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Israeli Navy escorts Gaza-bound activist boat to Ashdod
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
Taliban leaders have reached out to reconcile, says Petraeus
[Pak Daily Times] Top Taliban leaders have made overtures to reconcile with the Afghan government, the top commander in Afghanistan said on Monday.

Afghanistan President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai had long said that he would talk to bully boyz if they renounce violence, sever ties to cut-throats and embrace the Afghan constitution. Publicly, the taliban have said they won't negotiate with the government until foreign troops leave Afghanistan, yet there are many indications that backdoor discussions have occurred. "There are very high-level Taliban leaders who have sought to reach out to the highest levels of the Afghan government and indeed have done that," General David Petraeus told news hounds.
I imagine we'll be hearing that said unnamed high-level Taliban leaders have been arrested by Pakistan, to keep them from wandering so far off the reservation. It's happened before, after all, and is just the kind of thing the Pakistanis consider the height of byzantine cleverness.
Posted by: Fred || 09/28/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  The Taliban are simply no match for seasoned military leader and strategist Obama. Peace should be breaking out at any moment now.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/28/2010 0:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Can we please just cut a deal with these guys and get the hell out of that cesspool! A-stan is nothing but a bottomless pit and a terrible place to fight. There is no upside to our staying there. Save lives and money now...get out!
Posted by: remoteman || 09/28/2010 0:38 Comments || Top||

#3  @ #2 it's exactly your attitude that the terrorists are counting on.
I say we stay the course and f*ck the terrorists up real bad.
If it were me, I would order up a hundred drone attacks a day.
And fight the war under WWII rules of engagement.

Win and leave!
Posted by: Mike Hunt || 09/28/2010 12:08 Comments || Top||

#4  Reconcile? Yeah. Right. I believe it.

I don't think the Taliban version of reconcile means the same thing as Petraeus thinks it means.
Posted by: gorb || 09/28/2010 13:33 Comments || Top||

#5  President Karzai broke down into tears today in regards to the condition of his country. So how's that "Taliban reaching out" thing workin for you Big Zero.
Posted by: wr || 09/28/2010 15:49 Comments || Top||

#6  Eh, <>i>Remote Man. Man? of little memory.

A reminder. Every time we took it too the enemy, only to cut and run during the past 25 years of war with Islamic radicals, they always followed us closer and closer back home to kick try to kick our #sses. Until they finally killed thousands one morning along the Eastern coast of the US of A simultaneously. You wanna run some more? Guess what, we now no longer have a secure country to run and hide in anymore.

America throughout the last couple hundred years has always been the super power good guy in a world full of bad guys who could stay in a fight until a victory. Our enemy now has been fighting people like us for say, maybe 1500 years. Their Mosques also happen to be springing up all over the place in the US and some guy who calls himself President of our country grew up one of them. So, where you gonna go now?
Posted by: Zebulon Unaish5931 || 09/28/2010 16:06 Comments || Top||

#7  heh - could all be Petraeus playing the Talibs. Next, he should say several #2's and #3's have surreptitiously held talks with the US forces
Posted by: Frank G || 09/28/2010 19:25 Comments || Top||


Africa North
France 'to seek Mali hostage talks'
[Al Jazeera] France could seek negotiations with a branch of al-Qaeda that seized five French nationals and two other foreigners in Mali earlier this month, a presidential aide has said.
It gives them something to do while the Special Forces quarter the desert for something to hunt.
"We are ready to talk to the kidnappers," a front man from the office of Nicolas Sarkozy said on Sunday, referring to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim).

The source, who was quoted by the AFP news agency, added that "we have every reason to think that the hostages are alive" and had been taken to Timetrine, a desert area near the Algerian border.

Members of Aqim seized the French nationals, along with a Togolese and a Madagascan, in a raid on September 16 on a uranium mining town in the deserts of northern Niger.

Earlier, a Malian source told AFP that he had seen the hostages and they were all alive. "They are even all able to stand up," he said. "Maximum discretion is needed. We are giving this information to reassure the families, but don't ask us any more."
On the other hand, it would be wise if the Malian source told the French Special Forces a great deal more, and quickly. The French have been known to take a different approach to such things.
Posted by: Fred || 09/28/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Africa Subsaharan
Another African feeding attempt ends in tragedy off Somali coast.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/28/2010 07:43 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Remember, Wednesday is Soylent Black Day!
Posted by: borgboy || 09/28/2010 14:51 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Yemeni Jihadist Leader Denies Involvement in Abyan Assassinations
[Asharq al-Aswat] Sheikh Khalid Abdul-Nabi, a prominent Yemeni jihadist leader and head of the banned Aden-Abyan Islamic Army, has denied any connection to the assassinations that have been taking place for the last three months in Abyan Governorate, in southern Yemen, which has targeted officers of the Political Security Agency (intelligence) and other security men.
"Don't hurt me!"
In a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, Abdul-Nabi said that these assassinations are "illogical" and that he does not specifically know the party or parties behind them. He added that these assassinations were "probably tribal or partisan vendetta. I do not know whether the Southern Mobility Movement [SMM] or the state was behind these assassinations."

