[Asharq al-Aswat] European leaders bluntly warned Egypt against any breakout of violence during Friday's "departure day" protests as they took stock of the turmoil sweeping the Arab world.
There -- all fixed. Shall we go to to that cute little cafe for a bit of cake and coffee, now?
I'm a bit peakish after all that work. Let's have a brunch catered in.
With Europe slammed for saying too little too late on the unrest rolling across its southern flank, leaders of Britain, Germany and Italy joined a European Union summit warning against further bloodshed and calling for transition to democracy.
"If we see on the streets of Cairo today state-sponsored violence or the hiring of thugs to beat up protesters, then Egypt and its regime would lose any remaining credibility or support it has in the eyes of the Western world," said Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded "free and peaceful demonstrations" on what she termed "this decisive Friday" while Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi backed EU calls for a democratic transition that stop short of demanding geriatric President Hosni Mubarak leave office immediately.
"Egypt should be taking steps to show there is a clear, credible transparent path towards transition," Cameron said. "Frankly the steps taken so far haven't met the aspirations of the Egyptian people."
Noting that Mubarak has pledged not to run for election again, Berlusconi called for a transition "that brings more democracy without breaking with a president like Mubarak that the West, and first and foremost the United States, consider as wise, a reference for the entire Middle East."
The leaders were to issue a joint stand on Egypt at the one-day summit where the original agenda -- a joint energy strategy and the euro's troubles -- has been hijacked by unrest across the Mediterranean.
The 27-nation bloc itself has come under attack in recent weeks for dithering in its response to pro-democracy protests and for tolerating authoritarian regimes in its backyard as bulwarks against Islamist extremism.
Opening the summit, EU president Herman Van Rompuy said "the democratic breakthrough" in Tunisia and Egypt had implications both for the Middle East and for Europe.
"There is a powerful dynamic at work," he said.
However draft conclusions of the summit obtained by AFP show the EU leaders backing off from earlier, sharper statements.
They are set to condemn the violence in Egypt "in the strongest terms" and call on all parties to begin an "expeditious and orderly transition."
In comparison a statement jointly issued Thursday by big EU members Britain, La Belle France, Germany, Italy and Spain urged a transition "now."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Leading Egyptian opposition figure Mohammed ElBaradei has announced that he would not run for president in the upcoming elections.
"No, I will not join in. The best I can do is act as an agent for change," he told Austrian newspaper Der Standard, when asked whether he would compete in presidential elections.
"Naturally I want to play a part in the future, but who stands in the election, that's really not so important at the moment," he added.
Asked about reports that Washington wanted Vice President Omar Suleiman to lead a transitional government and about the Egyptian people's possible reaction to such a move, the former U.N. atomic energy watchdog chief and Nobel peace laureate said many young protesters would see that as a mere extension of geriatric President Hosni Mubarak's term.
He stressed that the only solution was Mubarak's immediate departure.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Since he's already filled the position of Iranian lackey.
Egyptian News: El Baradei Received $7 Million From Iranian Regime
http://gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com/2010/09/egyptian-news-el-baradei-received-7-million-from-iranian-regime/
Posted by: George Hupaviger4591 ||
02/05/2011 4:12 Comments ||
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#6
Sounds like he'll settle for "kingmaker". And Iranian cash conduit...
The country is in chaos, with serious underlying problems that can no longer be ignored. Running it would take real work. Dr. Elbaradei is looking for a retirement job -- perhaps foreign minister, or ambassador to the U.N. would suit him better. You know, a job where he can use his extensive Rolodex and skills at dinner party conversation to best advantage.
[An Nahar] Arab League chief Jerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa, ... who has been head of the vaporous Arab League since about the time Jerry and Dean split up ... a former Egyptian foreign minister, said Friday he might run for his country's presidency but stressed he thought geriatric President Hosni Mubarak would remain in power until September.
"I do not think he (Mubarak) will leave. I think he will stay until the end of August," he told La Belle France's Europe 1 radio.
Mubarak has said he will not bow to the massive anti-government protests sweeping Egypt and step down immediately but will stay on until elections due in September in which he said he will not run for a sixth term.
Moussa, asked if he would stand in the next elections in Egypt, replied: "Why say no?"
"I am of course at the service of my country... I am ready to serve as a citizen who has the right to be a candidate," he said.
