Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Ava Gardner aka Victoria Jones in "Bhowani Junction (1956)" aka Moira Davidson in "On the Beach (1959)" aka Honey Bear Kelly in "Mogambo (1953) (AW for BA" aka Maxine Faulk in "The Night of the Iguana (1964)" aka Kitty Collins in "The Killers (1946)" aka Remy in "Earthquake (1974)" aka Lady Brett Ashley in "The Sun Also Rises (1957)" aka Baroness Natalie Ivanoff in "55 Days at Peking (1963)" aka Maria Vargas in "The Barefoot Contessa (1954)" aka Cynthia Green in "The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952)" aka Julie LaVerne in "Show Boat (1951)" (Died in 1990 at age 67)
Estella Warren aka Daena in "Planet of the Apes (2001)" aka Charlene in "The Cooler (2003)" aka Jessie in "Kangaroo Jack (2003)" aka Sophia Simone in "Driven (2001)" aka Kimberly Jansen in "I Accuse (2003)" aka Emily Keats in "Pursued (2004)" aka Jeana in "Her Minor Thing (2005)" aka Jesse Lennox in "Taphephobia (2006)" aka Monika in "Transparency (2010)" aka Lindsay in "See You in September (2010)" (age 33)
#4
And a Happy Hanukkah to you, tw. (I think it's still going on.)
Merry-merry and Happy-happy to all Rantburgers!
Posted by: Barbara ||
12/24/2011 13:21 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Thank you, Barbara. The last day of Hanukkah is the 28th, I believe. We recently had a leap year, which means an extra month, so it's late this year -- it's been as early as Thaksgiving weekend. ;-)
#6
Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish 'Burgers and Merry Christmas Eve to our Christian Brethren
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/24/2011 16:49 Comments ||
Top||
#7
I have never been to a Rantburg get-together and I have never met any of you personally. However, over the years I have come to feel like I know many of you. I appreciate you, your comments and the site very much.
SO...A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU. I SINCERELY WISH THE BEST TO YOU ALL IN THE COMING YEAR.
[Pak Daily Times] US and Taliban negotiators reached a tentative deal last month to transfer five Afghans from Guantanamo to Qatar, the Washington Post said on Friday, but it was rejected by 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...
The deal called for the prisoners to be sent to house arrest in Qatar, where the Taliban planned to open an office, and additional actions by both sides, according to US and European officials who would discuss the sensitive negotiations only on the condition of anonymity. Until now, no Guantanamo detainees have left the prison as bargaining chips in a larger deal, writes Karen DeYoung.
It was the closest that the parties have come to genuine peace negotiations after nearly a year of talks, officials said. They said the agreement ultimately collapsed after Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Karzai balked at its terms.
"Right now, things have stopped," said a senior B.O. regime official. "Everybody is taking a deep breath." Contacts with Taliban are expected to be reestablished early in the new year.
The negotiations reflect a marked change over the past year in what the administration believes is both acceptable and achievable in Afghanistan, apart from the core objective of eliminating al Qaeda and the possibility that it could reestablish an Afghan presence.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Six suspected Al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... Islamic fascistihave been placed in durance vile amid reports that the terrorist group planned to carry out attacks in Nairobi and Mombasa over the festive period.
Police commissioner Mathew Iteere said the suspects placed in durance vile on separate days this week belong to a local cell of the group with links to the global Al-Qaeda terror network.
"We've addressed threats in Mombasa and Nairobi. We have placed in durance vile six suspects, two in Mombasa and the others here (Nairobi). We are on high alert and we are going to increase police visibility in public places in those areas," he said.
The local cell of Al-Shabaab operates from Majengo area in Nairobi, according to a past confidential security brief seen by the Nation.
The police chief said the suspects had been interrogated and that his officers were on the look out for others.
"We are talking to them and we cannot allow them to go on with their mission. Every security officer is on the lookout and all such characters will be placed in durance vile," Mr Iteere said.
Security officials privy to police operations told the Nation that the six had on several occasions travelled to Somalia and undergone military training in Al-Shabaab camps in recent years.
The decision to arrest the suspects is understood to have been made after a report prepared by intelligence officers who had been tracking their movements warned the group was planning deadly attacks in Kenya.
The four suspects placed in durance vile in Nairobi are reported to have met regularly in various places in the past week.
The intelligence warned that their meetings pointed to a "dangerous mission on track."
Before the arrests, intelligence officers had also tracked one of the suspects to a busy street at the city centre and believed he was carrying out surveillance for the Al-Shabaab.
The sources told the Nation that the suspect had been seen walking up and down the street on three different days but did not enter any premises.
At one time, he is said to have taken rest at a nearby restaurant but left several minutes later without having ordered a meal or a drink.