Abdul-Nabi said that the Yemeni authorities have not accused him of involvement in these assassinations. Moreover, the jihadist leader denied reports that he received a large sum of money from the Abyan Governor, Ahmad al-Maysari, to mediate with several jihadist groups in Abyan to calm the situation as the date of the Gulf 20 soccer championships approaches. The Abyan Governorate and Aden will host these matches scheduled for November.
"A bribe?!? Pshaw! Perish the thought! The governor merely gave me a lovely gift for my birthday. He had to, you know -- we're second cousins twice over on my father's side, and first cousins on my mother's. That's why I have a third ear on the top of my head, like all my brothers. We have to wind our turbans extra tightly to cover it up."
Asked about the reasons for the proliferation of krazed killer groups in Abyan, where he lives in Ja'ar, the second largest city in Abyan, Abdul-Nabi said that the most important reasons are "the prevailing injustice, the plundering of the people's funds and the denial of their rights, lack of security, and bad judiciary, let alone the fact that the various aspects of life in Yemen are crippled."
But that's always been the essence of Yemen, practically since the Queen of Sheba's line died out.
Abdul-Nabi emphasized that "he has nothing to do with what is going on in Abyan. He added that the name of his army is consistent with the Islamic Shariaa and that the name of this army was heralded by Prophet Muhammad, may God's peace and blessings be upon him. He said that "no one can say he represents the army of Aden; when God wills, the army will inevitably emerge. As to when this will happen, only God knows."

Since his return from Afghanistan, Abdul-Nabi has lived in the Abyan Governorate. He was one of the most prominent jihadist leaders who fought alongside the then so-called "legitimate forces" during the civil war in Yemen in the summer of 1994 in which South Yemeni forces were defeated by the northern forces and their Islamist allies and other political and tribal forces. Over the past few years, sharp differences arose between him and the intelligence agencies in Abyan. He spoke publicly of those differences and reasserted that these differences have persisted because the state "took his money and broke the promises it made to him, along with other breaches."

In another development, Yemeni security sources announced that at dawn yesterday, the security forces succeeded in entering the Al-Hawtah town in the Mayfaah Distict in Shabwah Governorate more than a week after armed clashes with gunnies whom the Yemeni authorities said were affiliated to Al-Qaeda organization. Dr Brig Gen Ahmad Ali al-Maqdashi, the Shabwah security chief, said that the Yemeni forces and other special forces are currently pursuing the elements who decamped the Al-Hawtah to nearby mountains. According to the Yemeni Defense Ministry website, he said: "Our security forces are currently encircling these runaway elements in their dens in mountainous areas until they surrender to refer them to court to receive a fair punishment for the terrorist crimes they perpetrated."
Posted by: Fred || 09/28/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Saudi has Foiled 230 Terror Attacks: Minister
[Asharq al-Aswat] Saudi Arabia's interior minister said his country had foiled 230 planned terror attacks in recent years, with only 10 actually being carried out, local press reported on Monday.

"Saudi Arabia is tackling terrorism with all its might and authorities have so far been successful in foiling 230 of the 240 terrorist attempts," the Saudi Gazette quoted Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz as saying late on Sunday.

Naif, who is also second deputy prime minister did not specify the timeframe for the foiled attacks, but according to an interior ministry official, the number covers the period from 2003 to the present.

Speaking at the opening of The Saudi Moderate Approach conference at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Naif said extremism and terrorism were contrary to Islamic texts and traditions, the reports said.

"Terrorism has harmed our country and because of it we lost many of our sons," Naif said, according to Al-Riyadh daily.

"We have approached it in a moderate way such as giving advice to those who have turban thoughts to bring them back to their senses," he said.

"This has contributed, thanks to God, in reducing the damage of terrorism and losses in life and property."
Posted by: Fred || 09/28/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia

#1  hMMM. HMMM, wehell, IRAQ > is accusing the KSA of covertly supplying weapons to local Militants.

* ION YNETNEWS > JORDAN'S KING WARNS OF WAR BY YEAR'S END [settlement construx].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/28/2010 2:23 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
FBI Escorts Known Hamas Operative Through Top-Secret Counterterrorism Center as “Outreach
Posted by: tipper || 09/28/2010 07:51 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  My friends in the FBI tell me that they can't recognize their agency anymore. They see a profound level of obsequious Political Correctness that hinders terrorism cases.
Posted by: Jack Salami || 09/28/2010 8:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Who does FBI report to?
Who does DOJ report to?
Who does Eric Holder report to?
Who does Barak Hussein Obama report to?
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/28/2010 8:56 Comments || Top||

#3  it is not outreach, it is capitulation and collusion with terrorists by Obama.
Posted by: Zebulon Unaish5931 || 09/28/2010 9:25 Comments || Top||

#4  Abbas being sold out?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/28/2010 12:09 Comments || Top||

#5  #4 Abbas being sold out?

