[Pak Daily Times] Afghanistan's former president Burhanuddin Rabbani was chosen on Sunday to lead a council tasked with starting peace talks with Taliban-led terrorists, an official source said.
A holy man like many of the Taliban, but an ethnic Tajik like many of their opponents, Rabbani had said in recent years that he has had contacts with some faceless myrmidons willing to enter negotiations. A 68-member council, hand-picked by Karzai, was set up following a nationwide conference in June and was inaugurated on October 7 amid mounting reports of secret peace talks with Taliban leaders and key terrorist groups. The council on Sunday chose Rabbani as its chairman, a senior official at Karzai's office said.
Rabbani's first step for opening the way for talks will be establishing a working mechanism acceptable to other members of the High Peace Council formed by President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai, dominated by powerful former factional leaders, power brokers and a few ex-Taliban members.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Look at the man: no funny hat, no henna dying his beard, hair and beard frequently washed and brushed... what kind of holy man can he possibly be?
[Arab News] Sudan's president accused former civil war foes in the south of going back on the terms of a peace deal, warning a worse conflict could erupt if the sides did not settle disputes before a referendum on secession.
The comments from President Omar Bashir, reported on state media, raised the stakes in a war of words between Khartoum and the south's dominant Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), five years after the sides ended decades of conflict with an accord.
In three months' time, that peace deal is supposed to come to a climax with a referendum giving the people of the oil-producing south the right to decide whether to declare independence or stay part of Sudan.
Bashir told a conference in Sirte, Libya, he regretted the fact that SPLM leader and south Sudan President Salva Kiir had recently publicly come out for separation. This was against the terms of the 2005 peace deal which said both northern and southern leaders should try to make unity "attractive" to southerners before the vote, Suna news agency reported.
Bashir said he was still committed to holding the vote but both sides first had to settle differences over the position of their shared border and how to share out oil revenues, debt and Nile river water.
"He (Bashir) said a new conflict between the north and south will ensue if there was a failure to address these issues before the referendum and that such a conflict could be more dangerous than the one that took place before the peace agreement," said Suna, reporting on the speech which Bashir gave on Saturday.
Bashir spoke as envoys from the UN Security Council wrapped up a visit to Sudan aimed at pressing both sides to hold the vote on time and avert a new civil war.
Any renewal of conflict in Africa's largest country could spill into the nine countries that border Sudan -- Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Chad, Libya and Egypt -- threatening the region's economic success stories and complicating existing conflicts and allegiances.
Diplomats with the UN mission said Kiir last week asked them to deploy peacekeepers and set up a buffer zone along the tense north-south border before the vote.
Kiir, who is also first vice president of all of Sudan, angered Khartoum when he said he would not vote for unity in the referendum during a speech to supporters in the southern capital Juba earlier this month.
One of his senior aides later told Rooters Kiir had not meant to indicate his personal voting preferences but just wanted to point out that the north had failed to make unity attractive to the southern voter.
Northern and southern leaders have been locked in negotiations for months on issues including how they would share out oil revenues after the vote. Most of Sudan's oil is found in the south but runs through the north's pipelines and port to get to market.
The SPLM has insisted lack of progress in the talks should not be used as an excuse to delay the scheduled start of the referendum on Jan. 9, 2011.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Bashir undercutting the carefully-crafted statements of his diplomatic staff. What a surprise.
North Korea continues to keep the experts guessing. Last week, it promoted the third son of its current leader, Kim Jong Il, prompting speculation that he is on track to succeed his father. And now, apparently, it has commissioned construction activity at the site where it used to produce plutonium for its nuclear arsenal.
An image taken last week by DigitalGlobe, a U.S.-based commercial satellite firm, shows new construction or excavation activity in an area surrounding a destroyed cooling tower at the Yongbyon site. Experts said the construction appeared to be the first sign of genuine activity at Yongbyon since 2008, when the cooling tower was demolished as part of an agreement made during now-stalled negotiations over the North's nuclear program.
The photograph shows heavy machinery tracks, trucks, and heavy construction or excavation equipment, along with two small new buildings, according to a report by the Institute for Science and International Security. What exactly all that activity means, said David Albright, who wrote the report, is unclear.
Nonsense, Mr. Albright, it's perfectly clear ...
Albright said the activity could mean that North Korea is moving toward reopening Yongbyon as part of a plan to increase its stock of plutonium - now estimated at just less than 80 pounds. Then again, it could also be a move, said Joel S. Wit, a North Korea watcher and former State Department official, "for show, to pull our chains."