Reports of the planned attacks come at a time when the police are concerned that the level of security alertness that had been exhibited by the general public in October had since slackened.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
[Pak Daily Times] A gunman on Friday killed three aid workers including two World Food Programme employees in central Somalia, a WFP official said.
"An individual opened fire killing outright one WFP staff member and a man working for a cooperating partner. A second WFP staff member was shot and later died as a result of his injuries," WFP said in a statement. Local residents identified all three as Somalis.
The attack took place near the settlement of Mataban, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Ethiopian border in central Somalia's Hiran region, a frontline area between Shahab and rival militia.
"The individual then gave himself up and is currently in the custody of the local authorities," WFP said. WFP has temporarily suspended its operations in the area, where it has been working since 2009.
The motive of the attack was not immediately clear, but the area is awash with rival militia groups and close to areas controlled by the Al-Qaeda linked Shahab. The Shahab Death Eaters control large parts of central and southern Somalia but are facing increasing pressure from government forces and regional armies.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
[An Nahar] Thousands gathered peacefully in Cairo's Tahrir Square Friday to denounce the ruling military after soldiers were filmed beating female protesters during deadly festivities that sparked international outrage.
Supporters of the military, which took power after an uprising ousted veteran president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... in February, held a counter-rally in the Abbasiya neighborhood, several kilometers away.
Egypt has been divided by the festivities between anti-military protesters and soldiers that have left at least 60 people dead over the past two months and overshadowed the first elections since Mubarak's downfall.
"Women are a red line!" some protesters shouted in Tahrir Square as others chanted against Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and Mubarak's longtime defense minister.
Sheikh Hisham Attiya, the imam leading the Mohammedan noon prayers in the square, called for an independent panel to investigate the deaths and prosecute those responsible.
The festivities have piled pressure on the SCAF, with both liberals and Islamists facing off in Egypt's first post-revolt elections condemning its handling of the transition.
"The military council is an extension of the old regime; it has the same mentality and uses the same tactics," said protester Mohammed Farrag, 31.
Police abuse was a driving force behind the popular uprising that ousted Mubarak.
The SCAF denies ordering the use of force against protesters but has apologized to the women of Egypt for "any transgressions" after several shocking videos have surfaced showing brutality against protesters, but it is the beating of women that caused has enraged people.
"If they think beating women up is going to silence the protesters, they are wrong," said one woman, Mona Ahmed.
Videos posted on social networking sites over the past week show soldiers savagely beating women with truncheons or throwing them to the ground.
In one instance, which drew worldwide attention, a veiled woman was thrown down, her top ripped away to expose her bra and a soldier kicked her in the chest.
The beatings sparked a backlash, with thousands of women marching through Tahrir Square on Tuesday in protest against the military junta.
London-based watchdog Amnesia Amnesty International called on the SCAF to uphold the right to peaceful demonstration.
"The shockingly violent scenes of recent days must not be repeated," said Philip Luther, Amnesia Amnesty International's interim director for the Middle East and North Africa.
"Egypt's military authorities must ensure protesters are allowed to exercise their right to freedom of expression peacefully, without fear of attack. The authorities are responsible for the safety of those protesting," he said.
The U.N. women's agency on Thursday expressed "great concern" over the recent attacks on women, which U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as The Heroine of Tuzla and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another John Quincy Adams ... denounced as a "disgrace."
Meanwhile, ...back at the laboratory the fumes had dispersed, to reveal an ominous sight... thousands gathered in the Abbasiya neighborhood under large banners bearing the pictures of the ruling military generals.
Waving Egyptian flags, the pro-military protesters demanded "the downfall of Tahrir" and insisted "the people and the army are one."
The rallies come as counting is underway after run-offs for the second phase of a staggered election for the lower house of parliament.
The country's two largest Islamist parties have emerged as front-runners so far.
The Moslem Brüderbund, whose political arm is leading in the parliamentary polls, refused to back Friday's protests.
The generals have pledged action against those responsible in an unusually contrite statement.
But they also warned against joining protests they said were aimed at toppling the state, and refused to move forward presidential elections from mid-2012.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
Nigeria's army chief of staff said on Saturday it had killed more than 50 members of a violent Islamist sect in a shootout in the northeastern city of Damaturu.
A sustained gun battle broke out between Nigerian security forces and suspected members of the Boko Haram militant group late on Friday, killing at least 19 people, initial reports suggested.
[An Nahar] Unrest in three northeastern Nigerian cities has left at least six people dead, an official said Friday, after gunfire and kabooms rocked the region hit by violence blamed on Islamists.
The unrest broke out in the cities of Maiduguri, Damaturu and Potiskum on Thursday. More gunfire was heard in Damaturu on Friday morning, but details were unclear.