No USofA being sold out
Posted by: armyguy || 09/28/2010 12:46 Comments || Top||

#6  I need some Feds to escort me in an outreach program when I go to the local IRS office.
Posted by: borgboy || 09/28/2010 14:49 Comments || Top||

#7  Why are you surprised? They've been giving CAIR (also a close HamAss supporter) tours of counter-terrorism centers (and airport security centers) for years.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 09/28/2010 16:30 Comments || Top||

#8  Perhaps it's just part of the NASA progeram of outreach.
Posted by: Muggsy Glink || 09/28/2010 17:48 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Angry ex behind PIA plane bomb hoax: report
[Dawn] An angry ex-girlfriend called in the hoax bomb alert to Canadian police at the weekend that forced a Pakistain-bound plane to make an emergency landing in Stockholm, a Swedish newspaper reported Monday.
Someone speculated here about that the other day. I thought he was being awfully cynical, which goes to show.
A 28-year-old Canadian man was briefly jugged in connection with the allegations but then released without charge after no explosives were found aboard the plane, flying from Toronto to Karachi.

The cleared suspect was going to Pakistain to get married and his ex had called Canadian police warning he was carrying explosives because she was unhappy with their separation, tabloid Aftonbladet wrote.

"From what I understood, an ex came forward with the claim in connection with their separation. It was surely not a happy one," Stockholm police officer Haakan Westing, who could not be reached for comment Monday, told Aftonbladet.

"She had an evil eye on him," he said, adding that according to the cleared suspect's written statement he was going to get married in Pakistain.

Stockholm police front man Kjell Lindgren told AFP Monday the man was travelling to Pakistain "for personal reasons," but could not confirm he was going to get married or that an angry ex had tipped off Canadian authorities.

"It's a theory," was all he would say.

Lindgren said the man, who was detained but then released without charge after his plane had already left for Pakistain, was expected to leave Sweden Monday.
Posted by: Fred || 09/28/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Called it.

(Not that I've had angry ex-girlfriends, mind you - at least ones who called in saying I had explosives...)
Posted by: Pappy || 09/28/2010 9:22 Comments || Top||

#2  There he stands, ladies and gentlemen, one of my favourite cynics! Well called, Pappy.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/28/2010 18:20 Comments || Top||


US warned Pakistan after foiled Times Square attack: book
[Al Arabiya] The United States implied to Pakistain it would have had no choice but to hit terrorist havens in the country, had a New York car bomb plot succeeded in May, according to a new book published Monday.

Obama's national security advisor James Jones delivered a warning in person to Pak President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari just after the failed Times Square attack on May 1, according to journalist Bob Woodward in his new book.

Jones left Zardari in no doubt that Obama would have been forced to strike back had the bomb gone off, despite the anti-terror alliance between the new nations, Woodward said, in the book "Obama's Wars."

Obama sent Jones, Douglas Lute, his top White House aide on Pakistain and Afghanistan and CIA chief Leon Panetta to Islamabad after the failed attack for frank talks with Zardari and top Pak officials.

"The president wants everyone in Pakistain to understand if such an attack connected to a Pak group is successful, there are some things even he would not be able to stop," Jones was quoted as telling Zardari. "Just as there are political realities in Pakistain, there are political realities in the United States.

"No one will be able to stop the response and consequences. This is not a threat, just a statement of political fact," Woodward quoted Jones as saying, adding that the U.S. official warned "we are living on borrowed time."
And UAV missile strikes have been accelerating. Pray tell, where did all the targetting tips come from?
Posted by: Fred || 09/28/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good to see Bambi is eventually growing some balls in regard to Pakistan.

Please dont forget also Iran and the two faced saudis!
Posted by: Paul2 || 09/28/2010 12:49 Comments || Top||


Government denies US aid missing
[Pak Daily Times] In response to a news item published in a section of the press on September 25 alleging that $133 million in US aid to Pakistain was missing, Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh took stern notice of the issue and called for an immediate explanation on the matter, a press release said on Monday.
Maybe it fell between the cushions?
According to the press release, in pursuance of his direction, a meeting was convened by the Economic Affairs Division secretary on September 26, attended by Finance Special Secretary Robert Wilson, the USAID (Pakistain) director and the representatives of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, formerly NWFP, aka Terrorism Central government.

After due deliberations, the matter was clarified. The USAID representative clarified in the meeting that the observations referred to in the news item were based on the report of the USIAD inspector general and were meant for USAID internal controls and not for the government. He added that as of date, there were transparency issues in relation to the processes and distribution of US grant funds to the IDP and BISP beneficiaries.