I'm not a betting man ordinarily but I'll just bet the Norks need more plutonium; they have many other ways of yanking our chain.
North Korea is well aware that its nuclear facilities are under almost constant surveillance by both intelligence and commercial satellites.
And they don't really care ...
The photograph was released as the United States and its partners in the region try to figure out how to deal with North Korea after the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, which Seoul has blamed on Pyongyang.
Let us know how that works out, since any response will be a new response ...
North Korea, which has been referring to itself as a "nuclear weapons state," has been vowing for months to resume some type of nuclear activity. Now, the new satellite image has experts worried that North Korea is carrying out its pledge.
"It is by no means clear what is happening," said Jonathan Pollack, an expert on North Korean security at the U.S. Naval War College, "but any new construction at Yongbyon cannot be a good thing."
No, really? As I note above, it's perfectly clear and yes, it's not a good thing.
Pollack said any resumption of activity at Yongbyon could be a payoff of sorts for North Korea's military. The North appears to be in the throes of a leadership transition, with the elder Kim engineering promotions for his third son, Kim Jong Eun.
"It could be a compensation package for the military," Pollack said.
Or it could be that the Norks need more plutonium ...
Both Pollack and Wit stressed that U.S. officials would underestimate North Korea's capabilities at their own peril.
"It's a serious mistake," Wit said, "to believe that they are not capable of doing anything to step up their nuclear arsenal."
Finally, someone with some sense. Any ordinary person would understand that if you re-open a nuclear production plant, you're doing so to make more fissible material. You need to be a particular kind of political, scientific, intellectual person to engage in this degree of hand-waving.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/11/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Attention NASA, is there a convenient space rock we could divert to NORK?
If so, In immortal words "Make it so".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/11/2010 12:27 Comments ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Clapping, waving and even cracking a smile, Kim Jong Il's heir apparent joined his father on Sunday at a massive military parade in his most public appearance since being unveiled as North Korea's next leader.
Kim Jong Un, dressed in a dark blue civilian suit, sat next to his father on an observatory platform at Kim Il Sung Plaza as tanks carrying rocket-propelled grenades and long-range missiles rolled by as part of celebrations marking the 65th anniversary of the reclusive state's ruling Workers' Party.
It was a momentous public debut for Kim Jong Un less than two weeks after he was made a four-star general in the first in a series of appointments that set him firmly on the path to succession, which would carry the Kim dynasty over the communist country into a third generation.
Sunday's appearance was a heady debut for the mysterious young man who until two weeks ago was a virtual unknown outside North Korea's inner circle of military and political elite. The question of who will take over leadership of the nuclear-armed nation of 24 million has been a pressing one since Kim Jong Il reportedly suffered a stroke in 2008.
Seeing the two Kims side by side above a huge portrait of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, and later waving to the crowd, drew raucous cheers of "Hurrah!" and some tears from North Koreans attending the parade in the heart of Pyongyang. "Kim Jong Il! Protect him to the death!" "Kim Jong Il, let's unite to support him!" they chanted as the 68-year-old leader walked the length of the platform, appearing to limp slightly and gripping onto the banister.
Tanks and trucks loaded with Katyusha rocket launchers and grenades rolled past. They were dwarfed by the series of missiles that paraded by, each larger than the last and emblazoned with: defeat the US military, US soldiers are the Korean People's Army's enemy. "If the US imperialists and their followers infringe on our illusory sovereignty and dignity even slightly, we will blow up the stronghold of their aggression with a merciless and righteous retaliatory strike by mobilizing all physical means, including self-defensive nuclear deterrent force, and achieve the historic task of unification," Ri Yong Ho, chief of the General Staff of the North Korean army, said at the event.
However, The infamous However... the parade was probably less about showing off its military might than about introducing the heir to the North Korean people and building up his image as the next leader, according to Baek Seung-joo, a North Korea analyst at South Korea's Korea Institute for Defence Analyses. "The parade served as a sign that the military has loyalty to the successor," said Kim Yong-hyun, an expert on North Korea at Seoul's Dongguk University.
Just days earlier, the world got a first glimpse of the son from photos published in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper. However, Another infamous However... Sunday's appearance was carried live by state TV, beaming him into North Korean households and giving the people their first good look at the future leader.
The Kims later also appeared at a nighttime celebration in Pyongyang that exploded into a grand spectacle of fireworks, patriotic music and colour. Historical footage of Kim Il Sung played on big screens as thousands of dancers below performed intricate choreographed routines. At one point, the dancers seemingly transformed the stadium floor into a vast sea of ocean waves, then a field of trees moments later.