"From reports I have received from Potiskum, five people were killed in last night's attack -- four coppers and a civilian," said Ibrahim Farinloye, northeast coordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency.
"Three police vans were also burnt in the attack."
A hospital source in Damaturu had said late Thursday that a soldier was killed and seven coppers were maimed there. He said a 10-year-old boy was being operated on after being hit by gunfire.
The police commissioner for Yobe state, where both Damaturu and Potiskum are located, said Thursday night that suspected members of the Islamist sect Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. Currently wearing a false nose and moustache and answering to Jama'atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda'Awati Wal Jihad, or Big Louie... had carried out bombings and shootings in Damaturu.
Lawan Tanko said he did not have details on casualties, but added that a church and a military patrol van were burnt. He said the attackers had been repelled and pushed toward Potiskum.
A military front man in Maiduguri said multiple blasts hit the city on Thursday, but could not give further details. An army source said six kabooms were heard.
Maiduguri has borne the brunt of the violence attributed to Boko Haram, which has grabbed credit for scores of attacks in the north as well as the August suicide kaboom of U.N. headquarters in the capital Abuja that killed at least 24.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Boko Haram
At least eight protesters were killed in Yemen after government soldiers opened fire on a peaceful march on Saturday, the worst violence in the capital, Sana, since President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to give up his post more than a month ago.
Hours after the killings, Mr. Saleh, who retains his title and much of his power until a new election in February, announced that he would be leaving soon for the United States. The announcement seemed intended to defuse anger at the violence by his forces as well as pressure from some of his political rivals and regional powers, who fear that Mr. Saleh has no intention of fading from the scene.
Speaking to reporters at his presidential palace, Mr. Saleh said he was leaving to calm the atmosphere, according to The Associated Press. He did not say when he was leaving, and noted that he would eventually return, to work as an opposition figure.
His departure had been rumored for weeks, amid speculation that he would seek medical treatment abroad for injuries he received in a bomb attack on his palace in June.
But he said was going to the United States not for treatment, because Im fine, but to get away from the attention, cameras, and allow the unity government to prepare properly for elections, Reuters reported. The American Embassy in Yemen had no comment on Mr. Salehs statement.
[An Nahar] Hundreds of stateless Arabs living in Kuwait demonstrated for the second week in a row demanding citizenship and other rights, Agence La Belle France Presse reported.
Kuwaiti activists, former MPs and representatives from the Kuwait Association for Human Rights attended the rally in Jahra, northwest of Kuwait City, as police watched without interfering.
Riot police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse similar protests last week and set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock more than 30 people.
The rally comes two days after Kuwait said it may grant citizenship to 34,000 out of the estimated 105,000 stateless people living in the country, and urged the remaining 71,000 to reveal their original nationality.
The stateless, known locally as bidoons, claim the right to Kuwaiti nationality, saying that their ancestors failed to register for citizenship when the government began registration five decades ago.
Kuwait has long said that bidoons or their forefathers destroyed their original passports to claim the right to Kuwaiti citizenship in order to gain access to the services and generous benefits provided to its citizens.
In a bid to force them to produce their original nationality papers, Kuwait has denied them essential documentation, including birth, marriage and death certificates, according to a report in June by Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... Because of stringent government restrictions, a majority of them are living in dire economic conditions in oil-rich Kuwait, where the average monthly salary of native citizens is more than $3,500.
Fifty-two stateless who were set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock following protests in February and March are currently on trial for illegal assembly and assaulting police.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
salary of native citizens is more than $3,500.
Three times what I live on.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/24/2011 1:28 Comments ||
Top||
#2
You never hear any stories like this coming out of Somalia.
[An Nahar] Loyalists of Yemeni 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... on Friday attacked demonstrators gathered south of the capital calling for the leader's trial, a protest organizer told Agence La Belle France Presse.
Further south, in Abyan province, seven soldiers were killed late Thursday near Zinjibar in an ambush by al-Qaeda suspects, a military source said, adding three gun-hung tough guys were also killed in subsequent fighting.
Assailants, some of whom were armed, attacked a group of 2,000 demonstrators in Hizyaz, a suburb south of Sanaa, before they could join a rally headed to the capital, said Mondher al-Asbahi.
"Dozens of demonstrators were maimed, struck by stones, and one was hit by a bullet," said Asbahi, a member of a Taez youth group organizing the rally.
The "March for Life" procession, which kicked off in the southwestern city of Taez, has amassed tens of thousands of participants along the 270-kilometer road to Sanaa.
The demonstration is likely to reach the capital on Saturday, Asbahi said.
Tribesmen are escorting them to ensure the security of the march, which was the target of an armed attack in the province of Dhamar, a tribal chief told AFP.
He added that Saleh's partisans began to gather 30 kilometers south of Sanaa in bid to "block the march."