"The amount of $133 million given in the press report is not correct. The actual amount received by the government is $129 million, which includes $44 million for IDP's and $85 million for the BISP. Both these amounts were released by USAID during the year 2009-10 after carrying out due diligence on the disbursement processes by independent auditors appointed by USAID," he said.

In the light of above clarification, the assertion 'Cash to Pakistain missing' is not correct. The US also indicated to issue a clarification to the Pak press on the issue to dispel the false impression.
Posted by: Fred || 09/28/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  It's not missing; it's just the 'commission' on the $1.3 billion aid package.
Posted by: Glenmore || 09/28/2010 7:25 Comments || Top||

#2  A Pakistani Fannie & Freddie...? Who knew!
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/28/2010 7:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Administrative costs?
Posted by: Pappy || 09/28/2010 9:26 Comments || Top||


Pakistan leaving no stone unturned to bring Aafia home
[Dawn] Pakistain said on Monday it would leave "no stone unturned" in trying to bring home a woman scientist sentenced to 86 years in jail by a US court.
Including taking hostages for trade, it seems. Such devotion to one of the great successes of their nation leads them to lengths no Western government would go.
A New York court on Thursday found Aafia Siddiqui, a once brilliant scientist dubbed "Lady Qaeda" by US tabloids, guilty of the attempted murder of US military officers in Afghanistan in 2008 -- five years after she disappeared.

"We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to bring her back. We are following both legal and political approaches to get her back," Interior Minister Rehman Malik told a news conference.

He added that the government was concerned about the 38-year old neuroscientist's mental and physical condition and was considering appealing on behalf of Siddiqui's mother and sister to President Barack B.O. Obama to pardon her.

"We are concerned about Dr Siddiqui's living conditions and we would like her not to be transferred to the federal prison," he said.
Nobody wants to be sent to the federal prison. That's why we have them.
"We are writing a letter to the US authorities to know about her health and mental condition."The case of Siddiqui, a mother of three who trained at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University, has been condemned across the nuclear-armed Mohammedan nation of 167 million.

Thousands of people staged protest rallies across the country on Friday demanding her release. The protesters chanted anti-US slogans and burned US flags and effigies of President Barack Obama.
Thousands? In Pakistan?? The professional protesters must have all been on vacation, even Rage Boy, who needs the money to support his wife and the little Ragelings.
Soon after the verdict the Pakistain government said it would petition Washington to secure her repatriation on humanitarian grounds.

"Our goal is to bring back Dr Siddiqui. They (her family) have asked us to take up the matter with the OIC (Organisation of the Islamic Conference) and the UN Secretary General," Malik said.
Posted by: Fred || 09/28/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  If State had a spine the response would be this:
1) First whine... warning
2) Second whine .. aid reduced by $1,000,000
3) Third whine ... aid reduced by $10,000,000 and a small ISI offices in Rawalpindi targeted by predators
4) fourth whine ... aid reduced by $100,000,000 and ISI HQ in Rawalpindi hit by a MOAB
5) Fifth whine ... all aid halted and all NUKE sites taken out with nukes.
Posted by: Water Modem || 09/28/2010 1:17 Comments || Top||

#2  NEWS KERALA > seems the US is claiming that PAKISTAN = ISLAMABAD FAILED TO RESPOND IN A REASONABLE OR TIMELY MANNER [one year]TO US REQUESTS/NEGOTIATIONS to formally send = extradite AAFIA back to her home country Pakistan???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/28/2010 1:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Is She the Female version of Dr Khan?

A Crook to the West but a hero in Pakistan!
Posted by: Paul2 || 09/28/2010 12:43 Comments || Top||

#4  Well, hell - since they asked so nicely, let's by all means send her back.

From 30,000 feet. Sans parachute (wouldn't want to mess up her dress with those ugly belts and straps).
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 09/28/2010 13:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Iranians love stones too...
Posted by: borgboy || 09/28/2010 15:02 Comments || Top||

#6  I think it is nice to see Muslims concerned about the well-being of a woman, but perhaps they do not realize is she is a person of the female persuasion.
Posted by: SteveS || 09/28/2010 20:16 Comments || Top||


Pakistain bitches, moans about NATO airstrikes
[Dawn] Pakistain on Monday corked out with NATO over air strikes by the alliance's helicopters on its territory near the Afghan border saying they violated a UN mandate, the foreign office said.

The attack by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) helicopters on Friday left more than 30 turbans beyond all cares and woe, an ISAF statement issued in Kabul on Sunday said.

Pakistain said the helicopters intruded into its territory twice from the eastern Afghan province of Khost
...which coincidentally borders North Wazoo...
as they chased the bad boys.

"These incidents are a clear violation and breach of the UN mandate under which ISAF operates," foreign office front man Abdul Basit said in a statement.

The ISAF statement admitted that "an air weapons team engaged a significant number of forces of Evil following an attack on a remote Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) outpost in Khost province Friday.

