HOUSTON - A member of the crew on the U.S.-flagged ship hijacked by African pirates sued the owner and another company Monday, accusing them of knowingly putting sailors in danger. Richard E. Hicks alleges in the suit that owner Maersk Line Limited and Waterman Steamship Corp., which provided the crew, ignored requests to improve safety measures for vessels sailing along the Somali coast.
Hicks was chief cook on the Maersk Alabama. Pirates held the ship's captain hostage for five days until the U.S. Navy rescued him. Hicks' lawsuit seeks at least $75,000 in damages and improved safety.
Officials for Norfolk, Va.-based Maersk Line and Mobile, Ala.-based Waterman said their companies don't comment on pending litigation.
Hicks asked that the two companies improve safety for ships by providing armed security or allowing crew members to carry weapons, sending ships through safer routes, and placing such safety measures on ships as barbed wire that would prevent pirates from being able to board vessels. Armed sailors will not be allowed. Barbeldy wire would be dangerous to the crew and dockworkers.
"We've had safety meetings every month for the last three years and made suggestions of what should be done and they have been ignored," Hicks said. "I'm just trying to make sure this is a lot better for other seamen." Ignored or deemed unworkable?
Hicks also asked the two companies pay at least $75,000 in damages, saying he doesn't know if he will ever work on a ship again. "My family is not looking forward to me going back out to sea. But I'm not sure if I'm going back. I'm still nervous, leery. I might find something else to do, said Hicks, who has worked 32 years as a merchant seaman.
"We think (the companies) should be more concerned about the personnel on their ships than the profits the companies make," said Terry Bryant, Hicks' attorney. (A Texas Personal Injury Lawyer)
Both companies do business in Texas, which is why the suit was filed in Houston, he said.
Pirates took over the Alabama on April 8 before Capt. Richard Phillips surrendered himself in exchange for the safety of his 19-member crew. The captain was taken on a lifeboat and held hostage for five days before U.S. Navy SEAL snipers on the destroyer USS Bainbridge killed three of his captors and freed him.
Hicks said crew members have been trained on what to do if pirates or others threaten the ship. "We need more than training," said the 53-year-old who lives in Royal Palm Beach, Fla., and has two grown sons. "I never thought nothing like this would ever happen."
Hicks said pirates had tried to board the ship two other times that week, but the Alabama had managed to outrun them. But on April 8, as Hicks was preparing food for the crew, the ship's alarm rang and the captain announced the ship was being boarded by pirates.
Hicks and the other crew members went to their designated safety room, which was the engine room, and they waited there for more than 12 hours in 125 degree heat. "I didn't know if I was going to live or die," Hicks said.
The crew managed to take a pirate hostage, wounding him with an ice pick, and attempted to use him to get back Phillips. But the bandits fled the ship with Phillips as their captive, holding him in the lifeboat until the SEAL sharpshooters rescued him.
"He did a hell of a job saving us," Hicks said of Phillips. And you return the gratitude by filing a lawsuit ...
But Bryant said the Maersk Line and Waterman share the blame for putting the crew at risk. "We want to bring more attention to the shipping industry and the dangers in pirate-infested waters," he said. This is a complex situation. I'm not qualified to comment on what the shipping companies can do but arming the crew is not one of them. I don't blame him for being reluctant to go to sea again but I don't think suing the company will accomplish anything. It will take a very big change away from "Waging Lawfare" against the actual Pirates to going after the Money Men. Where does the money go? Who is organizing this? It's not the locals.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/27/2009 17:54 ||
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#1
Why can't the shipping companies have an arms locker and armed security details? Nothing in US law prohibits that, and since both companies involved are American, they cannot claim legal impediment.
#2
The shipping companies and the insurers have treated the threat as 'business as usual', ransom just a mark up on doing business. Their focus is on the bottom line, which is the opening tort lawyers take when employees are treated as expendable. Sick a dog on a dog.
Jihadist leader in Yemen, Tariq Al-Fadhli is arming youth particularly jobless people in the southern province of Abyan, in a move which comes as south is bracing for an April 27 festival. Al-Fadhli, a founder of the Jihad group in the country and who has recently announced he was joining the Southern Mobility, promised a surprise for the youth after the festival.
Meanwhile, security forces have been placed on high alert with many new checkpoints spreading across Abyan as south is bracing for the festival which leaders of the Southern Mobility say would mark a landmark moment.
The measure coincides with a parliament decision delaying a debate over amendments to the 65th article regarding the extension of the parliament tenure for two years. The move came after most MPs requested more time to discuss the proposed amendments after the political parties agreed on February 26 to delay this year's parliamentary elections to carry out electoral reforms.
The measure comes as a precaution after they received threats of turning the festival, for which thousands of the people in south and middle areas are expected, into violent protests, a security source said Monday. Troops will catch outlaws and tackle violence that those who want to destabilize the country think to create, the source added.
Crowds in south and middle areas are currently preparing for attending the event to be held on April 27 and which the leaders say would a landmark day. On 27 April 1994, the civil war between Yemen's south and north began, ending a short-lived reunification which took place in 1990.