A security services source told AFP that there were plans for military reinforcements as the march enters Sanaa to "guarantee the safety of its participants and prevent the entry of any armed participant."
Those marching hope to pressure the new unity government to put Saleh and his cronies on trial over his government's crackdown on opposition demonstrations, which has left hundreds dead since January.
Several demonstrations have called for Saleh to be tried for murder, nepotism and corruption, since he signed a Gulf-brokered deal which calls on him to step down in February in exchange for immunity.
Elsewhere, 10 people were killed in a sixth night of festivities pitting gun-hung tough guys linked to al-Qaeda against Yemeni troops trying to retake Zinjibar, Abyan's quiet provincial capital.
"A military vehicle was ambushed by members of al-Qaeda east of Zinjibar and seven soldiers died," a military source said.
"Three Death Eaters were killed" in a subsequent shootout, the source added.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wrecked scow, a single surviver held tightly to the smashed prow... the Yemeni air force carried out four raids in the southern city of Jaar, also in Abyan province, he said, without being able to specify the number of casualties.
Residents, however, said four "Qaeda" gun-hung tough guys were killed in the raid.
Government forces have been backed by tribal fighters and sometimes supported by U.S. drone strikes in their battle against the Partisans of Sharia, an krazed killer group that took over most of Zinjibar in May.
Al-Qaeda has profited from the instability caused by 11 months of protests against Saleh, strengthening its positions across the south of the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
[An Nahar] Bahraini riot police on Friday fired tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators gathered in the headquarters of the main Iranian catspaw, Al-Wefaq, the group said, adding that some were maimed.
"Security forces fired directly at the premises of the group ... where several leaders and members had gathered," said Al-Wefaq, which has its main office in the outskirts of Manama.
Police deployed in force to the surrounding areas to prevent a pro-democracy rally called by opposition groups and fired "tear gas and rubber bullets ... (leaving) several people maimed, including children," the statement read.
Several people present at Wefaq's headquarters, including the group's deputy secretary general Sheikh Hassan al-Dihi and an American journalist, suffered from tear gas inhalation, it added.
"We are a people that does not bend. This savage repression only strengthens our determination to continue to fight for the defense of our national rights," the text quoted Sheikh Dihi as saying.
Bahrain was rocked from mid-February to mid-March by a Shiite-led protest movement, which was violently repressed by the ruling Sunni monarchy.
On November 23, an independent investigative committee denounced the use of "excessive force" by the authorities, which cost the lives of 35 people, 30 civilians and five police.
The authorities accepted the probe's findings and the United States, a close ally of Bahrain, called on them to punish those responsible.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
Ten unidentified individuals were found tortured and shot to death on a remote road in northern Veracruz state Friday morning, according to Mexican news accounts.
The victims were found dead around 0900 hrs Friday morning along a dirt road in Tampico Alto municipality, just south of Tampico Tamaulipas, but in Veracruz state. Nine of the victims had been beheaded, but all ten had been handcuffed and tortured.
Reports say Mexican security forces in the area had cordoned off parts of northern Veracruz state near Tampico after intervening following several small arms attacks on buses along a road about 40 kilometers south of Tampico Thursday morning. To read the Rantburg report on Thursday's fighting which claimed 16 lives, click here.
Five of the armed suspects had been located and killed by elements of the Mexican Army after they had attacked buses and killed seven individuals. The suspects later emerged from a bar, apparently drunk, before Mexican soldiers shot and killed them. Five armed suspects died in that encounter.
It is unlikely this latest discovery had a direct connection to Thursday's fighting, as the discovery was made near Mexican Federal Highway 180, about 15 kilometers due east of Panuco, Veracruz, and close to 50 kilometers north of Tantoyuca, Veracruz, where the three buses were attacked.
It may have been the same group which did these latest murders, but not the same incident.
Mexican news reports for the first time credit the deployment of newly raised additional Mexican Army troops in northern border states for the decline in violence in border states. The change in violent attacks and intergang fighting has been stark. Trom Juarez to, apparently Tamaulipas state, the decline has been as much as half of the violence from last year.
Apparently active criminal groups have shifted their violent revenue generating activities away from such areas as Tamaulipas -- and, to a lesser extent, Nuevo Leon -- towards second tier states such as Veracruz, Zacatecas and Durango because of the increased presence and activity of federal security forces in northern border states, including Mexican Army and Mexican Naval Infantry troops (Marines).
A good example would be the municipality of San Fernando where a Los Zetas group spent about two months in Spring, 2011 hijacking buses to be robbed and, it has been alleged, to recruit new shooters. Stories had been recently published in such publications as the leftist news weekly Proceso, which gave voice to local concerns that the Zetas criminal group -- responsible for almost 200 violent deaths over a six month period from August, 2010 to the discovery of the mass graves in May and June, 2011 -- would return.