"ANSF received direct and indirect fire at Combat Outpost Narizah near the Pakistain border. An air weapons team in the area observed the enemy fire, and following International Security Assistance Force rules of engagement, crossed into the area of enemy fire."ISAF aircraft then fired on the bully boyz killing more than 30, the statement said, adding that two helicopters returned to the border area on Saturday and killed several more turbans.

"Initial reports indicate no civilian were injured or killed during either operation," the ISAF statement said.

Pakistain said ISAF's saying mandate "terminates/finishes" at the Afghanistan border. "There are no agreed 'hot pursuit' rules. Any impression to the contrary is not factually correct. Such violations are unacceptable," the foreign office statement added.

It said ISAF had been asked not to participate in any military action that violates the UN mandate and infringes upon Pakistain's sovereignty.

"In the absence of immediate corrective measures, Pakistain will be constrained to consider response options," it warned.
What are they going to do -- declare war on America?
The statement said Pakistain had always emphasised the need for "coordinated and joint action" against turbans.

Under US pressure to crack down on Islamist havens along the Afghan border, Pakistain has in the past year stepped up military operations against largely homegrown bad boys.

The rare helicopter attacks came amid a surge in US drone strikes in Pakistain's lawless tribal belt, which is considered a safe haven for Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked operatives and is branded the most dangerous place on earth by Washington.
Why is it still considered a safe haven, given the accelerating number of successful UAV missile attacks -- and now actual helicopters, too -- leaving those in the safe haven considerably deader than those outside it?
Four bully boyz were killed in the missile strike on Monday which was 19th attack in 24 days.

Militants fighting against 150,000 US and NATO troops in Afghanistan are believed to be holed up in Pakistain's tribal areas, as are operatives at war with Pak security forces.

Last year Pakistain launched its most ambitious military offensive yet against Taliban bully boyz in South Wazoo, expanding the campaign to many of the other seven semi-autonomous tribal districts along the border.
Posted by: Fred || 09/28/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  What are they going to do -- declare war on America?

tw, what they can do is cut off our access to A'stan. Of course that would also cut off THEIR access to a big pile of US money, which the want more than they want to 'protect' their poorly-controlled 'allies' in the frontier territories.
Posted by: Glenmore || 09/28/2010 7:35 Comments || Top||

#2  I simply cannot wait to hear the hue and cry when they see Preds approaching in formations.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/28/2010 7:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Of course that would also cut off THEIR access to a big pile of US money,

Indeed. Having a third of one's country under water is expensive.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/28/2010 18:21 Comments || Top||


Analysis of US Drone Strikes in Pakistan
This is good stuff. Very impressive.
Posted by: Mercutio || 09/28/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Very informative, with great graphics and table of the action. A quick and effective presentation. Notice no powerpoint.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 09/28/2010 0:45 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
Nuclear-armed Pakistan takes over as chair of IAEA board
Seen by many as a rogue nuclear state, Pakistan on Monday ironically became the head of the governing body of the UN nuclear watchdog--International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In an election at a special one-day meeting in Vienna, IAEA's 35-member board of governors appointed Pakistan Atomic

Energy Commission's head, Ansar Parvez, as its chairman for the next one year. The Board is the most important policy-making body after the 151-nation general conference.

Observers in New Delhi did not attach undue importance to the development saying the post was rotating and Pakistan's candidature was endorsed by the Asian block. India had twice chaired the Board of Governors and Pakistan had done in once in the past.

Pakistan has taken over the chair the main role of which is to preside over debates and helping the Board of Governors reach consensus decisions, from Malaysia.

According to reports from Vienna, some experts see Pakistan as a potential problem because it was home to a nuclear-smuggling ring run by scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb and a national hero.

Khan had publicly confessed in 2004 that he shared atomic secrets with Iran, Libya and North Korea, although he later retracted his remarks.

There is also concern over the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and stockpile of weapons-grade material and the danger of their falling into the hands of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda insurgents, according to reports.
Posted by: tipper || 09/28/2010 08:12 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And they wonder why Israel won't have anything to do with it.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 09/28/2010 11:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Compare forthwith wid DER SPIEGEL > ONE DAY, TURKEY WILL RUN THE EU.

The BATTLE FOR EURASIA [Asia] = MACKINDER'S WORLD ISLAND? goes on.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/28/2010 19:55 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Harith al-Dari asks Arabs to Boycott Baghdad Summit
[Asharq al-Aswat] Leading Iraqi Sunni holy man Harith al-Dari called on Arab leaders on Saturday to boycott the Arab summit in Storied Baghdad next March to demonstrate their opposition to the US occupation.

"Any Arab country which participates in the Arab league summit in Iraq will be supporting the occupation," Dari told Qatar's Al-Watan daily in an interview to be published on Sunday.

"I think that one of the items in the vaporous Arab League (charter) is that it should not be involved in any conference in an occupied Arab country," said Dari, who heads the Association of Muslim Scholars.