He added that he would also be happy to join a transition government if one emerged to replace Mubarak's regime.
His comments came as Egyptian protesters massed for "departure day" demonstrations to force the 82-year-old veteran president to step down.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2011 00:00 ||
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JERRY/2011
Another guy that couldn't run a pay toilet...
• Prime minister is accused of handing PR coup to the far right
• Jack Straw calls David Cameron's comments 'ill-judged'
David Cameron was accused of playing into the hands of rightwing extremists today as he delivered a controversial speech on the failings of multiculturalism within hours of one of the biggest anti-Islam rallies ever staged in Britain.
Muslim and anti-fascist groups questioned the prime minister's judgement and sensitivity to the issues, saying he had handed a propaganda coup to the hard-right English Defence League as 3,000 of its supporters marched through Luton chanting anti-Islamic slogans.
Some of crowd were jubilant, saying that Cameron "had come round to our way of thinking". Paul Bradburn, 35, from Stockport, said Cameron was "coming out against extremism".
He added: "The timing of his speech is quite weird as it comes on the day of one of the biggest EDL demos we've ever seen. If he wants to start sticking up for us, that's great
#2
Muslim and anti-fascist groups questioned the prime minister's judgement and sensitivity
Of course they do. But for once a head of state has had the courage to speak the obvious truth. Late, but better late than never - if not too late. It will be very, very interesting to see what the response from the rank-and-file Englishman will be. Has the pendulum finally swung? Has Cameron read the polls right before making this speach?
Amid calls for President Hosni Mubarak to not wait until the end of his term to step down, the U.S. special envoy to Egypt told the Munich Security Conference that the 30-year ruler needs to stick around fro now.
Frank Wisner, a former ambassador to Egypt deployed there this past week to apparently urge Mubarak to hand over the reins, said Saturday that the transition "is an ideal moment for him to show the way forward."
Wisner spoke to the conference via video link from New York.
"We need to get a national consensus around the pre-conditions for the next step forward. The president must stay in office to steer those changes," he said.
"I believe that President Mubarak's continued leadership is critical -- it's his chance to write his own legacy," Wisner added, according to reports.
President Obama also referred to Mubarak's legacy Friday in appealing for him to make "the right decision" and "make a judgment about a pathway forward that is orderly but also meaningful and serious."
Wisner said caution should be exercised in the transition because "this is a very volatile and dangerous time."
"The more Egyptians hear from the outside world that the president's got to go, and this has got to happen, that's got to happen, we create a negative force inside of Egypt itself," he said in arguing that rhetoric shouldn't get out of control.
The White House quickly tried to distance itself from the comments. Agence France-Presse reported that a member of the U.S. delegation said Wisner was speaking as a private citizen and not on behalf of the U.S. government.
#4
Operational versions will feature a wing fold of some sort.
Think of the safety benefits during recoverise on the boat on those ' dark and stormy nights' when the deck is pitching rally bad and visibility is wores that 'it sucks'; the operator can turn contl of the bird over to the acls and while not a tractor beam is pretty close to it, and the UAV can ride the beam down to the deck with out the typical human tendency to 'chase the ball.'
hope Bambi doesn't cut it.
On a serious note: the LDM (Lawn Dart Mafia) is already drooling aobut hanging a buddy store on that thing so they can get out of the tanker business.
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) -- Picture the perfect North Texas neighborhood. They are children running along the streets. The houses have beautiful lawns with manicured shrubbery. Big trees line the sidewalks. College fans show their true colors by flying flags showing their favorite teams.
But, if you take a much closer look at some middle-to-upper class North Texas neighborhoods, you may see a slight difference in some homes. The windows are sealed off with shutters that never open or dark-tinted windows. There is a mysterious silence that lurks around the home. What's behind the closed doors of these house? No one would ever suspect- except maybe Ed Fox, who heads up the Volunteers on Patrol Program for the Prestonwood West Neighborhood.
"It not only took this one down, but about three others," says Fox as he looks a former house that sold drugs. In the last two-years, Fox has alerted law enforcement to suspicious activity that's taken down several houses for growing, manufacturing or selling drugs.