The 193 death toll in the mass graves of San Fernando does not include the 72 Central and Southern American migrants who were massacred by Los Zetas operatives in San Fernando in August of 2010. That massacre was done as part of an extortion scheme.
Since that time a small Mexican Army contingent has been in San Fernando, and now with the news that some criminal groups have left the northern states, it appears, due in part to the presence of federal security troops, those fears may have been unfounded.
The presence of those troops in northern Mexican states may also go a long way towards explaining the decline in the numbers of migrants travelling north to the US.
A Pakistani Taliban suicide bomber rammed a car filled with explosives into a paramilitary camp in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing six soldiers in the second attack in as many days meant to avenge the killing of senior commander in a U.S. drone strike.
The blast caused a part of a building to collapse inside the Frontier Corps camp, which was located in Bannu town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said local police officer Tahir Khan. At least 19 soldiers were wounded in the attack, and rescue workers were searching for additional casualties, he said.
A Pakistani Taliban spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, claimed responsibility for the attack in a phone call to The Associated Press. He said it was meant to avenge the death of commander Taj Gul in a U.S. drone strike in October in the South Waziristan tribal area, a key sanctuary for the militants.
Gul was the Pakistani Taliban's operational commander in South Waziristan and was responsible for many attacks against security forces.
Around three dozen Pakistani Taliban fighters armed with assault rifles attacked a paramilitary camp in Tank district near South Waziristan before dawn Friday, killing one soldier and kidnapping 15 others.
Ehsan, the Taliban spokesman, said Friday that attack was also meant to avenge Gul's death. The militants targeted the soldiers because of Pakistan's alliance with the United States, he said.
Ehsan pledged they would kill the kidnapped troops, saying "we are going to cut these soldiers into pieces one by one, and we will send these pieces to their commanders."
[An Nahar] Pak Taliban fighters attacked a paramilitary fort in northwestern Pakistain on Friday, killing one soldier and kidnapping 15 others, police said. The brazen attack was followed by a statement to media in which the cut-throats said they would kill the kidnapped troops.
Armed with only assault rifles, at least 35 cut-throats targeted the Frontier Corps fort in Tank district before dawn, said local police chief Ejad Abid. The cut-throats burned down buildings and captured a significant amount of weapons, he said.
One soldier was killed and two were maimed in the fighting, said Abid. Another 15 are still missing and believed to have been kidnapped, he said.
Pak Taliban front man Ehsanullah Ehsan grabbed credit for the attack in a phone call to The News Agency that Dare Not be Named and said it was carried out to avenge the death of a local Taliban capo. He claimed 30 soldiers were kidnapped.
But another Taliban capo who said he carried out the attack, Asmatullah Shaheen, told the AP that he had 15 soldiers in his custody.
Ehsan said the Taliban have no intention of bargaining for the soldiers' release and intend to kill them.
"We are going to cut these soldiers into pieces one by one, and we will send these pieces to their commanders," said Ehsan.
Tank is located near the border with South Wazoo, an important sanctuary for the Pak Taliban. The Pak military staged a large offensive there in 2009, but the cut-throats continue to operate in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
[Pak Daily Times] Unidentified faceless myrmidons blew up Bacha Khan Foundation's middle school on Thursday night in the Khuga khel area of Landikotal.
The school's building was razed to the ground; however, no casualty was reported. Inqelab Khan, the watchman of the school, told the media that he and two other watchmen were present when unidentified gunnies entered the school, held them on gunpoint and planted bombs in the classrooms, which went kaboom! with a big bang. Seven classrooms were totally destroyed while partial damage was done to the rest of the structure of the building, Inqelab added. According to a neighbour, Ikramullah, doors and windows of the surrounding buildings were also smashed. On Friday, the political administration nabbed the watchman of the school and his son. It is important to state here that the school was also targeted with kaboom last year.
Separately, a roadside kaboom blast has injured one person in Tirah Valley, sources added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
Now that's a surprise, Not a GIRLS school this time.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/24/2011 11:22 Comments ||
Top||
[Pak Daily Times] One Frontier Constabulary (FC) official was killed and 16 others were reportedly kidnapped by forces of Evil when the Mullazai Fort situated in the north of the Tank district near the volatile South Wazoo Agency morning came under attack early on Friday.
Police DIG Imtiaz Shah, while talking to the media, confirmed the attack and said that forces of Evil dressed in FC uniforms approached the fort and attacked it. The DIG said that forces of Evil set seven rooms and the barracks of the fort on fire and took away eight Kalashnikovs, 26 rifles, 22 hand grenades and one LMG with them, besides kidnapping 23 FC personnel and killing one. Later, seven FC personnel, including a subedar beat feet from the custody of the forces of Evil in an injured condition.