Iraq has not held a regular Arab summit since November 1978, although it did host an extraordinary session in Baghdad in May 1990.

Dari also described the withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraq at the start of this month as nothing but "a re-deployment, or partial withdrawal."

Earlier this year, the US Treasury Department announced new financial sanctions against Dari, accusing him of providing support to Al-Qaeda's branch in Iraq.

Dari accused the United States, Israel, and Iran of being behind "90 percent of the blasts" hitting war-ravaged Iraq.

Iraqi government figures suggest violence in the country has risen in recent months as the US military has withdrawn thousands of soldiers and Iraqi politicians have failed to agree on a new government six months after an inconclusive election.

Iraqi factions are unable to form a government "without the help of the main dominating sides" in Iraq -- the United States and Iran, said Dari.

Incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law Alliance, a Shiite grouping, gained two fewer seats in March's election than Iraqiya, a broadly secular coalition with strong Sunni backing led by ex-premier Iyad Allawi, a Shiite.

But neither man has managed to gain a working parliamentary majority despite months of coalition negotiations, leaving the nation's politics in limbo amid growing public frustration at the lack of progress.
Posted by: Fred || 09/28/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State of Iraq


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel may tear up military cooperation deal with Russia over Yakhont missiles to Syria
Posted by: Water Modem || 09/28/2010 00:42 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ISRAEL is essens warning that iff international states are going to continue giving or selling advanced Milsys + wares to Militants + Govts dedicated to israel's destruction, then Israel reserves its national + moral right to reciprocate by selling Israeli miltechs to the Enemies or Opponents of same.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/28/2010 1:44 Comments || Top||

#2  Joe, everything OK?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/28/2010 5:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Caps lock discovery or an imposter? g(r)om, the UZI please, just in case.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/28/2010 6:46 Comments || Top||

#4  Misspellings? Check.
Equations? Check.
Insightful/obscure commentary? Check.

I think he's the real deal.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 09/28/2010 7:22 Comments || Top||

#5  It's tavor noways, Besoeker.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/28/2010 8:24 Comments || Top||

#6  My personal fav g(r)om.

Enjoy
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/28/2010 8:50 Comments || Top||

#7  Oh by the way, the adjacent "Women in the IDF" vid is OFF LIMITS!
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/28/2010 8:53 Comments || Top||

#8  Hey, a lot of the women in the IDF are hotties!
Posted by: DarthVader || 09/28/2010 10:56 Comments || Top||

#9  Let's see, is there anyone Israel hasn't given military secrets to just to be sold out?

They gotta stop that.

Oh by the way, the adjacent "Women in the IDF" vid is OFF LIMITS!

Hmm. I tried it and didn't have a problem. Maybe you need to try a better browser. ;-)
Posted by: gorb || 09/28/2010 13:06 Comments || Top||

#10  Relax everyone. "Yakhont" missiles are used to hunt Yaks in Siberia, not Jews is Israel.
________________
OT: "Yak" is how Mexicans (mis)pronounce my first name. I cringe whenever I here it! I swear I don't look like a Yak!
Posted by: borgboy || 09/28/2010 14:58 Comments || Top||

#11  Ouchies.

"Used to hunt YAKS in Siberia" > D *** NG IT, I KNEW IT!

* PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > ITALIAN PAPER: TURKEY HELPING TO ARM HIZBULLAH TOGETHER WID LEBANON + SYRIA.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/28/2010 22:32 Comments || Top||


World leaders howl over Israeli settlements
[Al Jazeera] World leaders have expressed regret and disappointment after Israel announced it would not extend the 10-month moratorium on new settler homes in the West Bank.

Israeli settlers resumed building across the West Bank on Monday, after the partial freeze on construction expired, but there was widespread praise for Paleostinians, who held back on threats to quit peace talks over the move.

"We are disappointed, but remain focused on our long term objectives," Philip Crowley, the US state department front man, said. "One way or the other the parties have to find a way to continue direct negotiations."
How about: "Y'want construction to stop, whaddya got to trade?"
UN Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon reminded Israel on Monday that the building of settlements on occupied territory was illegal, and said he was "disappointed" by the government's failure to extend its partial ban on further West Bank construction.

European leaders were unanimously pious in their concern at the Israeli decision, and warned that the Middle East peace talks could founder on the issue.

William Hague, Britain's foreign secretary, said he was "very disappointed" and would personally pass on his appeal to Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli Foreign Minister, at the UN General Assembly in New York.

Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey's foreign minister, joined the growing international chorus against Israel, saying that its one-time ally was not showing signs that it wanted peace.
What they want is peace, not surrender.
Posted by: Fred || 09/28/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority

#1  warned that the Middle East peace talks could founder on the issue.

Or any issue, or a broad range of issues, or simply for the HELL OF IT as they have a thousand times before!
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/28/2010 0:35 Comments || Top||

#2  World leaders have expressed regret and disappointment after Israel announced it would not extend the 10-month moratorium on new settler homes in the West Bank.

