facts, U.S. and Iraqi accounts agree. On just about everything else -- why it happened, whether it was justified and how it was resolved -- they do not.
Well into the article, you find out it has not yet been resolved. Charges were dropped for six, a seventh was acquitted, and the eighth has yet to stand trial. I'm sure that looks like immunity to everyone except those sitting in the brig.
And in those dueling perceptions, over the killings in Haditha and others nationwide, lay the undoing of the U.S. military's hopes of maintaining a long-term presence here. When it came to deciding the future of American troops in Iraq, the irreconcilable difference that stood in the way of an agreement was a demand by Iraqi politicians for an end to the grant of immunity that has protected on-duty U.S. soldiers from Iraqi courts.
The soldiers who killed Iraqi civilians did not hide behind immunity, they were prosecuted by US forces. Some went to prison.
"The image of the American soldier is as a killer, not a defender. And how can you give a killer immunity?" said Sami al-Askari, a lawmaker who is also a close aide to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
So, Sami, we should have left before the Sunni death squads came to your house? How many US troops are dead because they hesitated to shoot?
So the troops are going home this month, leaving a question mark over what had been one of the chief goals of the war -- to nurture a strategic ally in the heart of the Middle East.
All is lost. WaPo front-page "news".

An e-mail address, for your reference: ombudsman@washpost.com
Posted by: Bobby || 12/11/2011 11:54 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Washington Post is only exceeded by the NYTs. Look for lots of civilian deaths in Iraq once the U.S. Forces are gone.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/11/2011 15:13 Comments || Top||

#2  "What can I use to relieve the soreness of so much handwringing?"
"Dove!"
"Dishwashing liquid?"
"You're soaking in it!"
Posted by: Perfesser || 12/11/2011 17:00 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas in Gaza says it’s learning from Arab Spring
Bans on women smoking water pipes in public and male coiffeurs styling women’s hair are no longer being strictly enforced in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, apparent signs of greater tolerance as the Islamic militant group acknowledges mistakes in seeking to impose a religious lifestyle.

In explaining the change, several senior members said Hamas has matured in five years in power and learned lessons from the Arab Spring. Islamic groups that have scored election victories in the wake of pro-democracy uprisings in the region now find themselves trying to allay fears they seek Islamic rule.

Since seizing Gaza, Hamas had largely silenced opponents and tried to impose stricter religious rules on an already conservative society. Modesty squads asked young couples seen in public to show proof of marriage, told beachgoers to put on more clothes and ordered shopowners to cover up mannequins. High school girls came under pressure from teachers to wear headscarves.

In recent months, there’s been a change in atmosphere, say rights activists and even political rivals of Hamas.

“Things are freer than before,” said Nasser Radwan, whose family restaurant is one of the places where women again come to smoke water pipes.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said “some mistakes were made” under Hamas rule, though he blamed individual security commanders and overzealous activists, not the government, for heavy-handed tactics.

“They don’t represent the ideology and policy of the Hamas movement,” Barhoum said. “Our policy is that we are not going to dictate anything to anyone.”

Huda Naim, a Hamas legislator, said the movement took its cues from the pro-democracy revolts sweeping the Arab world, but also has learned it needs to be more tolerant of others.
Posted by: tipper || 12/11/2011 17:57 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Palestinians dismayed by Gingrich remarks
[Al Ahram] A slew of Paleostinian officials reacted with dismay Saturday to Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich's statement that the Paleostinians are an "invented" people.

The Jewish Channel, a US cable TV network, released excerpts of the interview on Friday in which the former House speaker said Paleostinians were not a people because they never had a state and because they were part of the Ottoman Empire before the British mandate and Israel's creation.

"Remember, there was no Paleostine as a state -- (it was) part of the Ottoman Empire. I think we have an invented Paleostinian people who are in fact Arabs and historically part of the Arab community and they had the chance to go many places," Gingrich said, according to a video excerpt posted online.

The Paleostinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad
...Fayyad's political agenda holds that neither violence nor peaceful negotiations have brought the Paleostinians any closer to an independent state. The alternative to both, violent negotiations, doesn't seem to be working too well, either...
, demanded Gingrich "review history."

"From the beginning, our people have been determined to stay on their land," Fayyad said in comments carried by the Paleostinian news agency Wafa. "This, certainly, is denying historical truths."

Gingrich's statements struck at the heart of Paleostinian sensitivities about the righteousness of their national struggle.