The earlier parade was said to be the nation's largest ever, an impressive display of unity and military might for a country known for its elaborately staged performances that suggested bigger celebrations than just the Workers' Party anniversary. Thousands of troops from every branch of North Korea's 1.2-million-strong military, as well as from naval officers' academies and military nursing schools, goose-stepped around the plaza decorated with banners and flags to the accompaniment of a military brass band and ordinary citizens waving plastic bouquets.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
FREEREPUBLIOC > Also the DPRK's new "MUSUDAN" 3200-kilom IRBM, based on the Soviet R-27.
#3
I don't know...the kid can be useful. The people are so used to the Kims that rubbing him out could very well be counterproductive. The real power in NK is the army, obviously, and if the army brass vote to keep Kimmie Jr, I'm sure he can be turned and used. A tourist visit to one of Dad's rehabilitation through labor facilities might do the trick.
#5
D *** NG IT, you just know thats NOT CAVE-BABE RAQUEL WELCH!
* DRUDGEREPORT > Developing > RISING NEW LEADERS IN CHINESE MILITARY "VIEW US AS THE ENEMY".
IMO ARTIC read, Beijing + CPLA have to break the obstructions of the "FIRST ISLAND CHAIN", DIPLOMATICALLY OR MILITARILY, + they taint taking "No" for an answer from Ally, Foe or Neutral.
[Pak Daily Times] Washington's push on Pakistain to get tough on gunnies on its territory is prompted by worries about an attack on US soil, a concern the US will press in talks with Islamabad later this month.
A US official last week countered suggestions that the tougher approach is driven by the need to show progress ahead of the October 22 talks by an B.O. regime strategy review of the war in Afghanistan in December.
The failed Times Square bombing in May and the recent terrorism alert for Europe fuelled fears of an attack, prompting the stepped up dronezaps in Pakistain's northwest and pointed US comments pressing Islamabad's to pursue gunnies more aggressively.
"There is really mounting concern that we are extremely vulnerable to an attack from a group in Pakistain that could occur," the US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Such an attack would trigger a critical change in ties with Islamabad, the official warned. "An attack will change the nature of the relationship, not because necessarily it makes sense to, but because the congressional outcry and the public outcry will be such that you will have to dramatically do things quite differently," the official added.
Blunt words in Washington about Pakistain's failure to aggressively go after faceless myrmidons coincided with a cross-border incursion by US-led NATO forces that killed two Pak frontier guards and maimed several others. The incident ignited public outrage and prompted officials to close a key border crossing to NATO supply convoys for days.
"We have a very difficult and complicated situation in Pakistain. We have worked hard on this relationship. We understand it's important to our security," White House front manMinister of Information Robert Washington Bob Gibbs said last week.
The latest tensions come just ahead of the US-Pakistain Strategic Dialogue later this month, and the Washington talks would go more smoothly if the strains of the last two weeks were patched up by then.
"I think it's going to be critical in the next few weeks as they prepare for the strategic dialogue between Pakistain and the US... that they don't have any of these flare-ups, neither do they have any lingering doubts about each others intentions," said Shuja Nawaz, the director of the South Asia Centre at the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2010 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: A legislator from the Iraqi Accordance on Sunday said his bloc formed an alliance with the Iraq Unity bloc under the name Iraqi Centrist Alliance.
All this changes not a thing ...
The Iraqi Accordance, due to the delayed formation of a government seven months after holding the legislative elections, viewed that it should form an alliance with the Iraq Unity bloc, Khalid Abdullah al-Ulwani told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Coming under the banner of this new alliance aims to form an active parliamentary force representing all groups, contribute to defusing the current political plight and accelerating the formation of a government, said Ulwani.
For his part, Khalid al-Fahdawi, a leading member of the Iraq Unity bloc, told Aswat al-Iraq that the new alliance makes perfect sense in light of intensive meetings between the two sides.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/11/2010 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Israel's Cabinet approved on Sunday a bill that would require new citizens to pledge a loyalty oath to a "Jewish and democratic" state, language that triggered charges of racism from Arab politicians who see it as undermining the rights of the country's Arab minority.
Good. Put up or shut up. Please.
The only problem is that it could alienate the loyal Druze and Bedouins in the country. Israel doesn't need that right now.
The bill has stoked tensions with Paleostinians at a time when flegling peace talks are deadlocked over Israel's refusal to extend a moratorium on new building in West Bank Jewish settlements.