Separate from Abyan topic, local authority officials in Lahj province said the city has seen fresh turbulence after people attacked some troops guarding facilities injuring two of them. The city has been calm for two weeks after confrontations between troops and the people demanding terminating security measures which they say lead to more violent backlashes. However, the government says all measures taken are aimed to maintain security.
British High Commission officials in Pakistan have been accused of failing to investigate bogus students entering the UK. Dr David Gosling, the UK-born head of Edwardes College, Peshawar, told the Observer newspaper that officials had ignored specific evidence that students were entering Britain on false papers.
Ten of the 12 men arrested in the UK this month for allegedly plotting bomb attacks were Pakistanis who entered Britain on student visas. They were released without charge but now await deportation.
Immediately after the arrests, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown had said Pakistan "has to do more to root out terrorist elements in its country". Wajid Shamsul Hasan, the Pakistani high commissioner in London, had retaliated by saying that the problem was "at your end".
Dr Gosling said in December last year he sent details of students who had obtained bogus visas to the British High Commission in Islamabad but was still waiting for a response. "The high commission is either turning a blind eye or just cannot cope with violations of visa protocol by local students. They do not appear to have taken my complaints seriously and have not responded to my specific requests to investigate these students since last December."
"When officials in Islamabad realise that something has gone wrong they try to cover up for the sake of the people involved. But the system appears to be a mess."
Gosling last autumn interviewed a student who admitted that he and a friend had gone to Britain under false pretences. He asked the high commission to investigate their cases.
Gosling said he knew many of the people at the high commission and believed that it was no longer functioning properly. "There do seem to be major problems in Islamabad. Many of the staff are now working in Abu Dhabi because of the regularity of bomb threats. We have bomb threats at our college as well, but we ignore them," he said. "I am concerned about these few fraudulent cases because I want to see the good students going to Britain and the bad ones held back."
He said he had decided to speak out because the Pakistan high commissioner was roundly condemned by ministers last week for pointing the finger at the British High Commission.
In a statement to the House of Commons, Jacqui Smith, the British home secretary, admitted that the students from Pakistan had been interviewed only by telephone by officials based in Abu Dhabi. One of those entered with forms that were not properly filled out.
Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary, told Observer that Pakistan and other countries from which potential terrorists regularly try to enter Britain would be placed on an international blacklist.
But Dr Brian Iddon, vice-chairman of the parliamentary all-party group on Pakistan, warned: "I don't want knee-jerk reactions. America tightened its controls and the academic institutions regretted it. I don't think we should tighten it up to the point where they start going to other countries. ... There are future benefits in terms of trade and the economy. We have to be very careful we are not over the top."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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I'll note it's not a very far drop from that particular apple tree.
[Beirut Daily Star: Region] The third son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has been assigned to the country's all-powerful National Defense Commission, a possible sign that he is being groomed as his father's successor, a news report said Sunday. Kim, who has ruled the North with absolute authority since his father's death in 1994, has three known sons by two women but has not publicly anointed any of them as his successor. Speculation on who is to succeed the 67-year-old leader has grown since Kim reportedly suffered a stroke in August.
On Sunday, Yonhap news agency reported Kim's youngest son, 26-year-old Kim Jong Un, took up a low-level post at the defense commission, several days before the country's rubber-stamp Parliament reappointed the senior Kim as the commission's chairman on April 9.
Under the North's Constitution, the defense commission is the top government body and Kim Jong Il has ruled the country in his capacity as its chairman. He also is the top official in the powerful Workers' Party and supreme army commander.
At this month's closely watched parliamentary session, Kim Jong Il looked thinner and grayer and was limping slightly.
It was Kim's first major public appearance since his reported stroke but proved that he remains in charge of the communist North.
Yonhap, citing unidentified sources it says are privy to North Korean affairs, reported the third son is expected to assume the defense commission's higher-level posts step by step in preparation to succeed his father.
The National Intelligence Service - South Korea's main spy agency - said it was aware of the Yonhap report but could not confirm it.
Little is known about Kim Jong Un except that he studied at the International School of Bern in Switzerland. Kim Jong Il's former sushi chef says in a 2003 memoir that the son looks and acts just like his father and is the leader's favorite.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#3
In my dreams someone would get a chef on the Kim sushi chef team to "mishandle" the Pufferfish rolls and poison the Kims. Pufferfish is deadlier than cyanide when handled without a license. ;-)
#4
ION CHINA WORLD MIL FORUM > IIUC TO DEAL WITH US MILITARY FORCES BASED ON GUAM, CHINA ENGAGES IN "FRENZIED" [escalatory] DEDICATED DEVELOPMENT OF MEDIUM-RANGED BALLISTIC MISSLES. SUCH MISSLES WILL ALSO PROTRECT CHINA FROM US MILITARY FORCES IN JAPAN AND AGZ THE US AIRCRAFT CARRIER; + CHINA MUST PREEMPTIVELY USE ITS LONG-RANGE MISSLES TO QUICKLY DESTROY JAPAN [ + South Korea], THE US AIRCRAFT CARRIER(S) AND ENEMY STRATEGIC AIR FORCES, iff to survive or win agz the US in major war; + CHINA KEEPS APPROXIMATELY 300 NUCLEAR WARHEADS PERMANENTLY AIMED/TARGETED AGZ JAPAN; + CHINA TO BUILD 28,000-TON HELICOPTER CARRIER.