Paleostinian politician Hanan Ashrawi said Gingrich had "lost touch with reality." She said his statements were "a cheap way to win (the) pro-Israel vote."

A front man for the Death Eater Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, rulers of the Paleostinian Gazoo Strip called Gingrich's statements "shameful and disgraceful."

"These statements ... show genuine hostility toward Paleostinians," said front man Fawzi Barhoum.

Israeli spokespeople were not immediately available for comment on the Jewish Sabbath.
Posted by: Fred || 12/11/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good for Newt!
GOP debate: Gingrich doubles down on 'historically true' Palestinian comments

I'd vote for him if he had said as president he would no longer finance those scum suckers who cheer the deaths of Americans. Let them starve or walk to Egypt.
Posted by: Slatle Bumble5851 || 12/11/2011 1:13 Comments || Top||


Hamas joins Global Muslim Brotherhood
Joins?
Political move ahead of PA elections? A senior Hamas source told the London-based Arabic-language al-Hayat newspaper on Saturday that the Palestinian organization has joined the global movement of the Muslim Brotherhood.

According to the source, the move took place as early as two months ago. The expression "a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood -- Palestine" has been added to Hamas' official name -- "The Islamic Resistance Movement."

The source added that the move had nothing to do with recent changes in the Middle East following the Arab Spring.

"Following thorough discussions, which lasted more than a year and a half, we saw the need to take this step as the movement is growing and there was a need to lead it to independence instead of being dependent on the Muslim Brotherhood organization in Jordan.
So really, they just transferred to the Southwest Conference, to play with the big boys.
"Hamas no longer belongs to any organization, but has become completely independent," he said, adding that the group was now part of the global Muslim Brotherhood organization and was officially represented there.

Despite its official admission into the global organization, the source noted that Hamas would continue carrying the flag of armed resistance. "We'll continue to be different due to the presence of the Israeli occupation in Palestine, and the problem will remain as long as there are occupation forces," he said.

He explained that the movement's treaty says Hamas is the jihadi wing of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Palestine, and that joining the global organization won't solve this dilemma.

The newspaper reported Friday that Arab and Western elements advised Hamas to rebuild the Muslim Brotherhood wing in Palestine in order to attain international recognition following the Muslim Brotherhood's growth in Arab countries as a result of the Arab Spring. Some of the movement's leaders objected, however, claiming that turning the movement from a resistance organization into a political group would weaken it.

One of the proposals looked into was to establish a new political movement called "Freedom and Justice", similar to the Egyptian party affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, which won the majority of votes in the first round of the Egyptian elections, in preparation of the elections expected to take place in the West Bank and Gaza next year once the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas is completed.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/11/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  IIRC FREEREPUBLIC > HAMAS BUILDS/SETS UP ROCKET PRODUCTION LINE IN SINAI, aka sovereign Egypt.

Yoohoo, AQ IN GAZA + TRANSJORDAN, methinks its your move next???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/11/2011 5:09 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran refuses to hand back US drone
Iran's Revolutionary Guard has said it will not return a US surveillance drone captured by its armed forces.

Gen. Hossein Salami, deputy head of the Guard, said in remarks broadcast on state television that the violation of Iran's airspace by the US drone was a "hostile act" and warned of a "bigger" response. He did not elaborate on what Tehran might do.

"No one returns the symbol of aggression to the party that sought secret and vital intelligence related to the national security of a country," Salami said.

Iranian television broadcast video Thursday of Iranian military officials inspecting what it identified as the RQ-170 Sentinel drone.

Iranian state media have said the unmanned spy aircraft was detected over the eastern town of Kashmar, some 140 miles from the border with Afghanistan. US officials have acknowledged losing the drone.

Salami called its capture a victory for Iran and a defeat for the US in a complicated intelligence and technological battle.
Posted by: tipper || 12/11/2011 09:08 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm curious - did the US Government actually have the balls to ask Iran to return our drone?

It would seem to be a request that was futile beyond belief - but I would still give somebody credit for having the temerity to ask for its return.
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 12/11/2011 11:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Panetta again, maybe? :-)
Posted by: gorb || 12/11/2011 12:10 Comments || Top||

#3  it'll fetch a much higher price from the Chi-Comms
Posted by: Squinty Grundy8265 || 12/11/2011 13:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Has The One (TM) tried going to "Pretty Please Defcon 2"?
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 12/11/2011 14:23 Comments || Top||

#5  "General Salami"? Srzly? The X-rated quid pro quo seems kind of obvious.
Posted by: RandomJD || 12/11/2011 17:27 Comments || Top||

#6  Ahhh, Head Drone Obumble stumbling back from his latest rounds of golf and fundraising to try to recover little brother drone from "the bad men".