CBS 11 has learned that the dealers used guns to protect the enormous amount of money and drugs found inside. A few blocks away, an undercover drug investigator takes CBS 11 to another house. It is a large ranch-style white house with a beautiful lawn. The house now belongs to another family, but the investigator, who did not want us to reveal his identity, said it looked just like this when it was a "grow" house.
Is the Mexican drug cartel's presence increasing here in North Texas? "Absolutely," says the investigator showing us around. He admits it is 'scary.' "They'll do whatever it takes to get into your neighborhood and hide."
"That's where we are finding the high powered weapons," says Constable Ben Adamcik, who says he has helped the Dallas Police Department and Drug Enforcement Administration take down 40 of these homes in the last three years.
It's not common for Constables to get involved in this activity, but Adamcik is a former police officer and fighting drugs is his passion. The father and grandfather is determined to protect the children in the neighborhoods he protects. Besides weapons, bullet proof vests and silencers, he shows us picture after picture of what he's seized. It's cocaine, ecstasy, ice, thousands of pounds of marijuana and hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug profits. The pictures have all been taken after raids of middle-to-upper class North Texas homes. Adamcik says the diving economy drove the Mexican cartel here. He says they are buying up the foreclosed houses and then hiding inside neighborhoods where no one suspects drug activity.
The Constable says, "It's too easy to buy these houses." But they're not all Mexican cartels, Adamcik has helped shut down many domestic operations as well.
Being pro-active keeps people like Ed Fox, out patrolling. "I would encourage anybody to keep their eye out in their neighborhood, regardless of what they think of their neighborhood," said Fox.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/05/2011 12:04 ||
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There was one such house I know of, rather atypical, because it was being used as a marijuana transshipment warehouse. Ironically, it was only discovered much later, administratively.
When in use it was the nicest house in the neighborhood, and after a few years, for operational reasons the smugglers decided to move on. Before they left, they had a top notch remodeling job done on it, as well to erase any evidence.
The family that moved in were amazed they got it at such a reasonable price, and so were the neighbors who finally got to see inside.
When it was finally discovered by the police, they did a very detailed inspection, but since the mortgage was owned by the bank, they didn't confiscate it.
[Geo News] Jamat e Islami (JI) Ameer the funny-looking Syed Munawar Hassan Friday said that Kashmire committee tried to sabotage the Kashmire cause and demanded the committee's chairman Maulana Fazlur Rehman Known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ... to resign.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of Al Khidmat Foundation's office in Islamabad, JI Ameer said that whole nation will express solidarity with the Kashmiris on February 5.
He said US court sentenced Dr Aafia Siddiqui to 86 years of imprisonment, adding that Davis Raymond should be sentenced to 172 years on the charges of killing two Paks.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2011 00:00 ||
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[Arab News] Iraq's prime minister says he will return half of his annual salary to the government's treasury in a symbolic effort to narrow the gaps between the nation's rich and poor.
Nuri Al-Maliki's statement Friday came after Iraqi holy mans and protesters warned leaders to heed public frustrations about the sagging economy and electricity shortages -- or potentially face an uprising like those in Egypt and Tunisia.
Al-Maliki, who narrowly secured a second term in office after months of political negotiations, did not say how much he makes. He is believed to earn at least $360,000 annually.
Wonder if he'll reduce by half his 10% cut of all the bribes and projects...
He said he would cut his salary to reduce the pay disparity between leaders and government employees, as well as differing standards of living around Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2011 00:00 ||
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I'm sure he'll supplement his income by other activities, legal or not.
[Ma'an] The PLO's chief negotiator has backed down from allegations an Al-Jazeera journalist worked for the CIA and stole a cache of secret documents on behalf of the Qatar-based network.
It isn't nice to snicker, so let's all stop.
Saeb Erekat claimed in January that Clayton Swisher, a US citizen and Al-Jazeera International journalist, was a current member of the CIA who had worked six months in the PLO's Negotiations Support Unit.
Pressed by Ma'an for evidence of the CIA charge, a dangerous allegation for an American in some parts of the Middle East, Erekat conceded the journalist neither worked for the Paleostinians nor the US intelligence agency.
Investigators are still seeking information about the leak and will attempt to compel Swisher to testify, but "he didn't work for the CIA ... No, he never worked in my office," Erekat said late Thursday in an interview at Ma'an headquarters. He also fielded questions about the leak from a live studio audience.