Also from WMF > CHINA'S STRATEGIC MILITARY STRIKE CAPABILITIES AGZ THE USA, RUSSIA, AND JAPAN WILL IMPROVE ALSO AS IT CONTINUES MAKING IMPROVEMENTS IN TEHCNOLOGY.
[Maghrebia] Authorities in the Canadian port of Halifax found five Moroccan and two Algerian illegal immigrants hiding on a Swedish cargo ship arriving from Antwerp, Belgium, Echorouk reported on Saturday (April 25th). The stowaways, all young men in their twenties, were taken into custody on Thursday night. Border officials are conducting interviews to determine whether to deport them or allow them to begin a refugee claim process, Canadian press reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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LONDON (AP) -- The United States is "relatively close" to making decisions on what to do with an initial group of Guantanamo Bay detainees, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Sunday.
Holder spoke to The Associated Press during a flight to London, the first of several stops where he will visit with European leaders to discuss terrorism, drugs, and cyber-crime. The attorney general did not say how much longer he thought it would take to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba. Before officials can meet President Barack Obama's January deadline, the U.S. must first decide which detainees to put on trial and which to release to the U.S. or other countries.
Holder said the first step is to decide how many total detainees will be set free. "We're doing these all on a rolling basis," he said. "I think we're probably relatively close to making some calls."
After eight years in which the previous Bush administration alienated European nations over issues like the Iraq war and Guantanamo Bay, the Obama administration is trying to strengthen those ties. "I don't think they're looking for as much of American leadership as a partnership," said Holder.
Is that what they call it when they leave you holding the bag?
The Obama administration is edging toward taking some Guantanamo prisoners to the U.S., most likely to Virginia. They are Chinese Muslims known as Uighurs, and their supporters say they never should have been at Guantanamo in the first place.
Republicans in Congress say Guantanamo should remain in operation and are mobilizing to fight the release of detainees into the United States.
Against that backdrop, Holder hoped to reassure skeptical Europeans without generating too much public opposition back home. After meetings in London and Prague, the attorney general is to give a speech Wednesday night in Berlin about Guantanamo.
Austria's interior minister, Maria Fekter, has insisted her country would not take any prisoners. "If the detainees are no longer dangerous, why don't they stay in the U.S.?" she asked.
Good point. We'll remind you of this next time you need our help.
Simon Koschut, an associate fellow with the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin, spoke of the difficulty facing Holder in trying to find a consensus among European leaders. "In Germany, many are asking why America isn't taking care of its own business. If you started it, you ought to finish it," Koschut said.
Ditto to you, Germany. Sure hope the Fulda Gap doesn't need defending any time in the next century.
Several European nations, including Portugal and Lithuania, have said they will consider taking such detainees. Others are less interested and don't want their neighbors to accept any prisoners either, because of the ease of travel within the European Union.
In some nations are internal divisions. Germany's foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has raised the possibility his country could take detainees, arguing that the camp's closure should not fail because the prisoners have nowhere to go. But Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has said the detainees are primarily a U.S. responsibility.
Given that debate, that's all the more reason, say some, for the U.S. to release some Guantanamo prisoners in the U.S. as quickly as possible to generate good will.
And never mind if any of them travel to Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistain to kill Western soldiers.
Any country that takes [the Uighurs] is likely to anger Beijing. "No one else is going to do it. No one else is going to take that heat when they didn't create the problem. So we have to do it," said Sabin Willet, a lawyer for the Uighurs. "They need to unlock the door soon."
Some Republicans, though, want to keep the doors bolted. "There is reason to believe (the Uighurs) are not as peaceful or as nonthreatening as the administration seems to be suggesting," said New York Rep. Peter King, the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee.
All it takes is for one of them -- one -- to commit a crime after being released and Holder will be gone as AG. He ought to know that.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Actually I sympathize with the Euro's, why should they catch the falling knife that Obama and Holder have dropped?
#3
they are from china..yes..send them back to china and let the euro back stabbers wine....and when they are shot by the commies blame europe for not supporting the lefty cause...
Posted by: Dan ||
04/27/2009 13:40 Comments ||
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#4
It appears some people still do not grasp the difference between USA and Obambia.
Criminal acts by released Chinese Uighur detainees may not get Holder fired, but it will be one more chink of dissatisfaction in the growing edifice of the People's Republic of Obambia.
#5
Well, these Uighurs were just innocent kids off on a mountain holiday in Afghanistan when the evil Americans scooped them up and tortured them for the fun of it for years in Gitmo. If they commit crimes now, who can blame them after all the torture and other distress they suffered?
/sarcasm
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
04/27/2009 17:28 Comments ||
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#6
It seems like this wouldn't be the AGs decision unless BO has made a decision that these cases are to be tried in the U.S. court system rather than the military system. That means they will have to stuff them somewhere in the criminal justice system in the U.S. while awaiting trial. That means more taxpayer costs until these cases work their way through the system. Why not just shoot them and then issue an apology (snark).