Now I get it .......
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 12/11/2011 19:13 Comments || Top||


Facebook shuts down Syrian state TV page
Facebook has closed the Syrian state TV page after online condemnation of the station escalated and campaigns were started. Facebook has not commented on the closing of the page.

Multiple campaigns grew online calling for the boycott of the state TV channel for airing "lies against the uprising" that started 8 month ago in Syria. The TV station accuses militants and terrorists of being behind the mass protests.

Many activists and observers have complained to Facebook about the page over the past few months and said the page should be closed for "misleading people as part of the general policies of the Syrian official media and the way it portrays the revolution."

Syria's official SANA news called the decision "a step that exposes the western fraudulent allegations over freedom of people and freedom of media and expression," adding that this comes as part of the "campaign to silence the official Syrian media from reaching the world because it contradicts with its own purposes and agendas."
Posted by: ryuge || 12/11/2011 07:54 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


West warns Syria against storming rebel city
BEIRUT: France called on world powers to “save the Syrian people” on Saturday as it joined the United States and Britain in raising an alarm that President Bashar Assad’s forces may be about to storm the rebel stronghold of Homs.

In Damascus, the government denied any crackdown, while accusing its opponents of taking up arms and warning the rebels’ supporters in the West that Syria could count on Russia, China and others to oppose any foreign intervention in its affairs.

In Homs, a pro-democracy activist said there was no clear sign of a troop build-up other campaigners had reported around the city on Friday. Opposition groups have called for businesses and labor not to work on Sunday, the first day of the working week in Syria, in what they have called a “Strike for Dignity.”

“France is extremely concerned about information of a massive military operation being prepared by Syrian security authorities against the city of Homs,” French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said, echoing concerns raised in Washington, London and neighboring Turkey.

“France warns the Syrian government and will hold the Syrian authorities responsible for any action against the population. The entire international community must mobilize itself to save the Syrian people,” Valero added in a statement.

On Friday, a US State Department spokeswoman said: “It is extremely concerning that in places like Homs we have huge number of reports that they are preparing something large-scale. They are not going to be able to hide who’s responsible if there is a major assault on the weekend.”

Syria rejected that characterization of events: “There is no policy of crackdown,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdesi told Reuters in an e-mail. “The Syrian forces are there to protect civilians and maintain law and order that is breached by those who are carrying arms against the State.

“The story of peacefulness of the protest is no longer a valid story in some places,” he said. “Syria needs evolution and not armed confrontation.”

The opposition Syrian National Council said in a statement about Homs on Friday: “News reports, videos and information from activists indicate that the regime is preparing to commit a massacre in the city to extinguish the flame of the revolution and ‘discipline’ the rest of Syria’s cities.”

However, some activists questioned whether the SNC statement was intended principally to galvanize international action.

One campaigner in Homs, a city of 1.5 million, saw little sign of an imminent offensive on Saturday: “I have been hearing this since yesterday. I did a tour around the city and I did not see anything unusual. It’s the same checkpoints and the same number of soldiers.”
Posted by: Steve White || 12/11/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  See also WAFF > {Defence.net.gr = title paraph] SYRIA'S TEST-LAUNCH OF BALLISTIC MISSLE [SCUD-C] A WARNING TO TURKEY?

Missle may had been a DPRK-modified version of Syria's original SCUD-C, wid DPRK-improved range out to 700-kms capable of striking the middle = heartland of Turkey, MISSLE IS ALSO BIOWAR + CHEMWAR-CAPABLE [warheads].

INTERESTING > WAFF BLOGGER = opined that many Syrians would prefer to be part or allied to Turkey, not Iran???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/11/2011 21:14 Comments || Top||

#2  JM-That certainly sounds plausible considering all the recent activity along the Syrian-Turkish border. Things are becoming unhinged in unexpected ways.
Posted by: Grease Jith3343 || 12/11/2011 22:56 Comments || Top||


'Iran has means to decrypt drone data'
[Iran Press TV] A senior Iranian politician says Iran owns the "ultra-advanced technology" which enables it to decode the captured US drone's data and documents.

