Could also be titled "Islamists lose in Morocco," but it's al-Jizz.
The conservative Istiqlal (Independence) party, a partner in Morocco's ruling coalition, has won most seats in parliamentary elections, according to provisional results released by the government. The polls, the second of King Mohammed VI's nine-year reign, saw 33 parties vie with dozens of independents for seats in the 325-member lower house.
Istiqlal won 52 seats, including those assigned to a national women's list, ahead of the Islamist Justice and Development party (PJD) with 47 seats, Chakib Benmoussa, the interior minister, announced in Rabat on Saturday. Final official figures will be released on Sunday evening.
The Popular Movement (MP) and the National Rally of Independents (RNI) won 43 and 38 seats respectively, followed by the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) with 36. The USFP is the dominant party in the ruling coalition, with Istiqlal as a junior partner.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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And doesn't the Great Jamahiriya count itself lucky?
Libya has pardoned over two thousand prisoners to mark the 38th anniversary of president Muammar Gaddafi's seizure of power, state television reported on Friday. Beneficiaries include foreigners as well as Libyans who have all served at least half their sentences and demonstrated good behaviour, television reports said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Did they also have a fashion show and a Joan Crawford film festival?
UN peacekeepers have urged renegade troops fighting in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo to integrate into the country's regular army.
The call on Saturday came as the UN humanitarian chief told Al Jazeera that the Nord-Kivu province is suffering from a level of violence and brutality not seen anywhere else in the world. The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Monuc) urged "dissident elements to immediately leave positions threatening urban areas until people displaced by the fighting can return to their homes and prepare to join in the mixing process".
It also hailed "the observance of the ceasefire" it imposed on Thursday after renegade troops tried to take the town of Sake, Gabriel de Brosses, Monuc spokesman, said. The truce was announced on Thursday after nearly two weeks of fighting between the army and soldiers loyal to General Laurent Nkunda, but there were reports of it being broken within 24 hours.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Polls in Sierra Leone have opened as the public vote for a new president, after an inconclusive first round last month.
This is the first chance for residents to select a new leader since UN peacekeepers withdrew from the country two years ago, and after a decade of war that ended in 2002. The elections take place on Saturday, amid a campaign where political rivals had clashed, leaving dozens injured. Ernest Bai Koroma, the opposition leader, is running against Solomon Berewa, the vice president, who is to take over from Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, the current president. During the first round in August, both candidates did not achieve the 55 per cent needed to win.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Finally, a whiff of sanity from the North. Even though the ruling would affect very few women Muslim voters, it is the prinipal of the matter. Making even minor concessions to shari'a law gives it unmerited validity and legitimization that has no place in Western society.
He suggested in Vancouver Sunday that female staffers with Elections Canada be on hand at polling centres to identify women behind their veils, something a man could not do.
It does not go far enough. There is no reason a man entrusted by the Crown to act as an Elections Officer should be unable to identify a masked cultist out of sensitivity to her cult-beliefs. To do so violates the human rights of the Elections Officer and is probably unconstitutional. More important: What next? Should police have to wait upon a female officer at a crime scene?
Of course, in Canada, "Europe" and most blue states the answers are far from clear and the knees will jerk toward any demand the rape cult makes.
#3
What next? Should police have to wait upon a female officer at a crime scene?
Exactol, Excal! As YorkshireMiner says, "All Muslim demands are the thin end of an even bigger wedge." These ridiculous Muslim impositions must be strangled in the cradle. They lead nowhere save down the road to perdition shari'a law.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) - Democrat Christopher Dodd ...
... who? ...
... pledged Saturday that as president ...
... oh right, him ...
... he would end a decades-old trade embargo with Cuba and lift travel restrictions to the communist island.
Looking to do well in the Florida non-primary, is he?
The Connecticut senator also said he would open an embassy in Havana and shut down the 17-year-old TV Marti, a U.S. government-run station that broadcasts to Cuba. ``Other than the war in Iraq, no other American policy is more broadly unpopular internationally,'' Dodd said of American policy toward Cuba.
Unpopular doesn't equate to 'wrong', unless you're a Democrat.
Dodd called the policy an ``abject failure.'' As president, he said he would seek a repeal of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, which strengthened the U.S. embargo against Cuba. He also said taxpayers should not spend millions of dollars annually on TV Marti, which virtually no one in Cuba sees, and that he would reform its companion, Radio Marti.
Dodd sidestepped a question on whether he would meet leaders like Cuba's Fidel Castro and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez if elected. ``Presidents don't run around and meet with people automatically,'' Dodd said, without directly answering the question.
That wasn't a 'no'.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
If I'm elected, senator, I'm keepin it in. So we'll see what happens, since we've both got about an equal chance of being elected...
#2
Dodd was President Reagan's number one opponent during the communist aggression against Central America. He actively worked for unilateral disarmament of US allies, while allowing the enemy to expand their terror wars. His conduct delayed democraticization for a couple of years. If anything, he would be a worse President than Carter, if that's possible.
#5
Gah, I live in CT and completely forgot about Sen. Sandwich. A write up in the Guardian should really be a shot in the arm to his campaign. Actually this idiot will draw lots of campaign $ because the smart money (eg double-digit iq) knows he's going nowhere but back to his soft senate seat where he can continue to pork barrel and log roll for his pals.
Posted by: regular joe ||
09/09/2007 7:56 Comments ||
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#7
Good grief, the man's proposing what amounts to nothing more than unpayable subprime loans to another group that is incapable of compensating for what they'll take. What the hell do they have to trade that we need? Why haven't they been able to unload that to the world outside of the US market? Nothing. Hello, Mr. Dodd, anyone home up there? The lights are on, but nobody is home.