[Geo News] NWFP Information Minister Mian Muhammad Iftikhar has denounced the reports citing military operations in Lower Dir instead, he said, the security forces are retaliating militancy in Dir. Talking to Geo news Mian Iftikhar said Dar-ul-Qaza will be established in Malakand before expectations and vowed to keep effective the peace accord in Swat. He was of the view that those militants who are ambushing security forces wish to disrupt Swat peace accord. "There is no reason to resort to arms after the implementation of Nizam-e-Adl in Swat", he remarked.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Director General (DG) ISPR, Maj Gen Athar Abbas has said there are some groups of Taliban which are not under the control of Maulana Sufi Muhammad and Maulana Fazlullah and these groups are creating problems. Maj Gen Athar Abbas said this in an interview with a British news agency here Sunday. He held government and army was trying its best to abide by peace deal hoping certain problems related to peace accord would be sorted out and the militants would lay down their arms and stop the war.
Dispelling the fears about Taliban attack on Islamabad he said it was impossible for a group of 200 hundreds Taliban which had come from Swat to Bunir to do so. It was doubtless to say Bunir was located within the radius of 100 miles but a threat is adjudged through ability and potential rather than distance, he added. Law enforcement agencies personnel were present in Islamabad in large number and it was ridiculous to say that Taliban were posing any threat to Islamabad. There were not more than 50 Taliban in district Bunir who were recruited by Taliban of Swat and they had left them behind after their pull out from Bunir, he remarked. They have to lay down their arms after the accord, he observed. Security forces would expel them if they continued to create problems, he underlined.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
It depends on whether the Pak army/ISI give them the go ahead!!!!
#2
Not to bust the local GUBBBERMINT'S BUBBLE but many of the Mil Forum Boyz are NOT convinced Pakist can survive without US andor International Milecon Assistance.
E.g. PAKISTANI DEFENSE FORUMS > MUSLIM UNITED ARMY [new MULTI-ISLAMIST =ANTO=GOVT. COALITION].
[Geo News] Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Sunday that the elements like Maulana Sufi Muhammad want to promote extremist ideology in Islamabad. Talking to media after administering oath to newly-elect office-bearers of Cable Operators Associations here he observed that Maulana Sufi Muhammad in his public address had challenged the parliament, the Supreme Court and high courts. But media portrayed him as a hero by live telecasting his speech, which is unfortunate, he added. The government had no objection on media coverage of the Maulana but media should not have deemed Sufi Muhammad as a hero, he added. Prolonging the demands list by Sufi Muhammad would prove detrimental for the country, he said. Kaira stressed the need for discouraging the way of force and rudeness to pull the country out of the prevailing crises.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said on Sunday that the provincial government was aware of fresh offensive against militants in Lower Dir. Talking to Geo TV, he said that security forces were sent to Lower Dir to examine the situation. However, militants ambushed a forces' convoy, forcing them to retaliate. Â"How could security forces remain silent after being attacked?Â" he questioned. The minister said that his government was aware of an offensive launched to flush out militants from Lower Dir. And added that operation would not affect the enforcement of Nizam-e-Adl Regulation in Malakand region. Hussain added that there was no justification left for Taliban to pick up arms after the approval of the regulation.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] The US has rejected Islamabad's allegations that Indian agents were sneaking into Pakistan's insurgency-hit Baluchistan province from Afghanistan.
US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, said in an interview on Sunday that New Delhi was not using Kabul to destabilize Pakistan.
"Pakistan does not have to worry about Indians in Afghanistan. It has to worry about miscreants in western Pakistan," Holbrooke said.
Some senior officials in Islamabad say that New Delhi has deployed hundreds in Kandahar and other cities in Afghanistan to support insurgents in Pakistan's volatile southwestern province.
Earlier, Pakistan's Interior Ministry Chief, Rehman Malik, had said that Islamabad holds solid evidence of Indian involvement in its troubled Baluchistan province that borders Afghanistan.
Relations between New Delhi and Islamabad have gone from bad to worse since alleged Pakistani militants targeted several sites across India's port city of Mumbai last November, killing 179 people and injuring hundreds more.
Hundreds of people have died in insurgent violence in Baluchistan since 2004. Baluch nationalists have for decades campaigned for greater autonomy and control of the province's gas resources.
Taliban militants fighting in Afghanistan also operate out of Baluchistan but they have no links with the province's nationalists.
Baluchistan is Pakistan's largest province in terms of area but its population is the smallest and the poorest.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Another case of good taliban/bad taliban!!!
Good taliban guard the western border for the pak army/ISI.Bad Taliban are the ones who want to overtake Pakistan and are sponsored by India/USA in their eyes!!!
#2
if India didn't attack them after the terorist struck in Mumbai then i don;t think you have too worry about them attacking with no warning any time soon.
[Associated Press of Pakistan] Advisor to Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik said Taliban have unveiled their nefarious designs by killing innocent people and children through a toy bomb blast in Lower Dir. In a statement, Rehman Malik said the masses cannot bear more such unwanted elements in the country which compelled the government to take strict action against them.