Member of the Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Seyyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini said on Saturday that the Americans are seriously concerned about the documents the drone was carrying, Fars News Agency reported.

"However,
there's more than one way to skin a cat...
they should know that the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran will 'decode' the American drone's documents and data with the 'ultra-advanced technology' that it has," he added.

The politician said decoding the US drone's data will provide Iran's armed forces with very important information.

On Sunday December 4, the Iranian Army's electronic warfare unit downed, with minimum damage, the US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft which was flying over the Iranian city of Kashmar, some 140 miles (225km) from the Afghan border. The RQU-170 crossed into Iran's airspace over the border with neighboring Afghanistan earlier this week.

Naqavi further said the unmanned aerial vehicles operate via a remote navigation system and "therefore, if a country has the technology to remotely control the drones, it can put spy drones on any course it wants."

The politician stated that RQ-170 spy drones have a complicated mechanism and ultra-advanced electronic technology and are, in fact, the symbol of superior US technology.

"When such a drone with all this technology...is hunted by the armed forces of the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran, it proves Iran's high [level of] defense technology in defending its airspace," he said.

Iran has announced that it intends to carry out reverse engineering on the captured RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft, which is similar in design to a US Air Force B-2 stealth bomber.

The RQ-170 is an unmanned stealth aircraft designed and developed by the Lockheed Martin Company.
Posted by: Fred || 12/11/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  if there is encrypted data, the cryptosystem was designed by the CSS side of NSA, so Iran is officially blowing smoke at this point.
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/11/2011 1:48 Comments || Top||

#2  They may be telling the truth, especially now that Obummer has given them one.
Posted by: gorb || 12/11/2011 2:19 Comments || Top||

#3  If they're blowing smoke then it's impressive smoke. After all, they DO have the drone but couldn't possibly have the means to capture it and take control of it in flight, right?

At the start of WWII the Japanese pilots were all believed to be short-sighted and to wear glasses. Their airplanes were all thought to be obsolete biplanes. Those beliefs were soon shattered.

Big mistake to underestimate a potential enemy even in the smallest detail.
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 12/11/2011 2:20 Comments || Top||

#4  I'd be looking more for a spy at the base that flew it...
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/11/2011 4:51 Comments || Top||

#5  'Iran has means to decrypt drone data'

Yea, they're called Dr Ivanov & Dr Chen.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/11/2011 6:52 Comments || Top||

#6  What happened to the questioning whether the drone was real?
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/11/2011 9:07 Comments || Top||

#7  Hey Trailing Wife, I think the US gov admitted it lost the drone last week although I wonder why they have the bottom of it covered up so tightly.

Another question I have is what ever happened to spy satellites and what can drones do that they cannot other then move locations quicker.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 12/11/2011 9:43 Comments || Top||

#8  Y.S.:"Another question I have is what ever happened to spy satellites and what can drones do that they cannot other then move locations quicker."
Not only can they move to a given location quicker than satellites, but they are: 1) not predictable in their travel (orbits) and 2)can loiter over any given area, whereas sats are constantly moving.
Downside is, they are move vunerable to being shot down/lost/given to the bad guys.
Too bad our Waffler-in-Chief has a teminal case of testicular atrophy in decision making (as in sending in the means to destroy it, or get it back)......
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 12/11/2011 10:19 Comments || Top||

#9  Canuckistan, you (and a few others) obvious don't know jack about cryptography. Mathematically speaking, NP Hard is NP Hard, and there's no way around it. Basically the Iranians are saying they have found a magic decoder that exceeded even the best the Soviet Union and its successors have ever fielded. As to the "shoot down", that's pretty obvious is was a control failure, not a cryptographic one. Right now, even NSA likely doesn't have a way of breaking some open source systems that use long enough keys and proper key management. Things like Diffie Helman public key systems of 2048 bits or better for key exchange, then sufficiently large stream cypher keys of sufficient bitsize, really not all that large. Such systems basically become the functional and mathematical equivalent of one-time-pads (which are unbreakable except by brute force).

To put it into simple language: breaking a modern 1st world cryptosystem with the available electronics and cryptanalysis tools now available would take more time than is left in the life of the universe.

That's why you go after the humans, not the gear (which the Israelis, KGB, GRU and its successors did - steal the data before its encoded or after its decoded).
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/11/2011 17:25 Comments || Top||

#10  For a starting point about NP-Hard and computational problems, see this link as NIST.gov
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/11/2011 17:27 Comments || Top||

#11  Even the most secure pipe leaks at both ends.