Sources said that forces of Evil attacked the fort in the wee hours, killing one official, identified as Yasin Malogoree and hailing from Mohmand Agency, who was deputed on the main entrance of the fort, while the remaining 23 were taken hostage during the attack. Police said that 24 personnel of the FC platoon of the Malagoree tribe of the Mohmand Agency were manning the fort when the attack occurred. The forces of Evil assaulted the fort with hand grenades, rocket launchers and automatic machine guns. The exact number of the attackers could not be determined.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
LONDON -- Chaldean Catholic officials have canceled traditional Christmas Eve midnight Masses because of security risks.
Chaldean Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk in northern Iraq told the agency Aid to the Church in Need that Christians will spend Christmas in "great fear" because of the risk of new attacks. All services and Masses have been scheduled for daylight hours, he said in an interview with Rome-based AsiaNews.
Archbishop Sako also expressed concern over the growing conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims vying for political power. He said the conflict has led to growing instability, especially in the days since the pullout of U.S. military troops in mid-December.
The archbishop's concerns follow a series of incidents in the northern province of Kurdistan, which had been considered safe haven for Christians. In Erbil, Kurdistan's capital, Christian Sermat Patros, 29 was kidnapped Dec. 12. Between Dec. 2 and Dec. 5, at least 30 Christian-owned businesses were torched in Zakho near the Turkish border. A Christian couple also was found shot dead in their car Dec. 13 in Mosul.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq: Two civilians have been killed and three others injured in an explosive charge blast north of Mosul, the center of northern Iraq's Ninewa Province on Thursday, a security source reported.
"An explosive charge blew off in front of a shop in northern Mosul's Cultural Group's area on Thursday, killing 2 civilians and wounding three others," the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
He said the injured persons were driven to hospital for treatment, whilst the security forces cordoned the venue of the blast and began investigation.
Mosul, the center of Ninewa Province, is 405 km to the north of Baghdad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Mosul is build on top of the old Assyrian Empire capital of Nineveh. Gargamelda where Alexander whipped Xerxes III is about 20 miles east near Abril...talk about history everywhere...
Anyway, when what's his name, the guy that sits behind the desk in the Oval Office, announced we were leaving Iraq, did he say we won or just that the war was over?
Me thinks he wants to demean our efforts in Iraq by not claiming victory. When you pack up and leave, you either won or you lost.
Which is it? Of course Georgie, Miss Me yet?, Bush said we won and what we've fought since then has been by proxy, Iran and Syria with a little KSA and Hizbullah thrown in, not fighting a war against Iraq. So did we win or did we lose? Or does what's his name want the world to think we lost?
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
12/24/2011 12:07 Comments ||
Top||
#2
"does what's his name want the world to think we lost?"
What was your first clue, Bill?
Posted by: Barbara ||
12/24/2011 12:17 Comments ||
Top||
KIRKUK / Aswat al-Iraq: Liberty Base was a target for two Katyousha rockets today in Kirkuk , police sources said here today. General Sarhad Qadir told Aswat al-Iraq that the two rockets were shot from south west Kirkuk to hit the present Iraqi military base, following US forces withdrawal.
No details were given on the casualties or damages.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
KIRKUK / Aswat al-Iraq: Head of the Arab Group at Kirkuk Provincial Council disclosed today that Arab popular committees shall be formed to protect the Arabs in the province from killing and kidnapping.
Mohammed Khalil al-Jbouri told Aswat al-Iraq that the Arab component was targeted in many areas in the province, including bombing a judge house and kidnapping and killing an Arab south of the city, as well as attacking his family and stealing 100 thousand dollars. He added that "there is a plan to target the Arabs by well-trained people".
Mr. Jbouri called the central government to end these breaches against the Arabs and ensure security to the citizens.
Kirkuk is one of the main disputed areas between Arbil and Baghdad, which case to be solved with the implementation of Article 140 of the constitution.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
[An Nahar] Jordanian police on Friday fired tear gas to break up festivities between pro-reform Islamist demonstrators and government loyalists in the northern city of Mafraq.
"Police had to fire tear gas after around 300 Islamists clashed with thousands of members of the Bani Hassan tribe," police front man Mohammed Khatib told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"Dozens from all sides, including police, were maimed. But the injuries are minor," he said without elaborating.
Witnesses said several shops were destroyed during the festivities.
"Demonstrators sought refuge in a mosque in Mafraq," said one witness.
"Abdul Majid Khawaldeh, the Islamist representative in the city, was among the injured," he said, adding "the situation is still tense."
Bani Hassan, one of Jordan's largest tribes, warned Islamists on Thursday against demonstrating in Mafraq, accusing them of "trying to sow sedition."