Taliban on the name of Islam prepare children for suicide attacks and kill the innocent people.
Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari have strongly condemned the incidents and issued directives to prob into the incident.
Rehman Malik appealed the parents in NWFP to warn their children not to take any eatable or toy from unidentified person.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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ISPR Director General Maj Gen Athar Abbas has said that certain splinter groups are not even under the control of the Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and "these are the groups creating problems".
Abbas, however, told a foreign television channel on Sunday that the government was confident of implementing the Swat peace deal. He rubbished as baseless reports that the Taliban could also enter Islamabad. "It is impossible for a group of 200 Taliban, who have come to Buner from Swat, to storm Islamabad despite its close proximity to Buner district. No doubt, Buner is situated within a radius of 100 miles of the federal capital ... [but] the threat cannot be measured in terms of distance, rather it has to be measured in terms of counter capabilities," he said, adding that it would be ridiculous to say that the Taliban were a threat to Islamabad.
He claimed that there were no more than 50 Taliban in Buner district. "They were recruited by the Swat Taliban, who left them behind after ... they left Buner," he added. He said the security forces would flush out those left in Buner if they created further problems.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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[Associated Press of Pakistan] Going beyond the repeated assertions of "do more" by the West and the United States in the war against terrorism, President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday said it was time to get together and strengthen each other to be able to achieve more. "It is time to bring to their attention that let us get together and strengthen each other to able to achieve more...., Do more is not the answer. Achievement is the answer. Do more is just a statement", the President said in an interview with PTV telecast on Sunday night.
President Zardari said during his forthcoming visit to the United States he will talk to the US leadership on this issue and ask them "let us get together and talk about achieving more".
The President said his dialogue with the US leadership will focus on the point that what was their progress in Afghanistan during the last eight years.
President Zardari said he will tell the US leadership that Pakistan has been with the US during the last eight years, supported them and still wanted to be with them. "What we have done, see your weaknesses as well as ours," he added.
He said Pakistan has suffered a lot due to war on terror, which has its roots in the cold war era as well as the campaign launched against the occupation of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union in early 1980s.
The President said all this situation created the heroine and Kalashnikov culture, which badly affected Pakistan socially and economically.
"We have law, institutions, courts, but we have also weaknesses. Our population was growing at 3.6%. And if we would not have had this war on terror, our exports would have been at $ 80 billion per annum", he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I do not know how to tell this: There are many horrible stupid ding-a-lings in our Pentagon and the state department with no learning curve. These are the people who were very wrong about Iran to the last minute and again now to the stupidest level about Pakistan. Folks get on to the contingency plan as fast as you could for Pakistan will turn in-to worst than Iran for us very soon. How many times you need to step on the shit and never learn.
Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar has said that the government's peace deal with the Taliban in the Swat valley is 'intact' despite the launch of a military operation in Lower Dir on Sunday. Babar said the military's offensive in Lower Dir did not void the pact. Lower Dir is part of Malakand division, which is covered by the agreement. A military statement said the operation had already killed 'scores' of Taliban.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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The government has no option but to take action against the Taliban, Interior Adviser Rehman Malik said on Sunday. Malik said citizens "cannot bear such unwanted elements in the country that compel the government to take action against them". Taliban prepare children for suicide attacks in the name of Islam, he said, adding that the report of the blast in Lower Dir would be presented to the president and the prime minister soon.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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PML-N Secretary General Iqbal Zafar Jhagra has said his party had backed the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation in Swat for peace and it is the responsibility of Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-Muhammadi chief Sufi Muhammad to disarm Taliban, a private TV channel reported on Sunday. According to the channel, Jhagra told reporters after a party meeting in Peshawar that the PML-N supported the enforcement of the regulation and urged the government to take urgent measures for its early implementation.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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TNSM spokesman Izatt Khan has said that the operation by security forces in Lower Dir is a 'violation' of the Swat peace deal. Talking to a private TV channel, the spokesman claimed that the house and a seminary owned by TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad had also been damaged in the operation. He said, "The government is responsible for this damage." Troops launched the offensive in Lower Dir early on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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LONDON: Former President Pervez Musharraf has said that most of the 'missing persons' went 'missing' on their own. 'They had joined various factions of jihadi outfits including Taliban without informing their families. Many had gone into Indian Kashmir to participate in Jihad and many went to Afghanistan to fight on the side of Taliban. Most were brainwashed.'
The former chief of the Pakistani Army, General Musharraf while participating in Aljazeera's David Frost Show on Friday night rejected the perception that the Army and the ISI were somehow involved in making people disappear and said that Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry would finally come up with nothing in the case.
Answering a question on how he felt about the current situation in Pakistan he said he felt sad, despondent at whatever is happening in Pakistan today, 'Pakistan is suffering.'
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD On April 18, American and British officials from a secretive unit called the Force Strategic Engagement Cell flew to Jordan to try to persuade one of Saddam Husseins top generals the commander of the final defense of Baghdad in 2003 to return home to resume efforts to make peace with the new Iraq.
But the Iraqi commander, Lt. Gen. Raad Majid al-Hamdani, rebuffed them.