And if the drone has the key stored in its software or hardware? Hopefully the keys are unique for each drone.
Posted by: gorb || 12/11/2011 17:30 Comments || Top||

#12  Let me simplify this a bit more: to be able to break the NSA/CSS cryptosystems, the Iranians would have to have done the equivalent of proving a change to the fundamental nature of mathematics and computability - I'm taking earth shattering stuff in terms of the history of mathematics, the equivalent of Einstein and Newton rolled into one.
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/11/2011 17:32 Comments || Top||

#13  Gorb the keys are not in hardware. Think about this: DirecTV has been delivering cryptocards for nearly 2 decades, and streaming very very rewarding perfect digital copies of movies for nearly 2 decades. The best Chinese Irish and European hackers have been going after this for the same amount of time. Thee newest cards are made so that they cannot be seen except with scanning elecontr microscopes, and if an SEM is used, the circuit will fuse due to parts of the matrix being tuned to absorb and destroy the circuit traces in the chip. Adi Shamir (the "S" or RSA fame) designed their cryptosystem.

And that's 2 decades old, commercial system. Do you really think that for such a sensitive piece of gear the NSA/CSS would allow anything even less? No, it would be considerably better.

The strength is in the algorithm, not in the chips, protected by the fundamental laws of mathematics. They biggest vulnerability of these systems is simply denial of service (jamming), not decryption. The next biggest vulnerability is the "rubber hose" (beat the code clerk with a rubber hose until he gives you the keys).

This isn't about racist stereotyping - its fundamental number theory, basic mathematical truths that are, for all practical purposes, immutable.
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/11/2011 17:39 Comments || Top||

#14  Bottom line is, mathematically speaking, the Iranians are claiming the equivalent of having invalidated Einstein's E=MC^2 and claim they can now prevent nuclear fission and fusion. Its rubbish, absent a glaring weakness in the electronics.
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/11/2011 17:42 Comments || Top||

#15  What happened to the questioning whether the drone was real?

What would be the point of sending up a fake (ruse) drone and landing it in Iran?
Posted by: Durnham Freebody || 12/11/2011 17:47 Comments || Top||

#16  What would be the point of sending up a fake (ruse) drone and landing it in Iran?

When you put it that way, it does sound kind of silly, Durnham. The discussions I saw said the thing the Iranians were showing looked like a kit model rather than the real thing. I'm honestly not qualified to judge such things, so I have to trust those who are.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/11/2011 18:49 Comments || Top||

#17  Most codes are cracked through the content.

I'd say the vulnerability of a drone is that it is constantly transmitting its location, height, etc.

Know where it is, and you can potentially crack the encryption.
Posted by: phil_b || 12/11/2011 19:05 Comments || Top||

#18  What would be the point of sending up a fake (ruse) drone and landing it in Iran?

Stuxnet 2.0?
Posted by: manversgwtw || 12/11/2011 19:29 Comments || Top||

#19  Sounds like the algorithm isn't as important as the key. Good enough for me. Thanks, OS. :-)
Posted by: gorb || 12/11/2011 20:55 Comments || Top||

#20  Phil_b - Content doesn't matter (That's called a "chosen plaintext" attack, and any cryptosystem worth its salt can resist that well known attack method). You're still thinking in terms of "classical cryptanalysis", which is something I learned a long time ago, but which is also obsolete in this age of strong crypto, starting with Public Key crypto and Diffie Hellman, and many strong block and chain cypher systems that are now out there in the public domain. We are not talking 2 3 or 6 times hard - we are talking multiple orders of magnitude jumps in difficulty with each new algorithm and computing power. And remember it far less computationally intensive (by order of magnitude) to encrypt than it is to decrypt.

To quote cruptology historian David Khan: Many are the cryptosystems offered by the hundreds of commercial vendors today that cannot be broken by any known methods of cryptanalysis. Indeed, in such systems even a chosen plaintext attack, in which a selected plaintext is matched against its ciphertext, cannot yield the key that unlock[s] other messages.

When building a cryptosystem, a basic starting point normally assumes that, for the purposes of analysis, the general algorithm is known; this is Kerckhoffs' principle of "the enemy knows the system". They also assume that the enemy will have full acess to large amounts of cyphertext (encrypted data), and may even have some reasonble inference that the cyphertext includes known sequences (For example, a NATO date-time group as part of an encrypted message header).