Pro-reform rallies also took place in central Amman and other parts of Jordan, where opposition Islamists, youth groups and other parties have been protesting since January, demanding political and economic change and an end to corruption.
Meanwhile, ...back at the laboratory the fumes had dispersed, to reveal an ominous sight... around 3,000 people held a sit-in outside the Syrian embassy in Amman, urging an end to bloodshed in Jordan's northern neighbor, where more than 5,000 have been killed, according to U.N. figures.
Calling on Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... to step down, the demonstrators urged Jordan to expel Damascus' ...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world... ambassador to Amman.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
[An Nahar] Suicide bombers hit two security service bases in Damascus ...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world... on Friday, killing at least 40 people, in attacks the regime blamed on al-Qaeda but which the opposition said were the work of the regime itself.
The bombings, which officials blamed on al-Qaeda, were the first attacks against Syria's powerful security services in the heart of the capital since the uprising began and overshadowed new protests against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's Despoiler of Deraa... regime.
"The new toll for the two attacks today is established at 40 dead and 150 injured," foreign ministry front man Jihad Makdissi told Agence La Belle France Presse.
One bomber tried to ram a vehicle packed with explosives into the compound of the General Security Directorate, Syria's most important plain-clothes security service, in the Kfar Suseh neighborhood of Damascus, witnesses said.
A second blew up a vehicle outside a nearby military intelligence building.
State television showed pictures of a huge crater at one of the bomb sites and pools of blood on surrounding pavements.
Bystanders were seen carrying away charred and mangled bodies wrapped in makeshift shrouds.
"On the first day after the arrival of the Arab observers, this is the gift we get from the forces of Evil and al-Qaeda but we are going to do all we can to facilitate 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... mission," Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Meqdad told news hounds at one of the bomb sites.
"We said it from the beginning, this is terrorism. They are killing the army and civilians," Meqdad added.
Asked to comment on suggestions that the bombings had been engineered by the regime itself, Meqdad shot back: "Anyone who makes such allegations is a criminal."
The opposition group, the Syrian National Council, made just such a claim.
"The Syrian regime, alone, bears all the direct responsibility for the two terrorist kabooms," said an SNC statement received by Agence La Belle France Presse.
"It wanted to send a warning message to the observers for them not to approach security centers."
The regime is trying to give the world the impression "that it faces danger coming from abroad and not a popular revolution demanding freedom and dignity," the statement added.
The SNC also accused the regime of having transferred "thousands of prisoners (who were being held in jails) to fortified military barracks," to which the observers would not have access.
Earlier on Friday, Omar Idilbi, an SNC member and the front man of the Local Coordination Committees, called the kabooms "very mysterious because they happened in heavily guarded areas that are difficult to be penetrated by a car."
"The presence of the vaporous Arab League advance team of observers pushed the regime to give this story in order to scare the committee from moving around Syria," he said, though he stopped short of accusing the regime in the blasts.
"The second message is an attempt to make the Arab League and international public opinion believe that Syria is being subjected to acts of terrorism by members of al-Qaeda," Idilbi added.
Assad's main Lebanese ally Hizbullah accused "terrorist" Washington of orchestrating the attacks.
The party said such bombings are "the specialty of the United States", which is seeking Dire Revenge™ for its "defeat" in Iraq, days after its forces completed their withdrawal from the country.
For his part, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... condemned the blasts as "terrorist attacks" and said they were aimed at disrupting the Arab League's efforts to resolve the crisis.
Syria's deputy foreign minister was accompanied to the bomb site by Arab League Assistant Secretary General Samir Seif al-Yazal, head of the observer mission's advance team that flew in on Thursday.
Yazal offered his condolences to the families of the dead.
"What has happened is regrettable but the important thing is that everyone stay calm," he told news hounds.
"We are going to press on with our work. We have started today, and tomorrow (Saturday) we will meet (Foreign Minister) Walid Muallem."
Yazal heads a nine-strong team which is making the necessary logistical arrangements for the arrival of a first 30 observers on Sunday. The mission will eventually number between 150 and 200.
The mission is part of an Arab plan endorsed by Syria on November 2 that also calls for the withdrawal of the military from towns and residential districts, a halt to violence against civilians and the release of detainees.
The Syrian foreign minister has said he expects the Arab observers to vindicate his government's contention that the unrest is the work of "armed terrorists," not overwhelmingly peaceful protesters as maintained by Western governments and human rights ...which often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... watchdogs.
State news agency SANA said Thursday that more than 2,000 security force personnel had been killed in attacks by armed rebels.
But opposition leaders have charged that Syria's agreement to the mission after weeks of prevarication was a mere "ploy" to head off a threat by the Arab League to go to the U.N. Security Council over a crackdown, which the world body says has left more than 5,000 people dead since March.