Imagine the howling when Persian Gulf oil becomes radioactive.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/28/2010 3:48 Comments || Top||

#3  HAL 9000 sez: "This conversation can no longer serve any useful purpose".
Posted by: borgboy || 09/28/2010 15:10 Comments || Top||


Hamas urges PA chief to quit talks
[Iran Press TV] Paleostinian resistance movement Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, has urged the Paleostinian Authority (PA) to quit direct talks with Israel after Tel Aviv refused to extend a partial settlement freeze.
He said the same thing before they refused, too.
Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal said on Monday that acting PA Chief the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas should keep his promise to end the talks.

"I call on my brothers at the Paleostinian Authority -- who had stated they would not pursue talks with the enemy, if it continued settlement construction -- to keep their promise," Meshaal said.

"To negotiate without a position of strength is absurd," AFP quoted him as saying.

Abbas had earlier said that he would leave the US-sponsored negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if Tel Aviv does not extend its partial freeze on settlement construction in the occupied territories.

Tel Aviv on Monday refused to extend the partial 10-month moratorium on the settlement projects, which expired on Sunday.

In his latest remarks, Abbas said the PA would decide whether to continue the talks after a meeting of its own cabinet this week and talks with Arab governments on October 4.

Meshaal also called on the Paleostinian factions to unite against Israel, saying it was a national necessity and the best way to react to the "Zionist intransigence."
Posted by: Fred || 09/28/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Videos - Military Parade in Tehran for Holy Defense Week - Iran 22 Sept.
Posted by: Water Modem || 09/28/2010 00:45 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


Harb: Airport Invasion a Message to Government
[An Nahar] Labor Minister Butros Harb believed that the so-called "invasion" of Beirut airport by Hizbullah supporters was a message to the Government.
Picked right up on that, didn't he?
Describing Hizbullah's action as "ugly," Harb said it also damaged the reputation of Lebanon. "It was a clear message to the Government and the judiciary to affirm that Hizbullah will not accept any action that is not approved by the party," Harb said in remarks published Monday by the daily Al-Liwaa.

He said targeting State institutions is "rejected and also what happened with Jamil Sayyed is rejected." Harb said any solution should take place at Cabinet or Parliament "and not through arms."
Posted by: Fred || 09/28/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Fatfat Hits Back at Moussawi: His 'Dangerous' Remarks Turned Hizbullah into Militia
[An Nahar] Mustaqbal MP Ahmed Fatfat on Monday hit back at Hizbullah deputy Nawaf Moussawi, describing his latest remarks made from Beirut airport as a "dangerous coup."

"In this way, Hizbullah has turned into a militia that wants to seize power," Fatfat told Future News TV.

He said the "army-resistance-citizen equation" is meant to confront Israel.

"But the problem is when the Resistance turns (violent) domestically with threatening words," he explained.

"It is then that the Resistance collapses and turns into a militia," Fatfat believed.

"Arms today are pointed on the inside as a result of these threatening statements," he thought.
Posted by: Fred || 09/28/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Moussawi: We Won't Accept Hariri Murder Charge
[An Nahar] Hizbullah MP Nawaf Moussawi on Monday stressed that Hizbullah will not accept charges in the murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri "at any time because they are false and defamatory."

Hizbullah "cannot stand handcuffed in the face of an ugly accusation," he told OTV.

Moussawi criticized anew those who took Hariri's murder lightly.

"They are either insane or conspirators against Leb," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 09/28/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  TOPIX > HIZBULLAH THREATENS VIOLENCE AGZ HAGUE, iff the Group is found guilty of complicity in HARIRI MURDER.

HIZBULLAH = Hague Tribunal will be treated by Hizbul as iff a de facto TOOL + AGENT OF ISRAEL + US.

* SAME > TERROR GROUPS CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY FOR HEBRON ATTACK [Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades = Islamic Jihad].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/28/2010 2:13 Comments || Top||

#2  The evidence in conclusive. Thats why they won't "accept" it. The whole world knows this.
Even The Hague (that bastion of Zionism -NOT)has ruled on this. Hezbollah did the crime.
Time to admit it an move on.
Quit blaming the Israelis.
They would have no motive to kill a Prime Minister of a neighboring country that was generally friendly towards them.
More so than prior or current prime ministers of Lebanon.
Posted by: Mike Hunt || 09/28/2010 12:14 Comments || Top||


Suleiman Says International Tribunal Must Restore Public Credibility
[An Nahar] In a surprising stance, President Michel Suleiman said the Special Tribunal for Leb must restore public credibility "by staying away from politicization."

Suleiman's remarks came in an interview broadcast live on al-Jadid television from New York.
Leb's President spoke Friday during the 65th Session of the General Assembly at United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society headquarters in New York.

In the late Sunday interview, Suleiman said the STL should "investigate all possibilities, including Israel."