I can hand you the content, the encryption engine and algorithm to a modern cryptosystem, and absent the keys you will not be able to decrypt the encrypted data. And you may even have the keys themselves stored on that device - but they would be time sensitive, and exchanged via public key cryptography. That would mean that even having the public key that encrypted the data will do you no good in decrypting it - only the private key at the other end can decrypt it) you will NOT be able to break it. Period. Its the math. Until and unless we have a huge breakthrough in factoring integers, or a mathematical change in the foundation of fundamental number theory, modern cryptographic systems are, simply put, unbreakable.

That's why the US went over to DF, traffic analysis and HUMINT -- SIGINT is not the panacea it was back when the Navy broke the purple code. We can likely no longer read the bad guys mail (or email in this case).

And in this specific case the Iranians are flat out lying about their ability to extract encrypted data and decrypt it.
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/11/2011 23:08 Comments || Top||

#21  More Drone news ...

* INDIAN DEFENCE FORUM > IRAN'S BOASTS OVER DOWNED DRONE REVEAL INCONSISTENCIES, in both Iranian + US accounts of the particular incident espec how it came to be in Iran's physical possession.

* DEFENCE FORUM INDIA [Related] > [AFP] IRAN'S EMPTY US DRONE BOASTS: VARIOUS INCONSISTENCIES HAVE APPEARED IN IRANIAN + US ACCOUNTS OF THE US DRONE THAT WAS "SHOT DOWN" BY IRAN.

* SAME > [Interfax.RU = translation] RUSSIA + CHINA HAVE ASKED IRAN FOR ACCESS TO DOWNED US DRONES.

* RUSSIA TODAY > [Video] IRAN SHOWS INTERCEPTED DRONE UNSCATHED.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/11/2011 23:36 Comments || Top||


Hezbollah: 'US Lebanon embassy recruiting spies'
[Iran Press TV] Hezbullies says the United States has been using its Leb embassy as a venue to recruit informants to spy on the Lebanese resistance movement.

A report aired on al-Manar TV channel on Saturday said the CIA had mandated a team of 10 officers, including women, with recruiting Lebanese spies to gather information on Hezbullies, Xinhua reported.

The spies were to inform the officers at the US embassy in Awkar, north of Beirut, on Hezbullies officials and fighters and provide the addresses of the movement's arms depots.

Hezbullies Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem
... the Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies...
said that the revelation was "only a small fraction" of data at hand on Washington's spy activities in Leb.

The officers, registered as diplomats at the US embassy, had served as CIA agents in Leb for three years.

The CIA officers were active in recruiting agents from various posts including government employees, security and military personnel, religious, banking and academic figures, the report said.

The recruitment of agents reportedly took place inside the US embassy premises while meetings were held in fast-food restaurants and coffee shops.

In November, US officials admitted that a group of CIA informants in Leb had been captured by Hezbullies, which served a serious blow on Washington's spying operations in the country.
Posted by: Fred || 12/11/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Arab League Ministerial Meeting on Syria Postponed
[An Nahar] An 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...
ministerial meeting slated for Saturday to mull a response to Syria which wants the bloc to lift sanctions in return for allowing in observers to monitor its deadly unrest was postponed.

Arab League chief Nabi al-Arabi suggested convening the meeting in mid-December at the bloc's Cairo headquarters, a diplomat said.

The meeting was due to be held on Saturday in Qatar to discuss the next move concerning the crackdown on protesters in Syria.

Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...
, which blames "armed terrorist gangs" for the violence, meanwhile appealed to the international community to help it find an "honorable exit" to the crisis and stem the flow of weapons into Syria.

"We are appealing to the outside world and our brothers in the Arab world to help Syria (prevent the) channeling (of) weapons" into the country, foreign ministry front man Jihad Makdisi said on Friday, speaking in English.

"If we all work together we can find an honorable exit to the crisis."

The bloodshed, however, continues to claim more lives, with activists reporting more than 50 deaths in less than 48 hours.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said the monitors would be allowed to enter the country under certain conditions, according to the text of a letter to Arabi published by Syrian newspapers.

If Syria observers into the country all the Arab bloc's sanctions would become "null and void", the letter said.

Assad said he would not be swayed by pressure, the official SANA news agency reported on Thursday.

"Syria is strong, thanks to its people and the support of friends," he told a delegation of Lebanese Druze holy mans in Damascus.

Posted by: Fred || 12/11/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



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