There was no let-up in the bloodshed on Friday with human rights activists reporting at least 12 civilians killed by security force fire.
The opposition Syrian National Council charged on Wednesday that regime forces had killed 250 people in 48 hours in the run-up to the observer advance team's arrival.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[An Nahar] Syrian security forces on Friday killed at least 14 civilians, a human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... group said, as protesters erupted into the streets across the country under the slogan "Protocol of death, a license to kill," in reference to the protocol recently signed between Syria and 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... on sending observers to the country.
Three people were killed in Daraa province, south of the capital, cradle of the protest movement against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's Lord of the Baath... regime, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement received by Agence La Belle France Presse.
Six more were killed in the flashpoint central city of Homs and three in the eastern oil province of Deir al-Zour, the Britannia-based watchdog said.
The Observatory released a grisly video to back its claim that security forces committed a massacre Tuesday in the town of Kafer Awid in Idlib province in the northwest, close to the border with Turkey.
The video zooms in on the faces of at least 49 men, some of them completely disfigured, before panning out to what appear to be rows of corpses.
The opposition Syrian National Council charged on Wednesday that regime forces had killed 250 people in 48 hours in the run-up to the arrival on Thursday of an advance team of observers under a deal signed between Syria and the vaporous Arab League to end months of bloodshed.
In Berlin, the foreign ministry said it had summoned Syria's ambassador to demand an immediate halt to the "brutal" repression against demonstrators.
An Arab League advance team arrived in Syria Thursday to oversee a plan to end nine months of bloodshed.
But using the slogan "Protocol of death, a license to kill", activists called on Facebook for nationwide protests against the mission.
Opposition leaders have charged that Syria's agreement to the mission was a mere "ploy" to head off a threat by the Arab League to go to the U.N. Security Council.
"We call on the Arab League to refer the matter of the crisis in Syria to the U.N. Security Council," said Omar Edelbi, front man for the Local Coordination Committees, which have been driving the protests on the ground.
He called the observer mission "another attempt by the regime to bypass the Arab initiative and empty it of its contents".
The observer mission is part of an Arab plan endorsed by Syria on November 2 that also calls for the withdrawal of the military from towns and residential districts, a halt to the violence and the release of detainees.
The advance team consists of a dozen security, legal and administrative staff from the Arab League's secretariat, who will make the logistical preparations for the arrival on Sunday of an initial 30 observers.
The mission's leader, veteran Sudanese military intelligence officer General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, said its numbers would swell to a total of between 150 and 200 in the following days.
Their task will be to monitor the "cessation of violence on all sides, and to ensure the release of detainees placed in durance vile in connection with the current crisis," according to the text of the protocol.
The Enough Project, a non-governmental organization, on Thursday condemned the fact that the mission is headed by a general it said was in charge of the Sudanese intelligence agency when "genocide" was committed in Darfur.
Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has said he expects the observers to vindicate Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... ' claims that the unrest has been caused by "armed terrorist groups," not peaceful protesters as maintained by Western governments and human rights watchdogs.
Muallem has said the observers will be able to access so-called "hot zones" but not sensitive military sites. Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... called on Damascus to grant full access.
The United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... estimates that more than 5,000 people have been killed in the regime's crackdown since mid-March.
In New York, La Belle France said "significant progress" had been made at a U.N. Security Council meeting on Syria.
There were tensions at the meeting, however, with Russia renewing demands for an inquiry into NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... Arclight airstrikes in Libya in a move U.S. ambassador Susan Rice called "a cheap stunt" to divert attention from the Syria crisis.
Russia and China have already vetoed one resolution proposed by European countries condemning Syria. Russia, which accuses the West of seeking regime change in Syria, last week proposed a new text that the European countries say is not tough enough on President Bashir al-Assad.
State news agency SANA claimed Thursday more than 2,000 members of the security forces had been killed since anti-government protests erupted in March.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
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.
US and Taliban negotiators reached a tentative deal last month to transfer five Afghans from Guantanamo to Qatar, the Washington Post said on Friday, but it was rejected by President 
[An Nahar] Thousands gathered peacefully in Cairo's Tahrir Square Friday to denounce the ruling military after soldiers were filmed beating female protesters during deadly 
Hillary Clinton
... 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...
[An Nahar] Pak Taliban fighters attacked a paramilitary fort in northwestern Pakistain on Friday, killing one soldier and kidnapping 15 others, police said. The brazen attack was followed by a statement to media in which the 
Unidentified 
[Pak Daily Times] One Frontier Constabulary (FC) official was killed and 16 others were reportedly kidnapped by 
LONDON -- Chaldean Catholic officials have canceled traditional Christmas Eve midnight Masses because of security risks. 
Jordanian police on Friday fired tear gas to break up 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