After a year of halting talks mediated by the Americans, he said, he concluded that Iraqs leader, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, simply was not interested in reconciliation.
The American appeal described by General Hamdani and not previously reported illustrates what could become one of the biggest obstacles to stability in Iraq. Mr. Malikis pledges to reconcile with some of the most ardent opponents of his government have given way to what some say is a hardening sectarianism that threatens to stoke already simmering political tensions and rising anger over a recent spate of bombings aimed at Shiites.
On March 28, Mr. Malikis Shiite-led government arrested a prominent Sunni leader on charges of heading a secret armed wing of Mr. Husseins Baath Party. A week later, the prime minister accused Baathists of orchestrating car bombings that killed more than 40 people. On Monday, he lashed out again, saying the Baath Party was filled with hate from head to toe.
Mr. Malikis earlier effort to reunite the country was one of Washingtons primary benchmarks for measuring political progress in Iraq. The goal was to separate Baathist opponents of the government who were considered more willing to trade violence for political power from intractable extremists, many of them religious.
Early last year, under intense American pressure, Mr. Maliki pushed through Parliament a law to ease restrictions on the return of Baath Party members to public life. But 15 months later, the law has yet to be put into effect.
Mr. Malikis retreat risks polarizing Iraqis again and eroding hard-fought security gains. One hundred sixty people died in bombings on Thursday and Friday alone. There is no evidence that Baathists were involved, but fears are rising that they and jihadi insurgents are increasingly cooperating in areas, Baghdad especially, that have been largely quiet over the last year.
Mr. Maliki has changed his tone despite American pressure to reconcile with some officials under Mr. Hussein, most of them Sunni Arabs.
He is no different from the political and religious leaders who are driven by emotions and animosity toward anything related to the past, General Hamdani said of Mr. Maliki, in a written response to questions about his talks with the government.
The administration seeks changes that would permit aid to Palestinians even if officials backed by Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist group, become part of a unified Palestinian government.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Israel is extorting information about resistance groups in the Gaza Strip from Palestinian patients in exchange for medical treatment, Hamas claims.
Hamas Health Minister Dr. Bassem Naim on Sunday claimed that Tel Aviv is providing medical treatment to Palestinian patients in exchange for intelligence about the resistance operatives and figures in Gaza, Ynet reported Sunday.
Naim made the remarks in a meeting with a Scottish delegation who brought medical supplies and drug contributions to the besieged strip. He said patients who refused to cooperate were not allowed to cross over for treatment in Israel. Sick Palestinians are questioned for hours in the sun before being subjected to a humiliating physical search, Naim told the Scotts.
He also accused the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank city of Ramallah of collaborating with Israel and exacerbating the long-running blockade on the coastal territory.
Some 324 Palestinian patients have reportedly died because they were denied access to medical treatment in Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Oh, yeah? Well, I heard it was 324,000 Palestinians that died, that they were made to stand in the hot sun for days before being subjected to humiliating physical searches and they were forced to eat rancid falafel before being denied medical care.
Those mooks at PressTV are starting to slack off. I suggest they import some highly trained Nork PR spinmeisters to give their stuff some (sea of) fire.
[Beirut Daily Star: Region] Rival delegations from Palestinian President Mahmoud AbbasŽ Fatah party and the Islamist Hamas movement were in Cairo on Sunday for a new round of reconciliation talks already deemed ŽŽdifficult.ŽŽ The two delegations were expected to meet separately with Egyptian security officials ahead of three-way talks on Monday with intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#5
There are more pix of "Army Day" at the link. You'll note it was "subdued", I s'pose 'cos they were all nervously looking at the sky for the Juicewaffe.
#6
Damned. Iranians have wookies. We're doomed ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/27/2009 12:13 Comments ||
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#7
We were greeted by some clown in a gilly suit this weekend at a shooting range outside of Allentown. I guess he was worried about the clay pigeons returning fire or something.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/27/2009 12:23 Comments ||
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#8
I know the islamists forbid shaving, but this is getting ridiculous.
Posted by: ed ||
04/27/2009 18:43 Comments ||
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#9
Relax, they're humans in suits. On real bigfeet those boots would be waaaaaayyyyyyy too tight.
[Bangla Daily Star] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said it would be "fine with us" if the Palestinians reach a "two state" peace deal with Israel, despite his opposition to the "racist" Jewish nation.
The firebrand leader, in an interview broadcast Sunday with US network ABC, appeared unhappy with President Barack Obama's failure to return a message of greetings and said nuclear negotiations could only proceed with a clear agenda.
After triggering a storm with anti-Israel remarks at a UN racism conference in Geneva, Ahmadinejad attacked Obama's "support of the massacre of Gazans, in support for the criminals who were responsible for that atrocity."
But having previously called for Israel to be "wiped off the map," he appeared to hold out a potential olive branch in backing the Palestinians' right to pursue a deal for statehood alongside Iran's arch-enemy.
"Whatever decision they take is fine with us. We are not going to determine anything. Whatever decision they take, we will support that," Ahmadinejad said through an interpreter in the interview, which was taped Wednesday in Tehran.