He acknowledged that Leb cannot survive without the International Community.

"We need the International Community more than ever to make our voice heard," he said.

"We cannot isolate Leb from the International Community and this is why we asked to be part of the Security Council.

Suleiman said Lebanese and Iranian views are "identical on the need to safeguard national unity in Leb and avoid Leb being used as an arena for Arab conflicts."

Commenting on the so-called "invasion" of Beirut airport by Hizbullah supporters, Suleiman said: "It gave a bad impression for citizens and made them lose confidence in State institutions.

"It is important to return to the laws," Sulleiman stressed, adding that there is no justification for the resignation of the government.

"The balance of powers did not change," he assured.

Suleiman also acknowledged the "existence of injustice in the defense budget to arm the Lebanese army."

He criticized U.N. peacekeepers in south Leb, saying UNIFIL is "not doing enough to deter Israeli violations."
Posted by: Fred || 09/28/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Iran: 'IAEA chief's path leads to catastrophe'
[Iran Press TV] Iran's nuclear chief cautions the head of UN nuclear agency that he should not allow himself to be used as a political instrument for starting a war against Tehran.

Yukiya Amano's biased approach has raised the question in Tehran about whether he is "interested in providing a pretext for an attack against us," Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said.

"Is Amano interested in associating his own name with war? Does he want to see the world beset by catastrophe?" Salehi queried in an interview with the German weekly Der Spiegel which was published on Monday.

"It is merely a friendly, but serious, warning that one should not allow oneself to be politically instrumentalized."

Salehi said Amano had failed to ascend to the post of IAEA chairman a number of times, because "many countries were concerned that he would yield to external pressure."

"Mr. Amano must be careful not to lose his legitimacy due to his partisanship for certain policies."

Salehi stressed that while Iran is "trying to accommodate the IAEA beyond what is required by our written obligations," Amano's apparent bias had caused opposition to a "flexible cooperation" with the agency to increase in Tehran.

"We will not accept the new tone," Salehi concluded.

Amano claimed in his February 18 report on Iran, which was released amid a US campaign to win international support for adopting sanctions against Tehran, that the IAEA had "concerns about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed activities" that could enable the Iranian military to develop a nuclear bomb.

His report came while the agency had in its previous reports confirmed the non-diversion of Iran's nuclear program.

Earlier in September, Amano released his latest report in which although the "non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran" was once again confirmed, Tehran was urged to "cooperate in clarifying outstanding issues," and also to "act strictly in accordance with the provisions of, and to ratify promptly, the Additional Protocol."

He also claimed Iran's decision to bar the agency's two inspectors would "hamper the inspection process."

Iran barred two IAEA inspectors from entering the country in June on grounds that they had leaked information to the media before the official issuance of the agency's report on Iran's nuclear program.
Posted by: Fred || 09/28/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Iran bans two leading reformist parties
[Pak Daily Times] An Iranian court has banned two leading reformist parties which backed opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in last year's presidential poll, a judiciary front man said Monday. Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie said that the Islamic Iran Participation Front and Islamic Revolution Mujahedeen Organisation had been 'dissolved.' 'Their case was sent to the court which dissolved both parties and they are not allowed to have any activities,' said Ejeie, cited by the ILNA new agency. He did not say whether the ruling could be appealed. In April, a hardline political watchdog affiliated with the Interior Ministry accused the two parties of undermining national security and suspended their activities. The two political groups had strongly supported Mousavi, the main challenger to President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad in the June 2009 presidential election. After the disputed re-election of Ahmadinejad, several high-ranking members of both parties were jugged and sentenced to long prison terms in a major crackdown on reformists, political muscle and journalists.
Posted by: Fred || 09/28/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran



Who's in the News
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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2010-09-28
  Israeli Navy escorts Gaza-bound activist boat to Ashdod
Mon 2010-09-27
  Sonny Jong Un gets promoted!
Sun 2010-09-26
  Drone boys rack up 7 more in North Wazoo
Sat 2010-09-25
  US walks out of Ahmadinejad UN speech
Fri 2010-09-24
  MILF drop separatist demands
Thu 2010-09-23
  Aafia Siddiqui Gets 86 Years
Wed 2010-09-22
  Three drone strikes kill 28 in Waziristan
Tue 2010-09-21
  Chicago man arrested in foiled bomb plot
Mon 2010-09-20
  ETA offers peace to Spanish govt.
Sun 2010-09-19
  Yemen's Abyan deputy governor survives Qaida assassination attempt
Sat 2010-09-18
  Yemen foils Somali pirates hijack attempt on foreign ship
Fri 2010-09-17
  Pope visit: Five suspected Islamist terrorists arrested over assassination plot
Thu 2010-09-16
  Dronezap waxes 12 bad boyz in North Wazoo
Wed 2010-09-15
  French parliament adopts ban on full-face veil
Tue 2010-09-14
  Dronezaps All Over the Place in North Wazoo


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