Any bets that said "reform" would involve removing all the "controversial" -- anti-Communist -- elements?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/09/2007 10:27 Comments ||
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#9
Actually tu3031, you have a BETTER chance to get elected than Dodd. You have the advantage of unfamiliarity. Dodd's act is so pathetically tired that only his home staters pay any attention to him anymore.
Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani said on Saturday that Nawaz Sharif was morally bound to complete his period in exile, as any violation of his understanding with the Saudi Arabian authorities would put credibility of all Pakistani citizens into question. This issue should be looked at from a moral prospective, since it was an out-of-court settlement,
He said any violation of the agreement by Nawaz Sharif would tarnish the image of Pakistanis worldwide, and no one would be willing to enter into any sort of agreement with them.
Durrani told a press conference.
He said any violation of the agreement by Nawaz Sharif would tarnish the image of Pakistanis worldwide, and no one would be willing to enter into any sort of agreement with them.
Durrani said Nawaz Sharifs refusal to abide by the accord was a big question mark on the state guarantees given to Pakistan by Saudi Arabia. The arrival of the special envoy of King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz, and Lebanons most influential politician and son of former Lebanese prime minister, Saad Hariri, to Pakistan and their interactions with the media and other entities have quashed the uncertainties about the agreement between the Saudi government and Sharif family, Durrani said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Credibility and Pakistanis in the same sentence?
Wow!
#2
Yes, when I think of "Pakistan", the first thing that pops into the image is "credibility".
If ya keep saying in enough, Muhammad, maybe even you'll believe it...
The government is considering the option to deport former premier Nawaz Sharif and arrest his brother, Shahbaz Sharif, following the failure of all efforts to stop them from returning to Pakistan on September 10, sources told Daily Times.
The sources said that the action would be in line with the package offered by President Pervez Musharraf to Nawaz through Saad Hariri that the government would accept Shahbaz if Nawaz postponed his schedule for the time being.
They said that another option would be to deport both the Sharifs to Saudi Arabia but this would be against the spirit of the announcements for national reconciliation made by some prominent PML leaders and President Musharraf. Another option is the arrest of both the Sharifs but this would worsen the political crisis, the sources said, adding that the government would make a final strategy by Sunday night. The sources said that Nawaz may be offered to return to Pakistan after the presidential and general elections. Meanwhile, the government would continue to develop contacts with Nawaz and Shahbaz for national reconciliation.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Former premier Nawaz Sharif said on Saturday he would return to Pakistan on Monday despite a request from Saudi Arabia to abandon his planned trip, AP reported. I will go back to Pakistan on September 10 with my brother because my country needs me, he told a press conference in London.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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And according to the BBC's Ahmed Rashid, Mullah Diesel is guaranteed a place in Government...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6978240.stm
In the meantime, the army is insisting that Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who leads the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI), be part of any future government, whether it is led by Benazir Bhutto or the ruling Pakistan Muslim League.
The JUI has been the mainstay for the revival of the Taleban in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
With supervision from Pakistan's intelligence services, thousands of JUI-run madrassas in Balochistan and North West Frontier Province have provided shelter to tens of thousands of extremists from both sides of the border.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/09/2007 10:49 Comments ||
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the army is insisting that Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who leads the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI), be part of any future government
john, doesn't this pretty well damn all chances of any significant reform within Pakistan? No matter who takes power? Isn't this a flagrant declaration of "business terrorism as usual"?
#4
I think the Islamist rot has set in too deep in the Pak military...
The Nobel Laureate VS Naipaul called the partition of India "the amputation of a gangrenous limb". He said that all Indian cities would be Karachi had not Karachi ceased being Indian.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/09/2007 12:48 Comments ||
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Given this development, Old Patriot's suggestion that Pakistan be divided between Afghanistan and India becomes the only alternative to simply bombing it out of existence. Pakistan is the epitome of a failed state.
This is little other than a formal declaration of terrorist war upon the entire world.
A Saudi prince said on Saturday that Nawaz Sharif would be welcome to return to Saudi Arabia, as the Saudi government and an influential Lebanese politician urged the former prime minister to honour his agreement to remain in exile for 10 years.
Saudi intelligence chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz and Lebanese politician Saad Hariri arrived separately in Islamabad on Saturday morning, the former with a message from Saudi King Abdullah and the latter after a meeting with Nawaz Sharif in London.
After meeting President General Pervez Musharraf for two-and-a-half hours, Prince Muqrin and Hariri addressed an unprecedented joint press conference at Army House, telling journalists that Nawaz was bound under the agreement not to return to Pakistan before ten years in exile. We sincerely hope that Nawaz Sharif honours this agreement, Prince Muqrin said.
He indicated that Sharif would be welcomed back to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is for all our brothers and sisters from all over the Muslim world, he said. We are hopeful that the signatory will adhere to that agreement and stick to it. The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques helped Mr Sharif and his family to get out of imprisonment under such an agreement ... which was aimed at ensuring the stability of Pakistan, the prince said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2007 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Libya has pardoned over two thousand prisoners to mark the 38th anniversary of president Muammar Gaddafi's seizure of power, state television reported on Friday. Beneficiaries include foreigners as well as Libyans who have all served at least half their sentences and demonstrated good behaviour, television reports said.
The government is considering the option to deport former premier Nawaz Sharif and arrest his brother, Shahbaz Sharif, following the failure of all efforts to stop them from returning to Pakistan on September 10, sources told Daily Times. 