Ahmad Tibi, an Arab politician, called the move a provocation. "Its purpose is to solidify the inferior status of Arabs by law," he said. "Netanyahu and his government are limiting the sphere of democracy in Israel and deepening the prejudice against its Arab minority."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the bill by saying it reflected the essence of Israel at a time when he said many in the world are trying to blur the connection between the Jewish people and their homeland.
"The state of Israel is the national state of the Jewish people and is a democratic state in which all its citizens -- Jews and non-Jews -- enjoy full equal rights," he said. "Whoever wants to join us, has to recognise us."
Unlike their Paleostinian brethren in the West Bank and Gazoo Strip, Israel's Arabs are citizens, with the right to vote, travel freely and to collect generous social benefits. But they have long suffered from second-class status, frequently suffering discrimination in housing and the job market.
While the new bill would not force them to profess their loyalty, it would require a foreign-born spouse to take the oath in order to receive citizenship
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2010 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Druze leader Walid Jumblat on Sunday rejected "silly" calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
This was a clear response to Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Nohad al-Mashnouq who called on Hariri to resign because he believed the Syrian arrest warrants were an "attack" against the dignity of the premier. Mashnouq urged Hariri to form a new government based on an understanding on major issues.
"We want him to remain Prime Minister of entire Leb to address the problems of the country as a whole, like false witnesses etc," Jumblat said during a tour of the mountains.
He said false witnesses is a "political-judicial issue that could be dealt with by judicial authorities and politically with Syrian President Bashar Assad if there were good intentions."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Hezbullies Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has criticized the way the UN tribunal is handling the case of Leb's ex-premier Rafiq Hariri's assassination.
In a televised address on Saturday, Nasrallah accused the tribunal of protecting false witnesses who misled the investigation.
He said that the court must provide sufficient evidence that it is a judicial investigation body and would not be affected by fabricated testimonies in the future indictment.
"It is a political investigation which is masked by a judicial covering and made into a judicial system. All of these in the past have proved that the special tribunal was used as a political tool," the Hezbullies chief said.
In 2005, Lebanese former premier Hariri was killed in a massive car bombing in the capital city of Beirut.
The UN Special Tribunal for Leb was set up by the world body and the Lebanese government in May 2007 to investigate the case.
Western-backed parties in Leb accused Syria and the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbullies of involvement in the Hariri murder, a claim rejected by both Damascus and Hezbullies.
In September, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri admitted to have wrongly accused Syria of being behind his father's assassination and acknowledged that the accusations were politically charged.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2010 00:00 ||
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[Arab News] A company controlled by Iran's Revolutionary Guards has been given a contract to build a major highway, a newspaper reported on Sunday, the latest example of the elite military unit expanding its economic influence.
Good. This will keep them busy in between alarms about spy squirrels, Green anti-mullah protesters, and non-Persian terrorists freedom fighters.
On Saturday, President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad marked the start of construction of the highway, which will connect two of Iran's holy cities, calling it "the biggest project in the history of Iran and the region," Arman daily reported.
The paper said Khatam Al-Anbia, an engineering and construction arm of the Guards, would build the 1,100-kilometer (684 miles) road between Qom in central Iran and Mashhad in the northeast.
The Guards, a military force that has been directly targeted by international sanctions, have played a growing economic role in the Islamic Theocratic Republic since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad first took office in 2005.
In 2006, Iran handed the development of several phases of the giant South Pars gas field to Khatam al-Anbia.
But on July 19 this year, after the UN Security Council passed a resolution blacklisting 15 firms belonging to the Guards including Khatam Al-Anbia, Iran announced that the company had pulled out of developing all phases of South Pars.
No reason was given for the pullout.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
May Allah provide it as useful to the Israelis as the Autobahn was to the allies!
#1
I greatly admire Geller.
I'm surprised the NYT actually printed parts of this fairly accurate interview, and didn't try the usual smear tactics on her
Maybe its because all the Tea Partiers were called racists, or because its been tried too many times, its just not sticking. Maybe its sticking on the left, but the chattering classes and the political elites do not represent the American people. Not at all. And youve lost their trust, which I think is the absolute worst thing.
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.
[Pak Daily Times] Afghanistan's former president Burhanuddin Rabbani was chosen on Sunday to lead a council tasked with starting peace talks with Taliban-led terrorists, an official source said.
Clapping, waving and even cracking a smile, Kim Jong Il's heir apparent joined his father on Sunday at a massive military parade in his most public appearance since being unveiled as North Korea's next leader.
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: A legislator from the Iraqi Accordance on Sunday said his bloc formed an alliance with the Iraq Unity bloc under the name Iraqi Centrist Alliance.