"We think that this is the right of the Palestinian people, however we fully expect other states to do so as well," Ahmadinejad said, without saying whether Iran might recognize the Jewish nation as part of a "two state" agreement.
At the same time, Ahmadinejad stood by his speech in Geneva, which prompted a walkout by European diplomats. The United States and Israel boycotted the conference, where the Iranian leader launched a new verbal attack on the Jewish state.
Attacking Obama's decision to stay away and his subsequent condemnation of the speech, Ahmadinejad said the US president "has the right to have his own opinion."
"But the Geneva conference had been organized to combat racism, to oppose racism. My point of view is that the Zionist regime is the manifestation of racism," he told ABC.
The Iranian president said meanwhile it was up to the United States to take the lead in negotiations on his regime's nuclear ambitions.
"Iran and US relations are dependent on the decision taken by the US administration.
"Mr Obama sends us messages of friendship, but in the communique issued by the '5+1', enmity can be seen," he said, referring to nuclear talks involving the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.
"So this is a dual route, if you will."
After three decades of diplomatic deep freeze, Obama has called for direct engagement with Iran over testy issues including its nuclear drive, which Western powers fear could be a cover for efforts to build an atomic bomb.
Ahmadinejad said he had received criticism at home for sending his message of congratulations on Obama's election. "Nevertheless, I did that. I am yet to receive a response."
Asked if Iran was ready to talk to the United States without preconditions, he said: "No, no.
"We should just have a clear-cut framework for talks," he said. "The agenda should be clear."
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told US lawmakers last week that the United States was preparing for "very tough sanctions" against Iran if the new US overtures to Tehran fail.
Earlier this month, Ahmadinejad said Tehran would offer a new package to the world powers for the nuclear negotiations.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Here's a juicy story: Panic erupted over the weekend in Teheran after Iranian authorities were horrified to discover that citrus fruit being snatched up by buyers across the capital were marked as Israeli-grown Jaffa sweeties.
It was later discovered, however, that the "sweeties" were likely Chinese fruit fraudulently marketed as the prestigious Israeli product.
Two Iranian press agencies reported Sunday that citrus with stickers bearing the words "Jaffa sweetie Israel PO" had appeared in Teheran, but that the suspicious fruit had been packed in boxes that clearly said "Product of China."
Nevertheless, Teheran immediately responded to the "Zionist" infiltration.
According to Iran-based Press TV, Hossen Safaie, the head of the Fruit and Vegetable Distribution Center of Teheran, expressed his hope that the lawbreakers would be brought to justice and that "his organization will not allow those who want to make a profit ignore the Iranian citizens' religious and revolutionary learning."
Press TV also reported that Deputy Iranian Commerce Minister Mohammad Sadeq Mofatteh had offered a 1 trillion Iranian rial prize to anyone who could prove that his ministry had issued a permit for the import of the offensive fruit.
He added that "rogue elements" may have labeled the citrus as Israeli in order "to disgrace the ruling government."
Later in the day, after Israel denied lobbing any fruit in Teheran's direction, it emerged that the "made in China" stamp on the boxes was likely the more accurate label.
The Jaffa sweetie, a pomelo-grapefruit hybrid, is popular in world markets due to its taste, low seed count and easy-to-remove peel.
This is not the first time that Chinese producers have allegedly placed misleading labels on produce to make it more appealing to international buyers - although in this case, it may go down as the first marketing mistake to (almost) create a diplomatic dust-up.
In fact, Israeli fruit routinely makes its way to places where Israelis themselves fear to tread.
In recent years, apples grown by Druse farmers on the Golan Heights have made their way across the UN-run Kuneitra checkpoint and been sold in Syria and even Saudi Arabia, with the proceeds returning to the Golan agrarians.
And that is just the tip of the fruity iceberg.
According to Israel Fruit Growers' Association chairman Ilan Eshel, dozens of tons of fruit goes through the IDF crossings into the Gaza Strip every year. And Israeli-grown avocados, persimmons and bananas are routinely sold to buyers in Jordan, from where - stickers removed - they reach customers in Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Eshel remarked that occasionally the fruit (and yes, the avocado is a fruit) encounters resistance from anti-Israel elements, but buyers are more than willing to close the deals.
"I think that economics are stronger than animosity, and when people want necessary goods - or even goods a bit beyond the bare necessities - they discover that ideology is less of a factor," said Eshel.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Morons. Couldn't be Israel. If they were, they'd have little numbered labels that looked like a kipa.
#2
Mob: "Hey, dis orange says it's from da Zionist entity! Are you tryin' ta poison us?" Mullah: "Calm, people! Calm! We have discovered that the fruit is not the product of the Little Satan." Mob: "No?" Mullah: "No! Instead it's a melanine-laden Chinese orange!" Mob: "Oh, dat's different! Hurray! Death to all juice!"
#5
I'm shocked, shocked I tell you, that the perfidious Juice would use the innocent fruity goodness of oranges to sap and impurify the precious bodily fluids of innocent, unsuspecting Iranians. And then when their dastardly deed is discovered, they try to blame it on the melamine-encrusted Chinese whose precious bodily fluids have already been sapped and impurified by years of Communism and industrial pollution. P.O.E
[Beirut Daily Star: Region] Israel's foreign minister said Sunday that he was willing to sit down immediately with Syria to talk peace if there would be no preconditions, just days after saying that Damascus was not a partner for peace. Syria recently said it would be willing to resume indirect peace talks with the new Israeli government as long as they focused on a complete withdrawal from the Golan Heights.