Erekat's latest comments marked a departure from allegations he made on air and in private in the immediate aftermath of the scandal brought by Al-Jazeera's release of the "Paleostine papers."
The 1,600 pages of minutes, maps and proposals show negotiators made major concessions in talks with Israel.
Yes, but since they never planned on signing a peace treaty, the interim negotiations were mere posturing.
The documents suggest the PLO would abandon settlement blocs and refugees' right of return.
Defending his actions as chief negotiator in an interview with Al-Jazeera on Jan. 26, Erekat accused the network of ignoring its journalists' ties to the US and European intelligence communities.
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02/05/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] Rain, not protesters, flooded the streets of Damascus on Friday after Mohammedan prayers when a "day of anger" had been promoted by online activists in an echo of Egypt's popular uprising.
Probably wise, when the son of "Hama Rules" Assad is running the country.
For a week, Facebook activists had touted Friday as the day they would mark a peaceful "2011 Syrian revolution" to "end corruption and tyranny."
The group's page had amassed over 12,000 'likes' on the social networking platform by early Friday.
But while the protesters in Egypt were rocking the streets of their cities for an 11th straight day calling for President Hosni's Mubarak resignation, their revolutionary chants had no audible reverberations in Damascus.
The streets within the walled Old City were quiet on Friday afternoon without a protester in sight. Only security agents had showed up in higher than usual numbers to monitor the capital's main arteries, an AFP news hound said.
"Syrian dissidents, including Kurds, did not respond to this call because they are convinced protests would be inefficient under the current conditions," said Abdel Karim Rihawi, president of the Syrian League for the Defence of Human Rights.
Calls to stage a sit-in Thursday in front of the parliament in Damascus to show "solidarity with students, workers and penniless pensioners" also rung hollow after a zero-turnout.
US-based rights group Human Rights Watch reported that a gang of 20 people in civilian clothes had beaten and dispersed 15 demonstrators holding a candlelight vigil in the Christian part of the Old City on Wednesday.
In a statement issued in New York on Friday, it called for the Syrian authorities to "respect" the right of its people to protest.
It said it was told by one of the organisers of the protests that the Syrian security services showed up at each event, filmed the participants and checked their identity papers.
Suheir Atassi, one of the main organisers, was quoted as saying that the security services contacted her family last week and urged them to pressure her to cease her activities.
She told Human Rights Watch that she was insulted, slapped and threatened by police, who accused her of "working for Israel".
"President Bashar "Pencilneck" al-Assad ... hereditary dictator of Syria ... seems to have taken a page out of the rulebook of his Egyptian counterpart," HRW said.
"His security services are no longer content with simply banning protests. They seem to be encouraging thugs to attack peaceful demonstrators," it said.
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[Asharq al-Aswat] Iran's supreme leader saluted on Friday what he termed an "Islamic liberation movement" in the Arab world, and advised the people of Egypt and Tunisia to unite around their religion and against the West.
In his first public comments on the popular uprisings in the region, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran's Islamic revolution of 1979, which deposed the U.S.-backed shah, had served as an example to the people living under similar "dictatorships."
"The awakening of the Islamic Egyptian people is an Islamic liberation movement and I, in the name of the Iranian government, salute the Egyptian people and the Tunisian people," Khamenei told worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran which were broadcast on television.
The 71-year-old leader, who condemned huge street protests in Iran after the disputed re-election of hardline President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad in June 2009, welcomed the "revolution and awakening" and "kaboom of sacred anger" in the Middle East.
Khamenei addressed the people of the Arab world -- a predominantly Sunni Mohammedan region which has historically viewed Persian Shi'ite Iran as an adversary -- calling on them to beware of Western influence subverting their revolutions.
Calling himself a "brother in religion" to the Arab people, Khamenei called on the Egyptian army to back the protesters and "focus its eyes on the Zionist enemy," a reference to Israel which fears a change of regime in Egypt could jeopardise its peace treaty with its western neighbour.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Hypocrite. You didn't support a popular uprising in Iran. Instead you suppressed it harshly.
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.
[An Nahar] Leading Egyptian opposition figure Mohammed ElBaradei has announced that he would not run for president in the upcoming elections.
Jerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa,
the funny-looking Syed Munawar Hassan
Bashar "Pencilneck" al-Assad
Mahmoud 