"I'd be glad to negotiate with Syria this evening, but without preconditions," Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israel Radio. "They say, first go back to '67 lines and give up the Golan. If we agree to that, what is there to negotiate?" he said.
In an interview with the Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung published this weekend, Lieberman said he "cannot see Syria as a genuine partner to any sort of agreement" because of its links with Iran and support for anti-Israel groups such as Hizbullah and Hamas.
Israel's new prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is still formulating his government's foreign policy. But he and Lieberman both have said they would not be willing to cede the territory Syria wants.
Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem refused to comment on Lieberman's remarks. "I do not comment on the remarks of one person in Israel, I comment on a stance the Israeli government has pledged to make toward the peace process," Moallem said.
"They [the Israelis] know exactly what the requirements for peace are." Moallem spoke at a joint press conference in Damascus with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi.
Yang Jiechi, who wrapped up a regional Middle East visit in Damascus on Sunday, said Israel should return the Golan Heights to Syria. "China supports Syria's efforts to recover the Golan," he said.
Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Assad insisted on the return of the Golan Heights but said he could not foresee peace talks with Israel anytime soon. "What counts in the end is that there is occupied territory that must be returned to Syria, and then we can talk about peace," Assad told the newspaper Die Presse, ahead of a visit to Austria Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/27/2009 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.
Jihadist leader in Yemen, Tariq Al-Fadhli is arming youth particularly jobless people in the southern province of Abyan, in a move which comes as south is bracing for an April 27 festival. Al-Fadhli, a founder of the Jihad group in the country and who has recently announced he was joining the Southern Mobility, promised a surprise for the youth after the festival.
[Maghrebia] Authorities in the Canadian port of Halifax found five Moroccan and two Algerian illegal immigrants hiding on a Swedish cargo ship arriving from Antwerp, Belgium, Echorouk reported on Saturday (April 25th). The stowaways, all young men in their twenties, were taken into custody on Thursday night. Border officials are conducting interviews to determine whether to deport them or allow them to begin a refugee claim process, Canadian press reported.
LONDON (AP) -- The United States is "relatively close" to making decisions on what to do with an initial group of Guantanamo Bay detainees, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Sunday.
[Geo News] Director General (DG) ISPR, Maj Gen Athar Abbas has said there are some groups of Taliban which are not under the control of Maulana Sufi Muhammad and Maulana Fazlullah and these groups are creating problems. Maj Gen Athar Abbas said this in an interview with a British news agency here Sunday. He held government and army was trying its best to abide by peace deal hoping certain problems related to peace accord would be sorted out and the militants would lay down their arms and stop the war. 
[Geo News] Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Sunday that the elements like Maulana Sufi Muhammad want to promote extremist ideology in Islamabad. Talking to media after administering oath to newly-elect office-bearers of Cable Operators Associations here he observed that Maulana Sufi Muhammad in his public address had challenged the parliament, the Supreme Court and high courts. But media portrayed him as a hero by live telecasting his speech, which is unfortunate, he added. The government had no objection on media coverage of the Maulana but media should not have deemed Sufi Muhammad as a hero, he added. Prolonging the demands list by Sufi Muhammad would prove detrimental for the country, he said. Kaira stressed the need for discouraging the way of force and rudeness to pull the country out of the prevailing crises.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The US has rejected Islamabad's allegations that Indian agents were sneaking into Pakistan's insurgency-hit Baluchistan province from Afghanistan. 
[Associated Press of Pakistan] Going beyond the repeated assertions of "do more" by the West and the United States in the war against terrorism, President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday said it was time to get together and strengthen each other to be able to achieve more. "It is time to bring to their attention that let us get together and strengthen each other to able to achieve more...., Do more is not the answer. Achievement is the answer. Do more is just a statement", the President said in an interview with PTV telecast on Sunday night. 
TNSM spokesman Izatt Khan has said that the operation by security forces in Lower Dir is a 'violation' of the Swat peace deal. Talking to a private TV channel, the spokesman claimed that the house and a seminary owned by TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad had also been damaged in the operation. He said, "The government is responsible for this damage." Troops launched the offensive in Lower Dir early on Sunday.
LONDON: Former President Pervez Musharraf has said that most of the 'missing persons' went 'missing' on their own. 'They had joined various factions of jihadi outfits including Taliban without informing their families. Many had gone into Indian Kashmir to participate in Jihad and many went to Afghanistan to fight on the side of Taliban. Most were brainwashed.'
[Beirut Daily Star: Region] Rival delegations from Palestinian President Mahmoud AbbasŽ Fatah party and the Islamist Hamas movement were in Cairo on Sunday for a new round of reconciliation talks already deemed ŽŽdifficult.ŽŽ The two delegations were expected to meet separately with Egyptian security officials ahead of three-way talks on Monday with intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.
